At midnight, the box phone alerts Tony Stackhouse. Ron Church, an off-duty caretaker, reports that the requested van has been placed at the airport, with Denise Allgood following in an Institute sedan to give him a ride back. Stackhouse assumes Ron and Denise will flee after setting the van, and he accepts this as part of the broader staff desertions he has been witnessing.

Stackhouse resigns himself to a fatalistic outcome: Luke Ellis and Tim Jamieson will be taken down, and whether that satisfies the lisping overseer on the Zero Phone is beyond his control. He reflects that this acceptance feels like a wartime habit returning from his Iraq and Afghanistan service.

Rosalind Dawson enters, now wearing a shoulder holster, and announces Gladys’s arrival. Gladys appears with an air mask hanging under her chin and reddened eyes, likely from handling chemicals, and reports that the gas is ready and only needs toilet bowl cleaner added to activate it. She complains about the pervasive hum that has been intensifying around the Institute.

Gladys relays that Dr. Felicia Richardson has observed on monitors that the hum strengthens when the children link hands and weakens when they separate, matching Stackhouse’s own observations. Stackhouse estimates that action will occur in roughly three hours and confirms the HVAC units are on the roof.

Stackhouse instructs Gladys that if she hears shooting at the front of the admin building, she must start the chlorine gas via the rooftop HVAC immediately—even without a direct order—then run along the roof to the East Wing of Front Half, avoiding reentry into the building. Gladys agrees enthusiastically, flashing the smile the children fear.