Carl and Donut enter the production facility at the bottom of the ocean instead of going through the usual gnoll security check. Donut asks why Mordecai has been hiding his work with the changeling children, and Carl explains that Mordecai is letting the children play with him and put makeup on him. Zev appears remotely, explains that Prepotente’s stunt has caused thousands of ships to arrive early in Earth orbit, and confirms that Borant knows about Mordecai’s risky efforts to shelter the NPC children.

Zev turns on extra security and frames the conversation as an official sponsor discussion. Zev warns Carl and Donut that Odette intends to ask to serve as their adjutant during Faction Wars, a neutral liaison/commentator role who would physically join them. Zev strongly advises against accepting because Odette’s old history with Mordecai could provoke Mordecai into attacking Odette, getting ejected, jeopardizing his contract, and causing many of the children he protects to lose their current shelter.

Carl privately knows they need to choose Odette anyway, but Carl does not reveal that to Zev. Zev also explains that the Valtay are stepping back from day-to-day production after recent floor disasters, while Borant is likely to be liquidated after the crawl. Donut theatrically agrees that rejecting Odette would be difficult, and Zev sends Carl and Donut into the Faction Wars preproduction meeting.

At the round table, the Mexx robot U56KL seats Carl and Donut as representatives of the third team. Cascadia appears, exhausted and unstable, and warns Carl not to disrupt the meeting because she is near the point of triggering a failsafe that would kill everyone. After Donut and Carl needle Cascadia about her appearance and Loita’s death, Cascadia physically appears in the room without protections and dares Carl to kill her, but Carl restrains himself.

The other Faction Wars representatives arrive: Crown Prince Stalwart for the orcs, Voting Admin Cell Mass Number Three for the Operatic Collective, Rishi for the Blood Sultanate, Empress D’Nadia for the Prism Kingdom Clan, Epitome Tagg for the Dream, Luke for the Lemig Sortion, a silent viceroy for the Madness, and Warlord Fangs for the Reavers. Donut insults Stalwart, jokes about renaming him Captain Enormous, and presses Rishi about the tiara-related royal connection; Rishi notes that if Donut or Katia takes the Blood Sultanate, he would be honor-bound to serve them.

The meeting is disrupted when the viceroy representative’s head suddenly falls off. A dream elf woman appears in the viceroy’s seat, revealing herself as Epitome Noflex, the figure tied to Louis’s conflict with Epitome Tagg. Tagg accuses Carl’s team, but Carl says she is not on their team, and Cascadia confirms that because Noflex is an NPC, the AI will not intervene. Tagg panics that NPCs are becoming self-aware, Luke mutters that everyone should have left when the mantids did, and Carl recognizes the woman as Juice Box.