Victory remains protected: Carl can rest a hand on her shoulder, but a punch would pass straight through.
Carl casually stepped forward and put his hand on Baroness Victory's shoulder, feeling the softness of her physical form. She was still protected — if he tried to punch her, his arm would go straight through.
He used the moment to wish her luck in her new job while telling her that, for the sake of the few thousand schmucks railroaded into the crawl, and however much he liked her personally, he wouldn't hesitate for a moment to kill the Prime Minister of the Syndicate. She snorted. She knew it too.
The protection that keeps Victory physically safe from Carl even as he tells her he'd kill her office.