Johan Serris is a middle-aged resource inspector for a mining colony. While searching for a water leak, he visits Atira Malkaanen's residence and reluctantly asks if he can inspect it. He's dismayed to find wet clothes in her shower, which he innocently assumes she has been washing there instead of using the colony's industrial facilities. When he notices the clothes are bloody, he accepts Atira's explanation that she had an accident due to her period being early.