As the crawl shifts into phase two, Odette announces that crawlers are being teleported to choosing arenas. Donut realizes this may be the last time Carl and Donut appear on Odette’s show, because Odette is entering the dungeon as Nekhebit. Donut gives Odette an emotional goodbye, and Odette is briefly affected.

Zev privately warns Carl and Donut that only the squad leader will transfer first. Donut panics at facing a real fight alone, but Carl reassures her before she vanishes. Carl remains on Odette’s set with Odette, Zev, and Lexis, watching Donut on a silent screen as Donut appears in the choice room and steadies herself with Mongo.

Zev is abruptly pulled away by an all-hands security response after an unmanned liaison spy ship is shot out of orbit. Odette admits the timing was arranged to give herself about fifteen off-the-record minutes with Carl. Odette says Baroness Victory was the best adjutant choice, warns Carl that Huanxin is driven by revenge rather than altruism, and urges Carl to be careful with Katia and the orchid.

While Donut chooses Miami and enters the next chamber, Carl angrily accuses Odette of using Carl and Donut. Odette responds by revealing her history: she entered the dungeon with her cousin Pieter and friend Armita, chose Armita over Pieter, became a guide, and later pushed Mordecai’s team too far. Odette made and then broke an illegal deal with Huanxin involving the goddess Dodola; Mordecai survived to the next floor, but Mordecai’s brother Uzzi died, and Huanxin later killed Armita. Odette says her guilt over Pieter, Armita, and Mordecai has become her obsession, like staring into the eye of the Bedlam Bride.

Odette claims everything she now does is meant to make amends, especially for Mordecai, and says Huanxin wanted Odette in the dungeon as an adjutant to take revenge legally. Odette hints at a more extreme plan that will probably kill both Odette and Huanxin. Carl challenges Odette’s complicity in the crawl, and Odette argues that the crawl is tied to mining resurrected AIs and elements used as fuel, so shutting it down irresponsibly could endanger half the known universe. On the screen, Donut’s opponent Robert the Human summons Robert the Doll and Dog, but Mongo kills Robert the Human almost instantly, ending the fight before Carl is transferred. Odette says she will see Carl inside.