Alexander went off by himself, fuming. He was extremely angry with Stephen for meddling in the affairs of the beings down below and knew by all rights he should turn his friend in for punishment, but something was stopping him. He didn't really care about the beings on the planet below because they had made such a mess of their world, they deserved what happened next to them. As pitiable as those creatures were, however, he couldn't justify using them as bait and dangling them in front of the second most powerful being in creation.

Stephen's idea was insanity and the consequences it invited were horrendous. He wanted no part of eternal banishment from His Grace, but at the same time, he needed to help Stephen out of the jam he was getting himself into. Alexander wandered through the fields bordering the stone wall for a long time. He eventually found himself leaning over the wall, watching the humans below him again.

As Stephen had predicted, the girl emerged from her dwelling a short time later, throwing armfuls of clothes onto the freshly repaved parking lot. She made several trips back and forth and finally emerged, holding a couple of small boxes in her hands. Alexander watched as she walked through the parking lot, taking care to stomp on the clothes she had thrown, grinding them into the dark black of the parking lot. She marched on and entered another dwelling in the complex.

A short while later, she emerged with a man who was not her boyfriend and they returned to her place. Alexander looked around the field casually and climbed on top of the wall, as if to get a better look at the scene below. He glanced to his left and right again and dropped down to the planet below.

As he glided down to the planet, Alexander made sure he was unseen as he alit outside the man's apartment. In a moment he was inside and had sealed the door against unwanted interruptions. He surveyed the room, finding one of the small boxes that the woman had brought over hooked up to the man's computer. Alexander tapped the computer and it sprang to life. He quickly pulled up the last webpage the man had visited and did some typing. He took a look at the small box again, concentrating on the inner workings.

After a few minutes, the angel set the box down, carefully putting it back exactly as it was before he touched it. He looked around the apartment again, wondering at the living conditions of the beings on the planet and how they could be happy living in such strife and squalor. Alexander removed the seal from the door and slipped outside, taking great care that he was unobserved. He eased down the stairs, unaware that the door from one of the neighboring apartments opened slightly  or of the eyeball that was pressed firmly against the crack.

After he had disappeared down the stairs, the door opened wider and an old woman hobbled quickly, yet quietly across the decking to the top of the stairs, carrying a large plastic bag. She was just in time to see him turn the corner. She hurried down the stair, taking great care to remain silent. She peeked around the corner of the building, but nobody was there. With a snort of surprise, she made her way painfully to the large dumpster across the parking lot, keeping an eye out for strange vehicles driving through the parking lot. The only movement came from the old lady and the birds in the air.