machine-communion

In this chapter, Boysie Gann confronts the Planner, the human embodiment of the Machine's will, who obsessively manipulates symbolic dragon figurines and expresses hostility toward the Reefs of Space. The Planner undergoes a neural communion with the Machine, revealing the Machine's ruthless control and the transformation of Julie Martinet into Sister Delta Four, an acolyte who interrogates Gann using the artificial language Mechanese. The interrogation exposes the Machine's relentless pursuit of total knowledge and suppression of unplanned ideas, highlighting the tension between authoritarian control and individual autonomy.

Boysie Gann is accused of being the Starchild and a traitor, forcibly taken under heavy guard for training and communion under the Machine's orders. During a subtrain journey, a catastrophic failure nearly kills the passengers, leading to Gann's hospitalization and deep reflection on his fractured identity and alienation from society. Subsequently, Gann undergoes relentless training in logic and machine communication, witnessing the disappearance of fellow trainees and struggling with feelings of inadequacy and powerlessness within the dehumanizing, authoritarian system.