In the far future, a group of three people plot treason against the Empress: A girl who is the Empress's clone, her childhood friend who loves her, and her servant whom she adores. Her childhood friend is supposed to receive his spaceship in a ceremony where she plans to challenge the Empress to a duel for the throne. They have plotted for her servant to set off a bomb that will disrupt the technology implanted in all of them, giving her childhood friend enough time to fatally shoot the Empress and help her clone win. Her childhood friend grapples with the monumental implications of his involvement and the potential punishments he'd face if the plot fails. He puts on his fanciest clothing and meets his clones, who are all spaceship captains, and he wonders why none of him notice that anything is wrong with him. He sits at the ceremony and watches his friend challenge the Empress. The Empress is stronger than his friend is, and he cannot bear to see her die... so he pulls the trigger of his sniper rifle. Her servant detonates the bomb at the same time. He rests assured that their plot has succeeded and that she can pardon all three of them when she becomes the new Empress.