Girl:
If people can connect to one another, even the smallest voices will grow loud.
If people can connect to one another, even their lives will become longer.
So...



Yasuo:
Lain, I'm coming in.
Lain?



Lain:
Well, thank you.
But I verified that register a long time ago.
Do you have any other suggestions to offer?

Ahahaha...
That's really hilarious!

Exactly right.
I can't wait for the next generation protocol to finaly be released.
When it does, maybe I could...

Why are you all so nice?
That's absolutely the furthest thing from what I've been thinking lately.

That's not what I'm thinking.
I'm wondering...
Well, what I'm really trying to say is that...
I just really don't have many friends to speak of...

Thank you, Knights.
I'll be sure to keep that in mind.
That's right.



Reika:
Geez, what a study holic you are?

Lain:
Huh, what?

Arisu:
Listen, Lain.
It's like you're back to your old self avoiding us.

Juri:
Come hang out with us again sometime.
I mean, Lain, you've gotta get out with us more.
Life's depressing when you're always alone.

Lain:
Yeah...
But I'm not really alone.

Arisu & Juri:
Huh?

Arisu:
Who's with you?

Lain:
Everybody comes by to see me.
Ah... No, that's not quite right.
I guess that I go to see them.

Reika:
Just what do you mean?
You see them on the Wired?
No, a net-pal isn't a friend.
I mean that you shouldn't even be considered an acquaintance.

Arisu:
Reika is like an old lady sometime, isn't she?

Juri:
Yeah, old lady.

Reika:
Yeah, and so what if I am, huh?
Anyway, Lain.
Tell us what kinda sites you've been connecting to lately.

Lain:
It's a secret.

Juri:
Huh?

Reika:
Oh, listen to her.

Juri:
Just tell us!



Juri:
This'll look really good.

Reika:
Forget it.
You should just give it up.

Juri:
I think this one is so much better, don't you?

Arisu:
No way!
This one's better.
Right, Lain?



Juri:
Hey, let's go to that store we went to yesterday.
They're having a 30-minute all-you-can-eat ice cream special today.

Reika:
Get out.

Juri:
But I'm really hungry!



Reika:
Hey.

Arisu:
What is it?

Juri:
What's with that kid?

Reika:
Hmm... Beats me, Juri.

Arisu:
Oh well, come on. Let's go, Lain!



Arisu:
Lain, let's go.

Reika:
No way!

Man's voice:
What is that?

Woman's voice:
What the heck...?

Arisu:
Lain, that's...



Miho:
You've certainly been coming home early lately.
Now it's Lain that's been staying out late at night doing god knows what.
Do you think you'll get that college recommendation?

Mika:
Uh...

Miho:
Speak of the devil.



Announcer:
A strange phenomenon appeared in the skies above Tokyo today.
People who observed it reported being deeply unnerved.
Was it some malicious prank, or something more serious?
Was it a natural phenomenon, or a deliberate act?

Lain:
Hello, Navi.

Navi:
Hello, Lain.

Lain:
Connect me to the Wired.



Man's voice:
So, you're the famous Lain, huh?
You're somethin' else, little lady?
What other tricks can you do?
To be able to transmorph your physical self so smoothly to here in the Wired is no easy feat.

Lain:
Stupid Cheshire Cat, poseur.

Man's voice:
At the user level I currently have, this is the best I can do 'til I get the okay for the new software.
I hear that most people can only manage ears.
And I have a sexy smile, don't you think so?

Lain:
Shut your hole.
Just give me the information.

Man's voice:
I helped Lain...
This is gonna make me a hero of the local users and put me back on top.

Lain:
There's too much hiss in your signal.
Tell me about the game that kids are playing.

Man's voice:
A game?
There're kids' games of all kinds.
Just what do you mean?

Lain:
What a moron, like you don't know.

Man's voice:
Lain, I'm shocked!
What did you get the idea that it's a game?

Lain:
To a kid, everything can be a game.

Man's voice:
Yeah.
So, you called up the search result, is that right?
Now I get it.
And in your search Lain, what exactly was it that you found?

Lain:
The child-killer scientist.

Man's voice:
So, you live up to your reputation, Lain!
You have searched him on your own.
I'm quite impressed.
In the real world, he's just a pathetic old man waiting to die in a private hospital ward.
So you see, I really did help you.
A little.
Oh, ask him about KIDS.

Lain:
I already know that.
You're not much of a guide, Cheshire Cat.
What do you say, Professor Hodgeson?
It's your turn to talk.
Tell me all about it.


[B-Part]


Hodgeson:
It's amazing.
I didn't expect that you looked very lifelike, my dear young lady.

Lain:
What is "KIDS"?

