Following Sola’s question regarding his trust of her, S. replies, “I do,” but he adds that she “might be better off if [he] didn’t.” Sola then pushes herself into S. and they fall. She tells him that he trusts her, but “for reasons that [she] cannot fathom,” he doesn’t believe or should believe that he does. S. sees where she is coming from, but is not entirely convinced that she is correct. He again questions whether or not he has unknowingly spoken aloud when she tells him, “Listen, we are we, and we have been we for a long, long time. And in that way, I am you.”

Sola senses S.’s cynicism and seems frustrated that he cannot come to accept and take pride in the profound bond that they share. She clearly wants him to accept this inherent connection between them, and goes as far as to suggest that they are essentially the same person. If S. truly wants to find happiness–to fulfill his desires–he must realize that everything he needs to do so is right in front of him.

In their first round of notes, Jen and Eric struggle with an FXC footnote. Jen notes that none of this is true and says she has no idea what part of the footnote is a code. In their fourth round of notes, Jen comes back to this footnote and writes, It’s in here. It’s got to be. to which Eric replies, You’ll find it. I know you will.

More than anything, this seems to indicate the extent to which Eric believes in Jen. We have seen throughout the novel that Jen tends to lack confidence at times, but Eric believes in her amazing research and investigative abilities. The sureness of his statement, I know you will really confirms this. He’s not just saying it to be nice, because at this point Eric has long professed his love for Jen and we can assume that everything he says to her is of the utmost honesty.

In their third round of notes, Jen writes something very insightful: For all the people in Straka’s world who sold out, expoloited, backstabbed (etc.) their friends, there were just as many who were completely loyal to each other (+ to the work they were trying to do). It’s taken me a while to realize that. Eric agrees, saying that he didn’t realize it until you wrote that.

This is a rather insightful social commentary, as it indicates how easy it is to lose sight of those who really love and care about us in the face of adversity. Eric’s identical realization confirms the ease in which we can take for granted the positive forces in life.