Chapter 12

Carl's group receives messages about upcoming media appearances while traveling through the city. They encounter and defeat a large swarm of low-level duende monsters, during which Carl activates his new essence-powered Daughter's Kiss skill with devastating effect. The group collects cards from the fight and reaches a saferoom, where they briefly interact with Sister Ines's team before parting ways.

While traveling toward a saferoom, Zev contacts Carl and Donut about their media schedule. Their interview with Odette has been postponed due to Faction Wars preparations, and they are rescheduled for a documentary-style program called Shadow Boxer focused on their pre-crawl lives. Carl resists discussing his past but agrees after learning the Open Intellect Pacifist Network owns the program. Zev also informs them of an upcoming preproduction meeting for the ninth floor Faction Wars, to be held virtually at a production facility and catered. As the group travels through a residential area, they discover a massive swarm of duendes—small, level-20 monsters that appear to be causing the vehicle crashes throughout the city. During combat, Carl's essence bar fills after approximately ten kills, granting him the Daughter's Kiss skill. When activated, this skill completely drains the essence bar and powers up his next melee attack dramatically. Carl uses it on a fleeing duende, vaporizing the creature and shattering nearby concrete with a shockwave. The battle yields six utility cards total: three for Carl's group (two Time Extend cards and one Stout card) and three for Sister Ines's team (two Time Extend cards and one uncommon Flee card). After the fight, the group reaches Cuba Libro saferoom and discusses potential guild membership with Sister Ines's team, who decline. Donut expresses suspicion of Sister Ines, while Carl suggests their guardedness stems from prior misinformation about Donut's intentions.