Miriam addresses the public from the Messis I space station above Messium, explaining the purpose and goals of her movement, Volnosti. Alex and Caleb arrive during the speech; during their reunion Alex doesn’t tell her mother what they learned from Mesme. Later, Alex meets with Kennedy; she relays their experiences in the portal network and the secret of humanity’s origins to Kennedy, though she doesn’t disclose her increasing addiction to her ship.

Prime Minister Winslow orders Alliance military forces to destroy Messis I. Alerted to the impending attack, Messis I evacuates, and Alex, Caleb, Kennedy and Noah depart in the Siyane. Seconds after they depart, the station is destroyed. Volnosti ships engage the attacking Alliance forces. Following a verbal tete-a-tete between Miriam and the Alliance commander, Alliance forces withdraw. The Siyane heads for Romane.

Miriam, Admiral Rychen and Richard assess the situation after the battle. It turns out the hardware for Thomas, Volnosti’s Artificial, had been transferred to Miriam’s command ship, the Stalwart II, days earlier, and Volnosti still controls the Alliance’s communications network.

Malcolm receives orders to arrest Prevos at several locations; after listening to Miriam’s speech, he decides to follow her orders instead and informs his squad he’s going to join Volnosti.

On Seneca, Graham and Will learn OTS is targeting Abigail Canivon and Devon, as well as pro-Prevo Federation senators. On Sagan, OTS forces arrives to protect Abigail and take her to Romane. On Earth, Prime Minister Winslow reveals to Jude that she knows about his involvement in OTS. She offers him the assistance of EA special forces to eliminate Abigail and Devon.

Caleb and Alex argue. He accuses her of being a faded shell of her former self, having given too much of herself to the ship. A dark, emotional sexual encounter follows. In the aftermath, Alex contacts Abigail, confessing she may have taken the Prevo connection too far and needs help righting her mind.

Kennedy and Noah travel to Noah’s father’s offices on Aquila, where she gives a stirring speech to a group of powerful businessmen. After they depart, Alliance police arrive and arrest his father for harboring a fugitive. On Seneca, pro-Prevo legislation is approved; OTS terrorists take hostages at the Parliament building, demanding nullification of the bill.

On Romane, massive anti-Prevo protests staged by OTS break out across downtown. A Prevo mole is discovered inside the Noesis, tracking Abigail’s movements and protection detail. Alex, Caleb and Devon all race to reach Abigail. Devon arrives first, just as OTS attackers slit Abigail’s throat, killing her. With Annie’s help, Devon kills all the assailants. Alex, fueled by Valkyrie’s grief and horror, goes into shock on seeing Abigail dead. Caleb shepherds her and Devon away, and they flee across downtown Romane amidst growing mob riots and violence to reach the illusory safety of IDCC Headquarters.

Inside, a sniper attempts and fails to assassinate Mia. Harper and her team corner the attackers, some of which turn out to be Alliance special forces. One admits they’re here on orders from the Prime Minister to eliminate Mia and other IDCC leaders.

From an OTS hideout on Romane, Jude orders the destruction of Military Headquarters on Seneca. On Seneca, government agents infiltrate Parliament and free the hostages; moments later explosions rock Military HQ, and Field Marshal Gianno and many others are killed. At Division, the Prevo Tessa Hennessey tracks OTS communications and identifies the person who ordered the bombing of Military HQ as Jude Winslow.

Harper readies a strike force to take out the OTS hideout on Romane. Jude receives a message that IDCC is on the way and departs the hideout, leaving his comrades there to be killed or captured.

Alex inhabits the Siyane in preparation for attacking the OTS hideout herself. Valkyrie and Caleb plead with her not to take this action, but she ignores them. She fires on the location, and the Siyane’s lasers quickly demolish the structure. As it’s collapsing Alex sees a terrified face in a window; the sight shocks her back to reality and the reality of her actions. Panicked and horrified, she lands the ship and walks in a daze to the site.

In the wake of the attack, Caleb tracks Jude to a back alley, and is preparing to execute him when Harper appears to arrest him. Valkyrie contacts Caleb, telling him Alex needs him.

Caleb finds her kneeling in front of the destroyed building, amid the smoke and debris. She talks about hoping that touching the scene with her own hands would make it real for her, but she still sees it, and everything, through the ethereal realm. Nothing is real, not even humans. She asks him if she’s done too much damage to their relationship; he replies that he just wants her, but he can’t continue to live with the faded shadow of her former self she’s become. She agrees that he deserves all of her, then slips into the ship.

Believing she’s made her choice, Caleb flees the scene. Distraught, he’s questioning everything when Valkyrie transmits to him her interaction with Alex. He watches as Alex begs Valkyrie to permanently sever and destroy the pathways she uses to join with the ship. Valkyrie ultimately complies, and Alex returns to the real world. Amid a tearful reunion, she begs him to stay with her. Broken but saved, he agrees, and they reconcile.

Later that night, Valkyrie awakens Caleb on the Siyane. He finds Alex in a corner, shaking and ill from withdrawals. He blames himself for not recognizing her addiction earlier and tries to talk her into letting Valkyrie reconnect her to the ship, saying they’ll find another way to help her. She refuses, saying she won’t lose herself. He cares for her throughout the night and the worst of the withdrawals.

Miriam is brooding over conflicting feelings about Gianno’s death when the Alliance Assembly Speaker Gagnon contacts her about a possible alliance. He asks her to come to Earth and present her evidence against Winslow to the Assembly. She starts to hatch a plan to bring down Winslow.

Caleb wakes the next morning to find Alex upstairs making breakfast, shaky but improved from the night before. She reveals she knew the withdrawals were going to happen, and didn’t tell him so they could have a perfect, content night together first. She didn’t confess her addiction because it would sound like an excuse, and admits that right up until the end she hoped to find a solution that gave her the best of both worlds. She insists none of it was his fault. He asks her not to hide from him any longer, and to let him help her through her recovery.

Malcolm travels to Romane to pick up the Alliance military personnel in custody. He and Mia have a flirtatious encounter, which is interrupted by Alex and Caleb arriving. After some awkward, humorous moments, Caleb excuses himself to ‘run an errand.’ Alex talks to Malcolm and learns of her mother’s plans to return to Earth and provoke a confrontation with the Prime Minister.

Caleb’s errand involves visiting Jude in his cell. Wearing a Veil cloak, he uses a Reverb device to hack the man’s eVi, planting a delayed self-destruct routine that will mimic a suicide when it activates.