28 - Exist in the place you are currently occupying

*Christine eats some hard candy and has an experience*

## Summary

* Chris and Nicholas pay a visit to Patricia Roland, hoping to find some dream ambergris. They are greeted at the door by Stevens, who lets them through at Ms. Roland's request.
* Ms. Roland reveals she knew their grandparents, and, though explaining she has no ambergris on hand, agrees to help them find some.
* Putting a piece of hard candy in her mouth, lying down, and with a special record playing, Christine goes on a dream journey.
* Christine wakes up in the middle of an ocean, and is rescued by a strange insectoid creature. They row to shore together, and, due to a language barrier, when the creature offers to buy her hair colour, Chris assumes they want her hair and sells it to them, coming out the deal with white hair.
* Christine discovers her recorder has fused with her arm, and turns off and on at random times.
* After arriving in port, Chris unsuccessfully searches for ambergris, quickly learning it's not available anywhere but The Barren Isles, which no ships are travelling to, and it is impossible to transport. She opts to find a bar instead.
* While having a drink, Lou appears, explaining they are headed for the Barren Isles and are in need of an extra crew member, so Chris agrees to join the potentially 6-year voyage as their ship's doctor.
* After drinking herself into a headache, Chris follows Lou to his ship, a half-living thing called The Irons. She meets the crew, Xkryxx, Teddy, and Sonder, and settles in.
* We get snapshots of her life on board the next three years:
	+ Fixing Teddy's stitches
	+ Combat against The Undying Queen of Set's privateers. Christine learns to use Xkryxx's firing abilities, and performs emergency surgery to remove Sonder's shrapnel
	+ The crew celebrates Sonder's recovery, and a raise on the crew's bounty with alcohol. Lou is coaxed into giving a short speech and Xkryxx sings for the crew.
	+ Chris and Lou work together to recover an artefact (Gali-nor) for The Curator's collection. Singing reminiscent of The Choir can be heard in the background.
	+ The crew argues which member should stay behind with The Hive. Sonder comes up with a plan which means nobody has to.
	+ Teddy, Xkryxx and Chris attempt to treat The Iron's bad reaction to the confrontation with The Hive
	+ Chris and Teddy keep each other and The Irons company late one night. Chris hums for the ship
	+ After defending Lou's honour, Chris gets swept into a Carlisian insult duel. The crew attempts to give her advice in the form of scandalous gossip.
	+ Three years into the journey, Chris and Lou watch the Dolphinbirds together and share emotions. Lou talks about who he misses, and how his experiences in The City feel. Chris laments having to go back. Lou suggests she could stay with them indefinitely, and nervously attempts to confess feelings, but accepts when Christine explains she can't stay.
* The Crew wishes Chris goodbye and gives her a gift to bring back with her (which does not come with). Xkryxx plays a song as Christine kills the whale and gets the ambergris
* Christine wakes up on Ms. Roland's floor minutes after she went to sleep. She has ambergris in hand, and her hair has turned white.
* Chris coughs up a tape containing a message from Dan, telling them they are close, must finish purifying themselves, and that he will send more tapes. He asks Chris to say "hello" for him. Christine doesn't recognise the name, and can't remember any of her time asleep.

## Characters Featured

### Earth

* Nicholas Waters
* Christine Anderson
* Stevens
* Patricia Roland
* Alice Lidell (Mentioned)
* Oscar Waters (Mentioned)
* Michael Waters (Mentioned)

### The Irons

* Lou
* Xkryxx
* Teddy
* Sonder

### The City

* Cicadas
* Mercurio
* Bartender
* The Undying Queen of Set (Mentioned)
* Duke Vorghast

## Trivia

* Chris notes Nicholas being a "bit obsessive, persnickety, but.. kind. He cares about me." to which Lou responds "I think I know the type." Lou may be referring to Clara here.
* When Lou meets Chris, it has been roughly six years in The City for him. Meanwhile, it has probably been 9-14 months in Earth time.
* This episode makes Christine an isekai protagonist
* This episode marks the start of Christine having white hair
* This features the first personal sentiment from Dan this season: "If you see Lou again, say hello for me"
* The title line is spoken by Xkryxx