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In the Chiba Hilton, Molly introduces Case to Armitage, who claims Special Forces ties and references Screaming Fist. Armitage offers to repair Case’s damaged nervous system in exchange for his services. Confronted with his own suicidal spiral by Armitage’s “profile,” Case demands terms and accepts.

At a high-end clinic, Molly reassures Case about Armitage’s resources but admits uncertainty about who ultimately employs them. Case undergoes excruciating procedures that repair his neural damage and replace his pancreas and liver tissue. He wakes days later in Cheap Hotel, where Molly explains an eight-day wait before jacking in and reveals he’s now biochemically unable to get high on stimulants. They become physically intimate.

Back on Ninsei, Case insists on checking in with contacts. He negotiates five minutes alone with Julius Deane, who confirms public-history details of Screaming Fist and notes a Special Forces team escaped via stolen Soviet gunship. Case and Molly then pay off Wage with Armitage’s money, avoiding a confrontation.

Molly drags Case to Sammi’s knife fights. While he fetches food, Case suffers a panic that the surgery failed, then spots Linda Lee fleeing through the crowd. Amid laser fire and chaos, a blond attacker moves on Case; Molly kills him with her fletcher. Case finds Linda dying from a laser hit. Molly explains Deane’s people targeted Linda after she tried to fence Case’s RAM, and Molly extracted the admission from one assailant.

After a postoperative check, Molly takes Case to the port, where Armitage waits with a chartered hovercraft. Case leaves Chiba behind, heading into the next phase of Armitage’s plan.