Doctor Manhattan begins having problems in his relationship with Laurie when he multiplies himself (in order to multi-task) with Laurie finding out that 'one of him' had been working on a project, while the other was making love with her. Laurie walks out on Manhattan, going to meet up with Dan Dreiberg.

Meanwhile, Manhattan's ex-wife Janey Slater is giving an interview with a news editor of the Nova Express. She states that she has cancer that she presumably received through connection with Manhattan.

Manhattan gets dressed and transports from his home to his television interview where he meets up with a government official named Forbes telling him what to, and what not to say. One of his questions that he cannot say is about his involvement with the Russians in Afghanistan. Then, one of the audience members is Doug Roth of Nova Express who asks Dr. Manhattan of his relationships with his colleague Wally Weaver, Slater, and his former nemesis Edgar Jacobi. Furthering, if he knew that all of them had a fatal form of cancer from contact with him. Forbes quickly intervenes and stops the interview, but while he and Dr. Manhattan are leaving Dr. Manhattan becomes overwhelmed by questions. A very distressed Manhattan yells "I said leave me alone!" and transported everyone outside of the building.

Laurie meets up with Dan who gave her some coffee and they talked about her troublesome relationship and where she will stay that night. She decided on a hotel and walked him to Hollis Mason's place, but while walking through an alleyway they were almost mugged by a gang of knot-tops. They take out the entire group. After Leaving the alleyway, Laurie decides to go find a hotel and to leave Dan alone. Once arriving at Hollis' place, Hollis shows Dan the interview of Manhattan's incident on television.

Manhattan arrives back at his home to find out that it is being quarantined. He decides that he is leaving, telling a soldier to leave a message for Laurie and his superiors. He said he is going to Arizona, and then Mars. He goes to the Gila Flats test base in Arizona, where he took a picture of himself and Janey Slater many years ago at a carnival. On Mars he explores in a childish excitement and then finds a rock to sit on.

Laurie goes back to the base to find that everything is being taken away and she is told by Forbes that she is ordered to undergo a cancer scan. Unaware of Manhattan's incident, she complains to Forbes of what is going on until the man, exasperated, tells her that she is no longer welcome, since his superiors believe that Manhattan is not coming back.

The next day, Dan awakes from his bed to find Rorschach has broken into his home yet (again). He shows Dan a newspaper of Manhattan's departure from Earth.

That night, the news vendor receives the evening edition and is shocked to read from the headlines. Anxiously, he gives the kid a copy of Tales of the Black Freighter for free and his cap. The headline he reads is "Russians Invade Afghanistan".

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