When asked whether he is joining the rest of the fugitive in a plan to flee the city, S takes a long pause. He struggles between following the team and finding Sola. When he is pondering, Stenfalk reminds him that “the only important thing to you is figuring out who you are […] one is unlikely to make effective inquiries to that end if one is dangling from a hangman’s noose.”

Eric’s notes back from high school age point out that the fundamental problem of the book is–“Doe the rewriting make us different people? Or just a product of ongoing revision?” In addition, Eric shares with Jen that he felt “off” during the winter–“I wasn’t myself. Or somewhere along the line I’d turned into someone I’d always dreaded being.” His memory rewrites itself because of the past misfortune and immense pressure. While he could hold pieces of memories together in the past, he can no longer do it.