- Back underground, Cole gets, um, sanitized with a bristly broom and a firehose.
- Cole is brought before the Scientists, a panel of scientists who run (rule?) the future society.
- They say they have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for someone with his skills in observation—and no, it isn't a timeshare.
- This opportunity could reduce his sentence considerably and may even help return the human race to the surface.