Chap­ter 15 opens with the char­ac­ters Sev­en and Eight endur­ing the harsh real­i­ties of a food short­age in a sur­vival-dri­ven atmos­phere. Eight, vis­i­bly dis­tressed by the severe rationing, open­ly express­es his frus­tra­tion, reflect­ing on the dras­tic change since he woke up from the tank. The con­trast between his dis­may and Seven’s lev­el-head­ed approach high­lights the strain their cir­cum­stances are plac­ing on their minds. Sev­en, while sym­pa­thet­ic to Eight’s strug­gles, tries to remain prag­mat­ic, con­tin­u­ing to ration their lim­it­ed resources with a sense of respon­si­bil­i­ty. The bond between them is evi­dent as they share this ten­sion, with Eight even jok­ing about the hunger-induced mad­ness, hint­ing at his grow­ing des­per­a­tion. Though the exchange has moments of lev­i­ty, the weight of their sit­u­a­tion is unde­ni­able, cre­at­ing a com­plex emo­tion­al land­scape where humor and hard­ship inter­twine.

As their con­ver­sa­tion con­tin­ues, Sev­en receives a mes­sage from Black Hor­net, a fel­low crew mem­ber, who informs him of a change in fly­ing duties and express­es a desire to meet. Eight, see­ing the need for Sev­en to take a break from the grim envi­ron­ment, encour­ages him to go, offer­ing a tem­po­rary respite from their strug­gles. This inter­ac­tion sets the stage for Seven’s reflec­tion on the broad­er chal­lenges of the col­o­niza­tion mis­sion, par­tic­u­lar­ly the his­tor­i­cal fail­ures of past expe­di­tions. The trag­ic his­to­ry of the Ching Shih, a ship that failed in the face of resource deple­tion, looms over their cur­rent sit­u­a­tion. The crew of the Ching Shih per­ished, trapped in space with dwin­dling sup­plies, and their demise serves as a reminder of the dire fate that might await them if they can­not over­come their cur­rent chal­lenges. This his­tor­i­cal reflec­tion under­scores the grav­i­ty of the cur­rent cri­sis and fore­shad­ows the dif­fi­cult deci­sions the crew will face mov­ing for­ward.

Seek­ing soli­tude, Sev­en retreats to a small dome that, unlike the bustling spaces they once enjoyed, offers lit­tle com­fort or dis­trac­tion. This bar­ren, iso­lat­ing envi­ron­ment echoes the emo­tion­al and psy­cho­log­i­cal toll that the pro­longed cri­sis is tak­ing on the crew. In the dome, Sev­en encoun­ters High­smith, a his­to­ry enthu­si­ast, but instead of engag­ing, he with­draws into his thoughts. The com­par­i­son to past colonists who per­ished under sim­i­lar con­di­tions weighs heav­i­ly on him, rein­forc­ing his sense of iso­la­tion. This moment of intro­spec­tion leaves Sev­en pon­der­ing whether their colony will meet the same trag­ic end as those who came before them. The loom­ing ques­tion of sur­vival hangs in the air, mak­ing it clear that their sit­u­a­tion is becom­ing increas­ing­ly dire. As he con­tin­ues to reflect, Sev­en feels the immense weight of his­to­ry and the uncer­tain future they face as they nav­i­gate the inhos­pitable plan­et.

Dri­ven by a desire to relieve Eight’s suf­fer­ing and take action, Sev­en reach­es out to Mickey8, con­firm­ing their loca­tion and time­line. With the urgency of their sit­u­a­tion becom­ing clear­er, Sev­en heads to the gym, hop­ing to find a brief escape. How­ev­er, his encounter with Cat, a fel­low crew mem­ber, leads to an unex­pect­ed yet mean­ing­ful con­ver­sa­tion about grief and loss. Cat opens up about the recent loss of a bunk­mate, a moment that res­onates deeply with Sev­en as it high­lights the emo­tion­al toll the mis­sion has tak­en on every­one. The con­nec­tion between them grows as they share their mutu­al strug­gles, and for the first time, Sev­en feels a sense of relief. This con­ver­sa­tion offers a moment of vul­ner­a­bil­i­ty and under­stand­ing amidst the cold, iso­lat­ing real­i­ty of their mis­sion. The shared expe­ri­ences of grief, iso­la­tion, and the con­stant strug­gle for sur­vival cre­ate a bond between them, pro­vid­ing com­fort in the face of the over­whelm­ing chal­lenges they face. As the chap­ter con­cludes, Seven’s grow­ing con­nec­tion with Cat offers a small, but sig­nif­i­cant, glim­mer of hope that emo­tion­al con­nec­tions can still be formed despite the harsh envi­ron­ment they inhab­it.