subcultural-identity

The chapter follows two officers investigating Rowena Mayr and her son Bertie in a decaying urban environment beneath a high-speed monorail. They discover Bertie has been manipulating a large, dangerous cryptoflesh creature called a Blankie, which attacks one of the officers before being subdued by a dog. The chapter ends with a poignant scene of Bertie, incapacitated by a neurotoxin, and Rowena grieving over him, highlighting themes of familial dysfunction and the consequences of bioengineering.