The chopper descends briefly to the aeropad on the roof, and goes thumping away into the brownish haze of a Manhattan morning as Machiko crosses to the armored security port adjacent to the pad. She pauses to prove her identity, then takes the elevator down to the second-floor command center for Nagato Security. She is informed that the regular Security Service force on site is on full alert, supported by tactical teams of the SDF. She rides the elevator to the thirty-eighth floor and finds Ryokai and Gongoro both standing the watch with the GSG detail before the entrance to the Chairman's suite of offices.