When a few inebriated guests catcall one of the serving girls, S realizes that there are no birds in the area, a very significant realization because S and Sola were planning on communicating via bird whistles. Sure enough, Tupp explains that Vevoda hates birds, and has the trees sprayed often so that birds will not live there. Straka, and the S organization as a whole, places a strong emphasis on birds, using them to symbolize themselves and many of their actions. Additionally, Straka uses bird names for many characters in “Ship of Theseus” throughout the novel. Vevoda’s hating of birds is no coincidence-it highlights just how different Vevoda and Straka are, emphasizing that they are opposites.

More relevantly for the characters of the novel, if there are no actual birds, S and Sola’s whistles will easily stand out to the agents. However, as S says to Sola with a look, there is “Nothing to be done about it. We simply have to be careful” (428).

It is worth noting that S communicates this to S with nothing but a look, and she responds to him, implying that she understood his message. This shows how close S and Sola are-they are able to communicate non-verbally, even though they have not been together for very long. It is possible that this means that S and Sola were always close as S followed her throughout the world trying to meet with her.

After they decide to commence their attack, S begins carrying his tray of wine around. He notes with some displeasure that he is struggling to hold it steady. Though he assures himself that it is because of the weight of the tray and not because he is nervous, that is clearly not the case, which sets this assassination attempt apart from the rest, since he is always calm and level-headed on his other missions. Vevoda is far more important than an ordinary agent.

Once again there are no footnotes, and no notes in the margins from Jen and Eric save for an illustration of a monkey. It is interesting that Jen/Eric choose to draw the monkey on this page, since there is no mention of a monkey, and there is much discussion of birds.