Zev messages Carl and Princess Donut as they enter the Desperado Club, ordering them to return in four and a half hours for Odette’s show and then proceed straight to the Phase Two onboarding chamber. Zev adds that Harbinger will be observing virtually again and that their attorney will attend.

Carl and Donut review their recent practice deck fights and conclude they must win real matches quickly to prevent enemy deckmasters from spending rare consumable cards. Carl notes their deck is not built for speed, recounting how snares and repeated summons cost them one match, while a fast opening attack ended another in seconds.

Inside the club’s dining room, they find Katia surrounded by Bautista, Imani, Elle, and Louis, with Katia sobbing and violently vomiting. Mordecai explains privately that Katia is addicted to four drugs—Travis Priest, Creamsicle Charm, blitz sticks, and a single use of Glory Bound—and that detox is scrambling her stats, lowering some attributes, and leaving lasting susceptibility to addiction effects. He warns the hardest cure involves forcing Katia through a deliberately awful Glory Bound experience and that timing will be tight, with Phase Two approaching.

Mordecai then pushes Carl to consider an “alternate solution”: letting Katia self-destruct to protect Donut, arguing the Crown of the Sepsis Whore problem makes it “either her or Donut.” Carl refuses outright and insists they will not abandon Katia. Carl decides they must act immediately, pressing Katia to pull herself together so she can help with the time-sensitive plan to kill Astrid, which requires Katia’s drawing skills and must be completed before their appearance with Odette.

Bautista tries to stop Katia, arguing they can do it later, and storms out when Carl and Katia insist on going now. Imani agrees to help anyway, putting the blitz patch on Katia and adding stabilizing buffs, while Donut follows them to the bathroom. Left with Carl, Louis, and Elle, Elle warns Carl not to get Katia killed—especially because it could worsen tensions with “Tony the Tiger”—but acknowledges Carl’s urgency, as Carl admits he fears Phase Two will change everything again.