Enae wakes up in a pool of blood with an injured knee and wrist. Sphene is with hir, there is gravity, and Translator Dlar’s body is nearby in a puddle of blood, along with Ideni Ismor’s severed arm. Dlar appears to be dead, but Sphene is unconcerned as Dlar has another body—to Sphene, this reads as losing one of the ancillaries, which ships can do without imperiling consciousness. The group has no way out of this end portion of the hallway. Enae asks Sphene why she cares about Reet’s case at all, since the ship does not appear to care about non-AI affairs. Sphene admits that she is primarily interested in finding an alternative to human ancillaries, not because she has any moral objection to them, but because other people find them unacceptable. The Geck bio mechs sound like a promising option. Enae feels guilty for ruining Reet’s life, but Sphene points out that if sie had not realized what he was, he would likely have died or matched with an unwilling human. Enae abruptly realizes that the pool of blood around Translator Dlar is shrinking; the blood is seeping through the floor.