S. “scrutinizes his face in the surface of the turbid water that is handed down to him,” which holds the more literal meaning, but is a subtle reference to Maelstrom because his name is a word for turbid water.

S. tries to remember bits of information from his past, but then gives up because “each minute on the ship brings him closer to a fate he can not fathom, or farther from the life he wishes he’d retained.” Though S. has no known fate or destination, he still feels like he should be doing something else; he searches for an alternative, without even knowing what that alternative would be.

There is a time-lapse series of comments between Jen and Eric describing concerning coincidences related to Straka.

First, there is an S. symbol found in the Varsity, then they show the movie Santana.

Here is the first introduction to Jen’s disappearance:

“Remind me to tell you about the day I disappeared.”