Mad, nearly four, is advanced yet friendless, prompting Elizabeth to worry about inherited introversion. Determined to improve Mad’s social world—and to free time for paid work—Elizabeth enrolls her in kindergarten, using her knowledge of ballpoint ink chemistry to alter the birth certificate. Woody Elementary, Room Six, with Mrs. Mudford awaits, while Six-Thirty frets about protecting Mad.

Financial strain forces the decision: Elizabeth has taken a reverse mortgage on the bungalow and learns Calvin had put her name on the deed, barely keeping them afloat. After a bank manager warns things will worsen and urges her to get a paying job, she considers desperate options before returning, trembling, to Hastings to see Donatti.

At home, Mad presents a chalk “life story” depicting family, daily life, fire and rain, and a dominating swirl she calls the “pit of death,” with slanted lines as “tears.” When Elizabeth asks if Mad is sad, Mad calmly says she isn’t—but Elizabeth is—revealing the child’s acute perception of her mother’s grief.

At Hastings, Donatti greets and hugs Elizabeth, which repulses her. Internally, he fixates on a pressing investor demanding abiogenesis results. With no budget and little progress, he needs Elizabeth to satisfy the investor, especially after Boryweitz claims similar results he cannot explain—work he admits discussing with Elizabeth.

Elizabeth later tells Harriet that Hastings offered her a job. Harriet condemns both the early school placement and a return to a hostile lab, but Elizabeth insists, “Second time’s the charm.” Six-Thirty, unconvinced, thinks she is off by one.