In a series of late-night vis­its to Wer­ryck, the pro­tag­o­nist wit­ness­es fluc­tu­a­tions between Wer­ryck­’s agi­ta­tion and tran­quil­i­ty. Dur­ing one ses­sion, Wer­ryck reveals he has­n’t slept in forty-two years, a result of trad­ing sleep for revenge and influ­ence. This admis­sion stirs reflec­tions on Lark’s belief in redemp­tion for those who have wronged her, such as Large Beef, the man who attempt­ed to fire­bomb her shop. The protagonist—somewhat intim­i­dat­ed by Wer­ryck­’s complexity—chooses to play a famil­iar bass line on his instru­ment.

Wer­ryck recounts a vivid dream from his past, a thrilling car ride off a moun­tain­side, illus­trat­ing his long­ing for dreams which he has been deprived of. As the pro­tag­o­nist con­tem­plates the essen­tial nature of sleep, feel­ings of sad­ness for Wer­ryck emerge.

Lat­er, work assign­ments lead the pro­tag­o­nist and his crew to the dark and cold con­fines of the ship’s Shambles—a deten­tion area below the water­line. The crew learns they will be seal­ing cor­rod­ed steel hulls with hot tar. Enter­ing the Sham­bles, they nav­i­gate through oppres­sive dark­ness, encoun­ter­ing dim lights and signs of decay, cul­mi­nat­ing in eerie scenes of inmates serv­ing their sen­tences.

Upon meet­ing Mar­cel, a fel­low work­er in the Sham­bles, the pro­tag­o­nist is intro­duced to Mag­gie, a woman con­fined in a cell who has been hear­ing music through the plumbing—specifically the pro­tag­o­nist’s play­ing. Their heart­felt exchange reveals Maggie’s appre­ci­a­tion for the music, offer­ing a glimpse into the unex­pect­ed con­nec­tions formed in dire cir­cum­stances.

As the work­day ends, Ivar appears with a slip of paper con­tain­ing the name “Sol,” hint­ing at hid­den nar­ra­tives and emo­tions. This rev­e­la­tion invokes an amused and live­ly response from the pro­tag­o­nist, momen­tar­i­ly eas­ing the ten­sion of their monot­o­nous lives. That night, Wer­ryck appears more vul­ner­a­ble and mor­tal, falling asleep while the pro­tag­o­nist plays sooth­ing music. This noc­tur­nal inti­ma­cy trans­forms the atmos­phere, reveal­ing deep­er lay­ers to Wer­ryck beyond his ini­tial impos­ing demeanor, con­clud­ing the chap­ter with a sense of both fragili­ty and con­nec­tion in a har­row­ing envi­ron­ment.