The morning after the disastrous premiere, Zelu hides in bed at her LA hotel, devastated by the film's stripping away of the novel's Nigerian elements. Msizi hands her phone to her; her agent excitedly informs her she's been booked on Code Switch, a major news program hosted by Pulitzer-winning journalist Amanda Parker, because everyone supposedly loves the movie. Reluctant but persuaded that good publicity matters, Zelu agrees, planning to deflect movie questions and steer the conversation toward her book.

After a Nigerian breakfast helps steady her, Zelu dresses in all black with bright beaded jewelry from Msizi and heads to the studio. Amanda opens warmly, asking expected questions about the novel's origins. Zelu explains her paraplegia inspired her interest in robotic replacement of broken parts. Amanda then pivots sharply, suggesting that Zelu's book and her use of exos represent a rejection of disabled identity, and accusing her of hiding her tech under a long dress instead of proudly representing disabled people.

Blindsided, Zelu snaps. She rebukes Amanda for judging her, declares she owes no one anything and is "no one's robot," tells Amanda to reread the book, and adds that the book is better than the movie before walking off set. Amanda only smirks, and Zelu realizes she has given the journalist exactly the viral moment she wanted.

Locked in her dressing room, Zelu ignores her agent's pleas and checks her phone. Social media has erupted against her: hashtags like #BoycottRustedRobots, #AbleistDisabledWriter, racist and ableist insults, doctored images, and a hemorrhage of followers. She declines Yebo's offers to filter the abuse, wanting to face it directly. After a brief meditative fantasy of being an invulnerable, self-contained robot in space, she lashes back online, posting that she will never be a manipulated "paraplegic Barbie doll" and telling her attackers to go to hell, then drops her phone and lets the storm rage.