“She was diminished. The thing had reduced her to the level of an animal, to nothing more than meat. Primitive, unenhanced meat.””

After her implants are destroyed by the xeno, Kira bemoans the loss of her recorded memories, information access, and enhanced senses that they had provided. In the imagined future of this novel, human enhancement is normalized to the point where Kira feels “primitive” and “diminished” without it. Kira will continue to struggle in her developing relationship with the xeno, which, in an effort to “heal” her, often interferes with her enhancements.

“At first, disbelief. It had been so long since the summons had been laid upon her, so very long since she had been called to perform her sacred duty. Then exultation at the much-delayed return. Now the pattern could be fulfilled, as once before.”

This is the first time Kira experiences the xeno’s perspective. Kira has felt a pull in her chest, a summons, and the xeno is responding to it with both memory and emotion. Here, both Kira and the reader begin to get a sense of the xeno as a sentient being with a history and feelings.

“‘And Ms. Navárez, if you see General Takeshi, tell him … tell him I remember the sound of summer. Bishop out.”

Bishop, the ship’s mind of the Extenuating Circumstances, has sent Kira a message. He is the reader’s first introduction to a ship’s mind, and its interaction with Kira illustrates how he is much more than a computer. Bishop’s statement is poetic and shows friendship and nostalgia for his friend. In this way, Paolini ensures that the reader understands the sensitivity, intelligence, and humanity of the ship’s mind before