![]() ![]() Lilith tells Tate that they are aboard an alien ship and that she has been asleep for over 250 years. Lilith then tells Tate that she chose to Awaken her first because she seemed the least likely to try and kill her and most likely to help Lilith with the rest of the Awakenings. Lilith tells Tate that she is also a prisoner, but Tate replies that she's "'more like a trustee'" (128). She watches silently as Lilith sends the plant that was holding Tate away and closes the wall. Tate comes to her senses slowly, realizing that her previous memories of solitary confinement aboard the ship were not a dream. Lilith is trying to dress Tate when she Awakens, but Tate immediately yells at Lilith to get away from her. ![]() Eventually, the plant housing Tate is released from the wall and Lilith releases her sleeping body. This takes her longer than it would take the Oankali and requires intense concentration. She makes modifications to the room she is in, building separate rooms meant for different purposes. Lilith resolves herself to Awaken people who seem least likely to do her harm. They seem to be just as worried as Lilith that things will go wrong with the Awakened humans. They taught her how to move around walls so that she can enclose herself safely in a cubicle. We also learn that Nikanj's mates, Ahajas and Dichaan, have been worried about her safety. They have also given her information, increased her physical strength, improved her memory, and given her the ability to control the plants that house the sleeping humans. She also believes it would be safest to Awaken a woman first, since it would reduce "sexual tension" (126).Īs Lilith reads the dossiers, we learn that she has been given new abilities by the Oankali: along with being able to open walls, she can now create new walls at will. She learns from her dossier that Tate is "bright, somewhat flexible, and not dangerous" (125). In the end, Lilith chooses Tate Marah to Awaken first. There are several others that Lilith is sure will be Awakened eventually: Celene Ivers (intelligent but weak), Gabriel Rinaldi (a talented actor), Beatrice Dwyer (bright and likable as long as she is clothed), Hillary Ballard (artist who had hurt herself while in isolation), Conrad Loehr (policeman who had taken care of vulnerable people while Earth fell apart), and Derick Wolski (photographer). Lilith believes that he will understand the situation they are in and not fight back against the Oankali until they are back on Earth. The Oankali describe him as intelligent, steady, and dependable. One person, Joseph Li-Chin Shing, interests Lilith in particular. She follows this line of reasoning for several others, including Leah Bede, an extremely stubborn but potentially unstable woman. ![]() She resolves to Awaken him after she has already Awoken a group of others in order to minimize the potential threat. She believes that she would be able to overpower him if needed but is worried that he might attack her when she is not paying attention. Lilith admires his strength and intelligence but also fears him. He was a lawyer on Earth who blamed his several wives for his own inability to have children. The first dossier that Lilith looks over is Victor Dominic's. She wonders how she will be able to control this group of humans and what she will mold them into. She also worries that the humans will see her as one of their captors rather than an ally. She is worried about convincing them of their reality and of the fact that resistance is futile-the Oankali control the ship using their body chemistry and there is no chance of escape. She does not know how she is supposed to wake up other humans and give them the truth about their situation. Lilith is overwhelmed by the task at hand. The sight of Earth, "gleaming like a full moon in the black sky," makes her emotional (116). She remembers a few days ago when she asked Nikanj to look at stars and it took her to an observation deck from which she could also see Earth. As she reads through the dossiers, she looks for people who will not be a threat to her when she Awakens them, as well as for potential allies. Lilith's job is to Awaken at least forty of these humans she and the other humans will not be allowed to leave the room until she has completed this task. She also has in her possession eighty dossiers that contain information on eighty sleeping humans who are currently in the room. ![]() She has been allowed to keep her books and writing materials with her in this room. The floors are brown and the walls are green-the result of her asking Nikanj for a little bit of color. Time has passed: she has just spent a year learning how to live and survive in a tropical forest aboard the ship. When "Nursery" opens, Lilith has been in a large room for three days. ![]()
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