Back at their hotel, Clay and the others must figure out a way to scan Manutius’s book without Corvina’s knowledge. Once again, Clay turns to Grumble and his portable cardboard book scanner, the GrumbleGear 3000, which is perfect for their mission. It is also decided that Clay should be the one to break into the Reading Room and scan the book; in fact, he has plans to scan Penumbra’s book too, as insurance against Corvina’s threat of burning it. Deckle arrives and is persuaded to help them. He agrees that computers could be very useful to their work, and he was the one who originally built the bookstore’s database. Clay now needs to find a laser cutter so that he can build the book scanner; he asks Mat who suggests he ask Grumble. Clay sends a message to Grumble through his website and waits for a reply. Meanwhile, Kat is increasingly excited by the prospect of immortality whereas Clay continues to be skeptical and thinks of the fellowship as a cult. 

Clay receives a positive reply from Grumble: “tell me what you need” (165) and sends Clay to an address where he can collect the pre-cut pieces necessary to build the scanner.