Back at the saferoom, Carl and Donut settle the two were-castors at the inn and find Mordecai irritated by Samantha’s nonstop screaming from the training room. Donut admits that she told Samantha about their contact with Signet, which triggered the outburst. Mordecai explains that Samantha was giving him a valuable potion recipe before Donut mentioned the Naiad elite, and now Samantha will not stop demanding attention.

Carl goes to the training room and finds Samantha, the reanimated severed sex doll head, rolling herself across the floor. Samantha insists that Tsarina Signet is a distant relative and claims Signet can restore her body. Because Carl and Donut are already planning to see Signet during the assault on the Naiad castle, Carl promises to bring Samantha along if Samantha stays quiet. Samantha immediately agrees and offers violent loyalty in exchange for the chance.

Zev then transfers Carl and Donut to a security checkpoint before Odette’s show. The transition throws them into a nearly weightless chamber with a glass wall overlooking Earth, and the sudden sight of the planet deeply affects Carl. Donut becomes sick in the low-gravity environment, and two armed shade gnoll mercenaries enter, scan and frisk both of them, and clear them for passage.

After the checkpoint, Carl and Donut arrive in Odette’s trailer and discover that Odette is present as a hologram while Zev is there in person without her usual suit. Odette says there is an urgent matter to discuss before the show and brings up Carl’s ex-girlfriend, Beatrice. The chapter ends with Odette delivering a major revelation: Beatrice is alive.