Virginia arrives at Dictaeon Antron, Daxo au Telemanus’s brain-shaped skyhook and Optimate headquarters, where politicos prepare for a seventy-two-hour blitz before a pivotal Senate vote. She assesses the fractured blocs: Lunese moderates skittish, Martians rallying to Darrow, Coppers and Obsidians set to vote as blocs, and Sefi secretly on Mars, smuggling warriors and clouding Obsidian allegiance.

Descending to Daxo’s aquarium office, Virginia finds him meeting Publius cu Caraval, the Copper Tribune. Publius refuses to expand the Sovereign’s powers if it means capitulating to Quicksilver’s plutocratic leverage, framing it as a matter of principle despite the legions’ peril. Virginia joins, pressing him on the moral calculus and the need to save the Free Legions.

Buoyed by Darrow’s victory and new evidence, Publius concedes the legions may be saved but warns against turning the Republic into a plutocracy. Virginia hints she can secure critical Silver votes without concessions and would annul prior giveaways once empowered. Publius departs, intrigued. Afterward, Daxo admits he lured Publius by claiming Darrow personally implored his help.

Virginia and Daxo spar over deploying Sevro in the political fight, reveal Daxo’s self-styled Luciferian persona, and reaffirm their mantra of self-mastery. Virginia declines to unleash Daxo on Sevro, prioritizing stability as the vote nears.

They ascend to the crowded war room. Virginia rallies the Optimates, unveiling a hologram pyramid representing the seventy-one votes needed for emergency fleet control. She orders them to fill it, and the machine roars to life: lobbyists fan out, media surrogates mobilize, and Hyperion descends into a frenzy as the campaign to rescue the legions and reshape power begins.