After Anorak disappears, Wade has a severe panic attack. Art3mis comforts him, her first sign of affection toward him in years. When Wade calms down, the group debates possible technical solutions to their predicament. But with less than 12 hours to go and a half-billion lives at stake, they see no other choice but to retrieve the Shards, at least until they can formulate a retaliatory plan.

Before joining them on their quest, Art3mis leaves the OASIS so she can parachute out of her Anorak-controlled private jet. But when a rough landing leaves her unconscious, Anorak sends the plane into a nosedive headed straight for her. The plane misses the mark, but its collision with the ground creates a giant fireball that scorches everything in a massive blast radius, leaving Art3mis’s fate unknown.

As the group tries to process what happened—they watched the escape attempt on drone camera feeds—they hear Art3mis’s voice tell them she’s okay. She is headed to the hospital to have her burns treated, then she will log back on and help them recover the Shards.

Relieved, Wade, Aech, and Shoto direct their attention to decoding the riddle inscribed on the first Shard.