Miller watches a Martian presidential address blaming the Belt for a security breach that cost 2,086 lives and announcing a military cordon on Belt assets. The speech cites multiple recent incursions and claims eighteen illegal warships destroyed. Miller accepts that open war has begun and worries about Ceres’ safety.

At the station, the caseload has spiked and tensions are high. Miller and Muss discuss Star Helix’s precarious neutrality and rumors of an OPA schism that could trigger a wider Belt civil war. Captain Shaddid summons Miller to her office.

Inside, Anderson Dawes sits with Shaddid. Shaddid removes Miller from the Julie Mao case, orders him to return materials and wipe his data, and reveals she blocked his outreach to the Maos and the Holden interrogation transcripts. Dawes argues Star Helix must appear uninvolved while the OPA, with wider reach, investigates Mao and the Scopuli. He denies OPA responsibility for the Donnager and asserts, “We have Holden,” implying access to vital testimony. Shaddid redirects Miller to surging station crimes.

Back at his desk, Miller asks Muss how one buries an unwanted case. She describes handing it to a “fish” and bluntly notes she was assigned to Miller after rejecting a senior’s advances, making clear Miller is seen as a once-good cop now sidelined. Miller reels at the realization but prepares to work the routine murder they’ve been handed.

Later, Miller drinks heavily at the Blue Frog. The bartender, Hasini, escorts him home as Miller reflects on turning in the Julie file, his lost agency, and the war’s inevitability. In his drunken confession, Miller admits he’s fallen in love with Julie, clarifying his fixation even as he’s forced off her case.