Holsten wakes from suspension to find himself caged in a shuttle-bay cell, confronting squalid, crowded living quarters and robed, long-haired strangers who treat him with wary reverence. Shorn to mark him as an “original,” he is given an isolated terminal and forced to translate files about the upload facility Guyen salvaged, piecing together that much time and multiple generations have passed.

His captors barely speak, demanding he “explain” the ancient texts. Holsten wrestles with the surreal conditions, noticing a cult-like avoidance of eye contact and ritual behaviors, and concludes Guyen has been awake long enough to mold cargo-descendants into devotees while pursuing mind-uploading.

Abruptly, armed figures extract Holsten from his cell; he sees fresh corpses in the corridors and realizes he has been kidnapped from one faction by another amid shipboard conflict. They take him to a workshop where technicians battle for system control. There he meets Lain, hardened and armed, who demands what he knows.

Lain explains that Guyen has spent decades intermittently awake, founding a messianic cult among the cargo’s descendants and advancing the upload translator. Tests on his followers produced partial “successes,” leaving degraded ghost processes in the Gilgamesh’s systems. These entities attack intruders, preventing Lain from defeating Guyen digitally. Meanwhile, the auto-repair suite prioritizes Guyen’s interests, while hundreds living awake strain supplies and degrade the ship.

Lain argues Guyen intends to become the Gilgamesh itself, discarding most of the crew and life-support burdens. She rescued Holsten both as a friend and for his expertise, vowing to stop Guyen. The chapter closes with Lain preparing Holsten for a meeting with “old friends,” signaling an impending move against the commander.