Francisco pays a surprise visit to Dagny’s lodge in the mountains. During their conversation, she realizes something that she’d never guessed about him: He’s one of the producers who deliberately withdrew his talents from the world. He was one of the earliest people to do so, although he didn’t disappear like the others. Francisco tells Dagny that he’s been systematically and slowly (to avoid being suspected and stopped) destroying d’Anconia Copper so the looters are left with nothing. He also makes it clear that he still loves Dagny and that she was the hardest thing for him to give up when he made his decision years ago. He urges her to leave the railroad to the looters, because without her it’s useless anyway. He pleads with her not to give the looters her mind. But as they talk, the radio broadcasts news of the Taggart Tunnel disaster, and Dagny instinctively races to her car.
Having returned to her office, Dagny restores transcontinental rail traffic by rerouting trains onto the tracks of other rail companies. She makes plans for Taggart Transcontinental to lay its own track around the wreck. She calls Rearden to order new rails. She admits to him that she realizes the looters take advantage of her love for her work and Rearden’s love for his. The looters know that people like Dagny and Rearden can’t imagine abandoning their work.
