Darrow, Thraxa, Harnassus, and Screw watch as Glirastes and Cato board a flier. Thraxa admires Cato’s deft piloting and insists she could force Glirastes back to work. Harnassus counters that Glirastes is emotionally dependent on Cato and terrified they will harm him, arguing that cooperation is the only way to keep the project moving.

Darrow gauges Cato with Screw’s input. Screw judges the newcomer bland—“Nothing remarkable there. Just a Pixie twit”—but hesitates, leaving room for doubt. Darrow shares that assessment but remains uneasy.

Recalling Alexandar’s account of the escape, Darrow questions how an unremarkable Pixie survived when capable soldiers like Crastus and Drusilla died. The inconsistency raises the possibility that Cato is a plant or otherwise dangerous.

Acting on that suspicion, Darrow orders Screw to implant a monitor spike in Cato during anti-radiation dosing. He allows Glirastes custody to keep the Master Maker productive while resolving the larger question: whether Cato is an enemy spy and whether Glirastes himself has turned. The plan is to watch and listen, using Cato as a conduit to expose any betrayal.