layer:02 GIRLS
(pg. 30)
〇 Present Day, Present Time
The city at night-, despite the people coming and going in silence, countless voices are converging.
Waaannnnnn
There are countless electric wires between buildings.
Leaking out, therein a voice can be heard-
Young woman: (off/whispering)⋆ "-What are you scared of? You just have to give it a try!"
Everywhere is "connect"ed.
Everyone is "connect"ed.
〇 Club Cyberia⋆
Industrial Punk rocks in a dark cellar with an inorganic infrasound.
Even the crowded faces are so dark that it's hard to tell who is who.
Nocturnal creatures.
There are those who dress up, and those who do not.
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⋆Director Ryutaro Nakamura joined in when the screenplay progressed to episode 4. Almost no requests were made to correct the screenplay that had been completed so far, but there was an idea to make the format include the voice of an unspecified woman in this avant-title.
⋆Cyberia
The name of this club is taken from Douglas Rushkoff's book, which also appears in layer:09. The title, which discusses cyberculture, is translated and published by Mr. Omori (Ascii Publishing Department).
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(pg. 31)
〇 Bitmap font on white background
S: "Cyberia? I don't come here because I want to."
〇 Club Cyberia
Flickering lighting that invites you to Hypnosis⋆. The House Mistress⋆, wearing a gas mask and PVC⋆ Vinyl maid outfit, puts a drink bottle on a tray and skillfully slips through the guests who are not dancing and are just standing and talking.
The House Mistress puts a drink bottle in front of a junior high school boy sitting at a table in the corner.
The boy looks up at the face donned with a gas mask.
Then, the woman gently slips a small folded piece of paper under the bottom of the bottle.
The boy throws a crumpled 10,000-yen note from his pocket beside it.
The house mistress tucks it away in her breasts and disappears into the crowd again.
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⋆Hypnosis
the induction of a state of consciousness in which a person apparently loses the power of voluntary action and is highly responsive to suggestion or direction. Its use in therapy, typically to recover suppressed memories or to allow modification of behaviour, has been revived but is still controversial. (T/N: The original text was (ヒュプノウシス hypnosis 催眠状態)
⋆PVC Vinyl
A standard material for fetish costumes alongside rubber. Shiny, non-stretchable fabric.
⋆House Mistress
A coined word meaning a waitress who dresses up in a costume and has more of a theatrical presence. In the live-action video cinema work "Evil Woman" (Director: Kazuya Konaka), a woman wearing a gas mask had already appeared.
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(pg. 32)
〇 Bitmap font on white background
S: "10,000? That's expensive. The market price is 4,000 yen."
S: "Accela. That's what we call it. It's not exactly a drug, but you have to jump through the same kind of hoops to get it.
〇 Club Cyberia
The boy unfolds a piece of paper.
Inside it is a capsule⋆.
The boy takes out the magnifying glass from the shoulder bag he had set aside, turns on the light, and looks at the pill. The boy gently splits it in two. Inside the capsule is an extremely delicate electric circuit. A tiny⋆ LED was blinking a flickering blue light. The boy smiles for the first time. He swallowed it- by gulping it down with the liquid in the bottle.
The boy's pupils open.
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⋆As a television program, I thought that depicting something drug-like was not preferable, so I made it into a tiny machine. However, the way it is depicted in the scenario was also inappropriate, so it became covered in a gummi-like jelly instead of a capsule when it made it on screen. This was Junshi Nakahara's idea.
⋆Minuscule LED (light emitting diode). Used for pilot lamps in different types of machinery.
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(pg. 33)
〇 Bitmap font on white background
S: "I felt accelerated."
〇 Club Cyberia
Fu-.... The sound suddenly disappears and the boy is aware that he has begun to accelerate.
People's movements seem slow.
Among those people-, he saw a group of girls chatting.
Alice, Reika, Juri.
少年の存在を気にも留めず、すれ違う男から声を掛けられても無視。
The boy loses his sense of self. Even when a man passing by calls out to him he ignores him.
The boy who kept intently staring in a stupor stands up-
〇 Bitmap font on white background
S: "Hurry up, come to me."
Residential area / next morning
Waaaannnnnn
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(pg. 34)
High-voltage power lines sway in the wind and make a whistle-like sound.
Hilly road.
Ascending that place is the house where Lain lives.
〇 Iwakura household / Lain's Room
Lain sits in front of the children's NAVI. Garbled text on the screen.
