Ben Urich is a reporter for Lift magazine, a trade journal devoted to the elevator industry. Like Lever, he received torn-out pages from Fulton’s journal in the mail, and he has written a story on the Intuitionist-based black box that is set to run in a couple days. Late at night, Urich goes to the office to pick up an advance copy of the new issue but is shocked to see that his story has been killed. As he tries to call his editor on a payphone, Jim and John, who say they are Johnny Shush’s men, grab him and throw him into the backseat of their car. They tell him to back off the black box story and proceed to break each of his fingers.

Meanwhile, one of Lever’s chauffeurs drives Lila Mae to the Institute for Vertical Transport grounds to meet Mrs. Marie Claire Rogers, Fulton’s former maid and caretaker. She looked after Fulton after the Institute’s Board of Directors pressured him to resign as Dean, following a period marked by what they deemed to be “eccentric” behavior. In his will, Fulton stipulated that Mrs. Rogers could stay in his on-campus home for as long as she likes, evidence which suggests to Lila Mae that the two were lovers.