Elliott was sprawled on a bale of hay, half sitting, half lying down, drinking beer. Around him on three walls ran a life-sized moving picture. Wearing heavy clothes made of leather or wool, or a canvas-like material dyed red or blue, people in the film were dancing. Clara wondered where they were, and if like Septemberclaver, they had no stores and had made the clothes themselves. The women wore long skirts; the men wore tight fitting pants, like the bicycling suit that Ethan had inherited from his grandfather.

People in the room were dressed like the people in the film, as if they were trying to echo the movie. They, too, were dancing. To loud music played with unusual intruments by a group of musicians on a wooden stage.