true-death

The narrator is confronted by the Bikura tribe, who debate whether he should be allowed to live because he follows the cross but is not yet of the cruciform, a biological-religious transformation reserved for the Three Score and Ten. Despite his fear and anger over the destruction of his possessions and data, he is ultimately subjected to the cruciform ritual. The chapter concludes with the narrator descending into an ancient labyrinth beneath Hyperion, reflecting on the mystery and scale of these subterranean structures.