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Then, Lu began accosting various crew members when they were alone, and accusing them of horrible things.

‘Are you in on it?’ he asked Greenstockings.

Greenstockings shook her head, as she said, ‘What?’

‘Tell me!’ Lu hissed, reaching for her hand. Greenstockings flinched away.

‘What are you talking about?’

‘I’m realizing that during the past thirty-odd years of my life, I’ve been in the dark, but now I must be extremely careful.¹ Everything requires careful consideration if one is to understand it. I’ve seen into it. The fierceness of a lion, the timidity of a rabbit, the craftiness of a fox...I want you to know that I don’t hold it against you—among all of them, you.’

Lu turned and floated away from Greenstockings. She found the experience unnerving, but justified Lu’s strange behavior to herself and did not tell anyone about it.

Later, Lu found Back at the exercise machines. Back had strapped himself in as though he meant to use it, though he was far too exhausted. He was daydreaming or in the sort of fugue that they all experienced for long stretches of each day, and did not notice Lu’s approach.

‘I know that you think you’ll get away with it,’ said Lu, so close that his breath tickled Back’s ear.

‘Shit!’ Back yelled, nervously unhooking himself. ‘Don’t fucking sneak up like that! Fuck!’

‘I know that you’ve been thinking about eating me,’ said Lu. ‘Thinking that you might get me alone, like we are now, and kill me, and eat me.’

‘What the hell is wrong with you?’

‘You could even say it was my idea. That I didn’t want to go on living anymore.’

‘You need to calm the fuck down,’ Back shouted. ‘You’re losing it, Lu.’

‘Here, you see this?’ said Lu, pulling his pantleg up to show off a scrawny calf. ‘That looks good to you, doesn’t it? You want to eat? You want a little chow mein?’

Back pushed past Lu, and left the room. Even though the incident was terribly unsettling, and he found it difficult to put out of his mind, he did not tell anyone about it, either.