cell, blowing it off its hinges. The explosion attracts the attention of Ace and the Unlike, who are just about to enter the Harbours in search of the Doctor. At the insistence of the Unlike, who had previously worked as genetic scientists for the Panjistri, they seek out the Homunculus. Arun insists that the creature be destroyed, but Raphael protests, arguing that the creature is a living being and should be helped. Arun and Raphael argue, with Ace in the middle, and argument awakens the Homunculus, which bursts free of its tank. As the creature rages about the room, it briefly turns toward Ace and prepares to attack her. Unthinkingly, Raphael grabs a nearby gun and kills the creature. Ace, Raphael, Arun, and Miríl set out to reach Kandasi. They steal a boat and set out across the water to reach the mysterious island. Along the way, they are attacked by a horrible sea creature, and Miríl is killed. Meanwhile, the Doctor has a half-real, half-imagined conversation with his former self. The Second Doctor informs him that, after his first regeneration, he had briefly met and befriended a young girl named Lilith. That young girl, five thousand years later, became the Grand Matriarch of the Panjistri. When Ace and the others reach Kandasi and find the Doctor, they don’t find any Panjistri. The Doctor discovers a matter transmitter tuned to preset coordinates. Using the transmat, the Doctor and company find themselves on a space station 300,000 miles above the surface of Kirith. This is Kandasi. The Doctor explains that Kirith is simply one massive genetic experiment. The group explore Kandasi for a short time before they are met by Reptu, who explains what the Panjistri are really up to. In order to extend the life of the universe past its natural point of collapse, which is rapidly approaching, the Panjistri plan to create a single organism which has within it the sum total of all life in the universe. The one attribute their God Machine lacked was aggression, the one attribute that the Kirithons could never develop. That is why the Panjistri are developing the Homunculus. With that experiment destroyed, Ace is the next best thing. She is taken to join the Panjistri, as so many Kirithons had been over the centuries. The Doctor suddenly realizes the truth: the God Machine is a trick. The Grand Matriarch is in fact