Aunt Vidala comes into Aunt Lydia’s office in the morning. She doesn’t believe Aunt Victoria (Agnes) and Aunt Immortelle (Becka) are ready for their Pearl Girl mission. Aunt Victoria is a defection risk because of her Bloodlines file, which Aunt Vidala saw on Aunt Victoria’s desk. Aunt Lydia feigns shock and says she’ll make inquiries, adding that she believes Aunt Victoria to be resistant to perilous ideas and mature enough to resist temptation. Aunt Vidala still disagrees but asks Aunt Lydia to remember her warning with Aunt Victoria defects.

Next, Aunt Helena comes to warn Aunt Lydia that Aunt Victoria has been reading her Bloodlines file without authorization. Aunt Lydia replies that Aunt Vidala has already informed her of this and that she believes that Aunt Victoria’s upbringing will overcome her biological origins. Aunt Lydia asks Aunt Helena if she feels that nature always wins over nurture, in which case they are all doomed by the original sinfulness of Adam. This suggestion alarms Aunt Helena, who says she did not mean to make that implication.

Aunt Lydia agrees asks Aunt Helena to keep an eye on Aunt Vidala, whom she fears was the one who places the Bloodlines file in Aunt Victoria’s hands.