16

The Flatline alerts Case that Armitage is calling from Haniwa. Onscreen, Armitage presses Case about Wintermute’s appearances; when Case denies knowing “General Girling,” the link drops. Case flips to Molly’s simstim as she follows a Braun microdrone through Straylight’s service structures, confessing pain, doubt, and a fatalistic mindset while climbing toward the weightless axis.

Case jacks out to Marcus Garvey, where Maelcum reports Armitage’s bloody, deranged orders and Zion’s urge to cut and run. Case refuses to abandon Molly; Maelcum decides to stay as well. Back in the matrix, the Flatline briefs him: most Tessier-Ashpools are in cold sleep; Ashpool’s death is known; only 3Jane is awake in Straylight; a male heir returns around 09:00; and Kuang should breach the T-A core near 08:30. Wintermute is suppressing full security alerts but couldn’t open the gate Molly used.

Armitage’s mask breaks: Corto calls, lost in Screaming Fist delusions, claiming betrayal by General Girling and vowing escape to Finland. Case coaxes him to open Haniwa’s midbay lock under the pretense of regrouping. With Maelcum, Case boards the yacht, smelling burning insulation and finding rooms choked with zeroed printouts, a Hosaka drilled to ruin, and an unidentified Japanese crewman garroted in a chair.

Alarms show the bridge is an escape pod counting down with its lock unsealed. Case pleads for the antidote enzyme while Wintermute floods the channel with Screaming Fist audio. The pod ejects with the hatch open; Corto likely dies in vacuum. Haniwa remains airtight but retains grapple control over Marcus Garvey, leaving Case and Maelcum aboard as Kuang continues its approach and Molly presses deeper into Straylight.