Harrowhark wakes in a cramped shuttle overwhelmed by the blazing light of Dominicus. Disoriented and sweating, she snaps at Ortus Nigenad when he asks how to help, reminding Ortus that unless Harrowhark gives a specific signal, Harrowhark’s condition is not Ortus’s business.

Ortus tells Harrowhark that the shuttle is about four hundred kilometres above the First House and awaiting clearance to land. Harrowhark shields Harrowhark’s eyes, smells the Ninth House salts on Harrowhark’s hood, and looks down at the ocean planet, seeing a small built-up area around a central grey smudge.

Harrowhark admits that at times Harrowhark forgets and thinks Harrowhark is dreaming. Ortus awkwardly names Harrowhark’s “insanity,” and Harrowhark is relieved by Ortus’s bluntness. Ortus suggests the condition may yet prove useful, then illustrates the point by reciting a passage from Ortus’s epic, the Noniad, about Matthias Nonius and “bone frenzy,” which Harrowhark mocks.

Ortus then asks what it would be like to be a Lyctor and whether ancient, timeless life is tragic. Harrowhark sees only the promise of endless study and knowledge, while Ortus argues that time can make a person impotent beyond meaning. Harrowhark resents the implication that Harrowhark is too young to understand, and reflects with irritation on Ortus’s unsuitability as a cavalier.

Restless because the shuttle is taking too long to be cleared, Harrowhark opens the barrier to the empty cockpit and finds a piece of flimsy on a padded seat. The paper bears a violently written message: “THE EGGS YOU GAVE ME ALL DIED AND YOU LIED TO ME.” When Harrowhark hands it to Ortus, Ortus says the page is blank, confirming that the message is visible only to Harrowhark and deepening Harrowhark’s fear.