Lain, who was staring at it, shakes her head.
Lain: "Mm-mm, no"
The letters, looking like meaningless symbols, are sinuously scrolling.
Lain: "-I don't know..."
Gi-. The door behind her opened.
Lain turns around.
Mika: "Huh, I thought someone else was here."
The older sister Mika, dressed in her high school uniform, stares at Lain with listless eyes.
Lain: "-Who do you mean?"
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(pg. 35)
Mika: "-Lain's imaginary friend."
Lain: "..."
Mika: "Or something like that."
Lain: "..."
Mika loses interest in Lain and closes the door.
Mika: "If you don't come out soon, you'll be late again."
Ah- - Lain thinks - and hurriedly starts arranging her bag.
〇 Hill road
Lain descends in a quick pace.
And then-, behind the telephone pole slightly below, there is a black figure.
Lain: "..."
Lain has a very slight and vague feeling of anxiety.
眉を顰めなるたけその方を見ない様にと急ぐ。
She hurries so that she doesn't see the man who is furrowing his brow.
She gradually approaches the utility pole.
Unable to endure it, Lain looks at the telephone pole with a sideways glance.
Standing behind the telephone pole was - a man dressed all in black. With eyes like unfeeling porcelain, he stares at Lain.
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(pg. 36)
Lain, looking away, starts running.
〇 Ouka Academy
Students going to school.
Lain is walking alone. From behind her-
Alice: (Off) "Good morning."
When she turned around, Alice's group was there.
Lain: "G-good morning."
Juri: (Looking closely at Lain) "-No, it's not her after all."
Lain: "Eh..."
Reika: "I wonder..."
Lain: "What?"
Alice: (bitter smile) "Cut it out. I feel sorry for her."
Reika: "Ah? Oh, sorry. Well, there was a girl at Cyberia last night who looked just like you, Lain."
Lain: "Sai, beria?"
Juri: "We finally worked up the nerve to go there last night."
Reika: "Come on, it wasn't such a big deal."
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(pg. 37)
Alice: "Yeah, right, you were the one who was all nervous(giggles).(To Lain) Oh, it's a club. Young people go there at night."
Lain: "..."
Alice: "There was a girl there who looked a little like you, Lain."
Lain: (Tilts her head) "-Yesterday, I was..."
Alice: "We know. That girl wasn't you. We didn't get a good look at her, but she had on these wild clothes, and chewed people out left and right."
Lain: "..."
Juri: "Yeah, it was like she was your total opposite."
Reika: "But- (stares hard at Lain) she did look like her..."
Lain: (looks down) "-I want to go too..."*
Alice: "! - Yeah, all right, we'll go there!
Juri: "Seriously!? I wonder if it would be fun for a girl like Lain to go..."
Alice: "I think it's good that we gathered our courage and went there. You'd have more fun if you were a little more sociable, Lain. Right, Lain?"
Lain: "..."
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*Mr. Nakamura depicts Lain as reluctant to go to Cyberia.
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(pg. 38)
〇 3DCGI screen
Shows the detailed structure of "Accela⋆"-
Man's voice "-A kind of smart supplement, uses nano-mechanisms to oscillate at a specific frequency within the body, triggering the secretion of a specific hormone. It is said that when the hormone is secreted, this hormone affects the time-sense of the human mind, making it seem as if one's awareness is accelerated. Not only the consciousness, but the workings of the brain itself are altered, multiplying the brain's operational capacity by 2 to 12 times. The nano-mechanism itself is destroyed by digestive juices within 24 hours, but the influence of the supplement causes intermittent flashbacks to appear. Since it is not a drug, it is not under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, but the National Police Agency is currently investigating it as having the same effect as a drug."
〇 Bitmap font on white background
S: "Everyone is connected."
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⋆Accela
Accela is a coined word from Acceleration / Acceleration. In the actual dialogue, it's a smart supplement. It was reworded. Accela's design is also by Mr. Abe. He created not only the exterior, but also the document that illustrates how the main body releases nanomachines and pierces the stomach wall to function.
The latter half of the narration cannot be heard in the finished work.
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(pg. 39)
〇 Classroom⋆
Students taking classes.
Lain is vacantly staring at the syntax of the shell script⋆ written on the blackboard. Lain's ears hear only a low-pitched noise going "gooo-", similar to tinnitus.
And then-, someone energetically slips by Lain's side and heads for the blackboard.
