Wool

Jahns and Marnes eat in the mess hall alongside the noisy mechanics. Afterward, Juliette comes to Marnes’s room to continue their discussion. She again refuses the position of sheriff, arguing that her role maintaining the generator is crucial to the silo. Jahns tells her that Peter Billings will take the position if she doesn’t, and that he will be receiving guidance from IT. This starts to convince Juliette.

When Jahns asks, Juliette admits she intercepted heat tape that was going to IT, saying she is unable to get “basic supplies” (101) while IT has more than enough. The heat tape from IT, however, turned out to be poor quality; Juliette says it “couldn’t have fallen apart better if it’d been designed to” (102).

Jahns points out that, as sheriff, Juliette can represent Mechanical’s interests in the government of the silo. Finally, Juliette is convinced to accept the role of Sheriff in exchange for a power holiday and the chance to perform the needed fixes on the generator before leaving for the “up top” (104).

The power holiday is in effect as Jahns and Marnes, exhausted, climb back up. Jahns struggles physically. She thinks to herself that the society in the silo is more stratified than she’d realized before and regretfully reflects on all the decades she’s spent alone after her husband’s death.