This is the fifth Sabbath day since the contestants arrived aboard Genesis, and Bilal invites everyone to play cards in his room. The competitors play cards and share their pasts with one another, except for Longwei, who continues to keep himself distant. Emmett starts to see his fellow competitors as people, and he wonders what it was like for each of them to be chosen. Emmett reveals to the reader that he never applied to Babel, which simply selected him one day out of the blue.

Over the past seven weeks, Emmett and Kaya have studied and trained together. Emmett has solidified his position on the scoreboard, but he continues to feel guilty about being in competition with Bilal. Kaya has become obsessed with exploring Genesis 11, and she and Emmett often sneak out after training to find off-limits rooms. There is one room they haven’t been able to unlock yet, and Kaya tells Emmett to meet her the next day (which happens to be a Sabbath day) because she has a plan to finally open the door.