Lain "..."
The girl standing in front of the blackboard turns around. That girl is - Lain. However, her expression is bright like a normal child. She says something to the teacher and fills in the missing syntax on the blackboard with chalk.
Lain "..."
Applause. Lain turns around.
Students and teachers are applauding while smiling at Lain on the podium.
Lain also applauds with a bewildered face-
Becoming aware, she turns around.
The students and teachers were staring at Lain in her seat.
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⋆This scene has changed significantly in the script. It's not limited to this, but if you pay attention to the differences between the scenario and the screen, I think the director's intention will become clear.
⋆Shell script
UNIX, a program that receives user commands and automatically executes them on network 0S (used for network servers, research purposes, and professional graphic workstations, not for general users). It is equivalent to a batch file in MS-DOS, but it is incomparably complicated. Therefore, I don't think it would normally be taught at junior high school.
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(pg. 40)
Lain returns to her senses. The sound of that tinnitus had disappeared.
Lain looks down in embarrassment. Then, Alice who sits in front of her turns around and shows her NAVI.
Lain "?"
Lain looks at her NAVI⋆. Text under Alice's cute self-portrait.
S: "Why don't we go together to Cyberia tonight?"
Lain's joy doesn't show on her face but she was blushing a little when she saw Alice.
〇 Hallway
Lain walking alone.
The voice from an ongoing lesson is leaking into the hallway.
The sound of Lain's indoor shoes echoes in the deserted hallway.
There are stairs at the end of the hallway. There's a restroom near it.
Suddenly, she notices a person standing at the end.
It's in the shadow so it's not clear, but it looks like a student in uniform.
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⋆Mobile NAVI
This is also Mr. Abe's design. It is a setting that adds a pen operation function to the current PHS , and is mainly specialized for sending e-mails.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
(pg. 41)
Lain stops and stares at the figure.
Gradually-, it becomes visible.
Lain's breathing becomes rough.
It becomes clear. That, at least in the present moment, is not something that lives in the real world.
A girl's figure slowly appears in front of her.
The face is blurry, as if it were behind cloudy glass.
Lain "Hi-"
The girl walks towards Lain.
Lain is too frightened to move.
Surprisingly, there wasn't just one girl.
Many men and women in the form of "faceless people" start walking towards her as if they had escaped from the wall.
Only Lain's breathing echoes in the hallway.
"People without faces" head towards Lain while remaining silent.
Then, one after another, they pass by Lain who is paralyzed in horror.
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(pg. 42)
The blurry faced girl is in front of Lain!
Lain "Noo..."
Lain closes her eyes.
The girl goes into her body - and passes through it.
Lain quickly opens her eyes and turns around.
There is no walking figure or anything there.
The chime rang.
〇 Residential area
Waaaannnnnn
High-voltage power lines sway in the wind.
Lain climbs the slope.
〇 Iwakura Household
Lain notices that a truck is stopped in front of the house and starts running.
The young man (handsome) who works at the express company, looks at Lain-
Delivery Guy: "Is this your place?"
(T/N: original is 運送屋バイト)
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(pg. 43)
Lain gives him a nod.
Delivery Guy: (Relief) Thank god. I'll unload it now, so can you open the door?"
Lain nods, then hurries to unlock and open the door.
The man working part-time, sweat glistening on his forehead, carries a number of large cardboard boxes to the front door.
Every box has the CI company's design, which looks like a human eye.
Delivery Guy: "Could you sign this, please?"
Lain writes "Lain Iwakura" with a ballpoint pen on the slip that was held out.
The young part-timer, staring at the packages he had unloaded-
Delivery Guy: "This thing is so cool! I wish I had one of these."
Lain was confused.
Delivery Guy: (Looking at the signature on the slip) "All this are yours?"
Lain: (slightly tilts her head) "I'm not sure....."
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
(pg. 44)
Delivery Guy: "Hmm, then don't you know what this is?"
Lain: (nods)
Delivery Guy: "It's the latest NAVI. Fully loaded too! With this kind of horsepower, you can move around freely without any stress at all, even in the Wired. I use a home-brew system, myself. It doesn't hold a candle to this."
Lain: -(smiles) "No-, it's not like that. I don't know anything about it."
Delivery Guy: "You'll understand soon enough. Well then, goodbye."
The man waves his hand and gets into the truck. Lain silently sees him off.
