Acting on a tip, Section 9 breaks up a cabal of thieves hell-bent on wrecking a Japanese financial institution. Shortly after the raid a Chinese intelligence official contacts Section 9 and informs them of suspicious activity that he believes may indicate an assassination attempt by Chinese Socialists on a prominent, yet reclusive, Japanese multi-millionaire.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is put on full display. A Japanese National named Gino, who suffered through the horrors of Non-Nuclear World War IV, the Second Vietnam War, now passes his days as a helicopter pilot for the chairman of a media conglomerate. His cushy job, however, does not take away the sheer internal pain that Gino is facing.

As he moves through his isolated existence, Gino leaps between reality and fantasy. However, he keeps his dementia solely to himself. Having no one to help him, his condition continues to worsen.

Much to the chagrin of Batou, Motoko, and the rest of the team, Kuze and the refugees manage to escape in one of the camouflaged boats. They are further hampered when an explosion causes heavy losses, leaving them unable to follow the fleeing boat.

Regrouping, the team decides to refocus the investigation to the events surrounding Kuze. They start a secret investigation into Sagawa Electronics, the company responsible for the nuclear material transaction, and find that Gouda was involved. Meanwhile, as the boat heads for Dejima, Kuze makes his own unsettling discovery.