- a twenty-five year long occupation she believes impoverishes all of them and endangers Alice""s chances:No, I""m not doin"" any hintin"", Virgil, but of course when you get well, you can""t go back to that old hole again.Behind them, the head boy retreats and scurries off [to fetch Mrs.Hammond].As if nothing happened, Leslie cooks and serves a "late supper or early breakfast" for everyone.She comments that it was "funny" that the head-boy ran off and was unavailable o serve as a domestic (a sudden, insignificant remark that has more significance than first thought):The boys take such good care of us.They told everybody they were brother and sister.My brother didn""t want nobody to know.You know how people are.You ell ""em somethin"" - they start talkin"".She prophetically fears a fiery apocalypse that will consume everything in its path, unless one is judged to be good and saved by God""s mercy in heaven:(Linda""s voice-over) I met this guy named Ding-Dong." Prodding even further, Karfrey casually ossed out some guesses: "Come now, Mr.Benedict, can""t you be more specific? Well, what""s the size of your place? 50,000, 20,000 acres?" Exasperated, but still remaining calm after the incessant grilling, Bick finally answered:Around a half million.The Architect grimly retorted that without humans, "there are levels of survival we are prepared to accept.