Togusa uses The Catcher in the Rye and starts investigating the idea that the Laughing Man is seeking something on physical paper. Togusa checks out the Minister of Health, Labour, and Welfare (MHLW) records building and discovers a list of Cyberbrain Sclerosis patients treated with the Murai vaccine has vanished.
Togusa discovers the Sunflower Society, which is investigating matters, has discovered that it was used to treat numerous rich as well as powerful Japanese citizens. The DEA proceeds to attack the Sunflower Society and massacres the entirety of the group, wounding Togusa in the process.
- Corporate Conspiracy: The Murai Vaccine worked better than nanomachines to treating Cyberbrain Scierosis.
- Corrupt Corporate Executive: Medical companies working with the government suppressed the Murai Vaccine in order to sell ineffective nanomachines.
- Crime After Crime: The conspirators order a massacre of the Sunflower Society to cover up the Murai Vaccine plot.
- Disproportionate Retribution: The DEA sends a death squad to slaughter the Sunflower Society to cover up their medical fraud.
- Evil Is Petty: The Laughing Man's grand scheme turns out to have been trying to expose a government coverup about medical fraud and corporate conspiracy. It is an unusual villain scheme for a cyberpunk anime.
- Hacker Collective: The Sunflower Society is a realistic example of such, consisting of not only hackers but researchers and activists.
- Revealing Cover-Up: Togusa has evidence of fraud but gets a lot more involved once mass murder occurs.
- White-Collar Crime: The Murai Vaccine is being used to treat prominent Japanese citizens while being suppressed by the government.
