- Equality 7-2521 tells us that he hasn't written for thirty days, because he hasn't been in the tunnel for 30 days. He was caught.
- It happened the very night he wrote last, when he had produced the light.
- It's time for another flashback sequence…
- That night, Equality 7-2521 notices that he's forgotten to keep track of the time (he's been using an hour glass). Three hours have already passed.
- Equality 7-2521 he runs back to the Theatre, only to find it empty.
- He returns to the Home of the Street Sweepers. The Council of Home quickly demands to know where he's been. Equality 7-2521 refuses to tell them.
- Equality 7-2521 is taken to the Palace of Corrective Detention to encourage him to cooperate by whipping him.
- Equality 7-2521 is stripped and then lashed for what seems like ages, but he doesn't say a word. He doesn't even cry out.
- The beating continues until Equality 7-2521 goes practically unconscious. When he's asked repeatedly where he's been, all he can say is "The light…the light!".
- Equality 7-2521 then falls unconscious.
- When he wakes up, Equality 7-2521 finds himself in a cell. He lies there for many days.
- Regularly, Judges come to his cell to ask if he's ready to speak. He shakes his head each time.
- Equality 7-2521 counts the days as they pass until he realizes one night that the next day is the World Council of Scholars. He's got to escape.
- Fortunately, this is not very hard. The locks are old and there are no guards around, so all it takes is a lunge at the door. Apparently Equality 7-2521 was lucky enough to be placed in the most worthless jail ever devised by the hand of man.
- So Equality 7-2521 heads back to his tunnel, and writes what we've just been reading. Tomorrow, he announces, he will tell the Scholars the truth, and present them with his great gift.