A suspicious man arrives at lab 7. It was Kensaku Ban, a handyman named "Maruhige." Kensaku was looking for the pet robot, Marron, on request. Motoko also shows up and suggests that they hire Umatarō and Hiroshi as part-timers and use A106. However, Kensaku argues that investigating is a job that only humans can do, and opposes using A106 to search for the robot. He decides to compete with A106.