As starships are investigating the DMA, the phenomenon suddenly disappears and re-emerges 1000 light-years away. It now threatens to destroy an Akaali colony on an asteroid belt in the Radvek system, which used to be under the control of the Emerald Chain. As nearby ships have already arrived to evacuate the 1206 residents, the Discovery too jumps to the coordinates. The magistrate of the colony is not willing to release six prisoners, who are held as the "Examples", although most of them committed only minor offenses. Burnham and Booker decide to beam down and break into the prison. After disabling land mines in the shape of huge beetles, they enter the prison building. But as there is still a chance that the anomaly might not hit, the "Examples" do not want to be rescued until Burnham finds a Federation law that would allow them to receive asylum. Then, however, the doors of the prison close, leaving Burnham, Book and the prisoners trapped. Burnham reactivates the land mines to blow the door open. After the five other prisoners have been beamed up, a man named Felix says he wants to stay behind. He killed a man, who left behind a daugter, and stole the family's lalogi orb. Felix hands the device to Burnham before she and Book are beamed up. The DMA obliterates the colony, killing Felix. In the meantime on the Discovery, a Risian scientist named Ruon Tarka has arrived and has set up an experiment to reconstruct the DMA at a smaller scale. When the experiment has just begun to provide the desired results, Saru, however, decides to end it because it would endanger the ship. Culber is exhausted after many counseling sessions, and he asks for the the "brutal honesty" of Kovich, who tells him that he has developed a savior complex after being dead, and that he needs a break. Burnham finds Patri Doxica, the woman who rightfully owns the lalogi orb, which turns out to be a portable family tree. When Tarka joins Book for a drink, he reveals that the energy required to maintain the DMA would be equivalent to a hypergiant star.

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