In an alternative iteration of the present, two teenage boys who go by the names Nine and Twelve steal a prototype atomic bomb in an apparent terrorist attack.

Calling themselves "Sphinx" (スピンクス, Supinkusu), they upload a video onto the Internet and threaten to destroy Tokyo unless a cryptic riddle can be solved.

They are two of the survivors of a secret experiment by the Rising Peace Academy to develop orphaned children with savant syndrome into human weapons.

Shibazaki reminds Hamura that Sphinx has killed no one and receives confirmation from his daughter Haruka that the bomb could explode in the stratosphere without causing fatalities.

The following day, passing Tokyo's abandoned buildings and streets, Nine sets up makeshift grave markers for the Athena Project children at the Settlement.

Under orders from their superiors to keep the American government's involvement in the investigation a secret, the soldiers open fire and kill Twelve.

In an interview with Otaku USA magazine, director Shinichirō Watanabe stated that the music of Icelandic post-rock band Sigur Rós was the inspiration for the show and its soundtrack.

When I was listening to Sigur Rós, I got the visual image of two boys standing in the ruins of a destroyed city and that led to the idea of Terror In Resonance.

When it comes to ideas and execution, the show is absolutely bulletproof, a gorgeous and cutting meditation on the contradictory complexities of modern society.

In the context of its well-earned cynicism, its few moments of honest human connection feel all the more precious, brought home by expert framing and brilliant use of music.