It’s early 19th century Cardiff. A prostitute named Mary and an English officer go off into the woods for a little slap and tickle. With a newfound sense of propriety, the officer slaps Mary. She scratches his face in response and runs away, the officer giving chase. She runs toward a glowing light ahead. The officer catches up to her and pulls his pistol on her. She smiles. A shot is fired.

It’s present day Cardiff, the Torchwood team is at a building site which has turned into a bit of an archaeological dig. Inside a tent that has been erected, the team look over a rusty alien artifact next to a skeleton. Owen says the bones are that of a woman. Looking at the shattered ribs, he surmises that she was shot. Tosh believes that the body and artifact have been there almost two centuries. Gwen flirts with Owen; Tosh feels like an outcast seeing this.

They take the artifact and body back to the lab. Gwen and Owen are again flirting with each other, horsing around. They inadvertently knock the power to Tosh’s computer, Tosh goes into a fit because she was running an intricate program. Pissed at the two, Tosh goes to the local pub for a drink. Mary (the same Mary from the 1800s and not a day older than she once was) sidles up to Tosh and chats with her. She tells Tosh she knows all about her and Torchwood. When Tosh asks how she knows all this info, Mary tells her she’s a scavenger, one who collects alien objects.

Mary hands Tosh a pendant and tells her to put it on. She does and is suddenly bombarded by the thoughts of all the people in the pub. It’s almost unbearable. Mary tells Tosh to focus on her voice. Soon, the other voices subside. Tosh tells Mary she has to show it to the others at Torchwood. Mary’s pretty sure she won’t.

Tosh wears the pendant back to work. She's about to tell Owen and Gwen about it, but she starts to hear their thoughts – thoughts about their affair and what they really think of Tosh.

Upset, Tosh goes home to find Mary waiting for her. She hears Mary’s thoughts of her attraction to Tosh. She hesitates, but then Tosh gives in and grabs Mary to kiss her.

We later find Tosh in bed, feeling a little awkward at her new (?) lesbian status. Tosh asks Mary who she really is and Mary tells her she goes by another name – Philoctetes.
Tosh wears the pendant out in public, at Mary’s urging. Among the inane thoughts, she hears a man thinking about killing his ex-wife and son. Tosh follows him and is able to save the day by knocking the guy out with a golf club. She’s now a local hero.