Ha arrives at the Con Dao research compound and meets security officer Altantsetseg for the first time.

Ha is introduced to Evrim, the world's only conscious android, who leads the secret research project.

Evrim shows Ha footage of an octopus pausing its skin display to produce a repeated sequence of symbols.

Altantsetseg submerges in her liquid drone-control tank and destroys illegal fishing vessels that breached the island's perimeter.

Dismembered bodies of enslaved workers wash ashore from the destroyed ships; Ha and Evrim bury the dead.

Altantsetseg's cloaked submersible captures the Shapesinger performing a circle symbol display for an audience of other octopuses.

Ha forms an inverse version of the octopus symbol on the beach using seaweed and rocks to signal welcome.

The octopus responds to Ha's symbol by recreating the stay-away sign using a speargun and a human skull.

Ha interprets the octopus symbols to the team, concluding the crescent means home and the full message means get out.

Ha discovers that Kamran is a point-five AI construct and destroys her terminal, vowing to protect the octopuses.

Dr. Mínervudóttir-Chan arrives on the island to warn the team of an impending hostile corporate takeover of DIANIMA.

The Shapesinger approaches Ha in shallow water and places a coral carving shaped like a human figure in her hand.

The Sea Wolf crosses Con Dao's perimeter and is destroyed by Altantsetseg's drones; Eiko and Son escape on a life raft.

Octopuses come ashore during the fighting, destroy Altantsetseg's drone system, and kill Dr. Mínervudóttir-Chan.

The Shapesinger emerges from the hotel pool, projects an image of Ha's face on her mantle, and gives Ha an engraved octopus beak.

Marine biologist Ha Nguyen arrives at the Con Dao archipelago to join a secret DIANIMA project led by the android Evrim, aiming to establish contact with a conscious octopus species. Early progress is upended when Altantsetseg destroys illegal fishing vessels, killing the enslaved crew aboard and forcing Ha to confront the moral costs of the mission. Ha deciphers the octopuses' skin symbols, realizing they communicate a clear warning for humans to stay away, and takes a bold risk by crafting a welcoming reply on the beach. After destroying her AI companion terminal and committing to protect the octopuses, Ha witnesses the project's fragile balance collapse when an armed trawler triggers a chain of violence. The octopuses retaliate by killing Dr. Mínervudóttir-Chan, but a final encounter with the Shapesinger—who offers Ha an engraved beak bearing symbols—suggests that genuine contact may still be possible.

The core first-contact mission from arrival to breakthrough.

Lawrence, a former Con Dao dive-shop owner, is interviewed by the shielded woman and later murdered in the streets.

Ha speaks with Kamran through her terminal about recurring nightmares of dying cuttlefish and her arrival on Con Dao.

The woman in the abglanz shield approaches hacker Rustem in Astrakhan and commissions him to crack a complex AI system.

Evrim takes Ha on a tour of Van Son Pagoda, managed by automonks who also tend a turtle sanctuary.

Eiko, abducted and enslaved, is introduced aboard the AI-captained fishing trawler called the Sea Wolf.

Eiko meets fellow captive Son, a Con Dao native who shares stories about the local sea monster legend.

Former park ranger Da Minh describes an octopus killing his colleague; after his interview, a surveillance drone drowns Da Minh.

The Sea Wolf's enslaved crew is transferred aboard a massive factory ship for a health inspection.

Ha and Evrim watch a streamed interview in which Dr. Mínervudóttir-Chan publicly calls Evrim a convincing fake.

Rustem travels to Istanbul and interviews Deniz, a scientist whose connectome was used as a model to build Evrim.

Eiko speaks through the wheelhouse door and negotiates with the AI captain to restore food and medicine for the crew.

Son tricks the Sea Wolf's AI into heading toward Con Dao by loudly praising its now-unguarded, fish-rich waters.

A young hacker in Istanbul tells an older man about a hidden portal inside Evrim's system; an autofreighter crash kills the hacker.

Dr. Mínervudóttir-Chan's slashed body is found on the beach; security footage shows two octopuses killed her without hesitation.

Eiko rows ashore on Con Dao and helps an automonk release turtle hatchlings; the automonk discovers Son is still alive.

Three converging storylines fill in the world surrounding Ha's research: the violent history of Con Dao, the enslaved crew of the Sea Wolf seeking escape, and a shadowy hacking operation targeting Evrim's mind. From Lawrence's murder and Da Minh's testimony to Eiko's brutal enslavement and Son's desperate longing for home, these events expose a world driven by corporate exploitation and human desperation. A streamed interview lays bare Dr. Mínervudóttir-Chan's ruthless agenda, while Rustem is drawn deeper into a conspiracy he barely understands. Son engineers a gamble that steers the Sea Wolf toward the protected island, colliding all storylines in a single violent moment. The epilogue closes with a quiet note of hope as Eiko washes ashore and helps a monk release turtle hatchlings, discovering that Son has survived against all odds.

Supporting storylines that reveal the mission's wider world and stakes.

Altantsetseg reveals she deliberately uses the broken voice translator to disguise her intelligence and keep people at a distance.

Rustem goes on a date with Aynur and is introduced to Altyn, a point-five AI companion tailored for relationship needs.

Evrim voices concern that octopuses must perceive humans as monstrous violent enemies; the hotel's land perimeter alarm sounds.

Ha replicates the Shapesinger's circle symbol using colored glass bottles; the Shapesinger approaches her disguised as a barracuda.

A mutiny on the Sea Wolf kills the guards, but the AI captain retaliates by sealing the ship and cutting off food and water.

Evrim is found emerging from the ocean after secretly swimming out to add a layered background to Ha's beach symbol.

Altantsetseg reveals she has standing orders to kill both Evrim and Ha if either of them attempts to leave the island.

Fellow captive Indra, traumatized and unable to forget the violence of the mutiny, jumps overboard and dies.

Rustem navigates deep into Evrim's neural network, finds the hidden control portal, and refuses to let anyone weaponize it.

Rustem confronts the shielded woman on an Istanbul ferry and kills her using a drone he hacked.

Ha confesses to Evrim at the Con Dao prison ruins that her arrogance caused the deaths of cuttlefish she was studying.

Evrim confides that a hacker named Rustem entered its mind and destroyed the control portal, granting Evrim permanent freedom.

Altantsetseg's submersible reveals an octopus altar deep inside the sunken ship, built from coral and holding over thirty human skulls.

Evrim reveals to Ha that Dr. Mínervudóttir-Chan's own mind forms the core of Evrim's neural network.

Altantsetseg reveals she is a secret Tibetan agent, and Con Dao is declared a Buddhist Republic protectorate.

Beneath the mission's surface, concealed loyalties and pivotal choices gradually reshape every character's fate. Altantsetseg's carefully maintained persona cracks to reveal deep intelligence and hidden allegiances, while Evrim and Ha grow closer through shared vulnerability and confession. The Sea Wolf's failed mutiny, Rustem's moral awakening inside Evrim's intricate mind, and Ha's shattering confession at the prison ruins each mark irreversible turning points in the story. Secrets cascade toward the final crisis: Altantsetseg's kill orders, Rustem's destruction of Evrim's control portal, and the discovery of the octopus altar reframe everything that came before. By the story's end, Altantsetseg's revelation as a Tibetan operative transforms the island's future, offering Ha and Evrim the freedom to continue their research under a new and more ethical protectorate.