and his family suspect him of being an agent of the American government. Komodo convinces Gojiro to travel to the Encrucijada valley, hoping to find the source of Sheila's visions. Along the way, Gojiro encounters Billy and shies away from him, consumed by self-loathing. Komodo and Gojiro make it to the Valley, where Shig houses them in a vast underground chamber bored out by nuclear test explosions. On TV screens they see the image of Joseph Brooks that his wife had painted, but on live-feed TV screens. Komodo attempts to communicate with him but fails, and returns to Sheila to tell her her father is still alive. Gojiro remains behind, where he inexplicably begins to have a series of visions reminiscent of the 90 series supplications, where he experiences past events from the perspective of the Varanidid, and his own birth. He investigates the shack Joseph lives in, and finds a stack of paintings depicting the visions he just received, as well as the blackboard containing the equation Joseph solved to create the atomic bomb, and receives a vision of Nelson and Leona's meeting. During his spying, Victor and the general visit Joseph, attempting to communicate him, and both are briefly subject to the vision that keeps Joseph glued to the Encrucijada. Joseph says that the nuclear bomb was a failure, as it was unable to call God's attention. At the same time, Komodo experiences a whirlwind of events as he attempts to take Sheila to the Encrucijada, but is waylaid by Victors government goons. Shig saves Komodo and Sheila by luring the paparazzi to them, then Komodo returns to the mansion to bury Ebi, who died soon after telling Sheila she wished that Sheila were her mother. Komodo then has a clandestine meeting with Billy Zeber, Sheila's husband, who charges Komodo with protecting her, disappearing into the night. Komodo is again captured by Victor, but is saved again by Shig and the atoms, as well as Walter Crenshaw's son. Gojiro, still spying on Victor, has a vision of Victor's childhood, and witnesses Victor pick up the small comic book explaining Gojiro's true origin that Komodo had attempted to give to Victor, which inspires him to make a new equation on the blackboard. Gojiro returns to the cave and scrawls it on the wall, then sees on TV that the mansion has been ransacked. Komodo arrives and attempts to complete