At the exact moment when Captain Mitchell affirms a public, societal identity
(and an intent of forced union), the long night of Separation ends. This is the
first daylight we have seen, excluding flashbacks from Decoud and Hirsch, since
the Gould carriage returned from Barrios' embarkation in Chapter 2-5. The duration
of the intervening night is unresolvable: it is now two mornings after Barrios'
departure by Hirsch's count, three by Decoud's, and four by the narrator's. In
the night of subjective isolation and the breakup of organized society, even time
itself has lost any pretence of objective bearing.