By Renton excitingly thinks to his sister about how he is on the cover of Ray=out magazine. Moondoggie pushes him from behind and silently walks away. Renton gets embarrassed as Eureka comes by, but relaxes and shows her the magazine with him on the cover. She asks if he wants to come to the city shopping with her and he excitingly says yes, wondering if this is a date. Renton quickly realizes to his dismay that Eureka’s kids are coming along. On the bridge several crewmembers talk about the prospective work they have been offered, as well as a group called the Vodarac. Holland is told that Renton is off shopping with Eureka and says it’s perfect as it would be a pain to explain this to him. In the city Renton realizes everyone is looking at him and wonders if he’s become a celebrity. We quickly see that it is really because of the massive amount of groceries he’s carrying. The kids taunt Renton, first over him not studying, then over his lack of armpit hair. Renton chases after Linck, spilling food all over the street. Eureka realizes that Maeter has disappeared and runs off trying to find her. Maurice and Linck start freaking out about it and start crying, wondering if everyone is going to go away. Meanwhile, Holland leads a trio of LFOs taking off from the Nirvash and heads into the city. Renton, Eureka and the kids look for Maeter with no luck. Suddenly Maeter shouts out at them from a window above. Eureka asks Renton what she should do and if she should scold her. Renton wonders if a good slap is warranted. Eureka rushes upstairs into the building and slaps Maeter. Renton realizes such advice may have been better for a boy. Eureka scolds Maeter who starts crying. An old woman who the house belongs to, Tiptory, says Maeter was lost so she brought her here and offers them some tea. Renton doesn’t want to accept it but everyone else does. Meanwhile, a group of Gekkostate crew led by Holland scout out the entrance. At Tiptory’s table, the kids are amazed by the color of the tea and compare it to that they’ve had on the Gekko. Tiptory tells them to wait and puts out a pocket watch first, making a brief prayer. Once finished she tells them they can go ahead and drink. Renton feels that the tea has a slightly strange feeling just like Eureka. Suddenly the door bursts open and a small canister is thrown in, emitting only a small amount of gas. Holland, upset that they bought a dud, and Matthieu, promptly storm in, armed. Holland and Renton are surprised to see each other. Holland says this woman is a member of the Vodarac, an antigovernmental group. The military is willing to pay them a lot of money for her. Renton is upset at Holland’s willingness to do this as the Gekkostate is also an antigovernmental organization. Tiptory throws her tea, then a chair at Holland and quickly makes it through the door, right past Moondoggie and Gidget. Holland calls out to Hilda and tells Matthieu they’ll head after her in their LFOs. He tells Eureka to follow in the Nirvash and that Renton should stay here if he can’t take it. Renton reluctantly gets in the Nirvash with Eureka and they promptly catch up with Tiptory. Holland’s LFO blocks her path, but she is able to squeeze through on her small bike. The Nirvash heads through some clotheslines, obscuring their vision. Eureka transfers the Nirvash into its humanoid form so she can fly above the city and spot where Tiptory is going. As such she is able to get right in front of her and traps her in a large container held by Hilda. Renton is disappointed over them capturing her.
Later, the crew eats some food in Tiptory’s house, frustrating Renton. Holland says he has no idea how the Vodarac think as she comes in with more food. Holland tells Renton to be responsible for watching over Tiptory as he’s got no appetite. Renton heads into the kitchen and says he doesn’t get why she’s feeding them. She says all the food here will spoil if she’s captured. She says it’s because she’s a Vodarac, and it was fate she’d be captured. Renton brings her some pepper, but has a hard time following her. Renton asks her why she’s in an antigovernmental group. She says they don’t mean to be fighting against the government; that’s just what the military has decided. She makes a comparison to a bird locked in a cage staring at the sky. She asks Renton to try the stew she has just made and he is disgusted by it. Holland comes in, telling Renton he’s relieved. Tiptory tells Renton he’ll understand more when he’s older. Eureka looks on concerned as Renton comes into the dining room and sits down, frustrated. Holland declines the stew and asks Tiptory to tell him where Norb is. He says he didn’t mean to be so harsh at first and it was due to the reputation the military has caused her organization to have. We cut to later, as Holland and the others prepare to hand Tiptory over for some gold from the military. Upon being handed the gold, Holland sends a signal and the Nirvash quickly storms in. Renton swings down and is able to grab Tiptory in the Nirvash’s hands. The military quickly pursues with four Mon-Soonos. The Gekko also gets involved and promptly gets a hit on the military’s craft. Later, Renton lies out exhausted on the Gekko while the kids celebrate with Eureka. Holland apologizes to Tiptory for involving her in their affairs. She doesn’t mind, saying everything is as Vodarac guides it to be. Holland tells her he’ll bring her where every she wants and she says to bring her to Ciudades Del Cielo, the Vodarac homeland. Later, the crew talks about how the military put a higher priority on the Vodarac than Gekkostate, although they should still be concerned with recent activities including higher production and the demise of a moderate official. Eureka hands out study guides to the kids and to his surprise, Renton as well. Eureka praises Renton’s ability to make the Nirvash happy. On the bridge, Holland and Talho talk about heading to Ciudades Del Cielo, which he has a bad feeling about. It seems to be a place they have been to years before. In his tent, Renton works on his studies and goes to sleep. In the bathroom, Eureka complains of a headache.
After several episodes in a row where the plot didn’t go anywhere, things seem to pick up again here. The Gekkostate in what initially appears to be a very odd decision take a job from the military to capture a woman involved with the Vodarac, another anti-military organization. Although from what we learn about the Vodarac in this episode it comes off more like a religious organization instead. The woman they capture, Tiptory, doesn’t consider the group to be fighting the military. By the end of the episode we realize it was a ruse and that Holland never had any real intention of turning her in. It was all about scamming the military for some money. The city the episode takes place in reminds me of the types of locales we’d see in the show Wolf’s Rain, another anime from the same studio. Despite taking care of three kids, Eureka doesn’t seem that experienced as a parent and in this episode has to experience how to enforce discipline.
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