"The woman that was on the network implied that the Singularity is angry about something or someone and lashing out." Istredd is glad to get communication that way about the Singularity's actions, although it's all guesswork. He has some bitterness in his heart that he has been studying the Singularity for a long time and spends time with it, as much as he can in the Horizon, and yet it still has not touched him. He went to it twice during the Dimming. Alas.

"In the past ... all we've been able to do is wait it out. The heralds' attack, the rifts, they stopped on their own." There is very little control they actually of this world and how it acts. The only real impact they seem capable of making it on a more political or human landscape. And even in those cases, such as in Ikorr, it led to consequences on a higher level.

"Unless someone finds a way to commune with the higher beings directly or with the Singularity, we may always be at their whims." Unfortunate and slightly depressing, yes, but realistic.