Serene is very pregnant, in the cell of a community prison on a newly human-inhabited planet. Serene is preparing for her own execution — she hears the Council arguing somewhere in the prison, in hushed tones, about her death. Her sister Charlow pours her a bath, and the two women argue sharply with each other as Serene bathes. Serene tells Charlow that the baby will be human, but Charlow does not believe her.

Achebe comes to the door. He talks with Serene, asks her why she has done this. Achebe and Serene were once lovers, but Achebe would not give Serene a baby, and she grew tired of waiting. Achebe tells her in hushed tones about the last pregnant woman to give birth, how her child was a monster that ripped its mother apart. He tells Serene that this strangeness is a virus, that humans are its cattle and Serene has willingly elected to breed with it. But Serene promises that it is not a disease, but a gift, and that this gift is sentient.

Achebe leaves, and Serene urges her child to come soon, or they will both be killed. Charlow returns to Serene's cell and sobs to her, reporting that the Council is coming. Serene embraces her, and Charlow, pressed to Serene's womb, hears the child speaks to her. Suddenly, Charlow is writhing in pain on the floor. Serene's water breaks, but she feels no pain––Charlow has been given her labor pains.

The Council members burst into the cell, led by Abba, Serene's grandfather. They see the terrible scene before them, and Abba approaches Serene, pain and love in his eyes, with a large machete. Before the weapon makes contact with her neck, though, Achebe slams into Serene's body, pushing her out of harm's way. He and Charlow urge Serene to run. She does, hearing them fight the council members as she leaves the jail. She runs into the planet's wilderness, into the planet that has seduced her soul, inhaling It into her body, preparing to deliver Its child.