In this chap­ter, the pro­tag­o­nist, who is iden­ti­fied as Sev­en, faces the daunt­ing prospect of using the cycler, an unset­tling device that dis­as­sem­bles organ­ic mat­ter. Sev­en is appre­hen­sive about being shoved face-first into the hole, which he feels is sig­nif­i­cant­ly worse than fac­ing dan­ger in the past. His com­pan­ion, Eight, express­es con­cern and active­ly pre­vents him from mak­ing a hasty deci­sion. Despite this, the fear of their situation—being mul­ti­ple iden­ti­ties with lim­it­ed resources—looms large. They con­tem­plate their predica­ment, empha­siz­ing their sin­gle reg­is­tered iden­ti­ty and the risk of expo­sure threat­en­ing both of their lives.

As ten­sions rise, they dis­cuss their mea­ger rations, hop­ing to stretch their food sup­ply. Eight sug­gests cre­ative­ly man­ag­ing their food by con­sum­ing cheap­er paste, though Sev­en is unwill­ing to set­tle for such a dras­tic mea­sure. They also con­sid­er Berto, a mutu­al acquain­tance, as a poten­tial ally for more resources but quick­ly real­ize he may not be trust­wor­thy. Both friends rec­og­nize their lack of options and the pos­si­bil­i­ty of fac­ing severe con­se­quences from Com­man­der Mar­shall for their uncon­ven­tion­al exis­tence as mul­ti­ples.

The con­ver­sa­tion reveals insights into their rela­tion­ships with oth­ers in the colony, with addi­tion­al men­tion of the grav­i­ty of their sit­u­a­tion laid bare when news comes of a miss­ing colonist, Gabe Tor­ri­cel­li. Sev­en recalls see­ing Gabe pri­or and con­sid­ers whether the crea­tures they encoun­tered are now a threat to their safe­ty. This stark real­i­ty height­ens the urgency of their need for a sol­id plan to survive—not just the impend­ing hard­ships, but the scruti­ny of the Com­man­der, who is like­ly to be enraged that his colony is los­ing mem­bers.

As the chap­ter con­cludes, Sev­en is sum­moned to speak with Com­man­der Mar­shall, indi­cat­ing esca­lat­ing ten­sions with­in their com­mu­ni­ty. The inter­ac­tions shed light on the char­ac­ters’ dynam­ics, fear, and resource­ful­ness amidst des­per­a­tion and uncer­tain­ty in a harsh envi­ron­ment, explor­ing themes of trust, iden­ti­ty, and sur­vival.