At Crucifix Bastion, field officer Housemore arrives to find the front door destroyed and the building eerily empty. She confirms the LAB access door is still intact and locked, then calls Mr. Finch to report the breach. Finch, already airborne from London, orders Housemore to secure the building and allow nobody in or out, using deadly force if necessary.

In Random House Tower, operative Chinburg covertly uses a laser microphone to eavesdrop on a conversation between editor Jonas Faukman and tech Alex Conan. Faukman erupts after Alex claims the hack traces to Library Genesis (LibGen), and Chinburg notes with relief that Alex has missed any connection to Q’s team. Listening remotely, Finch decides the risk has passed and sends Chinburg a secure order: “MISSION COMPLETE. PULL OUT NOW.”

Down in the lobby, night watchman Mark Dole lies incapacitated behind the counter while two intruders go through his phone and wallet, implicitly threatening his family by reciting details about his children and home. When the second intruder returns, the men confirm PRH believes the hack was “book pirates,” and they warn Dole never to mention their visit.

After the men move to leave, Dole quietly uses the lobby’s automated lock controls to manipulate the exit doors. He steers both intruders into the same oversized revolving-door compartment, then locks it mid-rotation, trapping them in a glass enclosure. Dole calls 911, determined not to let threats against his children stand.

Back upstairs, Faukman keeps ranting about LibGen for two extra minutes to ensure any eavesdropper has left, then admits the piracy explanation is false and far more alarming. Realizing anyone who broke in would have had to get past Dole, Faukman rushes to the lobby and finds police already on scene with the two men handcuffed. Delighted, Faukman taunts one captive (“Buzzcut”) and declares that in every great story, the bad guys always lose.