In this chap­ter, Cat wakes up the nar­ra­tor, who is dis­ori­ent­ed from sleep­ing in Cat’s bed, a deci­sion that stemmed from a desire to avoid the mem­o­ry of a recent­ly deceased room­mate. Their sleep­ing arrange­ment was not inti­mate, but rather a com­fort from the emo­tion­al tur­moil sur­round­ing their cir­cum­stances, par­tic­u­lar­ly con­cern­ing Nasha and Eight. Cat asks if the nar­ra­tor has plans for the day, and upon real­iz­ing he has a day off, he con­tem­plates how to spend it.

Cat reveals she only has a half shift due to near-miss­es she expe­ri­enced at work in Secu­ri­ty. The atmos­phere is relaxed but infor­mal, with their shab­by cloth­ing reflect­ing their liv­ing con­di­tions. Cat’s pro­pos­al for break­fast leads to play­ful ban­ter about shar­ing food before they make their way through the most­ly emp­ty halls. The nar­ra­tor acknowl­edges the iso­la­tion felt since their arrival in this new place, both due to his sta­tus as an Expend­able and the lin­ger­ing scent of sweat. A stop at the chem show­er high­lights the scarci­ty of lux­u­ries, such as hot water.

When they reach the main cafe­te­ria, it is sparse­ly pop­u­lat­ed. The nar­ra­tor real­izes he is short on calo­ries, like­ly due to Eight’s hefty break­fast. Cat orders a yam-toma­to scram­ble, leav­ing the nar­ra­tor to sip on cycler paste, a rather unap­pe­tiz­ing meal. Their con­ver­sa­tion reveals ten­sion between their expe­ri­ences; while Cat enjoys food, the nar­ra­tor strug­gles with lim­it­ed rations. As they engage in light­heart­ed con­ver­sa­tion, Cat inquires about the narrator’s past, sug­gest­ing spec­u­la­tion around his crim­i­nal his­to­ry. He assures her he’s not a crim­i­nal, dis­pelling any con­cerns she might have.

Post-break­fast, Cat thanks the nar­ra­tor for their cama­raderie the pre­vi­ous night and hints at want­i­ng to spend more time togeth­er, sug­gest­ing plans for lat­er. The nar­ra­tor reflects on obser­va­tions of Expend­ables and the eth­i­cal dilem­mas sur­round­ing their roles. As he pre­pares for a qui­et day, plans are dis­rupt­ed when a col­league calls him back to work for a new toma­to exper­i­ment, hint­ing at the stress­ful pres­sures that await him.

The chap­ter con­cludes with Eight return­ing from his duty, dis­cussing the poor state of the crops while the nar­ra­tor inter­nal­ly debates the pre­car­i­ous dynam­ics evolv­ing with­in their group.