A FAINT RAY OF LIGHT The bloody battle at the New Turin Nuclear Power Plant has come to a close with massive casualties on both sides. Taking advantage of the chaos, rogue elements within Italy’s own government and military have come together to stage a coup d’etat–and their first target is the thinly defended headquarters of the Social Welfare Agency.
The Social Welfare Agency in Italy is not what it seems. Yes, it rescues young girls who have been brutalized–but brainwashes them and transforms them into ruthless killers for an elite and secret counter-terrorism unit for the Italian government. Enter Henrietta, a young girl who witnessed the savage murder of her family and barely survived. The Agency takes her in and repairs her injuries using the latest in cybernetic technology, wiping her mind of all traces of her past and turning her into one of the Agency’s most lethal assassins. Yet despite her programming, Henrietta is troubled by fragmented memories. It is her handler’s job, Jose, to keep her feelings in check and ensure that she stays on mission. This task is made all the more difficult because Henrietta bears an uncanny resemblance to Jose’s younger sister who died in a car bombing years earlier.
ASSASSIN vs. ASSASSIN The Social Welfare Agency: a secret counter-terrorism unit for the Italian government that rescues troubled young girls and turns them into cybernetically-enhanced ruthless killers who do the government’s dirty work. Yet the child assassins are not as heartless as they were programmed to be. Henrietta struggles with her conflicted feelings towards her handler Jose, while fellow agent Triela combats her own inner demons as she strives to remember the girl she once was. Meanwhile, the clash between the Social Welfare Agency and the covert radical group known as the Five Republics continues. As the Five Republics targets one of the Agency’s handlers, the Agency plans its own counter-strike that will pit Triela against the professional assassin and martial arts master known as Pinocchio in a rematch to the death.
AGENT 2.0 There is a secret counterterrorism unit for the Italian government known only as “The Social Welfare Agency.” Its mission: to rescue troubled girls and turn them into heartless cyborg assassins using the latest advances in cyber-technology. The newest inductee into the Agency is a second generation cyborg called Petrushka, who may just be the Agency’s most powerful operative yet. Petrushka is given an impossible trial-by-fire mission, together with her handler Alessandro, to foil an assassination attempt. Can she prove she’s got what it takes in an impossible mission she may not even survive?
EVERYTHING CHANGES When new children are brought into the Social Welfare Agency, their minds are wiped and their bodies enhanced with the latest in cutting edge cybernetics. They are blank slates ready to be molded and conditioned as their handlers see fit. Yet for Angelica, the first of the Agency’s cyborg assassins, memories of the life she once knew have started to return. Dreams of her childhood fill her sleep, and visions of her old dog, Perro, haunt her by day. Worst of all, remembering her past seems to be making her forget who she is now.
DANTE’S INFERNO After years in exile, Giacomo Dante, the infamous mastermind of the “The Croce Incident,” has returned to take his rightful place as leader of the Five Republics. His first act as new leader is to seize control of Venice’s landmark St. Mark’s Campanile and demand the release of fellow terrorist Aaron Cicero, along with fifty of their comrades-in-arms who are being held as political prisoners. Unable to bow to Dante’s demands, the Italian government has no choice but to meet force with force, in a battle that will have dire consequences. Gunslinger Girl’s explosive endgame starts here!
DEATH TRAP! The Gunslinger Girl saga comes to a heart-pounding denouement as the scattered factions of the Five Republics have united together under the leadership of the terrorist Giacomo Dante. Utilizing a cache of stolen cruise missiles, the terrorists unleash a series of devastating attacks across the Italian Peninsula and seize control of the New Turin Nuclear Plant. Their demand is simple: send in the Social Welfare Agency or die. With vengeance burning in his heart, handler Jean Croce leads the Agency’s assault, knowing full well that they are walking straight into Dante’s mastermind trap–and that heavy casualties are inescapable.