James drifts in and out of consciousness, feeling pain, cold steel, and motion, and deduces he is being wheeled down a hallway on a gurney after having his throat slit. Knowing his healing ability might revive him just in time for organ harvesting, he forces himself to stay alert and suspects his captors are baiting a trap rather than being careless.

As his mind clears, he overhears a nervous technician, Jeff, chatting about going home for lasagna and referencing processing a batch of bodies. James opens his eyes, noting the woman who killed him (whom he nicknames “Doll Hands”) beside him, and then deliberately sits up, startling Jeff into panic and triggering an alarm.

James shoves the gurney into the woman, pinning her against the wall and likely cracking her ribs. Amid blaring sirens and fleeing lab personnel, he demands an exit or her knife. She refuses, warns of the consequences, and throws a knife that only wounds his shoulder. He pulls out the blade, taunts her about her aim, and observes her inject herself in the thigh with a syringe, apparently fighting for breath.

Armed military personnel flood the corridor wielding advanced, neon-tinged weapons. A commander calls the woman “Rosabelle,” startling James with the softness of her name, and steps forward displaying a veiny, blue-lit bionic arm and cybernetic enhancements. The sight triggers James’s memories of The Reestablishment’s earlier prosthetic tech used on his father and prompts a reflection on the regime’s hidden continuity, sabotage operations, and the mainland’s struggles to counter them.

James recounts that recent psy-ops and attacks, including a deadly elementary school gas-line explosion, have eroded public trust. With Juliette worried and Warner unable to leave due to Juliette’s condition, James attempted a solo infiltration to gain intel and prove himself, despite the fatal track record of Ark spies.

Now, as the commander approaches with weapon raised, he slows, studies James, and remarks with awe that James looks like his father, lamenting that both would die tragic deaths. He then tosses his gun to Rosabelle and orders, “Make it quick,” leaving James at immediate risk of execution.