In the immediate aftermath of the Jubilee explosion, Wren follows Adrienne through the evacuating crowd and drags her into a shadowed alley. Adrienne is physically debilitated—sweating, cold, and barely able to stand—mirroring the toll Wren once felt when exerting psychic control. Pressed by Wren, Adrienne admits she “rewired” General Merrick Redden’s mind, a rare talent even beyond incitement, effectively rendering him nonfunctional.

Adrienne tries to contact Sara and concedes she needs help to reach a rendezvous. Wren helps her toward the transport gate as Command regains control of the venue. A second, distant explosion erupts, later revealed as the destruction of the base’s northern quadrant and a hangar of fighter jets. Amid the chaos, Adrienne departs in a speeding car before Wren can reenter the building.

Roe confronts Wren outside, taunting and physically attacking her. After soldiers arrive, Roe drags Lyddie forward; at Lyddie’s direction, a soldier exposes Wren’s left thigh, revealing her bloodmark. Betrayed and outnumbered, Wren is arrested and sent to the stockade.

Hours pass without Cross’s arrival. Wren reflects on Adrienne’s ability and wonders about previous fragmented patients, whether corruption could explain them, and whether Vinessa Redden might have been corrupted rather than Modified. She finally links with Cross, who reports the northern quadrant’s destruction and that Merrick’s mind is “fried.” The Tribunal names Travis General, and Cross doubts anyone will believe Wren is loyal after the attacks.

Cross later visits with a jammer and reveals sweeping reprisals: Travis declares war on all known Modified; loyalists and slaves alike are to be rounded up for labor camps or worse. Wren’s own execution has been scheduled, based on Lyddie’s testimony about her bloodmark. Cross covers up Jayde Valence’s death as a suicide following Travis’s detention decree.

Wren links to Adrienne, who says the wards are locked down and airspace monitored; the Uprising is going dark and cannot extract Wren. Adrienne confirms Wren’s value to the mission, that a governing council called the Authority oversees their base, and offers admission to the Uprising’s base—the Dagger—located beyond the Blacklands, but only if Wren can reach it. Adrienne warns that no one survives the Blacklands on foot, though she agrees to retrieve Wren if she somehow makes it through. Wren relays that no rescue is coming and tells Cross she may have to engineer her own escape.