Eleven

Tonner has lunch with Jellit in the commissary where they discuss the Soft Lothark's unusual grooming and feeding behaviors. Jellit reveals he has suffered a romantic rejection from someone in his lab. After lunch, Tonner returns to the old labs and impulsively collects a sample from one of Dafyd's Soft Lothark guards, prompted by Jellit's earlier observations about the creatures' oral processing behaviors.

Tonner and Jellit meet in the commissary three levels below the labs. They discuss the Soft Lothark creatures that frequent their workspace, particularly their nibbling behavior when greeting each other, which Brun theorizes is vestigial grooming. Tonner reflects on the human settlement's demographics problem and how Dafyd's lamb sacks—artificial gestation vessels containing developing human embryos—will eventually change their captive community. The men discuss their work: Jellit is rebuilding his team after losses during a previous Carryx slaughter, while Tonner has received new assignments to engineer a grasslike organism. Jellit mentions the Soft Lothark's cannibalistic behavior from a ship incident involving Ostencour's failed rebellion, noting they consumed a dead Lothark to reclaim toxins—a second data point suggesting oral processing of their own kind. Tonner notices Jellit seems troubled and probes him, discovering Jellit has been rejected romantically by someone from his lab. After lunch, Tonner returns to the old labs where he encounters a Soft Lothark guard posted there. When he attempts to touch it to examine its fur, the guard shoves him back aggressively before calming down after its attached half-mind communicates. Intrigued by Jellit's observations and this encounter, Tonner deliberately collects a sample of the Lothark's fur and skin cells using a sterile plate, then feeds it into the resonance imager for analysis.