Arriving two hours early, Linus struggles to work under Ms. Jenkins’s watchful eye before riding the elevator—alone—to the fifth floor. After a tense wait at a shuttered window with a gum-snapping secretary, he is told all of Extremely Upper Management awaits him and is ushered into a dark chamber.

Spotlights reveal four executives high above: a woman with a beetle brooch, a bespectacled man, a jowly elder, and the handsome Mr. Werner. They question Linus about his 17-year tenure, his clinical reports, and the need for professional distance. Linus affirms empathy without attachment and the primacy of protecting magical youth. Satisfied, they agree he is “perfect.”

They disclose a classified level-four assignment: Linus must spend one month on an island orphanage run by Arthur Parnassus, overseeing six especially problematic children. He will file weekly reports directly to Extremely Upper Management, flag issues immediately, and keep the mission secret. His current cases are reassigned; his protest—“I have a cat!”—is dismissed as they call it a mandatory promotion.

After the meeting “ends,” Mr. Werner lingers to warn Linus to beware and leave no detail out, citing a vested interest and concern that Parnassus’s monthly reports are lacking. He stresses that transparency sustains order and that disappointment will not be tolerated.

The secretary escorts Linus out, handing him a folder with a train ticket and a sealed envelope he is forbidden to open until arrival. Ordered to speak to no one and leave immediately, Linus is ejected via elevator into the rain and drifts home on autopilot.

Back at his house, Mrs. Klapper assumes he’s been sacked or is dying; Linus denies both and retreats inside. He collapses against the door, confesses to Calliope the cat that he’s had a terrible day, and sits in stunned silence, facing the imminent departure.