Bassai and Fetiss, with the assistance of the Savanite slave, Tekki, explore the First Ones site. Bassai leads the way to the chamber where Kame Ikata purportedly lost his mind, and makes observations, though strange events occurring in the crystal-or-glass-like "veins" in the walls prompt him to leave the room for a moment. While they are gone, there is some apparently electrical activity focused on the center of the chamber. When they return, Bassai focuses on a glassy structure that looks faintly like the images from Kame Ikata's paintings … but not quite. Bassai examines the glassy veins, supposing some sort of electrical activity, and tests this by bridging the gap between two veins with a metal wire. The snakes and Savanite flee the resulting disaster, their way back blocked by mounds of green goo that appear after a fire. Fetiss heads off back to camp, while Bassai remains a while to contemplate just what this means to his expedition