Jonas looks for Asher so they can do their volunteer hours after school. The children start volunteer hours when they become Eights. Jonas thinks about a boy named Benjamin who spent all his hours at the Rehabilitation Center, and who basically knows everything there is to know about the job while he's still only eleven. He finally finds Asher's bicycle after a while, outside the House of the Old, next to Fiona's bicycle. Jonas likes her, and, like Asher, she's got a sense of humor. Jonas enters the building and signs the log book that records his volunteer hours. If he didn't have enough hours by December, he wouldn't be allowed to take part in the Ceremony. The woman at the front desk reports that they celebrated a release earlier that day. Jonas heads to the bathing room to join Asher and Fiona. On the way, he realizes that he didn't do the volunteer hours all in the same place, the way Benjamin did. He tried out all of the community jobs. This means he has no idea what assignment he'll get at the Ceremony…
Once in the bathing room, Jonas sets to bathing an old woman. It reminds him of the way his father bathed Gabriel last night. He knows it's against the rules for any person to see another person revealed, except for new children and the elderly. The old woman, whose name is Larissa, tells Jonas about the release that happened earlier that day. Some of the tellings are boring, but this one – for a man named Roberto – was particularly interesting. Roberto had lived a full life. Jonas asks Larissa what it's like, the actual moment of release. She's not sure. All she knows is that the person in question walks through a door to the Releasing Room. But she does report that Roberto looked happy as he left. They both wonder why children aren't allowed to witness releases.