Drugged but mobile, Darrow is escorted by Holiday and Trigg through the prison, posing as dragoons with a hooded “prisoner.” Paranoia and urgency mount as they descend instead of ascending toward their extraction. In the gravLift, Vixus joins them, probing their allegiances and noticing their Thirteenth tattoos.

Darrow orders a camera kill; a jamfield pops. He lunges at Vixus, but his weakened body falters. Holiday shields him while Trigg jams a gun into Vixus’s mouth, forcing surrender. Under threat, Vixus reveals Victra is alive in cell 2187. Holiday argues to stick to the evacuation plan, but Darrow insists on rescuing Victra, and Trigg backs him, pushing Holiday to relent despite the risk of Olympic Knights and heavy forces nearby.

They divert to level 23. Vixus opens the cell, revealing Victra emaciated and tormented by blinding light and punishing sound. When the noise cuts, Victra reacts ferally, attacking. Holiday’s shock baton fails to stop her, but Trigg tranqs her, and they hoist her for extraction. Leaving Vixus alive as promised, they move to withdraw.

Darrow abruptly returns, remembering past atrocities and refusing to let Vixus hunt them again. He kills Vixus with his razor, framing it as a message to the Jackal. As Vixus dies, alarms begin to wail, exposing their detour and putting their extraction window in immediate jeopardy.