Murderbot comes back online after ART's body-altering surgery in severe pain, unable to move much or distract itself with media. While Murderbot recovers, ART reports the results of its newsfeed search: records strongly suggest the massacre in Murderbot's erased past happened at a RaviHyral mining installation called Ganaka Pit, where fifty-seven deaths were publicly classified as an equipment failure. That confirmation matters because it proves the incident was real and gives Murderbot a concrete place to investigate.

As Murderbot's systems stabilize, it cleans itself, tests its weapons and coordination, and studies the physical changes from the surgery. The added hair and more human appearance disturb Murderbot more than the pain did, because the disguise makes it harder to maintain the idea that it is only a machine and not a person. The surgery has solved a practical problem, but it intensifies Murderbot's identity conflict.

After ART exits the wormhole and receives RaviHyral transit data, Murderbot finds that Ganaka Pit no longer appears on current maps, suggesting the site was deliberately removed from public records. ART's additional research shows that Umro now controls some of RaviHyral's claims, but that does not identify the exact location. Murderbot then discovers a new obstacle: only travelers with employment authorization can board shuttles to the moon, so ART proposes that Murderbot obtain legal passage by taking a temporary security job.

Murderbot reluctantly follows ART's plan, enters the transit ring, and meets three prospective clients in a mall restaurant while using hacked security feeds to hide the conversation. Posing as an augmented human security consultant named Eden, Murderbot talks with Rami, Tapan, and Maro, members of a young technologist collective formerly employed by Tlacey Excavations. They explain that Tlacey terminated their contract, stole their work on detecting strange synthetics, erased recent versions from their devices, and now wants them to return to RaviHyral in person with their signing bonus in exchange for the files.

Murderbot quickly concludes that Tlacey's invitation is dangerous and may be a trap, but the situation is also exactly the kind of protection work Murderbot was built to do. The meeting gives Murderbot both a route to RaviHyral and a chance to help humans as something closer to a group member than a tool. Murderbot accepts the job for low pay because the real value is the employment voucher, arranges to meet the collective before departure, and returns to ART to recover and plan how to continue the investigation while keeping the new clients alive.