p. 294

After destroying himself on the volcanic beach, S returns to the ship which is currently uninhabited. He enters the ship and climbs down numerous ladder until he reaches the orlop deck. He questions whether or not the monkey will jump out and scare him. He continues exploring the ship until he come across the orlop deck door. He then crashes the door to the mysterious room down.

Red part highlights orlop deck on an average ship.

The commentary begins with Jen saying, No one is there. Means this is purely S.’s choice. Eric responds by saying, I think he knew he was making his choices – he just didn’t always want to admit it, even to himself. This interaction addresses what the real S felt about his actions. Further down the page, a note from Eric in pencil references him walking into the orlop deck room, and states, Crossing the threshold. Jen then responds saying, But it’s the wrong threshold. It’s the one that takes him away from Sola. This then leads to the discussion of whether or not this passage is an expression of VMS’ regret towards writing and FXC. Furthermore, as Jen and Eric’s relationship develops, the previously mentioned concept leads them to discuss what their threshold is and whether or not they have reached or crossed it yet. This interaction makes it very clear to the reader that Jen and Eric’s relationship has developed a lot throughout the pages, and they are closer than before.