Ugly Dan and three Tinpots catch Darrow and Eo in the Webbery after their forbidden night under the stars. Darrow surrenders to avoid their deaths, and both are manacled and thrown into cells. After three days, Bridge, a kinder Tinpot, briefly reunites them before their punishment. Eo’s farewell feels final as she whispers, “Break the chains,” alarming Darrow.

In the Common, Magistrate Podginus performs a grandiose speech about Order and Law. A Gold arrives: ArchGovernor Nero au Augustus, flanked by Obsidians and an HC camera crew. He speaks only to his own, turning the punishment into a broadcast spectacle that elevates the moment from discipline to propaganda.

Darrow is stripped and lashed forty-eight times by the headTalks. The beating is staged as theater; Ugly Dan plays the part of a sympathetic enforcer, stepping in at the end to appear merciful. Darrow is left bloodied and helpless, a public example.

Eo is brought forward to be whipped. Darrow begs to take her punishment but is gagged. After the thirteenth lash, Eo begins the forbidden song. Fascinated, Nero orders that she be allowed to sing and that the recording continue. Eo’s defiance transforms her from victim to symbol in Darrow’s eyes.

When the song ends, Nero mocks the crowd and invites others to join her; none dare. Podginus labels Eo an outlier, and Nero, bored and resolute, orders her hanged. The chapter ends with Eo condemned, Darrow shattered, and the colony reminded of the unassailable power above them.