1. If you can hear it, it is speaking to you.Copy !req
2. And if you can see it, then it is your...Copy !req
3. Mankind is a creature that
no longer evolves, is it not?Copy !req
4. Compared to other animals, the
cancer rate in man is exceedingly small.Copy !req
5. One theory says that man is a
neoteny, and is no longer able to evolve.Copy !req
6. If this is true, then what an absurd
creature man has evolved into.Copy !req
7. Not knowing what it is that drives them,Copy !req
8. they keep their bodies merely
to satisfy the desires of the flesh.Copy !req
9. They're worthless, don't you think?Copy !req
10. That's all mankind is.Copy !req
11. But it is no longer necessary to
remain a wretched human being.Copy !req
12. Mankind has finally created
an exit whereby he may escape.Copy !req
13. What do you mean?Copy !req
14. The network. The Wired, Lain.Copy !req
15. Who are you?Copy !req
16. I'm God.Copy !req
17. Wanna go get something to eat?Copy !req
18. Hey, aren't you hungry?Copy !req
19. Hey, wanna go to the pool next time?Copy !req
20. Oh, man...Copy !req
21. Tell me a story!Copy !req
22. Come on, please!Copy !req
23. Tell me a story, okay?Copy !req
24. What kind of story would you like to hear, Lain?Copy !req
25. Let's see...Copy !req
26. Something I don't know about!Copy !req
27. There is nothing that you don't know.Copy !req
28. I can't tell you a story that doesn't exist.Copy !req
29. You understand, don't you?Copy !req
30. Well, how about this, then?Copy !req
31. For every event, there is first a prophecy.Copy !req
32. An event first comes into
existence when there is a prophecy.Copy !req
33. Who? Who makes the prophecies?Copy !req
34. Throughout Tokyo today, the VTCZX road
traffic information transmission system...Copy !req
35. ...sent out incorrect information.Copy !req
36. "Temporarily Out of Service"Copy !req
37. ...auto-drive program in cars and
trucks, sending them out of control.Copy !req
38. There was a fatality in Shibuya, Tokyo,Copy !req
39. but the Information Ministry says
that the system is already back up,Copy !req
40. and that such an accident
will never happen again.Copy !req
41. Excuse me.Copy !req
42. Huh?Copy !req
43. Uh...Copy !req
44. Mind if I hit on you?Copy !req
45. Oh, shit...Copy !req
46. Later!Copy !req
47. H-Hey!Copy !req
48. That little creep...Copy !req
49. Damn it, this is gonna stain...Copy !req
50. "The other side is overcrowded.
The dead will have nowhere to go."Copy !req
51. W-What the heck is this?Copy !req
52. Some kind of bad joke...Copy !req
53. What the hell...?Copy !req
54. What's she doing?Copy !req
55. Is she crazy?Copy !req
56. Lain?Copy !req
57. What's her problem?Copy !req
58. The prophecy is being fulfilled, Lain.Copy !req
59. But then it's not a prophecy...Copy !req
60. No, it is a prophecy.Copy !req
61. History is not merely a
linear collection of points that...Copy !req
62. ...we pass through on a timeline.Copy !req
63. They are connected by a line.Copy !req
64. No, perhaps it is more accurate to
say that they are made to connect.Copy !req
65. By who? Who connects them?Copy !req
66. Lain!Copy !req
67. What did you do?Copy !req
68. I had no idea. I guess you're pretty good.Copy !req
69. I didn't know you could pull
off a hacky stunt like that already.Copy !req
70. What're you talking about?Copy !req
71. Playing innocent again, huh?Copy !req
72. I really don't...Copy !req
73. You didn't do it, Lain?Copy !req
74. Do what?Copy !req
75. The Information Control Bureau
of the Information Ministry...Copy !req
76. ...began investigating yesterday's
information network abnormality,Copy !req
77. stating that it was
very likely a deliberate act.Copy !req
78. With the network now a lifeline
for not only the city, but for society,Copy !req
79. such an act is tantamount to...Copy !req
80. Your total is 948 yen.Copy !req
81. Out of 948 yen. Please, enjoy your meal.Copy !req
