Back on ART, the team splits up. Amena goes to question Eletra while Murderbot privately asks ART, “Do you want the fucking help or not?” (164), and receives a flood of system logs to analyze. Comparing status gaps, Murderbot and ART build “Initial Suppositions” about a Pre–Corporation Rim colony and possible alien remnant exposure. They then spot multiple archive interruptions that don’t match ART’s two known shutdowns—evidence that the first compromise began when ART answered a distress call from a Barish-Estranza Corporation ship. 

Realizing that the threat likely came from the corporate ship, they pull Amena out and brief the others. A timeline shows the distress call followed by the Barish-Estranza shuttle boarding ART, suggesting that the distress call was a pretense for an attack on ART. Murderbot concludes that the attackers have removed and altered sections of ART’s memory. The “Targets,” whoever they are, first hijacked the Barish-Estranza ship, then used it to hijack ART. Ratthi and Thiago debate the status of the “Targets,” noting that they have mysteriously gray skin and implants like the ones that killed Ras and almost killed Eletra. Amena tells the others that Eletra is either lying about not remembering what happened, or “something has messed with her mind” (175). 

In private, Amena asks whether ART is okay, and ART admits that it is not. Murderbot reassures the others that there’s no sign of a massacre aboard and proposes an inventory in case the crew armed up and forced their way onto the explorer. They then plan pathfinder searches and inspect the B-E shuttle, where Amena prods Murderbot about Marne and Mensah. Murderbot refers to Mensah as a “teammate.”

As the crew rests, Murderbot stays awake to work. Overseeing Amena’s reluctant bedtime, it begins analyzing ART’s logs, coding countermeasures for the Targets’ drones and armor, and rewatching World Hoppers for background focus. When ART joins the session, they collaborate uneasily, confirming that the attackers’ “solid-state screen device” resembles pre-Corporation Rim tech but was cobbled together from scavenged parts rather than alien remnants (185). Both conclude that defensive coding is not enough; they will need an offensive strategy. ART admits that it cannot build adaptive killware with its limited resources. 

Their uneasy truce is interrupted by Thiago, who sits across from Murderbot for an unexpected confrontation. Thiago thanks Murderbot for saving them but bluntly accuses it of holding “leverage over” Mensah, arguing that its presence has made her afraid to lead again. Furious, Murderbot shows him security footage of the suppressed GrayCris attack: chemically enhanced operatives storming Mensah’s council chambers while Murderbot and Station Security fought to the brink of destruction. When Thiago assumes that Mensah quit out of fear, Murderbot explodes—“She wanted me to go on Arada’s survey. I told her I would, but she had to agree to start the treatment” (190)—revealing that Mensah is stepping down to recover from trauma, not because of cowardice. ART interrupts before Murderbot can say more, warning it not to violate privacy. Shaken, Thiago withdraws, leaving Murderbot uncertain whether it has repaired or deepened the rift between them.

Alone, Murderbot broods over their tense exchange until ART identifies a solution: Murderbot can modify the camouflage pattern on its drones so that they will match the interference pattern used by the Targets. Realizing its oversight, Murderbot concedes the point, and they resume working on the code, accompanied by the background hum of another unrealistic media show. As the humans’ rest period nears its end, ART’s detached composure shifts to urgency as it locates and prepares to intercept a Barish-Estranza ship.

ART locates the damaged Barish-Estranza supply transport adrift, its hull scarred by three weapons strikes that don’t match ART’s own systems. After a quick debate, they open a channel and speak with Supervisor Leonide, who demands to know why a university vessel is in a claimed system. Arada, framed by ART’s polished video, cites a licensing survey and volunteers that they’ve rescued Eletra from “raiders” using mind-altering tech. Leonide refuses to discuss details on an unsecured line but proposes a face-to-face aboard the transport. Against vigorous objections from Overse, Ratthi, and Amena, Arada accepts, wagering that cooperation is the fastest path to finding the explorer.

ART pulls the requested parts from storage and outfits Arada in a Perihelion crew uniform. Thiago and Amena prep Eletra for a brief verification call, which confirms her capture by the gray attackers and that the explorer carried three SecUnits while the supply ship did not. Eletra’s memory gaps reinforce the theory that she was manipulated via the implant in her brain, while Leonide’s guarded answers suggest corporate secrecy more than open malice. The plan crystallizes: transfer supplies and Eletra and then meet aboard the supply transport to trade information while quietly gathering their own.

Murderbot announces, “I’m also going with you” (205), insisting on accompanying Arada as her contracted SecUnit rather than posing as an augmented human. The choice keeps their story simple and lets Murderbot operate openly if trouble starts. It dons a dark-blue Perihelion security uniform and coaches Arada to treat it like a corporate SecUnit on duty, not a teammate, to sell the cover. As Amena frets and Overse cools from anger to acceptance, the airlock prep begins; the supply crate and their “crew member” are queued, and Arada and Murderbot are set to cross to Leonide’s ship.