Unit One is called to a drone plant to investigate another dismembering incident. Inspector Nobuchika Ginoza and Masaoka have a heated disagreement; when Akane questions Ginoza, he tells her she is a fool to treat the Enforcers as a colleague rather than a handler. The manager of the plant swears the dismembering is an accident, but Unit One thinks otherwise; they notice a plant worker being bullied by the others. Without the Sibyl System, they have no way of identifying the killer, but the Enforcers cook up a wild plan that terrifies Akane - and nevertheless succeeds.

Ginoza and his team nearly got ambushed when they track the murderer to a bomb-rigged hideout. Kogami, who had analyzed Akane's chats with Spooky Boogie and the guest data on the idols' communities, determines the identity of the murderer, who goes by the name of Masatake Midou. Meanwhile, Midou receives a warning not to disappoint Makishima. Masaoka, Akane, and Kogami close in on the suspect and manage to severely wound him before he flees to the safety of his avatars - who turn on him under Makishima's command. The group apprehends the suspect, and later Ginoza reveals to Akane his reasons about his attitude to Enforcers. It turns out that his former partner is Kogami who used to be an Inspector before his Crime Coefficient went high due to a cold case.