His contemplates his balance with the valise and his ability to walk across the pack ice in the harbor towards the ship. He follows Sola across the unsteady ice, becoming less tentative by the time he reaches the ship. He realizes it was less frightening than expected and the rush of the unstable ice may have awoken him from his trance in the Winter City.
S. also asks Sola about the man with the scars on his face who shanghaied him. He wonders how his life may have been entirely different, but it is clear that he was chosen for a purpose. Sola states while she does not really know the man, she knows that his “purposes are not necessarily the same.”

Eric and Jen decide to meet at midnight and even though she wants to use the tunnels because she does not feel safe alone, he warns her that there are more voices and symbols in the steam tunnels.
Eric also goes to talk to Moody about the men following Jen. When Moody laughs that Eric found the right girl, his anger towards Moody flares up again. A barn fire. A fucking black-vine fire. he was drunk, but still. This implies that it was most likely Moody or someone he sent to start the fire and that his impaired state is no excuse. He also calls it the type of fire used within Ship of Theseus. When Jen makes a threat towards Moody in the pages, Eric supports it but realistically wants Jen to be safe.