After repair subs fix the damage, Carl and Donut are teleported not to their personal space but to a back office in the Desperado Club. There they meet Orren, a Syndicate liaison who investigates disputes between official reports from the AI and the kua-tin showrunners. Orren explains that many admins have been killed by crawlers this season, but Loita’s death is unusual because the surveillance does not fully explain how Carl caused it.

Orren presents his reconstruction of Loita’s death. He says Carl unintentionally boosted the robot Donut’s explosive yield by working near it, then used disco-ball residue and moisture from Loita’s rebreather to weaken the toy’s back panel. According to Orren, Carl then made Loita stand up, the toy jumped after her, the panel came loose, and the self-destruct sequence killed her. Orren admires the method, but he tries to make Carl sign a confession or reveal an outside source in exchange for leniency and a powerful reward.

Carl refuses and privately reviews what really happened. The cookbook gave Carl information about the trailer’s forcefield and the dust, but not Orren’s chemical explanation. Carl had deliberately wedged the toy’s flimsy back panel with a piece of his own broken thumbnail so it would fall off only when the robot jumped down from the couch. Carl denies having a source to reveal, refuses to confess, and says that if he had planned to kill an admin, he would not have wasted the chance on Loita.

Because Orren cannot prove the case, he says the matter will be closed, though Borant is punished for the rest of the floor: third parties can no longer teleport crawlers away, which cancels Carl and Donut’s next appearance on Odette’s show. Orren also reveals that Carl and Donut have been gone for five days, warns that the kua-tin protected Carl because he is valuable entertainment, and hints that harsher rulers may take over after the next floor. As Carl leaves, he glimpses a Valtay worm inside Orren’s hooded face.

Back with Mordecai and Katia, Carl and Donut learn what happened during their absence. Zev has become their temporary PR agent, Katia already completed her show before the ban took effect, and she spent the lost days fighting in the land quadrant with Louis and Firas while figuring out how to move the house there. Chris and Maggie remain trapped under guard, Mordecai is shaken that a liaison intervened this early, and Carl reveals he quietly looted Loita’s rebreather before leaving.