S begins to panic as he continues to be exposed to the oddities of the ship. “He feels his heart thudding faster, feels his spine turning to ice…he feels if he is falling again, falling through the dark, with nothing to believe in but the cruel efficiency of gravity” (34). He does fall, and is dragged up in front of the crew by a few of the sailors. The lead sailor communicates with the other sailors, and S notes that his voice is oddly subdued. Finally, S sees tiny pink spots around the mouths of the sailors, with dark threads crisscrossing their lips.

In the margins, Eric underlines and stars the passage about S falling. Jen also notes her approval of the section. This shows that despite all the mystery and controversy, Jen and Eric are at heart still literary scholars who appreciate fine writing; they are not reading the book simply to discover the identity of Straka.

There is a footnote in which FXC explains that throughout the novel there are descriptions of individual sailors’ faces that resemble one of the potential Straka candidates. Jen notes that this is at least one footnote that makes sense, but Eric responds by arguing that it’s incorrect. This is further evidence that there is something strange about these footnotes.