The narrative perspective switches over to Nick’s for a single chapter but through the third-person lens. Because Nick is on the autism spectrum, it took years for him to learn social interaction cues and how to lie. Now that he has perfected that art, it’s almost part of his job to lie in order to keep everyone else happy. Nick walks in on a boy attacking a girl in the kitchen, clearly stressed over the lack of food, and is reminded of the upcoming summer. He knows that people are likely to die since supplies and water will be low. Nick stops the fight, and then Erin comes in to talk to him about his plan regarding Seraph. Nick refers to Benji/Seraph as “it” and never as Benji, seeing Seraph as a tool and nothing more. He does not want to become attached or friends in any way, as doing so will only lead to guilt. Nick hopes that because Seraph is so desperate to prove its loyalty, it will be willing to do anything for the ALC. He plans to take Seraph to the church to test its loyalty and sacrifice it by giving it to the Vanguard if need be.