p. 130

Not much action occurs in “Ship of Theseus,” on page 130 as S and Corbeau head out into the city together. They merely attempt to act like a couple and look natural so as to avoid any attention. As they walk away, S turns his head to look at Zapadi’s house to check on Ostrero’s shadow, and he sees the S symbol, with its mirror image on the other side. That is essentially all that occurs on the page in the writing to the novel itself.

S symbol

S symbol

In the margins, Eric inquires as to whether or not “VMS and Durand (were) ever a couple,” (130) to which Jen responds that FXC doesn’t seem to think so, though “Maybe they pretended to be.” (130) This leads Jen and Eric to wonder if they were close, but platonic, though when Jen asks if he thinks that’s possible, Eric responds bluntly with “Not anymore.” This is a very clear indicator that Jen and Eric’s relationship, once purely scholarly and platonic, has become romantic. Eric’s writing as he writes those words is in red, one of the later colors he used, showing a change over time.