82. Huh? There it is again.Copy !req
83. Again?Copy !req
84. What?Copy !req
85. Spam. Indiscriminate mail.Copy !req
86. I'm really getting tired of this...Copy !req
87. "Fulfill the prophecy," right?Copy !req
88. Is it a declaration of war by some cult group?Copy !req
89. I asked some geeks I met on
the Wired about it a while ago.Copy !req
90. They said it might be the Knights.Copy !req
91. Knights? Who's that?Copy !req
92. Some kind of super-hacker group.Copy !req
93. But I thought hackers
don't usually work together.Copy !req
94. True. But maybe this Knights
group really isn't a group at all.Copy !req
95. They say they have a lot of power in
the Wired, and that they do a lot in secret.Copy !req
96. So they're a secret society.Copy !req
97. Geez, do they get their kicks out of this stuff?Copy !req
98. I'm not sure why...Copy !req
99. Huh?Copy !req
100. ...but something tells me that
they're not in it for fun or for money.Copy !req
101. It's reasonable to see the Wired
as an upper layer of the real world.Copy !req
102. In other words, physical
reality is nothing but a hologram...Copy !req
103. ...of the information that
flows through the Wired.Copy !req
104. Mom?Copy !req
105. This is because the body--the
activity of the human brain--is merely...Copy !req
106. ...a physical phenomenon caused by
synapses delivering electrical impulses.Copy !req
107. I...Copy !req
108. The body exists only to
verify one's own existence.Copy !req
109. Are you... Are you really my mom?Copy !req
110. Are you?Copy !req
111. Lain?Copy !req
112. Huh?Copy !req
113. Didn't I see you at Shibuya?Copy !req
114. Forget it. It's nothing.Copy !req
115. Thank you!Copy !req
116. Hey, don't you think he's pretty cute?Copy !req
117. How did it go with him?Copy !req
118. Come on, you can tell us!Copy !req
119. "Fulfill the prophecy!"Copy !req
120. W-What? What prophecy?!Copy !req
121. What's going on?Copy !req
122. I usually have dinner with
Mom and Dad about now...Copy !req
123. Wha--Copy !req
124. What's happening?Copy !req
125. I-Is someone there?Copy !req
126. Come on, I know you're there.Copy !req
127. "Fulfill the prophecy!"Copy !req
128. Are you my real dad?Copy !req
129. It may be that what flows through the
Wired isn't merely electrical information.Copy !req
130. Huh?Copy !req
131. If we assume that it was the
development of electricity and phones...Copy !req
132. ...that brought about
the formation of the Wired,Copy !req
133. then I have to wonder if another
world was created at that moment.Copy !req
134. Uh...Copy !req
135. Here in the real world,
God exists only as a concept.Copy !req
136. But in the Wired, there may be
a sort of Deus-like embodiment.Copy !req
137. God?Copy !req
138. I don't know whether or
not it should be called a god.Copy !req
139. But at the very least,
I think it has the same kind...Copy !req
140. ...of power that is written of in myths.Copy !req
141. I think I may have talked with God.Copy !req
142. It's possible that the Deus of the
Wired may already have enough power...Copy !req
143. ...to affect the real world in some instances.Copy !req
144. Yes... In the form of prophecy.Copy !req
145. Prophecy?Copy !req
146. What's wrong?Copy !req
147. It's nothing. Forget about it.Copy !req
148. Who is it today?Copy !req
149. I thought I was innocent,
but I'm being punished.Copy !req
150. I didn't start this, but
I have to finish it somehow.Copy !req
151. I can't say I didn't know about it,
but I don't remember taking part in it.Copy !req
152. I get the feeling my freedom cost me dearly,Copy !req
153. but I don't remember selling my soul cheaply.Copy !req
154. Hey, hey!Copy !req
155. Until I die and say goodbye...Copy !req
156. Hey, hey!Copy !req
157. ...no one will ever catch me.Copy !req
158. You probably don't know the eternal outlaws...Copy !req
159. ...who wander the distant night.Copy !req