As the maintenance capsule reaches the surface dock, SecUnit finds the station eerily quiet, with no feed traffic and only weak emergency power. Leaving Overse and Thiago in the capsule, SecUnit scouts alone and discovers a dusty, largely unused dock connected to a strange colony landscape: a lake, agricultural structures, active ag-bots, and a large complex that does not match the Adamantine colony plans. From the architecture and layout, SecUnit concludes that the site is older and stranger than expected, possibly tied to the earlier Pre-CR colony and alien remnant contamination.

SecUnit then hears gunfire and locates a large battle inside the main drop-box chamber. Using drones and the dock map, SecUnit observes that the combatants are altered human colonists, not the same kind of Targets seen aboard ART, and that they are split into at least two hostile factions. This confirms that the contamination theory is likely correct and makes clear that ART's missing crew landed in the middle of an ongoing internal conflict.

Searching the chamber's edges, SecUnit finds Iris hiding near an inactive lift pod lobby with Seth, Kaede, Tarik, and Matteo. Iris explains that three other members of ART's crew never escaped the corporate ship, and that a colonist helped this group flee before being killed. After verifying that Iris has no implant, SecUnit reveals enough of its identity to earn the group's trust, reassures Iris that ART is still functioning, and learns from the crew that the colonists knowingly settled on a contaminated site, later relocated, and eventually split as physical and psychological symptoms worsened into apparent factional warfare.

To extract the trapped humans quickly, SecUnit coordinates a plan with Overse and Thiago. Overse uses poppers from an upper balcony to disorient both sides of the firefight, Thiago waits in a corridor to guide the escape, and SecUnit rushes the lift pod lobby to lead the crew out. The five humans follow directions and begin running toward the maintenance capsule, while SecUnit provides covering fire and uses two ag-bots as distractions to keep the chamber chaotic long enough for them to get clear.

The escape collapses when SecUnit suddenly loses contact with its drones and the ag-bots, suggesting an external takeover. One ag-bot attacks SecUnit, and the other pursues the fleeing humans down the corridor. When Seth falls, Iris risks herself to save him, and SecUnit races after them, crippling the bot limb by limb until Thiago can carry Seth away with Iris. SecUnit destroys the last support joint, but the ag-bot falls on top of SecUnit; before SecUnit can recover, the surrounding Targets open fire. SecUnit's armor begins to fail under the barrage, and the chapter ends with a catastrophic reliability drop and forced shutdown.