〇 Same place / night
A taxi stops in front of the Iwakura household.
〇 Lain's room
Lain was reading a book when she noticed the sound of the car. She comes out of her room.
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(pg. 45)
〇 Front entrance
Lain soundlessly comes down the stairs and-, stops.
Cardboard boxes are piled up at the front door. Beside them-- her father was hugging her mother and kissing her.
Lain stares at them with a puzzled face.
Is this a married couple...?
The father notices Lain and gently separates from her mother.
Father: "It arrived; Lain’s NAVI."
The mother also noticed Lain and was a little agitated.
Mother: "Get that mess cleaned up soon, all right? It's in the way."
Mother heads to the kitchen.
Father strokes the cardboard box.
Father: "I'll set it up for you after dinner. This NAVI here is excellent. So much that I want to use it myself."
Lain: (whisper) "Tonight..."
Father: "You can brag to your friends."
Father heads to the living room while loosening his tie.
Lain: "I, tonight..."
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(pg. 46)
〇 Lain's room
The open cardboard boxes are carelessly put aside, and father is setting up the hardware on Lain's desk.
Lain stands a little behind and watches intently.
Father: "You mustn't use a children's NAVI forever. For communication, you need a powerful system that will mature alongside your relationship with people. Do you understand? Lain."
Lain: "..."
Father turns on the main switch.
Bun. A virtual monitor⋆ projects a screen onto the desk.
Father: (Turns around) "Come here."
Lain rushes over.
Father operates the touch keys.
Father: "Register⋆ this machine."
Lain blankly looks up at her father.
Father: "Try talking to it."
Lain puzzledly faces the machine-
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⋆In this scene, the virtual monitor's reveal was postponed. The SF-like feeling is suppressed as much as possible in the initial number of episodes.
⋆Registration
Registration Registration . Current operating systems such as UNIX and Windows NT are intended for network use, and users register when they first touch the machine.
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(pg. 47)
Lain: "Hello, NAVI."
The voice makes a ripply shape appear in the virtual window.
Pii.
S: "Authorized User⋆"
Father: "Now this NAVI belongs to Lain."
Lain: "..."
〇 Bitmap font on white background
S: "Why won't you come?"
〇 Iwakura Household / Late at night
The lights in Lain's room went out. A little while later" - The front door opens slowly.
Lain, dressed in outerwear⋆, comes out quietly so as not to make any noise.
She races down the slope.
〇 Downtown late at night
Conversation's convergence.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
⋆Authorized User
A message that the user has been authorized to the OS of the machine.
このくだりも完成作品とは異なる。
⋆This scene is also different from the finished work.
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(pg. 48)
The tone is higher than that in the daytime, as if all the emotions had become worked up.
A flickering city light.
The crowd's movement feels similar to cockroaches.
Lain is running through it.
Alice's voice: "--So right on the corner."
Lain holds the mobile NAVI against her ear.
Lain looks around, and is turning at the intersection.
Alice's voice: "-See it? We're in the basement!"
〇 Club Cyberia
The whole underground is trembling due to the low frequency amplitude.
Lain descends the stairs and is hanging out near the entrance
Self-conscious of the stares of the young people who look like they're around the age of university students, she looks down.
And--, three elementary school students pass by.
Elementary school student 1: "Idioooot. If you do it that way, you'll get found out right away by the Ministry of Information's⋆ monitoring center."
Elementary school student 2: "Isn't it okay if I just attach it?"
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
情報道
⋆Information Highway
In real Japan, the network business is managed by the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications.
(T/N: Now it's called the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications)
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(pg. 49)
Elementary school student 3 (girl): "Hey, next time we go over to that game center, let's-"
Lain is a little relieved that there is such a younger person here too.
And, Alice and the rest are in front of her.
Alice: "You finally came!"
Juri: "You're late. We were talking about going home already."
Reika: "But at this time, Lain is already sleeping, right?"
Lain: (nods) "-I'm sorry"
Alice: "It's okay (smiles). It ’s refreshing to meet everyone outside of school, isn’t it?”
Lain: (smiles a little)
While walking in the crowd
Juri: "You know Lain, there are clothes that are more appropriate for going out at night."
Lain: "..."
Alice: "We'll pick out something more grown-up for you next time, Lain."
Reika: (sarcastic laugh) "Ehhh? I wonder if it would suit her."
Juri: "-But"
Alice: "What?"
