Chapter 4 Summary

Azucena is an astroanalyst, the 23rd-century version of a psychoanalyst. She and Dr. Díez, a colleague, cook up a plan for Azucena to work as an Official Investigator in the Center for the Oversight of Previous Existences, which has a machine created by Dr. Díez that will give Azucena access to information that will help her find Rodrigo. The office will search Azucena's subconscious before they will hire her, so Dr. Díez plants a substitute computer for her subconscious. During the examination, Azucena momentarily lapses into her own subconscious as the result of hearing some music from a CD and gets a glimpse of Rodrigo but loses it immediately. She passes the exam and gets a job with the Center for the Oversight of Previous Existences.

Azucena waits in a long line to be inducted into the Center and the...