Togusa track down one of the missing children , now assigned to an elderly man in the Noble Rot program . As Togusa try to take the child , the man awaken and demand the child be left with him as he had named the child as his sole heir . He would rather give his assets to a child off the street and to protect them from abuse than have his assets turned over to the government upon his death . The man immediately die after warning Togusa not to interfere with the will of the Solid State . Late , Togusa receive a call from the Puppeteer who hack his brain and force him to drive to a cyberbrain implant hospital with his daughter . The Puppeteer and Togusa converse , and Togusa is given the option to lose his daughter to the Solid State or commit suicide . He choose suicide but is saved by Kusanagi who then identify the Puppeteer as a rhizome formed by the collective consciousness of the Noble Rot Senior Citizens located in a welfare center .