Having spent 14 months in the hands of the North Koreans, James Bond has been unexpectedly released in a trade for Zao [Rick Yune], the treacherous North Korean, with, thanks to Bond, a diamond-studded face. Bond has his 007 status rescinded by M [Judi Dench] who orders him to a detention centre in the Falklands, indefinately. Bond however, realising he has been betrayed by someone in North Korea, is determined to find Zao and escapes from the medical bay on the British frigate in Hong Kong harbour, and swims for shore, calmly walking into his usual hotel, where once ensconced in the Presidential Suite, encounters the masseuse, Peaceful Fountains of Desire, who has been sent up to his room by the manager, who is hiding behind a two-way mirror. Realising this, Bond snatches the gun from the masseuse's thigh and persuades the manager, who is working for the Chinese, to help him find Zao.