FIVE

Juliette reflects on the beginning of her isolation, remembering her mother’s terror when Juliette’s touch made contact impossible and her father’s horror over what Juliette had done. Her parents blamed Juliette for ruining their lives, locked Juliette away, and treated Juliette like something inhuman while demanding gratitude for food and basic care.

In the cell, Juliette watches snow fall and thinks about the broken natural world. Juliette describes ruined seasons, dying animals, failing crops, hunger, and the rise of The Reestablishment, which promised order but has brought more death through violence and control.

Adam asks about the time, the food, and the rules of the asylum. Juliette explains that meals are irregular, that the door is opened only briefly, and that before Adam arrived Juliette had not spoken for 264 days. When Adam asks about Juliette’s sentence and family, Juliette avoids the answers and instead asks why Adam is there; Adam only insists that Adam is not insane.

Adam admits Adam first assumed Juliette must be dangerous or unstable because the authorities placed Adam with a girl, which is why Adam tried to claim the bed. Juliette says Juliette helped Adam without knowing whether Adam would hurt Juliette. Their conversation becomes more personal as Adam watches Juliette closely, and Juliette asks what the outside world is like.

Adam explains that The Reestablishment is an international movement that divided inhabitable land into 3,333 sectors controlled by different powerful figures. Adam says the regime lied about restoring peace, murdered opposition, fights rebels, and destroys books, artifacts, and human history to force a fresh start. Two knocks announce food; Juliette reminds Adam to wait three minutes before touching the hot tray, and the uneasy but intimate conversation ends with shared breakfast.