That afternoon, Alcatraz.
In his mind, Ladd goes over the method of killing immortals that Firo told him—he could tell that Firo was telling the truth, but he doesn't want to become immortal. Distancing himself from death would completely go against his philosophy.
Ladd can't find an answer, and decides to just wait until he's released. One of the guards, a vessel of Sham, quietly tells him that they'll keep away from Lua from now on.
Ladd doesn't want to escape, because he'd end up killing the guards if he did—and he respects these guards for the way they work, for their readiness to be killed at any time. So Ladd is going to be a model prisoner and wait.
Chicago.
Carol and the Vice-President had left the restaurant after lunch with Bartolo Runorata and are back at their hotel.
The Vice-President expresses his satisfaction at the lunch they had as Carol wonders how he could be so calm during a meeting like that. The Vice-President wonders if Carol can ever possibly treat a client calmly.
Carol responds that she could talk to someone like the man who ate lunch with them—the man with bandages over one of his eyes. Although the Vice-President points out that he's the kind of man who joins a mafia don for lunch, Carol steadfastly believes that he must be a very kind person.
The Vice-President decides to not trouble Carol any more by telling her who the bandaged man was, and goes over the events of the incident—Sham and Hilton had been quite busy this time. He then predicts that Sham will get in contact with them within the next several days.
Sham first gained "freedom" when he failed to take over a consciousness for the first time.
They had planned to take the consciousness of the grandson of a mafia don, but Sham realized something just as he prepared to take the child's consciousness. The child was actually a girl—Lydia Russo.
Sham had been given the role of 'male'—Leeza was in charge of 'females', so Sham had decided to give up and let his consciousness be devoured. However, Lydia herself had also let herself be taken.
Chicago, inside a car.
Ricardo explains that this was how she began to share her mind with Sham. She confesses everything to Chris, just as she had promised earlier. Chris asks her what Sham's ultimate goal was.
As Sham continued to share the mind of another person, he began to notice what a strange person Huey actually was. He realized that the life he had lived so far was so removed from that of a normal human being.
So he began working independently to expand his field of knowledge and gather more vessels for himself.
Ricardo explains that Sham's ultimate goal is to surpass Huey—and he did everything this time in order to prevent Huey from carrying out his experiment, which could have resulted in the deaths of many people.
As Chris begins to drive, he asks Ricardo if she still wants to destroy the world.
Ricardo answers that she might have come to care for it a bit now, thanks to Chris. Chris teases her for a bit and wonders what she's planning to do next. Ricardo tells him that she's thinking of reviving the Russo Family by starting out with another organization in New York.
Chris suggests that they let Rail join too, but Ricardo's not too keen on this. Chris wonders why, since he thinks Ricardo and Rail have a lot of things in common. Ricardo wonders what this could be, as Chris tells her the truth—
Transcontinental to New York. Third Class car.
Isaac shares stories as Jacuzzi and Miria listen.
Jacuzzi wistfully thinks that Isaac and Miria are like perfectly matching puzzle pieces, and looks over to Nice—she's busy talking about explosives with Rail.
The other gang members tease him about being jealous again, and Jacuzzi feebly denies it. However, one of them realizes that Jacuzzi might seriously be in the dark, and reveals that Rail is actually a girl.
Ricardo's eyes widen as Chris tells her about Rail. Chris jokingly claims that he was planning on sending Ricardo into the washroom while Rail was showering to see if Rail would scream.
As Chris explains that the world's full of surprises, they head towards New York in the sunset.
Transcontinental to New York. Third Class car.
On another Third Class car, Shaft informs Graham that Ricardo is planning to restart the Russo Family in New York. Graham decides to get a base of operations ready for Ladd once he is released, taking control of Ricardo's organization if necessary. He adds that having a solid foundation will make it better for Lua to wait for Ladd's return.
Lua smiles and blushes, thinking of Ladd.
January 1935, Grand Central Station. New York.
Firo gets off the train with an eyepatch over his eye. Although Victor was furious at Huey's escape, he let Firo go for learning about the secret of Sham and Hilton.
Firo is anxious about what would happen once he returns to the Martillo Family—he worries that he has disgraced the Family by working for Victor, even though he was under duress.
Suddenly, a teenaged girl with an envelope calls him over. Firo recognizes her as Annie, a girl who had been working at the Alveare for about six months now. Firo curses his luck for meeting up with an acquaintance before he could even think of what to say, but Annie runs up to him and tells him that everyone was worried. And before Firo can say anything, she opens the envelope and gives him something—his missing eye.
The eye is pulled back into Firo's face as the girl explains that she didn't take over the waitress's consciousness—she used a pre-existing vessel to get a job here. Firo asks her why she returned his eye, and Annie shyly replies that it's thanks for saving her vessel earlier.
Firo, being completely dense to romantic feelings other than his own, doesn't understand why she's doing this.
Annie informs Firo that she doesn't have time to be fighting him anymore, anyway—she's trying to figure out a way to punish the traitor. Before Firo can ask, she directs him back to the Alveare—everyone's waiting.
Alveare
Annie loudly declares Firo's return. Firo worries for a moment that they'll be angry at him, but all his fears evaporate as Ennis tearfully welcomes him home. Isaac, Miria, Maiza, and Czes come out to greet him in succession, and Firo understands that he is a truly happy person.
