Sohng's attention bounces as directed. She writes her own approximation of the sounds, and her own translation (she obligingly teaches the linguists how to name colors in Nlaaki likewise).

Then Victoria collects a little cardboard box that once held chalk and some of Trevor's highlighters. She teaches Sohng the word "box" and gets to work on prepositions: the green one and the red one are next to each other. The green one is in the box. The blue one is on the box. The pink one is next to the box. The box is under the blue one.

Sohng writes and nods.