In the course of the day, they hardly even exchange glances. After lunch, Piera goes to the year-end speech that Ema Cattelan gives beside Newton’s apple tree, a sapling planted in the library garden, descendant of the original. The speech is met with applause and some quiet coughs; the day is full of dust, a Calima-like yellowish haze embracing the earth. Piera sheaths her face with a scarf, spies on the world through the slit she’s left for her eyes. She’s nervous, and excited to see what perspective the night will bring. When she returns to the laboratory, she doesn’t see Cassio anywhere.