Nau praises Smith’s speech while revealing the real plan: Anne Reynolt’s zipheads will trigger a Kindred “counterattack,” letting humans inherit the wreckage. Anne then warns that their subversive—Trinli—is about to seize the ziphead net. As Nau signals his guards, Trinli strikes first, killing Kal Omo with a thrown blade. Ezr Vinh distracts the guards, enabling Trinli’s escape into the forest, but Ezr is wounded and captured.

Recognizing his systems are compromised, Nau abandons huds, orders wireless power cut to localizers (keeping lake stabilizers on fiber control), and accelerates the groundside timeline. Anne coordinates a simplified attack with Ritser Brughel and fabricates cover messaging for Benny’s gathering. Nau begins interrogating the injured Ezr, seeking the extent of Trinli’s plan.

In the tunnels, Pham moves through darkness after Anne’s power cut, retrieving a hidden cache with light, respirator, receiver, medikit, and trick dart gun. He lays decoys for Anne’s listening net and commits to confronting Anne directly, vowing to win despite the setback and Ezr’s sacrifice.

Aboard the Invisible Hand, Ritser loses huds from North Paw, confers with Anne, and advances the operation by 7 Ksec. He orders Jau Xin to overfly Southmost, remotely trigger Kindred offshore rockets to stage an Accord “sneak attack,” then use human weapons to destroy the Accord’s missile fields, enabling mass Kindred strikes. Xin balks, but Brughel threatens Rita and promises survival if he obeys.

Pham infiltrates a hidden storeroom near the ziphead Attic and encounters Trud Silipan. After bluffing that he will take back the fleet, Pham confronts Anne when she enters, fires a “lethal” dart, and convinces Trud she is dead. Once Trud turns away, Pham verifies Anne is only stunned. He proceeds into the grouproom, intent on severing ziphead support and undermining Nau’s attack.