Episode 2: The second day
Yuda seems to have transformed into a different person after Suzuki implants the chip in him. He begins to assume an attitude that is clearly high-handed as he asks if Prime Minister Saegusa stands by his directive to cover up the truth about the Shinonome. Alas, the prime minister’s response is the same. The news cannot be disclosed until the President of the United States has visited Japan. In fact, as the prime minister of Japan, he would rather take poison than drive his citizens to despair. “This is politics, isn’t it?” Yuda observes and pledges to do all he can to support him.
That same day, Yuda’s father, Sakunosuke, orders Kaburagi to halt their plans for fear that his son will not let them have their way now that he is aware of their inclinations. However, Kaburagi refuses because he has already dirtied his hands preparing for this day for more than six months. He is also confident that Yuda will not have the courage to admit that his father desires a remilitarised Japan. Sakunosuke agrees that his son would ordinarily end up listening to him, but with the events of the morning still fresh in his mind, he is no longer sure how Yuda would react … …
At the Tokyo Metropolitan Police’s Chiyoda Police Precinct, the investigative team finds that they have fewer leads in the murder of Yoshimoto Akari. The faces of the likely suspects cannot be analysed from the security camera footage. However, trace amounts of jet fuel were identified from the footprint left by the murderer. While some detectives pursue that lead, Kanbayashi and Arakawa head over to the bar, Mebius. It turns out to be a wasted trip because the lady tending the bar is a foreigner who claims not to speak Japanese. Since both men are not conversant in English, they are forced to take their leave and come back again later.
Kawamura Shoko, a former cabin attendant who had a one-night stand with Kanbayashi through a strange turn of events the night before, comes to Mebius just moments after his departure. She had laughed it off as a joke when the male stranger she slept with told her about finding his ex-wife’s dead body that day, but later learnt from the morning newspapers that it was the truth. He was gone by the time she woke up, so Mebius is now her only tenuous link to him.
Meanwhile, Eriko has been agonising over Suzuki’s request to see their son because Daisuke has grown up thinking that Yuda is his biological father. She tells Yuda about her intention to bring Daisuke to meet Suzuki that afternoon if he consents, hastily adding that she will introduce Suzuki as Yuda’s personal doctor. Yuda can see no reason why he should oppose the meeting and readily agrees.
At that moment, Daisuke gets home from school. His face lights up when he sees his father who sweeps him up in a hug. The light-hearted moment quickly passes and Yuda grows serious as he announces that he has something to tell Daisuke. Then, without any warning, he says that he is not Daisuke’s real father. “Your father is a doctor called Suzuki Seiji. Your mother was married to Dr Suzuki and had you before she married me.” Eriko gasps in shock while Daisuke’s immediate response is to call it a lie. He tries to turn and hurry away, but Yuda makes him stay where he is. Grasping the boy by his arms, Yuda looks him in the eye as he tells him that he needs to know the truth.
In the midst of this, people are thrown into a panic when more than 3,000 ATMs belonging to 12 banks in the Tokyo metropolis are hit by system failure. Yuda is informed that the Cabinet Secretariat’s Information Security Centre has found evidence of cyber attacks on the banks’ ATM networks. He calls a press conference to talk about the measures that the government will take.
During the televised press conference, Yuda calls for calm. He announces that the government is working with the banks to restore their ATM networks while the Cabinet Secretariat’s Information Security Centre investigates the cause of the system failure. One of the reporters covering the press conference is Tachikawa and he asks if the simultaneous attacks point to the work of cyber terrorists. Yuda acknowledges the possibility, but his response does not satisfy Tachikawa, who charges that the government had already known about it. “The people are fed up with the government’s predisposition to cover things up,” he comments and urges Yuda to tell everyone the truth if he knows it.
Yuda remains silent for a long time after Tachikawa pressed his point. Then, he walks out from behind the podium toward the front of the stage and suddenly makes a long, deep bow. The press corps go into a frenzy.
