Leaving Mrs. Crowe and the Up Top, Mission broods over her impossible stories of blue skies and open land. The idea of a better world makes him angrier at silo life and reminds him of his mother’s removal years earlier. As Mission heads down, he notices smoke from below and reads the fear on the stairwell: people clutch possessions, protect children, and act as if the silo’s future is uncertain.

When Mission reaches IT on level thirty-four, he finds chaos. Crowds press at a temporary barrier, damaged computers are being carried in, and Security is recruiting young men because a power spike destroyed machines, a fire is burning in Mechanical, and violence has broken out in the farms. Mission presents Mrs. Crowe’s note for Security chief Jeffery and learns that Rodny is unavailable, but Jeffery agrees to take Mission along when he brings Rodny lunch.

While waiting in a conference room full of boys filling out applications, Mission notices fellow porter Bradley among the recruits. Mission hides the application he is handed and studies the envelope instead. Breaking porter rules, Mission carefully opens Mrs. Crowe’s sealed letter and finds only a fragment of a nursery rhyme written on rough child-made paper: a message about the mother bird singing and taking flight. Before Mission can examine it further, Jeffery summons him.

Jeffery leads Mission through overworked IT offices to a locked steel door that suggests Rodny is in serious trouble. Inside are rows of black cabinets and warning lights, revealing that Rodny is working with computers, not being held in an ordinary cell. Rodny appears exhausted and oddly formal, cannot speak freely, and briefly leaves when something in the room demands attention. After Jeffery hints that Mission does not understand Rodny’s situation, Rodny ends the visit quickly; during a strained handshake, Rodny secretly slips the folded note back into Mission’s hand, signaling that Mrs. Crowe’s message matters and cannot safely remain with him.