After receiving the Containment Interface, Carl asks Orren about Paulie and learns Paulie never made it into the dungeon. Orren warns that collective minds and swarms often treat individual parts as disposable. Carl then changes his destination, choosing to return briefly to the gas station with the memory ghost dog before rejoining the war.

At the empty gas station on Christmas morning, Carl sits beside Lightning Lou, eats from the shelves, and wrestles with the impossible power now in his hands. Paulie's warning haunts Carl, and Carl questions whether humanity is worth saving or whether he has any right to decide the fate of everyone in the solar system.

Carl opens the new interface and discovers it is not a simple destruction button but a complex control system for the device that installed the AI into the primal engine. Carl finds the fuse page, which shows two of five required conditions met and offers an override to activate the fuse. Carl considers pressing it to end the Syndicate's exploitation and kill the invaders, but thoughts of Donut, his friends, and the people on Earth stop Carl from making that unilateral choice.

Carl suspects the AI may have allowed this access as a trap or test, especially because the AI seems to be enjoying itself rather than seeking death. After messaging Donut, Carl continues exploring the menus and finds a second option: Disconnect Containment, which will disable the failsafe and render the containment unit inert. Carl realizes doing nothing, activating the fuse, or freeing the AI all carry terrible risks, but decides that removing the Syndicate's failsafe best protects his people and hurts the Syndicate. Carl presses Disconnect Containment, and the interface blanks out as the red dot over Earth begins to grow.