The smell of cordite and flesh permeates the air, and every now and then comes the smell from Vevoda’s testing field. The smell invokes in S sensations of being at the dead meadow.

When S asks Maelstrom about the smell, he replies: “Tha’s th’ world burnin, sunnydags.” FXC notes that the reply echoes the one uttered by Wineblood in Wineblood’s Mine. Maelstrom reveals that the smell is unprecedented. S discerns that the sailors all age and become growingly concerned about the uncertainty and the coming of horror. “It’s like the sleep terror”, writes Eric in the end of the paragraph. “Except we can’t shout ourselves awake”, writes Jen.

Eric tells Jen about his friend Griff. Griff writes his thesis on Paul Hammond Paul, a not well-liked writer who lived in an era similar to Straka’s. “How cool it would be if our authors turn out to be the same person”, says Eric. Eric alludes to the Straka’s identity fluidity. On the other hand, Jen tells Eric that she is summoned for a meeting with the library head.