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(pg. 50)
Juri: "I guess the girl we saw really wasn't Lain."
Reika: "That's what I've been telling you. Lain doesn't dress like that or talk like that. She doesn't look like that either."
That's the reason Lain came here.
Lain: "-Um, that girl-"
Alice: "?"
Lain: "-She, looked exactly like me, right?"
Juri: "So much so that I really thought it was Lain!"
Lain: "-That- might have been me..."
Alice: "Eh...?"
And, at that moment! Gunshots echo in the dance hall.
Screaming, angry roaring.
Alice's group are frightened and huddle up their bodies together.
Reika "What?"
Lain looks around restlessly.
Dogooon!! Dogooon!!
Customers rush towards the exit all at once while gunshots are ringing out again.
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(pg. 51)
Alice and the others are pushed towards the counter.
Juri: "Kyaaaaaaa!"
Juri collapses.
Alice: "Juri!"
Alice and Reika help lift Juri up from the floor.
Lain looks at the center of the deserted dance hall.
Illuminated by the flickering lights, a man stood.
It's the boy from the beginning.
Around him are the dead bodies of two girls.
Dark blood is streaming out onto the floor.
キラキラと、店内のライトを反射させつつ、流れに従ってフォルムを次々と変えている。
While reflecting the lights in the club, the form is changing in succession according to the flow.
Lain is staring at it.
Alice: "Lain!"
Alice and her friends were holding Juri and came near the exit.
Lain doesn't turn around.
Reika: "What is she doing!"
Juri: "..."
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(pg. 52)
Alice: "Laaaain!"
The boy saw Lain.
手にはタクティカル・ユニット付きのグロック。
In his hand was a Glock with a tactical⋆ unit attached.
少年「(早口に)何で俺にこんなことさせんだよ
あんたに一体何の権利があるのさ
俺はただ頭をクリアーにしたかっただけなんだ
知らないそんなこと関係ない
死んだ奴がどうして俺は関係ない
あんたは傲慢なる神の俺は関係ないワイヤードは絶対にリアル・ワールドに干渉してはならない俺は関係ないあんたは誰」
Boy: (rapid talking)
Why are you making me do this?! What right do you have?! I just wanted to clear my head, that's all!
I don't know anything about it! Leave me out of it! I have nothing to do with these dead people!
You're an arrogant god that I don't want anything to do with it! Nothing! The Wired can't be allowed to interfere with the real world! I don't want anything to do with it! Who the hell are you?!
Lain keeps staring at the boy with no expression.
Alice: "Lain!" (To Reika) Please take care of Juri for a bit."
Reika: "! What are you doing, Alice!"
Alice starts running toward Lain (slow motion).
The boy slowly lifts the gun.
The red luminous point of the laser sight rises from Lain's feet towards her face.
Alice: "Laaaaiiin!"
Suddenly, there is no sound.
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⋆Glock with a tactical unit attached
It is a pistol with a unit equipped with options such as laser sighting, but due to TV considerations, it was arranged to be drawn as a virtual one instead of a real gun.
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(pg. 53)
Lain: (Becomes Lain's (レイン) voice) "People are connected wherever they are."
Boy: "..."
The red point passes by Lain's face and the boy opens his mouth. The luminous point is inside that mouth.
Blood splashes on and covers Lain's face in scattered drops.
フロア中央に、高校生の女の子二人、そして少年の堀が重なる様に倒れている。
In the center of the floor, along with the two high school girls, the boy collapses as if piling up in a ditch.
Alice rushes to Lain⋆ and hugs her.
玲音、うっとりとありすの体温を感じている。
Lain is absentmindedly feeling Alice's body temperature.
The splashes on her face reflect the flickering lights inside the club.
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*The nuances of this last scene are also quite different. When I first saw the storyboard, I challenged the director, but he didn't give up.
ずっと玲音の心情を、繋げて、世界を創り出していた監督の計算は、後になって理解した。
I later understood the calculation of the director who created the world by connecting Lain's feelings for a long time.
To Be Continued...
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(pg. 54)
Internet cafe, Cyberia.
At night, young people gather to form a nightclub.
The stairs leading to the basement have a net to protect from people falling down.
Through the door. Illuminated by the light of the disco ball, you can see the Net Kids.
A house mistress wearing a gas mask is there.
That is the place where "Wired Lain" first appeared.
The exclusive DJ "JJ" seems to be close to her.
