James raged at himself for the botched infiltration and doubted that his apparent escape from Ark’s prison-lab was genuine. Surrounded by snow and nursing healing bullet wounds he had crudely treated, he noted that his blood trail and body heat should have made him easy to track, which increased his suspicion that Ark was letting him run.

He stashed a cache of advanced guns in brush, assumed they were tracked, and built a temporary shelter while scavenging food and water. Every movement in the forest made him tense; he fixated on birds and small animals, convinced they might be Ark surveillance, and grew increasingly paranoid that the island was manipulating him.

James berated himself for not killing Rosabelle when he had the chance. He admitted he had projected his brother Adam’s protective, self-sacrificing history onto Rosabelle after seeing her stripped, vulnerable, and concerned for her sister, which stayed his hand. He recognized this as an emotional mistake, since Rosabelle had killed him and repeatedly tried again, and Ark had the medical technology to save her.

He reflected on Warner’s past training critiques about concealment and restraint, noting he had bled conspicuously during the escape and likely revealed too much about his abilities. The lack of pursuit convinced him the situation was psychological warfare—Ark had probably allowed the escape and might be monitoring him through the weapons and the environment.

James reviewed his entry plan: he had stolen a jet, landed on a nearby New Republic island, kayaked to a smaller island, then paraglided into Ark Forest to avoid leaving a trail. Expecting the stolen jet to be repossessed, he acknowledged he needed a new route home and began planning accordingly.

He considered stealing another jet but settled on acquiring a boat as the more realistic option, while assuming Ark’s ports would be heavily trapped and guarded. Addressing a raccoon he suspected was a recording device, he refused to state details and instead resolved to devise a plan by asking, “What would Aaron Warner Anderson do?” He declared he would apply Warner’s teachings to outmaneuver Ark.