Miki let out a whimper. Her short little legs kicked twice in the air. Kazuki pulled his hand back and turned to look at Eri. "Mom, is little sister hungry?" Eri leaned over to take a look. "Probably not. She was just fed less than an hour ago. She's just stretching her body." Kazuki breathed a sigh of relief. He stood up, walked to the other end of the crib, and picked up a plastic rattle. He shook his wrist. The rattle made a crisp thump-thump sound.
Miki's gaze was drawn by the sound, her eyes moving to look in Kazuki's direction. "Look here, Miki. It's big brother." Kazuki lowered his voice, imitating the tone adults used to soothe children. He played the "little adult" role perfectly. Takuya Nakayama pushed the door open and walked in. "Dad." Kazuki stopped shaking the rattle and ran over to hug his leg. "Didn't go play in the yard today?" Takuya Nakayama took the opportunity to pick his son up and gauged his weight. Kazuki had gotten quite a bit heavier.
"I have to take care of little sister. Grandma said big brothers have to protect their little sisters." Kazuki wrapped his arms around his father's neck and answered very seriously. Eri stood up, walked over, and straightened his shirt collar. "Why are you back so early today? Did you finish the work at the company?"
"Koguchi did all the work. If I stayed at the office, I'd just be reading the newspaper." Takuya Nakayama put Kazuki down and walked over to the crib.
Miyuki Nakayama moved to the side to make some room. "Takuya, take a look. Miki's eyebrows have grown in quite a bit. She looks more and more like Eri."
Takuya Nakayama bent down.
Little Miki opened her eyes, clear and bright, looking at the adults leaning in.
She didn't cry or fuss.
He extended his index finger and placed it near his daughter's hand.
Miki instinctively opened her tiny hand and grasped his finger.
Her grip was weak, soft and squishy.
"This child has such a quiet personality," Takuya Nakayama said, letting his daughter hold his finger. "When Kazuki was five months old, he could kick the crib railing until it banged."
"It's good for a girl to be quiet," Miyuki Nakayama said, gazing at her granddaughter with loving eyes.
Kazuki shuffled over to the side, standing on his tiptoes to peek into the crib.
"Daddy, when will little sister grow up?" Kazuki asked.
"It will be a while. She has to learn to roll over first, then learn to crawl, and then learn to walk," Takuya Nakayama answered.
Kazuki counted on his fingers. "Then when can she hold a controller?"
Laughter filled the room.
"Is there nothing in that head of yours besides video games?" Eri flicked her son on the nose.
"I'm going to teach her how to play Sonic. If she can't get past a level, I can help her," Kazuki said, patting his chest. "I'm a really good player. Even Kenta from kindergarten can't beat me."
"But what if your sister doesn't like video games?" Takuya Nakayama threw out the question.
Kazuki was stunned.
This was outside the scope of his understanding.
In his world, video games were the most fun thing ever; the house was full of consoles and cartridges.
"How could that be?" Kazuki stammered after a long pause. "Kids in our family are bound to like games. Grandpa likes them too."
Miyuki Nakayama burst out laughing. "That's your grandpa's job. He's not as addicted to playing as you are."
Miki let go of Takuya Nakayama's finger.
She yawned, her little mouth forming a circle.
Her eyes slowly drifted shut.
Kazuki picked up a rattle, wanting to shake it.
Eri stopped him. "Shh, your sister is going to sleep."
Kazuki obediently put the toy down.
He rested his chin on the edge of the bed and stared at his sister for a while.
"She sleeps so much. She only woke up half an hour ago," Kazuki muttered softly.
"Babies grow while they sleep. You were the same when you were little." Eri took a thin blanket and gently covered Miki with it.
The room quieted down.
Only the sound of Miki's steady breathing remained.
The weather in April had completely warmed up.
Outside the Sega headquarters building in Ota Ward, Tokyo, the cherry blossom trees had sprouted lush green leaves.
The hum of the air conditioner was soft.
Hisao Oguchi knocked on the door of the executive office.
Takuya Nakayama was sitting behind his desk, with several financial statements on the table.
Oguchi was holding a game disc with no cover, and a thick proposal.
"Ghost in the Shell: Jupiter version, final test build is packed." Oguchi placed the disc on the desk.
Nakayama put down the reports in his hand, picked up the disc, and walked to the television in the guest area.
He turned on the Jupiter console and inserted the disc.
The screen lit up.
There was no lengthy opening CG; it went straight into the real-time rendered gameplay.
A rainy night in New Port City.
The neon lights reflected in the puddles with hazy colors.
Motoko Kusanagi stood on the edge of a skyscraper.
Nakayama gripped the controller and pushed the joystick.
Motoko leaped from the rooftop, activated her optical camouflage in mid-air, and merged into the night.
She landed, rolled, and pressed against the wall.
Takuya Nakayama didn't rush to draw his gun; instead, he pressed a shoulder button.
The screen UI switched to tactical hacking mode.
His vision pierced through the wall, locking onto the cyberbrain node of a patrolling guard.
A hacking mini-game.
Done in three seconds.
The guard's vision was tampered with, and he walked straight past the corner where Motoko was hiding.
Having finished the sequence, Takuya Nakayama set down the controller.
"The feel leans towards 'MGS', but the mobility is stronger. The vertical movement capability brought by the cybernetic body is well done," Takuya Nakayama commented.
"The feedback from the testing department is the same," Hisao Oguchi said, opening the project proposal. "This isn't a traditional shooter. If players choose to break through head-on, they won't last two minutes on high difficulty. The core of the game lies in reconnaissance, route planning, hacking, and precision strikes."
Takuya Nakayama sat back on the sofa.
"Tell me your plan."
"Simultaneous release," Hisao Oguchi said, handing over the proposal. "Shochiku has handed the North American theatrical distribution rights to Manga Entertainment. They already had a limited theatrical release in North America at the end of March. I plan to release the game directly in North America now. Although we can't quite achieve a simultaneous film-game synergy, we can still follow up on it."
"I plan to release the game directly in North America now. Although it won't catch up to the simultaneous release model, it can still follow up."
Takuya Nakayama flipped through two pages of the proposal.
The marketing budget figure on it was not small.
"Stop the plan," Takuya said, closing the document and pushing it back to the center of the coffee table.
Hisao Oguchi did not retort immediately, waiting for him to continue.
"You're comparing Ghost in the Shell and Toy Story within the same business model, and the premise is wrong," Takuya picked up his teacup. "Toy Story is a family-friendly film from Pixar and Disney. North American theaters provide full-day screenings for it. With that level of exposure, as long as the game attaches itself to it, it's a money-printing machine where one plus one is greater than two."
He pointed to the paused screen on the television.
"What is Ghost in the Shell? Hardcore cyberpunk, adult-oriented animation, lots of dry, philosophical dialogue. How many screenings do you expect theater managers in North America to give it? At most, it'll be a token run in a few art-house theaters in New York and Los Angeles. Without screen time, there's no base traffic. The marketing money you pour in won't even make a splash."
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