Chapter 10 Summary

Meg works patiently with Jenkins' clumsy kything and tells him of the sacrifice the farandolae made to save her. Jenkins feels deep sorrow at this news, but Meg believes intuitively that Xing oneself is a better fate than being Xed by the Echthroi. Jenkins understands this intuitive thought, but he fails to understand how the Deepened farae communicate without words. Trees do not talk to one another, he says. Meg suggests that trees do indeed communicate with one another, but Jenkins balks at this idea. Calvin kythes excitedly to Meg. He knows how to make Jenkins understand.

Calvin tells Meg the story of his science project. Calvin got the idea from a Wall Street Journal article about a biologist who attached electrodes to his houseplant to measure its biological reactions. The plant showed no reaction until the impatient biologist thought to burn one...