In the surveillance command, Commander Mona Damani presses Rosabelle about a letter—an ornate wedding invitation from Lieutenant Sebastian Rivers—that Clara delivered earlier. Damani explains that James stole Rosabelle’s mail while leaving her in the hall and now has the stack in Ark Forest. Rosabelle, forced into pink medic scrubs after her personal clothes and her father’s coat were incinerated, watches the feeds as James discovers and opens the invitation.

On-screen, James jokes to a squirrel as he reads the invitation, then reacts angrily, calling Rosabelle a “serial killer” and questioning whether her supposed fiancé knows who she is. He burns the invitation in the campfire. Damani comments that the entire island received invitations and congratulates Rosabelle, while Rosabelle flatly denies any engagement and says they are not getting married. Damani counters that Sebastian made a case to the council to honor the betrothal despite Rosabelle’s family’s disgrace and that, pending mission needs, Rosabelle will report directly to Lieutenant Rivers; the wedding would be postponed until after the mission.

As James fashions a crude stone blade and spear, Damani receives confirmation for the next step. A remote detonation explodes the munitions James stole, blasting him into a tree and leaving him broken and bleeding on the snow. Rosabelle suppresses panic and watches as he lies unmoving, then writhes and screams while trying to set his shattered limb. Damani credits Rosabelle’s composure, falsely claiming Soledad once praised her for eating a sandwich after a decapitation, which Rosabelle internally rejects.

Damani explains that Ark triggered the blast to incapacitate James without killing him. She relays Klaus’s prediction that the injuries include major fractures, a partial tear of a mid-cervical vertebra, and a brain hemorrhage, but that James’s healing will likely revive him in six to eight hours, giving Ark a window to prepare the next phase. Damani contrasts this with Ark’s current advantage: the mutative gene has been eradicated among the population, preventing powers like James’s—except, notably, for Rosabelle, whose unchipped mind and rumored retained gene make her an anomaly.

Probing Rosabelle, Damani frames the earlier mutative experiment as a lesson that rebels turned against The Reestablishment, insisting Ark must control every variable forever to guarantee results. Rosabelle gives curt agreement, continuing to mask her reactions while watching James, who attempts to reposition his broken leg through excruciating pain.

Damani then accelerates timelines: Rosabelle’s interrogation with Soledad, originally scheduled for tomorrow, will be completed today, after which Lieutenant Rivers will brief her on the mission. When Rosabelle asks to see Clara, Damani refuses and orders her out as the door opens, ending the scene with Rosabelle being moved to her next ordeal.