Wow, that chapter hit like a truck. I’d been waiting for something big to happen with Tia and Koshar, and 275 finally gave us a major confrontation. It’s not a happy reunion, though. Koshar finds Tia after she’s been deliberately making moves to consolidate her power and distance herself from him. The whole scene is tense, with him demanding answers about why she’s shutting him out and accusing her of using him.
What got me was the flashback she has mid-argument. It’s brief, but it shows a memory from her past life that directly contradicts something Koshar is saying in the present. She doesn’t share it with him, of course. It just plays in her head, and you can see her resolve harden. The chapter ends with her giving him an ultimatum, basically telling him to either fully align with her new, colder strategy or step aside. It sets up a brutal power shift.