The Golěm rides in a taxi toward Crucifix Bastion, replaying memories of Katherine Solomon’s lecture at Prague Castle. He recalls feeling personally addressed by her argument that cases like sudden savant syndrome and apparent past-life memories expose major flaws in the conventional scientific model of consciousness.

In his recollection, Katherine presents examples of people who suddenly gain complex abilities after head trauma, framing them as “impossible” under standard brain-based explanations. She also cites cases like Michael Thomas Boatwright, who awakens speaking fluent Swedish with an altered sense of identity, and James Leininger, whose nightmares and technical knowledge appear to match a dead WWII pilot’s life.

Katherine concludes that these anomalies are real and force science toward a new model of where thoughts, talents, and ideas originate. The Golěm internally agrees, believing he understands how “cosmic signals” can be crossed and seeing himself as evidence of Katherine’s thesis.

As the taxi nears the bastion, the Golěm spots something wrong and orders the driver to stop. An ÚZSI sedan is already parked outside the facility, and the building’s entry door is shattered, leaving the foyer open with glass strewn across the floor.

Assuming ÚZSI may have broken into Brigita Gessner’s lab, the Golěm dismisses the taxi and advances on foot through the surrounding woods. He notices a lanky suited man in the courtyard talking on a phone and decides the man’s presence threatens his goal of retrieving an item he needs to gain access to Threshold.