In a helicopter leaving base, Wren jokingly asks Cross if their trip is a date and realizes she dressed it that way without his prompting. They banter and hold hands, Wren privately listing the reasons they cannot have a future while still responding to his touch and attention. They drive into the country, he asks her to keep her hair down, and they hike until he carries her playfully, a rare moment of levity for Wren.

Cross leads Wren into a cave, guiding her through dark, narrowing tunnels until they reach a cavern filled with daggerstone and biota: wild, luminous flowers thriving from the gemstone-lit walls and a silver-like pool. Cross frames the scene as something he chose for her—"wild, mysterious"—and they nearly kiss, revealing mutual vulnerability and attraction beyond their roles.

An alert interrupts; Cross says they must go see his mother. He brings Wren to the General’s austere, fortress-like Sanctum Point mansion. During transit, Wren telepathically updates Adrienne about entering the General’s home. Adrienne urges collection of any intel but dismisses assassination as ineffective without ideological change.

Inside, Wren notes the house’s cold minimalism, biometric locks, and absence of staff without guard supervision. Cross asks her to wait while he goes upstairs. Restless and curious, Wren explores, finding no personal effects and likening the house to a mausoleum that suggests an isolated upbringing.

Drawn by voices, Wren discovers a singularly warm, blue-themed bedroom where Cross pleads with his mother to eat, referencing prior tube feeding. Cross scolds Wren for intruding, but she offers help. His mother turns, her affect shifting between confusion and vacancy with rapid blinks, unsettling Wren.

Recognizing the pattern from prior experience with Modifieds, Wren concludes that Cross’s mother shows signs of being Modified, a revelation with potential personal and political implications given the General’s position.