Needing money for a flight to Fremantle, where a civilian expedition towards Antarctica is scheduled to depart from, Mari begins working at a convenience store alongside co-worker Hinata Miyake. Having overheard Mari and Shirase's conversations, Hinata also takes an interest in going to Antarctica and joins in on Shirase's plan. Later, the girls go to KabukichÅ, Tokyo to try and carry out a plan to sneak aboard the exhibition, only to get discovered by two of the team members, Kanae Maekawa and Yumiko Samejima. Despite offering the money she had saved up as sponsorship for the expedition, Shirase is unable to convince Yumiko and Kanae to let them come on the expedition, as they have their own plan to gather the funding needed.