aliana and fratt wander the post-nuclear boondocks until they stumble upon a mining colony. they find shelter in a seemingly-abandoned underground structure, but discover a wondrous old lady, philine-codec comtesse de cybersdorf, who used to be married to pjölk until he tried to kill her in a rage, which ends in her losing a leg. she tells aliana and fratt that it was actually echsenfriedl who was the re-inventor of the printing press, and he the creative brain behind pjölk's ideas and thoughts. pjölk was the man in public only because it was impossible for echsenfriedl. the comtesse is about to tell them crucial information about echsenfriedl, but then cannibalizing undead striking miners invade the room and kill her before she gets the chance to reveal the truth.