In a soliloquy, Dr. Bledsoe tries to convince the reader that he is the only person who can save the world. He argues that the only way to do so is to kill the polite peacemaker. He also argues that if the peacemaker is killed, it will mean that the mission has been mis-taken. He then launches into a long speech in which he argues that he cannot see the future, and that he only sees the barest hints of what lies beyond the "intimate strings" that link people together. He says that he never bothers to look at someone's "circumspects" to decide what is right or wrong, because he believes that "she deserves your faith" . He compares his scales to the blades of a blade and says that they are not blades at all, but merely "slashes" that are not sharp. The peacemaker, he says, is not attacking him because he is too light, but because he removed his scales so that he could strike at his spine. He concludes by saying that he would rather die than be killed.