Karst reports the ship is being hit with “rocks,” as systems flicker and Alpash confirms a cargo-bay breach. Emergency seals hold, but forty-nine chambers are lost to impact and surges, a devastating toll. In low orbit above the web, Karst argues for immediate retaliation, while Lain reminds him the Gilgamesh is not a warship and begins reorienting the ship to bring the asteroid arrays to bear.

Vitas rejects the notion of burning their way to control, citing power constraints and the risk to life-support. She challenges Karst’s ground-war fantasies and instead proposes synthesizing an arthropod-specific toxin using archived Earth data, aiming to neutralize the spiders without harming humans. Karst nevertheless arms security for a potential beachhead. Holsten, uneasy with the moral cost, listens to the planet’s tangled radio traffic.

A new transmission arrives: “Missed.” Holsten addresses Doctor Avrana Kern, who replies with contempt and tells them to leave. Holsten pleads humanity’s plight, but Kern calls humanity overrated and admits she is only an advisor to those now making decisions on the planet. When Holsten asks for Eliza, Kern says anything that was Eliza was destroyed and ends the exchange.

As hull sensors continue failing, Karst launches a drone to inspect the exterior. The feed shows a heavily patched hull and then furtive movement: several gray forms scuttle in vacuum, anchoring and leaping with threads that lattice the ship. Confronted by the evidence, the crew realizes the spiders have reached the Gilgamesh, and Lain concludes they are trying to get in.