Bound and muzzled aboard a Rim dropship, Lysander surveys Io’s hostile surface while he and Cassius endure a month of water deprivation. Pandora has visited Lysander’s cell daily, demanding a datacube he denies knowing about. Diomedes’s influence has prevented worse torture, but Pytha’s fate remains unknown. Their aliases—Castor and Regulus au Janus—hold, suggesting their vault has not been found.

When turbulence knocks away Lysander’s water, the guard Bollov refuses a refill. Diomedes enters, overrides the guard, and gives Lysander one measured cup. Seizing the moment, Lysander probes Diomedes about Seraphina’s unsanctioned mission and appeals to his honor to release them before they see Io; Cassius urges silence.

Diomedes judges Lysander presumptuous. He shocks Cassius through the muzzle, drags Lysander to the loading bay, and delivers a lesson on Rim honor versus Core condescension. He then opens the belly doors and drops Lysander tethered into Io’s toxic air, inflicting heat and hypoxia before hauling him back aboard.

Shaken and burned, Lysander apologizes. Diomedes accepts, asserting dominance while signaling a strict code—both protector and disciplinarian. The captives are delivered to Io, their prospects grim under Raa custody, with Diomedes emerging as a potential but unforgiving ally.