We're going out tomorrow to make one more trip into the Green. If it goes smoothly, Xi says she'll come with us into the Yellow Zone. When we've done that, she's free to leave with the next relief. I'll be sad to see her go: we're getting on well. Sergei's stopped playing poker with us, so we've been playing cribbage instead. Xi knows so many stories from the people who have lived in this region, often we'll stop in the middle of a hand so she can answer a question or recount a forgotten tale. She's a great storyteller, and you can see that she loves the subject. It's a shame that The Sick Land didn't suit her as much as its mythology.

I dreamt I went to see Bob tonight. His door in the lab was open. His right arm had grown into the top corner of the tiny room, anchoring him. His single eye looked at me without recognition. Wriggling cilia an inch long sprouted from his arm in patches, and one of his shoes had burst open, revealing more of the white mass. When I woke up, I went to the lab and tried Bob's door. Of course, it was locked. There's a huge bunch of keys hanging on the wall. Maybe one of them will unlock the door.