The ship is on its way back to the mainland, and the two men are talking about the "elixir of immortality" . They're talking about what happened after they got back on the ship, and they're telling each other about it. The two men think it's just a coincidence that they got the elixir on the same day, but they don't know why. The men are worried about what's going to happen if they take the elixir, because the emperor has to deliver it to the emperor. They can't believe that the gods are punishing them for taking the "empirical pill" , and that they'll die if they try to change the past. But they have to try, because if they fail, they won't be able to change it.