That afternoon, Eriko brings Daisuke to see Suzuki at the hotel where he is staying. “This is your biological father, Daisuke,” she says by way of introduction. Suzuki reacts with a mixture of surprise and pleasure. As he presents Daisuke with a gift of an illustrated book on the human anatomy, curiosity gets the better of the boy who blurts out, “Why did you divorce?” Suzuki explains that his devotion to research had given Eriko a hard time and led to the divorce. His wish is for Daisuke to grow up well and be grateful to his parents.
After Eriko sends Daisuke inside to read his book, Suzuki thanks her and confesses that he was touched by her gesture. Eriko confides that Yuda had also stunned her when he told Daisuke the truth about his parentage. It was uncharacteristic for her husband who is usually a cautious man to behave rashly on such an important matter. Suzuki’s treatment must have altered his personality. That is the only reason she can think of that makes sense. Suzuki is quick to dismiss that suggestion, but catches himself and admits that he has not had any case in his clinical trials so far.
At that moment, Daisuke rushes out to tell Eriko that Yuda is on television and something big has happened. They hurry inside to see Yuda tell the televised press conference that the Maritime Self Defence Force’s submarine Shinonome had disappeared in the South China Sea in the predawn hours yesterday morning. He concedes that he had failed in his duty as the Chief Cabinet Secretary to convey this news to all citizens at the earliest time possible. However, it was Prime Minister Saegusa who wanted to hold the news back from everyone. These words prompt swift accusations of a cover-up.
“The prime minister wanted to promote Japan as a safe country.
He also felt that it was in the interest of citizens.
You have every reason to be angry.
That is why I have gone against the prime minister’s orders,
and spoken the truth.
Everyone believes that politicians only act in their own self-interests.
We are responsible for creating that image.
But both Prime Minister Saegusa and I
are not acting for our own benefit.
We have the people and the country in our hearts!”
As Tachikawa hears Yuda speak, an odd feeling comes over him. It occurs to him that he has never seen Yuda cut such an imposing figure at a press conference.
“It is precisely because we think of the country,
that it is natural for differences in opinion to arise.
The prime minister believes that withholding information
is in the interests of everyone.
While I believe that telling the entire truth
will consequently protect everyone.
I may be dismissed from my post because of this.
But I have concluded that telling the truth
is more important than safeguarding my own position.
I will definitely come back for the sake of Japan and the people.
Because I love this country from the bottom of my heart.”
To the shock of the press corps and viewers watching the televised press conference, Yuda suddenly collapses on stage right after delivering this impassioned speech.
Suzuki and Eriko hurriedly get to Yuda to prevent him from being sent to a private hospital where Suzuki’s unauthorised treatment will be discovered. Yuda is barely conscious by that time.
Suzuki runs tests on Yuda. Concluding from a similar case during the clinical trial that Yuda’s body may have overreacted to the implanted chip, Suzuki makes adjustments. Yuda soon comes round. For a brief moment, a look of uncertainty crosses Suzuki’s face as he wonders if another person from a different era is inhabiting Yuda’s body. But it is Yuda’s words that unsettle him more.
“Any politician has a chance of becoming a dictator.
When I became a politician,
I vowed that I would never seek to monopolise political power.
But if you look at Japan of the present,
the number of unemployed people are rising because of the slump.
Social unrest is growing.
The J.M.S.D.F submarine was seized and
the financial world and conservatives only care about protecting their interests.
Japan’s situation is just like that of Germany’s at the time when Hitler made his appearance.
We don’t have the time.
We’ve to get through this crisis and change Japan.
Perhaps I’m the only person who can do this.”
On the other hand, Matsunaga finds his interest piqued after watching the press conference by Yuda on television and finally gets in touch with Kaburagi. What kind of person is Kaburagi to have been involved in the recent spate of incidents: the attack on the submarine, disruption of the airport control system, and failure of the ATM networks, he wonders. He is blindfolded and brought to meet Kaburagi at an unknown location. In Matsunaga’s opinion, Japanese society is broke and a revolution is needed, but he is not sure if he can trust Kaburagi. And so, he comes right out and asks Kaburagi who makes no pretense of his intentions.
“I’m not a man of influence.
But like you, I wish to reform this country.
I believe this is our last chance to do so.
I would like you to bomb a place next Sunday.”
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