Lenny’s diary picks up with a description of Grace and Vishnu’s pregnancy announcement party. On the way, he and Eunice pass a diverse “old-school protest march” that had been “sanctioned by the Restoration Authority” (231). Although Lenny is excited, he is also nervous when his äppärät registers the National Guardsmen as non-Wapachung.

Lenny’s “dear ones” (233), including Noah and Amy, gather at the house. They pass a joint. Noah is nervous about the pregnancy, and as others arrive to the gathering, Noah’s and Lenny’s “uncertain moods” (233) grow more intense. Noah’s äppärät is off. When he toasts the couple, he calls them “the only peeps qualified to pop one out” (234).

As Lenny smokes, he remembers being 14 years old and realizing that others “were going to die and I was going to die and that the final result” (235) would never satisfy him. Lenny is worried by the idea of bringing new life into the world.

Amid the toasts, bad news flashes repeatedly on all äppäräti. China has quit the U.S. treasury; all individual credit rankings start to register change. The ARA lifts threat warnings to “RED++IMMINENT DANGER” (236). All seem to be individually working through data and panic to decide what to do.