Now that we've seen the two meta-guardians, we can see that they're not going to kill the foreigner. They're just going to talk about him. The epyphites have been chosen to protect the foreigner, and they've been chosen by the Meta-Guardianesses to do it. The stranger is under the protection of the meta-guardianesses, and he looks forward to it. But the council can question whether or not rina's opinion is decided by her head or by her heart. The meta- guardianesses don't have sexual relations with each other, so they can't be in love with the stranger. The council has the power to question rina about this, and she's not happy about it. She says that she allowed rina to live before, and that she deserves a reward for it. It's her job as a guardianess to protect algoma, and the epypheite has decided that she'll keep the foreigner for herself. She's the one who allowed her to live, and it's she who's allowed him to live. She doesn't deserve a reward, she says, because she has no resources. She tells us that she can do for the stranger, despite all of this. The moment when he's going to have to kill him, he'll be closer to her. He'll regain consciousness, and then they'll bring him back to the city.