We start back on page 2061 Karkat had recently entered the Medium. His home had been terribly vandalised by his game host Terezi. He’s gotten the hang of the game quickly, fighting mobs, and gathering resources. He’s just discovered his own toilet, not in his home but out in the field. He calls up Terezi for an explanation. Having a blind home designer who is sensing the game via tasting colors on her screen has some drawbacks. Though it’s likely that Terezi is just screwing with him.

Terezi reminds Karkat that meteors are currently destroying his home planet. Everyone left on it is in trouble. He had no idea He needs to talk with Aradia([AA]) to get caught up because Terezi needed to “step-out” of her tree for a bit. After this conversation we had a 100+ page flashback. So now we’re back to this point.

Karkat, still in a field of the medium standing in front of his toilet. arachnidsGrip [AG] pesters him, He is aware of AG’s predilection for betrayal and general evil. She wants to be on Karkat’s team. He doesn’t buy this at all. Her actual purpose seems to have been to psyche him out as she is the “leader” of the blue team. Also to threaten use of her mind control powers on him. Karkat reminds her that she is bound to an agreement with “Better scourge sister” to not use her powers. That other sister is on his team. However, she uses her power to make him rejoin the chat after he leaves it, just to flex on him.

We’re given brief looks at 2 of the other trolls. centaursTesticle [CT] we see in his room with his lusus. His walls are covered in pictures of nude muscle bound centaurs. Mercifully they are censored. His lusus is also a centaur, but with an utter, and a black eye. He’s surrounded by broken robots and bows. CT himself wears broken shades, broken teeth and has a broken horn. He wears a tanktop with the mark Sagittarius on it. We also see a troll under the sea poking a sea creature with a trident.

Using her telepathic powers Aradia is riding the giant stone frog head home. She broke this off of the frog ruins she had been living in. She needs to start the session for the blue team. She decides to go to her previous home. She mentions she lived there before she found her “calling”. The voices of the dead had ordered her to move to the ruins after the death of her lusus. She mentions she never buried it, but it’d have been unusual to bury the dead.

Her old hive is nothing but an overgrown foundation. It has some holes around it that she had dug to test her archaeology skills. She sits on the foundation floor and opens her Crosbytop and loads the game. Next to her is a music box. She logs in on to the session started by her co-leader. She wanted to be the second player in the chain. She’s selected a specific troll to be the third in the chain.

Shortly later, her non-prototyped sprite is already out. No fancy base, the Cruxtruder is just deployed next to the remains of her home. All the others had used their Lusus as a prototype, but hers is long gone. Her instructions from the dead are to use the giant stone frog head. This is the true reason for her taking it.

It’s revealed to us now that the first player in the chain was not Sollux or AG, but Nepeta. We can see her watching Aradia in utter confusion. This technically makes Nepeta, who didn’t really even want to be on the blue team, its leader. She likely has no idea.

Later again, we see Aradia no in the medium. She’s in Land of Quartz And Melody as the Maid of Time. She mentions the player she is hosting has an important item to give her. But it’s one too expensive to alchemize. Once this player gets to the second ring, they will be able to meet her in person. This is how John eventually ended up seeing Rose at her house. This item is important to Aradia’s plan.

Nepeta hosting her is also part of the plan. For some reason Nepeta isn’t able to actually see Aradia in game. She needed someone less savvy with games and who would be more oblivious to what was going on. Someone only following instructions.

The reason Aradia hasn’t been visible is because she had been dead. A ghost. It’s possible none of the other trolls knew this. Though to us it was pretty obvious (right?)

Aradia prototypes her sprite once more, with herself. She is now a frog girl sprite. Nepeta is now able to see her for the first time. She explains that her death was caused by ignoring the advice of a friend. She asks Nepeta to keep this a secret, and she agrees to do so.