What happens to Armitage in this chapter?

Armitage contacts Case and asks him about a General that Case has never heard of before. Dixie contacts Case and informs him that since Armitage has mentioned this General, it means that he is slipping. The Armitage character completely falls away from Corto's personality, and he goes insane. He dies when he ejects an escape pod that is not properly sealed and is sucked out into the cold vacuum of space.