Wren, Ivy, Roe, and the others emerge from RTI exhausted and shell-shocked. Wren cleans up with an extended shower, then eats with fellow recruits, noting the group’s shaken state. The cohort is granted four days off with two days of overnight leisure passes, but Wren is denied a pass, heightening her isolation. While others leave, she wanders the base and reaches out telepathically: Wolf does not answer, but Tana links and reports heavy soldier presence in town, constant surveillance at the pub, and general unease, which Wren asks her to monitor.

On Sunday, Lyddie, Kaine, and Lash return; Lash recounts a tense but mundane family visit. The next day, the recruits assemble to receive final Program results. From the original fifty-six, thirty-six remain when they enter, and after Hadley dismisses eleven as not accepted to Silver Block, twenty-five are welcomed by Captain Deron Radek. Instructors direct them to check scores on their sources. Wren, Lyddie, Kaine, Ivy, Lash, Kess, Anson, and others celebrate making Silver Block. Wren finds not a score but notice of an additional test labeled “elite” scheduled for the next day; twelve recruits, including Wren and Kaine, are shortlisted. Wren observes Roe’s murderous look and realizes he was not shortlisted.

That evening, for pit night, Lyddie secures permission from Soldier Struck for Wren to borrow a UCO dress. Wren wears a revealing red dress that draws Kaine’s interest, but she declines intimacy, citing the test. She is struck by guilt and the sense she has lost sight of her mission. As she turns to leave, she encounters Cross with Ford and one of the RTI interrogators. Cross dismisses the others and confronts Wren, asking if she wore the dress for him; she admits she did. They passionately make out in a secluded corridor, and Cross invites her to his quarters that night; she agrees.

The mood shifts when a singsong voice calls for “Cross” from the pit. The crowd is eerily quiet as Roe Redden, apparently on stimulants and enraged over not being shortlisted, publicly calls out Cross. The simmering lifelong resentment between the brothers surfaces. Cross initially tries to deflect, but seeing Roe’s persistence, he drops into the pit.

Roe charges. Cross methodically dismantles Roe with superior speed and power, landing precise strikes that batter Roe’s face and body. Roe continues taunting through blood and exhaustion, refusing to concede. Cross ends it with a final brutal blow that drops Roe, then icily tells him, “Consider this your education.” Roe curses him, and Cross labels Roe spoiled before leaving him beaten in the sand.

Cross climbs out, briefly meets Wren’s eyes, then disappears into the crowd, leaving Wren rattled by his cold efficiency and Roe’s public humiliation.