Plot

Tension erupts between Buffy and an ailing Riley as they pursue Professor Maggie Walsh's killer.

Professor Maggie Walsh's only fellow researcher on project 314, Dr. Angelman, finds her killed by it, the 'demonoid' she assembled from various monster, man and machine parts as an ultimate warrior. Adam is now loose and kills without any conscience. Giles can't maintain the Initiative won't come to his home when Riley turns up, so the gang hides at Xander's while Spike barely escapes them by hiding under a corpse in a tomb in his crypt, later to become attacked by demons who realize he turned good. Willow and Tara fail to locate the demon by summoning the dark goddess Tespia. Riley gets sick and aggressive, withdrawal from the drugs Maggie secretly mixed in the commandos' food, but goes after Buffy and Xander, who interrogated Willy the Snitch with him earlier and now break into the Initiative's military facility, where Adam also got in and explains he sees Riley as Maggie's other favorite (brain)child; Riley's rejection causes a fight.—KGF Vissers

After the death of Professor Maggie Walsh, Buffy and Riley do not trust each other and the Initiative blames Buffy. The ultimate warrior Adam, designed with parts of various demons, escapes from the facility and kills a boy. Willow and Tara Maclay unsuccessfully try to summon the Godness of Darkness Thespia to locate the demon. When Riley gets sick, Buffy decides to return to the facility with Xander to discover the secret of room 314. But the invincible Adam is waiting for them.—Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Buffy fills the gang in on everything that's gone on since she started to work with the Initiative, and they question whether Riley was involved in the death mission on which Maggie sent Buffy. Buffy arms the group with weapons and makes plans to hide out in Xander's basement. Riley shows up at Giles' place asking Buffy for information, and becomes upset when he recognizes Spike as Hostile 17. Riley does not want to accept what the rest of them are saying about Professor Walsh and the Initiative.

Leaving Dr. Walsh's body, Adam escapes the Initiative through a vent. He approaches a young boy playing in the park and questions him about his nature. Dr. Angleman slips in a pool of blood as he enters room 314 and finds Professor Walsh stabbed to death. When Riley and Forrest see Walsh's body, Forrest accuses Buffy of staking Maggie.

Giles is grumpy when he wakes up in Xander's basement the next morning. The girls are watching cartoons when a news story comes on about a young boy who has been killed and mutilated. Believing it to be the Polgara demon captured in the previous episode, Buffy goes after it. Riley - against Dr. Angleman's orders - also instructs the commandos to search for the Polgara demon; he and Buffy both end up at the park where the boy was killed. While Buffy tries to apologize to Riley, Riley informs her that Walsh is dead and asks if Buffy is happy about that.

Willow goes to Tara's dorm room, planning to find the Polgara using a spell that shows nearby demonic activity. However, Tara secretly sabotages the spell and it fails to work. Meanwhile at Willy's bar, Spike is badly beaten by demons for associating with the Slayer. They tell him if he is seen around again, they will kill him.

Buffy searches for information at Willy's but Riley also shows up, very angry. He is shaking and sweating and scratching his hand so badly that it bleeds, as he questions Buffy's intentions and pulls a gun on an innocent woman. Buffy consoles Riley as she sees that he is sick and only getting sicker, leaving him at Xander's to rest. When Riley wakes up, Willow tries to stop him from going after Buffy but he pushes her to the ground and runs.

Disguised as a scientist, Buffy gets herself and Xander - dressed in fatigues - into the Initiative. They overhear Dr. Angleman talking to another scientist about their commandos having withdrawals from the drugs they had been secretly putting in their meals. Buffy grabs Dr. Angleman, demanding information about 314. Riley arrives to help Buffy, still unwilling to accept Professor Walsh's sinister motives. Adam drops a dead body to the floor, revealing his presence. Adam is searching for answers about the world, and has returned to the Initiative so he can get answers about himself and who he is. He has a disk drive in his chest and when he inserts a disk labelled "Adam" he offers information that reveals that he is part human, demon and machine. He explains that even though Riley had a real mother, Maggie was also his mother as she shaped and built him into a human machine for the Initiative. Adam kills Dr. Angleman and injures Riley before escaping again. The other commandos enter and take Riley away. The next day, Buffy talks to Willow about how Adam is out there and very dangerous. At the hospital, Riley lays in bed holding a scarf Buffy gave him earlier. Even though Buffy cannot see him, he has part of her to hold on to.