Dorotea first greets Valya with relief, believing Valya has also survived the dangerous transformation into a Reverend Mother. Valya claims the dosage was wrong and that she vomited before the poison could affect her, but Dorotea's new heightened perceptions reveal subtle signs of deception. Dorotea realizes Valya never took the capsule, and although disappointed, Dorotea decides she has other allies and can still control events.

When Raquella returns from the Suk School on Parmentier, she learns that Dorotea, her granddaughter, has become the second Reverend Mother. Raquella is thrilled because Dorotea's success proves the transformation can be repeated, but Dorotea remains withdrawn. At the hot springs, Raquella tries to frame their new status as a shared triumph for the Sisterhood.

Dorotea confronts Raquella with knowledge gained from Other Memories: Raquella is Dorotea's grandmother and once acted against Dorotea's birth mother, Sister Arlett. Raquella refuses to treat family ties as important, insisting that the Sisterhood matters more than personal bonds. Dorotea, bitter but controlled, tells Raquella she already has candidates in mind for further transformations.

Dorotea secretly gathers five Sisters who share her antitechnological leanings and who had already volunteered for the experiment. Without consulting Raquella or Karee Marques, Dorotea prepares them, gives them capsules of the Rossak derivative, and guides them as they suffer through the internal ordeal. Two die, but three survive and awaken as new Reverend Mothers, giving Dorotea a powerful new faction within the Sisterhood.

Rossak celebrates the unexpected success of three additional Reverend Mothers, and Raquella appears proud. Valya watches uneasily, wondering whether she could have survived if she had taken the pill. Dorotea then privately reveals that she knows Valya lied, offers Valya another capsule, and urges her to take it when ready, while subtly framing the new Reverend Mothers as her own circle of influence.