The bridge reflects on a childhood surrounded by paperwork and a lifelong obsession with archiving and control, which makes it notable that Graham Gore’s sketch of a strange “projection device” was filed away as a joke rather than treated as a warning. By early summer, Graham appears increasingly acclimatized—modern clothes, routines, running—while still resisting parts of the era, frustrating the bridge’s need to see assimilation as “responsibility.”

The Ministry intensifies monitoring: expats undergo weekly “empathy” tests based on a theory that temporal disruption impairs compassion, and bridges undergo mandatory “honesty” exams with polygraph-like surveillance. In one session, Adela needles the bridge about whether the work is “erotic” and presses for the bridge’s feelings about Commander Gore. Separately, the bridge gives Quentin Graham’s device sketch; Quentin reacts with alarm, assumes the offices are bugged, and keeps the drawing, hinting the sketch may be more serious than the bridge believed.

To encourage expat bonding, Ed organizes shared dinners. At an early meal the bridge meets Sixteen-sixty-five, Margaret Kemble, who is charming, sharp, and pragmatic about cooking; Graham flirts playfully with her, stirring the bridge’s jealousy. Margaret points out Sixteen-forty-five, Lieutenant Thomas Cardingham, and describes his misogynistic insults toward her and Anne Spencer. The Brigadier briefly attends, speaks with the bridge about war-writing, and pointedly mentions Graham Greene’s The Ministry of Fear, adding to the atmosphere of scrutiny.

A brutal heat wave and water rationing strain the household; Graham prays at night and mourns that “My England wasn’t like this.” The bridge tries to lift his mood by buying bikes; Graham learns to ride out of stubborn pride, and they cycle into central London and share a pub lunch. Graham becomes emotional about the Franklin men, then asks whether time travel could be used to go back and stop the pollution that caused the heat wave, revealing his growing grasp of modern catastrophe and the temptation to “fix” it.

At a six-month bridge meeting, Simellia raises concerns that expats are being used as unpaid consultants, but Ralph interrupts with an “immediate problem” about Margaret Kemble’s “predilections.” Later, the bridge tells Graham that Margaret is a lesbian; Graham reacts coolly, rejecting sexuality as an “identity,” and the bridge feels newly unsettled. That night Graham confides a past intimacy with Robert McClure—McClure “clung” and wept nightly—which the bridge withholds from reports, unsure of its meaning. Soon after, contradictory Ministry emails warn of scan irregularities, then order everyone to forget them; Quentin finally tells the bridge that Anne Spencer (Seventeen-ninety-three) has stopped appearing on scanners and her MRIs are blank, and he urgently questions the device sketch again before insisting the call is insecure and abruptly ending it.