Chapter 128

A month before the main events, television news covers the runaway popularity of the romance drama Five-Year Love Plan and promotes an upcoming live studio special featuring its director and stars. In the present, Chief Barnes rewards Yor's work at city hall with tickets to that broadcast. Camilla and Millie, devoted fans, pounce on them, assuming Yor never watches such shows, but she bashfully confesses she does, having once shut the TV off in a panic when Loid walked in. Sharon floats the idea of a date, flustering Yor, while Hemlock's disapproval of the chatter evaporates the moment Millie teases him about a date of his own. On the subway home, Yor bumps into Yuri, who volunteers himself as her plus-one and is left physically wrecked on the train floor after she explains she wants to bring Loid, then plainly states that she loves her husband. Yuri crawls back to his feet determined to crash the outing.

At home, Anya celebrates her fourth Stella Star by reenacting Donna's fighting moves with Bond, and while Sylvia has praised the girl's approach toward Imperial Scholar status, Loid finds the spectacle less encouraging. He nonetheless promises her a reward of her choosing. When Yor produces the tickets, Loid privately recognizes an intelligence opportunity: the guest list includes Eiger, a director with a wartime propaganda past, and the opera star Allegrossa, rumored mistress of the Minister of Broadcasting. He accepts, both parents deny Anya's teasing about acting lovey-dovey on air, and Yor agonizes over her wardrobe before settling on her everyday clothes.

At Berlint TV Tower, a guide leads the audience up to the studio, explaining that channel OST-TC7 airs the show under producer TV Island. Loid quietly maps the floor plan, notes the scarce escape routes, and judges the SSS censorship officers the only real hazard, unaware Yuri has strong-armed a colleague into swapping assignments so he can shadow Loid all evening. Watching the drama's romantic scenes beside her husband leaves Yor squirming, and the cast interviews stir memories of Matthew McMahon's remark about people and the roles that fit them, making her wonder whether she can keep playing hers. Back home, Franky babysits while Anya abandons the broadcast for cartoons, boasting that she battles evil daily. During a program pause, Loid slips away hoping to approach Eiger or Allegrossa, but Yuri's surveillance forces him to abort. He then notices crew members have gone missing, and moments later the replacements pull weapons on the studio. Their leader takes the microphone and declares the program suspended for an emergency broadcast he describes as a brief airing of grievances.

Yor receives tickets to the live Five-Year Love Plan special and asks Loid to attend with her, openly admitting to Yuri that she loves her husband.

Loid accepts partly to get near director Eiger and singer Allegrossa, two politically sensitive guests, while Yuri swaps SSS assignments to monitor him.

Anya's fourth Stella Star earns her the promise of a reward from Loid.

Armed hijackers replace the missing studio crew and seize the live broadcast, their leader An-D announcing an emergency airing of grievances.

This chapter launches the Five-Year Love Plan Arc and debuts a large slate of characters, including An-D, Eiger, Allegrossa, Dandley, Jocelyn, and the former Minister of Broadcasting.

The fictional channel OST-TC7 and its producer TV Island wink at Japan's TV Tokyo and TV Tokyo Holdings, down to a shrimp mascot posed like the number 7 in homage to the network's mascot Nanana. The subway stops in Yor and Yuri's scene reference Potsdam's Neuer Garten and Heiliger See, reachable from central Berlin by the RE1 and S7 lines.