Lyra heads directly to the burned side of Hawthorne Island, choosing to investigate the ruins of the old house where the fire began years earlier. She studies the blackened remains, the exposed frame, the overgrown fireplace, and the uneven foundation, searching for anything that might count as a clue or useful object in Avery’s game.

Finding nothing obvious, Lyra walks the perimeter of the ruins once with her eyes open and then again with her eyes closed, relying on bodily memory and sensation. Near the stone fireplace, her fingers find shallow carved writing: You cannot Escape the reality of tomorrow by evading it today. —Abraham Lincoln. Lyra recognizes the quote as a probable hint, though it also feels like a warning that she can no longer avoid what brought her here.

Lyra continues exploring with her eyes closed and unknowingly nears the cliff beyond the ruined house. Grayson Hawthorne appears suddenly and grabs her arm to stop her, warning that there is a cliff. Lyra resents both his touch and his assumption that she needs saving, telling him to assume she knows what she is doing and to keep his hands to himself.

The confrontation turns sharper when Grayson says he knows Lyra. At first Lyra deflects by referencing their brief helicopter meeting, but Grayson clarifies that he recognizes her voice from past phone calls. Lyra remembers calling him from a disposable phone about a year and a half earlier without giving her name, and she is shaken that he remembers her at all.

Lyra tries to leave, but Grayson presses the point and blocks her path, looking at Lyra as if she is a mystery to solve. After a brief, charged standoff, Grayson steps aside. Lyra orders him to stay out of her way, and Grayson answers with his own command: she should stay away from the cliffs.