Hodgeson:
It's so very peaceful here, isn't it?
I just want to relax here forever, I think.
Or at least until my body rots in the real world.
Do you think that's at all possible?

Lain:
You know what's happening, don't you, Professor?
What's this "KIDS" all about?

Hodgeson:
It's so beautiful here.
As if time will last forever.

Lain:
Show me the experiment data from 15 years ago, Professor.
All of it.

Hodgeson:
Believe me.
I never meant to put the children in any danger.
But that's in the past.

Lain:
I don't mean from 15 years ago.
I mean the game all the kids are playing right now in the present.
They're reproducing your experiment, aren't they?

Hodgeson:
Somebody dug it out of the trash can when I was out of the office.
I thought I had erased all the data, but obviously I have been sadly mistaken.

Lain:
Tell me about the Kensington Experiment, everything.

Hodgeson:
Psi, parapsychological ability, is present in most children,
although very faint in most of them, I must admit.

It's nothing as outrageous or advanced as ESP.
It's just good intuition, or enough physical ability to bend a coin or a spoon.

Lain:
What are these things attached to their heads?

Hodgeson:
We called them Outer Receptors, incredibly sensitive.
That's what receives the Psi.

Here is the KIDS, [do magic].
Individually, their Psi may be quite weak, but harnessing the collective unconscious...

Lain:
What were you expecting?

Hodgeson:
Something beyond the wildest imagination.
That's what I wanted to see, young lady.

Lain:
What did you make them do?

Hodgeson:
Science is practical.
It isn't just about proving hypotheses.
That's what I always believed in.

Lain:
That's not what I meant.
So, you didn't give any thought to the children at all, did you?

Hadgeson:
I can see now I didn't.
It was the KID System that converted the Psi received by the Outer Receptors, into electromagnetic waves.
These waves were turned into pure energy.
This enhanced the function of a certain area of the brain.
That is what KIDS really is.

Lain:
When the children's Psi was combined, how much energy was ultimately generated?
And how were you planning to store it?
Stop it!
Enough!

Hodgeson:
I smashed KIDS to pieces, so that it could never be rebuilt or ever end up in the wrong hands.
But its schematics found their way onto the Wired somehow.
...and eventually coalesced somewhere.
But I never had anything to do with it.

Lain:
So, you're saying that someone found them?

Hodgeson:
Correct.
And then updated the program from the ground up.
So that they could create an identical phenomenon but without utilizing the Outer Receptors.
If they had this influence on the younger generation to the point the messages were being emulated, I acknowledge their talent.

Lain:
Is that all you can think about now?
Can't you stop and think about the children for a minute?

Hodgeson:
No matter how much I punish myself, those children won't return to the real world.
Their souls are really treatable.
Quite rightly, there's even less that I can do about this current group.

Lain:
Talk about self-centered.
So, who are the ones who're using it now?

Hodgeson:
Young lady...
All of this talking now has simply worn me out.
It was nice meeting you.
I don't know what you plan to do here in the Wired, what your intentions are, or even what will ever become of you.
But you're powerful, that's for sure. Incredibly powerful.
If there is a god in the Wired, and even I'm not sure of that, you're a child that is blessed.

Lain:
But I'm not.
Really I'm not.

Hodgeson:
I wonder where the powerful strengths of your opposition originates.
I mean those rogues controlling the KIDS emulation.

Lain:
Who are the rogues?

Hodgeson:
If you please, excuse me, I'm feeling a little tired.
I hope you'll understand if I can't stay.
My body's time has run out, and I feel my spirit is getting weaker.
At last it's time, I'm tired.
My wish has come true.

Lain:
The Knights.



Lain:
Shut up!
What are you people?
What?
Why are you telling me all this?
What are you trying to accomplish, huh?
Was I some kind of toy to play with?
Is this all a game?
What do you want to use these young kids for anyone?
Would you all do for your enjoyment?
You don't care who you hurt, as long as you get a kick out of it.
You're actually just a bunch of losers.
Ahahaha...
Aren't you going to speak up?
Isn't anybody gonna answer?
Um?



Lain:
Those guys...
Now I get it!

Hey, you!
You are the Knights, aren't you?
I'm right, aren't I?
You are the Knights!

Men In Black-1:
Please get down.

Lain:
What the heck was that?

Men In Black-2:
It was just a cooling system up in your room.

Lain:
Uh?

Men In Black-1:
They must've planted a parasite bomb inside your cooling system.

Lain:
Are you saying you didn't do it?

Men In Black-1:
That's exactly what I'm saying.

Lain:
Well, who then?
Tell me who did it?

Men In Black-1:
The Knights.


[ED]