Although they had prepared, at the critical moment, Bamuta and the others still found it unbearable. They didn't know if, should Batty not return, they would continue to face endless darkness and pain as before. The recent time had been the happiest days of their life. Even the heavy work wasn't burdensome anymore; being able to enjoy a peaceful night was the greatest happiness. Yet now, these people might very well rob them of this only salvation.
But at Batty's insistence, he was still taken away under the watchful eyes of many Roto. The highest form of resistance they could muster was merely to stare, constrained by the class consciousness embedded in them since birth.
