Hal has gazed into the abyss and the abyss has very clearly peered back. That is the best way to summarize his experience at the purported NA meeting he'd gone to where he'd seen the sorry state of Kevin Bain. What Hal felt in that moment is now rushing through him completely undetected.
Though this feeling or sensation is causing effects that Hal is aware of. His painful, panicked hyper-awareness of everything going on around him as he heads back up to check the Ortho-window situation, for example.
But why is he possibly losing control of his expression?
Is Hal coming to a state comparable to the one those who watch "the Entertainment" end up in?
Adding to these questions is Gately's side of things. As with Hal we're given more background in these pages, but at a drip-brewing rate.
The current (and penultimate) chapter is among the longest yet. However, at the same time, this chapter implicitly refuses to answer the questions it raises since it's delivered in several fragments. I still have trouble pulling myself away from the book, but reading these sections is anything but passive entertainment.
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