Amid the wrecked casino on Eros, Miller and Holden rest against silent pachinko machines, watching guards terrorize scattered civilians. Miller wrestles with a split mindset: a resigned “death-self” and the detective still trying to solve Julie Mao’s case. Prodded by Holden’s question—why Protogen is doing this—Miller notes the extensive monitoring gear and concludes Eros is a petri dish, not a simple slaughter.

Tube station locks turn green. Slack-eyed, contaminated survivors stagger out, vomiting familiar brown sludge that spreads in smears. Holden links them to the irradiated shelters; Miller recalls the organism is anaerobic. A riot cop guns several down, releasing black filaments, confirming the pathogen’s transformation. The CPM goons prove expendable, but the mercenaries at the port remain disciplined, clearly expecting this phase.

Miller predicts the mercs will pull back and sees their posture shift. Fighting nausea and radiation damage, he urges Holden to be ready to shadow the withdrawal without provoking fire. Miller’s fixation on Julie flickers as a hallucination, but the detective side drives him to act before the mob surges.

When the mercenary captain retreats, Miller and Holden move. No one stops them as they reach the archway; beyond, the corridor is clear—proof the mercs are abandoning the level to the outbreak. With the window open and the station collapsing into contamination and panic, they slip after the mercenaries toward the port, hoping to escape.