This chapter is an excerpt from Zelu's novel, narrated by Ankara the Hume robot, as she leaves Lagos and journeys toward Cross River City. Ijele has not returned to her, and Ankara walks alone along the beaches, observing dolphins but no RoBoats. Moving inland onto empty roads maintained by robots, she encounters a sleek, self-modified electric car that scans her, expresses regret over having killed several Humes weeks earlier, and admits it has seen no other Humes since. The car is heading to Lagos despite the Ghost-favored servers there, claiming a VPN protects it. The encounter raises Ankara's fear that she may be the last of her kind.

Ankara stops at the Osun-Osogbo Sacred Grove, an old shrine maintained by a Yoruba-speaking custodian robot who greets her and tours her through the space. The grove contains wooden idols of gods and deities alongside unanimated robot bodies, and is somehow untouched by the Ghosts. The custodian forbids touching or recording anything. The visit refreshes Ankara's senses and renews her hope that the Ghosts have not conquered everything, even as she fears the coming destruction.

On the road, Ankara practices using the rust-free, stronger legs Ijele and Ngozi gave her, learning to run, jump, and grip surfaces despite occasional falls. She continues to worry whether Ijele's silence means grief or that the Ghosts have discovered and deleted her, and resists calling out through their bond for fear of exposing Ijele.

A purple-blue pollen tsunami from the periwinkle grass sweeps over her, coating her in pollen that cleans rust from her joints. She speaks Ngozi's name into the wind and displays Ngozi's image on her face screen, finding joy in the embodied experience she wishes Ijele could share.

After a month of travel, encountering many robots but no Humes, Ankara arrives in the rain at the towering neon sign and rusted gate of Cross River City. Her ping receives no response, and the road appears unused. Fearing she has come to another site of Hume massacre and may truly be the last, she steels herself for the truth and opens the gate.