I finished it. Thank you for the read! It was blisteringly dark. Fantastic world building done from the limited frame of reference of Lukas. The philosophical aspects were done well, I quite appreciated that and Lukas's constant philosophical introspections. 78 was an enigma through and through, about as alien to me as to Lukas. Curious to know where he ends up, though I imagine from that point on he stops resisting and just lives as 78's dog. Grim and dark and terrible and morbid in every possible way.