At a geisha house, the female androids have gone out of control. They have taken hostage two members of a foreign body, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Minister's secretary, and the head of the Minister's Support Association.

The situation is complicated by a feud over authority between the police and the military. Section 9 Chief Aramaki lends a helping hand and brings in his unit to resolve the crisis.

A former colleague of Togusa's named Yamaguchi calls and asks him to look at some sensitive data related to the Laughing Man case. Before Yamaguchi can arrive with the material, however, the car he is driving swerves off of the road and explodes.

Aramaki allows Togusa to investigate Yamaguchi's death and Togusa is able to retrieve the information that his colleague wanted him to look at. The information could implicate high-ranking officials within Police HQ.

A gathering is initiated in cyberspace to discuss the Laughing Man. After a six year absence, the super-hacker reemerged from the shadows of the net and publicly threatened to assassinate Superintendent-General Daido of the Niihama Metropolitan Police ("INTERCEPTER"). With an audience watching across the net, several people take their places at a table in order to pass around their theories as to why the Laughing Man returned and to discuss what happened during the assassination attempt at the press conference ("DECOY" and "MEME").

After the events of "MACHINES DÉSIRANTES", the Tachikomas are sent back to the lab for further testing. Batou has little time to ponder the loss of his pet, however.

A foreign spy is suspected to be working within a Japanese Self-Defense Force training camp based in New Port City. With the Major and the Chief away at a security conference in England, Batou alone is assigned to go undercover to confirm the suspect.

Kuze and the Major come up with a plan to save the refugees, but the chances of its success are slim. Realizing this, the Tachikomas disobey the Major's orders and come up with a plan of their own. Batou has also disobeyed the Major's orders to go to the bridge and is desperately searching for her in the ruins of Dejima. Meanwhile, the Prime Minister is frustrated with being spurned by the Chief Cabinet Secretary. Determined to be remembered as more than a mere figurehead, she takes matters into her own hands.