Ry is at the Alcor Life Extension Foundation in Arizona, where he is taking a tour of the facility. Ry is one of a select group of doctors chosen for a Field Team, a group that retrieves people when they die to bring them back to the facility. Alcor is a cryogenics laboratory, where recently deceased people are preserved for future resurrection. Ry identifies with transhumanist ideals, though he acknowledges that other trans medical professionals do not. Ry meets Victor, who is older but well-preserved. Victor invites Ry to a meal, and they go to a diner. They discuss where they work and cryogenics. Victor notes that it is better to preserve brains than bodies, but his preference would be to upload his consciousness. The waitress says she would not want to live forever, just to 100 years old with the vitality of a 25-year-old. Ry thinks Victor might be crazy, but he continues to go along with Victor’s plans. Victor questions whether reality is real or an illusion. Outside in the Sonoran Desert, Victor and Ry get caught in the rain, and Ry is aware of Victor’s body near him. They return to the diner, and the waitress offers to let them shower while she washes their clothes.