Birdy tracks down the illegal Virtual Reactor Chips purchaser, who is Nataru's father, Mr. Dusk. Dusk reveals he is a member of an Alterian freedom group, and that he helped disguise the escapees. Birdy goes after the nearest, but the escapees kidnap Dusk and interrogate him on the attacks on their number. He is murdered, which angers Nataru and upsets Birdy. Nataru kills another of the escapees, but not before learning Valic killed his father. Birdy promises to catch Dusk's killer.

The Escapees steal a nuclear weapon from an American Navy ship, and afterward Tesera tells them she will not contact them and wishes to remain as an Earthling. Capella is taken by a Federation Investigator after Irma convinces her to give up without a fight. Later, Nataru discovers a picture in Muroto's room of Tesera, and goes off to find and kill her. Muroto calls Birdy, and she finds Nataru just after he brutally murdered Tesera. She allows him to leave, and berates herself afterward.