For three days, Emperor Salvador Corrino’s troops search the Rossak settlement for the hidden computers Reverend Mother Dorotea insists are there, but they find nothing. Salvador’s public vow to destroy the machines becomes a humiliation as the searches fail, the soldiers grow restless, and even Dorotea’s supporters show anger at the injustice.

Salvador privately worries to Roderick about saving face. Roderick argues that even without evidence of computers, the Sisterhood remains dangerous because Dr. Zhoma revealed its breeding plan against Salvador’s bloodline. Salvador considers publicly accusing the Sisterhood, but Roderick warns against exposing such an embarrassing matter, so Salvador decides to summon Raquella, Dorotea, and all Sister Mentats before him.

At the Corrino flagship, Salvador tells Raquella he knows about the Sisterhood’s attempt to prevent him from having children. When Raquella insists there are no computers on Rossak, only human Mentats, Salvador declares the distinction mere semantics. At his signal, the elite guard levels rifles at the eight Sister Mentats.

Karee Marques tries to resist with a final psychic blast, but the effort is not enough. The guards open fire and kill all eight Sister Mentats, shocking Raquella and the assembled Sisters. Five Sorceresses then leap from the cliffs and attack Salvador telepathically, causing him pain and bleeding, but the soldiers shoot them down as well.

Salvador nearly orders a wider massacre, but Roderick and Dorotea persuade him to stop. Instead, Salvador decrees that the Rossak Sisterhood is permanently disbanded, the school closed, the trainees dispersed, and the breeding records destroyed. Roderick proposes that Dorotea and selected Sisters continue serving the Imperium on Salusa Secundus, while Raquella is left devastated by the murders and the outlawing of her order.