Lyria searches the rows of corpses laid out beyond the camp wall, praying her sister is not among them. She eventually finds Ava and the children butchered, and her grief overwhelms her until medics sedate her. In the recovery tent, a Yellow medic outlines transfer plans while Lyria sinks into anger and despair.

Kavax au Telemanus arrives to thank Lyria for saving him at the river, meets Liam, and offers kind words and a token promising aid. When Lyria reveals her family is dead, Kavax tries to console her, but duty calls him away, leaving her convinced words cannot secure safety or a future.

Determined to escape Mars, Lyria runs to Kavax’s shuttle and demands passage. Kavax hesitates, and his daughter Xana refuses, citing immigration regulations and the precedent it would set. Lyria accuses the Republic of abandonment and broken promises, but the ship prepares to depart.

Sophocles, Kavax’s fox, retrieves planted candy from Lyria’s pocket, which Kavax treats as a sign. Seizing on it, he declares Lyria a valet of House Telemanus, ordering Liam brought aboard. Kavax privately admits the ruse, and Lyria, still mourning but resolved, boards with Liam, leaving the graves and mud of Mars for Luna and the chance of a new life.