This part opens with Godfrey Baltazar recovering from war wounds in a convalescent home, where he meets the nurse Marcelle Baring and begins a quiet process of introspection. Haunted by the disappearance of his father, the brilliant mathematician John Baltazar, Godfrey reflects on identity, inheritance, and unresolved absence. Marcelle’s memories of his father add emotional depth and complicate Godfrey’s understanding of the past. These chapters establish a reflective phase in which past and present intertwine, preparing the ground for deeper revelations.