With about ten minutes left before the heat times out, Carl, Donut, and Pontiff leave Marjory and Alicia behind in their apartment while Gravy Boat still sleeps. On the way out, Carl notices a bag of Donut's special cat food in the kitchen, another unsettling sign that these apartments are built from warped alternate timelines. Donut worries about being kind to Prepotente, and the team heads to apartment 130 to clear the final gate.

Inside, they find the last apartment centered on Miriam Dom, who is playing piano while the containment warning keeps the vehicles back. Jurgen explains that Prepotente is sitting near her and refuses to leave, even though all the rings are cleared and the clock is running down. To reach him safely, Carl drinks splooge for temporary protection from the toxic environment and runs through the apartment.

As Carl crosses the room, he realizes this version of Miriam lives alone in a New York high-rise rather than on a farm. The apartment contains signs of a different life: performance photos, a broken wineglass, takeout, and a long line of prescription bottles. Carl understands that this vision shows the life Miriam might have had if she had pursued music instead of staying to care for her parents, and he also senses that this alternate life is not actually happy.

Prepotente admits that seeing this version of his mother has overwhelmed him. He says Miriam could have become a professional pianist, never known him, and still had the life she dreamed of; at the same time, he complains that nobody wants him around, that he was hurt by missing his chance to sing, and that he wishes he had never taken the pet biscuit. Carl suppresses his frustration and tells Prepotente that the apartment is a poisonous what-if trap, that imagined alternatives cannot be changed, and that Miriam may have been lonely in reality but would be even lonelier here without her family.

Carl reassures Prepotente that he belongs with Carl, Donut, and the others, calling them a herd. That finally breaks through: Prepotente hugs Carl, regains himself, and tells Carl he can call him Pony. The teams then race back to the lobby, passing the wrecked van of Team Free Love, whom Carl and Donut destroyed just before the finish earlier. Donut jumps into Carl's lap as they approach the exit, and soon Osvaldo and Filipe also make it across in time. The quest ends with Team Sparkles in first, Princess Donut's team in second, Team Flamengo in third, and Team Free Love eliminated.