Dawn

Lilith has lost the concept of a day, but tries to just listen to the rhythms of her body. After a period of time, Nikanj tells Lilith that Kahguyaht found a nearby English-speaking human, a male a little older than Lilith. Nikanj takes Lilith to meet the man, whose name is Paul Titus. When they arrive, Lilith sees that Paul is tall and Black like she is. Lilith finds him innately beautiful. In an American accent, he says he’s been expecting the two of them and invites them into the room of his dwelling.

Lilith asks Paul about his decision to stay with the Oankali. Paul says that he was just 14 when most of his family was killed in the war—he saw the bodies of all of them except his mother and a sister. Paul himself was dying until the Oankali saved him. Paul asks what Lilith did on Earth, and she talks about how she went back to school for anthropology and eventually mentions the deaths of Sam and Ayre.

Paul has learned how to make walls in the ship open and close, just like the Oankali. Nikanj left Lilith and Paul alone, but Lilith suspects the Oankali are still watching them somehow. Paul tells his theory that he believes some Ooloi, like Nikanj, are more masculine, while others are more feminine, and the actual male and female Oankali seem more like eunuchs. Lilith doesn’t say so, but she thinks this theory is ignorant, and she just accepts what the Oankali tell her about their genders at face value.

Lilith mentions that she has volunteered to help Nikanj with a metamorphosis, and Paul thinks that’s a good idea, since it will put Nikanj in her debt. He offers Lilith a sandwich of an Oankali vegetable that tastes like cheese, and she accepts. They talk about their past lives, and Lilith mentions that Ayre had a natural birth at a birthing center, not a hospital. Paul thinks this might be one reason the Oankali are interested in her—because life back on Earth will be like in the Stone Age again. Paul himself has no interest in going back and prefers to live out the rest of his life with the Oankali on their ship.

Paul believes that, as helpful as the Oankali have been, their ultimate plan will lead to the end of humanity, through breeding. Lilith isn’t sure, but Paul says she’ll learn when she’s Awake longer. Paul says that if Lilith wanted, she could stay with him instead, but she rejects the offer. Paul says the Oankali expect her to reject him, hoping that seeing her options will make her more committed to the Oankali plan. He tries to convince Lilith not to play into what the Oankali want.

Paul says that the Oankali didn’t have enough humans, since most humans want to go back to Earth but the Oankali also need some humans to stay on the ship. So the Oankali had to make more humans somehow. Lilith thinks of the scar on her stomach. Paul has heard he has 70 children, although he’s never even seen a woman since Awakening.

Suddenly, Paul looks at her, then starts trying to take off her jacket. Lilith tells him to stop and says not to act like livestock to be bred, as the Oankali seem to want. He persists until eventually Lilith manages to kick him away. She angrily yells at Paul that he has no way of knowing if the Oankali forced him to have one of his many children with his own mother or sister, who may have survived.  Paul gets angry and hits her. He says the Oankali promised him sex with Lilith, but she’s messed it up. He kicks her, and she passes out.