Prax tries to force answers about Mei by cocking his pistol, imitating the violent rituals he knows from entertainment. The gesture immediately triggers a firefight. An armed woman is killed, Prax realizes he did not fire, and Holden has Amos take Prax's gun away. Holden explains that Prax started the gunfight, while Wendell reports casualties and warns that several enemies escaped deeper into the base to raise an alarm.

Holden's group pushes forward before the defenders can prepare. Beyond the first room, the abandoned Ganymede tunnels give way to a warmer, active laboratory area. Amos and Holden clear doors, exchange fire with hidden personnel, and use Naomi's partial floor plan to assess a large pit-like room ahead. The defenders appear to be holding a poor defensive position, suggesting either panic or something important they cannot abandon.

Grenades and gunfire escalate the assault. Amos tosses back an enemy grenade, then Holden orders Amos to soften the room with more grenades before the team enters. Inside, the group finds that much of the carnage was not caused by them: laboratory equipment has been smashed, bodies are torn apart, and the violence suggests another unknown force or participant. The team continues toward the sound of fighting, moving through loading areas and supply passages while Prax struggles to keep up and remains focused on finding Mei.

The search ends at a massive airlock just after a ship launches from a hidden landing pad. Prax breaks down, convinced Mei has escaped aboard the departing ship, and Amos carries him away under Holden's orders. On the retreat, more armed personnel attack; the last Pinkwater soldier, Caudel, is killed, Wendell is injured, and Amos kills four attackers. The survivors retrace their route through the ruined station and regroup with Paula, who has left her post to help the wounded Guthrie.

Back in the bloodied lab, Holden argues that they must withdraw and reassess because they have found more than a missing-child case: a covert scientific station, a secret launch site, an evacuation, and evidence of a third violent player. Wendell bluntly says Mei is probably dead or no longer on Ganymede, but Prax rejects that, citing Katoa as proof that the abducted children may still have been alive after their families fled. Amos then discovers fine black filaments clinging to the shattered glass cube. Holden recognizes the danger, stops Prax from touching it, and urgently tells Naomi to prepare the ship so they can leave Ganymede immediately.