On board the Leviathan class Zenigata, Zeta Guardian Masaya Bass is in the holodeck watching a recreation of a 1980's baseball game between the Yomiuri Giants of Tokyo and the Hanshin Tigers of Osaka. He wears a Tigers uniform to show his support and gets really excited when his ancestor Randy Bass is called up to bat. While munching on a chili dog, he flirts with his secretary who is dressed like a beer girl. An officer comes to report that they have arrived, but stops, not sure what he is seeing.
A woman who looks like a dark elf with long purple hair gets his attention by crushing his chili dog and reports that they are hovering over Himiko. She is Schy'nder, an Extrovert from the planet Tian who recently joined the Public Guardians despite prejudice. Impressed by her audacity, he asks where Frost is; she is still getting ready. Bass wipes his hand on his secretary, ignoring her disgust, and asks about the target. Schy'nder uses the holodeck to replay the recent fights Himiko had and recites her shown capabilities, including an unknown energy inside her. Bass interrupts to point out Schy'nder is a member of the Shu Clan of the Deelit, royalty on Tian, and ask why she would give that up and go to Earth. She gets annoyed and brushes the question off.
The officer says Himiko must be a member of the terrorist cell Pinocchio. Bass reminisces on how 70 years ago, after a mega earthquake, they debuted artificial humans called Bion to act as rescue workers and laborers. When a prominent politician was revealed as a Bion, it triggered a wave of paranoia and people started hunting Bion down. To compromise, the government ordered all Bion to be branded with a barcode mark to identify them, but this did little to stop the hatred for the non-humans, with a common saying that a Bion is worth a used battery. Eventually, some Bion began to rebel and become terrorists. Pinocchio is the biggest one, led by the enigmatic Geppetto. It has killed several humans with tactics like suicide bombings. This led to more hate and paranoia with several Bion accused of being members of Pinocchio without evidence.
Bass takes these cases seriously because his stepfather was a Bion and when he was seven, he had to watch him get torn apart by an angry mob. Bass wipes his face with the shirt of the officer and lectures him on assuming things. They will not assume Himiko is a member of Pinocchio until they interrogate her. Suddenly, a robot called Umpire-1 in the form of a floating orb the size of a baseball appears and starts lecturing the officer for his filthy uniform and Bass for flirting with the secretary. It and Bass order the others to leave, but Bass tells Schy'nder to stay. He tells a joke, but she does not laugh. He tells her to relax. She can tell he is hitting on her and warns him that workplace romances are inappropriate. Undaunted, he asks her to be his catcher.
Himiko has a flashback of shortly after she defeated the swordsman Yagyu Jubei, a lieutenant of Oda Nobunaga. She hid in a shrine to avoid the cheering crowds, but was found by her dog, Shippeitaro, and a bunch of children. She shrugged and told the children of her adventures, but then a massive object blocked out the Sun, which they interpreted as devouring Amaterasu, the Goddess of the Sun. Out of the darkness, metal monsters came and attacked Edo with explosions. People thought the Sun disappearing was a sign of the end of the world.
In the present, the Leviathan blocks out the Moon, which Himiko interprets as devouring Tsukuyomi, the Goddess of the Moon. She notices the people around her are scared of the sight and believes they are being oppressed. She angrily tries to move, but the two men grabbing her say they are not done picking her locks. As objects fly out of the Leviathan, one of them panics and says he cannot go to prison. He calls his companion Kitty. Kitty angrily calls him Nene before reminding him that they are supposed to use code names in the field. Kitty is Monkey and Nene is Dog. Nene complains that he wanted Terrier, then complains about their colleague getting Pheasant and their boss getting Momotaro. Himiko gets excited, thinking they are talking about the actual Momotarō, but is cut off when Kitty orders Nene to calm down. Nene says they just deployed a Solomon Gate, so they are trapped. Kitty reminds him that their stolen suits will allow them to pass through, then explains to Himiko that she was marked by nanobots, having to clarify that they are really tiny things, that allow the Public Guardians to track her location and trap her.
Nene complains that they could have reached Himiko sooner if Kitty had not stopped to go drinking at a bar. They have a childish argument until Himiko gets their attention. A bunch of Public Guardians descend along with several floating spheres and giant machines that the two call Kabutos. Kitty complains about the paranoia Pinocchio caused and indicates the scared citizens. The Public Guardians and the spheres start ushering the people away and dragging away their unconscious members. Nene tells Kitty to keep working on the cuffs while he buys time, then steps forward to address the Kabutos.
Bass and Umpire-1 step onto the bridge. The subordinates treat him like a star because he once foiled an attempt by the yakuza organization Epoch to infiltrate and corrupt the Public Guardians. He looks at video feed of Himiko and recognizes her attire, especially her magatama and geta, as ancient. Not even the Order of Kushinnada, the greatest religious order in Megacity Yamato, wears them. He wonders who she is.
He grabs a female officer, smiling that due to his privileges, he was allowed to make most of the crew young beautiful women and make their uniforms have miniskirts. He asks where Frost is and she says she is still getting ready. He complains that the Alpha Guardian is supposed to take charge, not him. Umpire-1 offers to get her, but Bass warns it not to complain if she scares the crap out of it. As it leaves, he reluctantly sits in the command chair and sees Nene talking to the Kabutos. Bass orders to be patched through to him, but a technician says his uniform is outdated and lacks a communicator. Bass finds this interesting.
