Rachner Thract lifts a damaged helicopter off a tilted pad, evacuating the badly burned Sherkaner Underhill and his injured guide-bug, Mobiy. Underhill insists on accessing Mobiy’s pack, revealing an expensive “videomancy” helmet. Despite blistered eyes, Underhill powers it up and begins probing for connectivity while Thract hesitates to use autopilot.

When Thract briefly engages full auto, the helicopter’s turbines surge beyond safe limits, and the craft claws skyward over the caldera rim. From altitude they glimpse a grid of steaming craters: antimissile silos launching in massive waves toward far intercepts. The display implies the Kindred have fired everything, and Underhill, struggling to “see,” mutters about a needed reconnect and that “it’s all messed up now.”

Meanwhile aboard the Qeng Ho, Trud Silipan reports he can solve numerical tasks but not exercise control without exposing them to Nau and Brughel’s oversight. Cameras show confused bystanders stranded, and Trixia Bonsol, a Focused, interjects that millions on the ground will soon die. Pham notes at least the Spiders now have a chance because Ritser Brughel can’t tighten the screws without ziphead support.

Pham proposes using electric stab jets to block Nau’s approach to L1‑A, but Silipan warns about unbreakable Focused loyalty. Bonsol then identifies a “deadlock”: the zipheads are blocking the humans and vice versa. Pressed, she says that if full access is restored, the zipheads can control the crucial systems, though trust is uncertain—“choose your own monsters.” Accepting the risk, Pham orders all comm links restored, effectively empowering the zipheads as Nau nears L1‑A.