Recaps

Theus sent Gwen to pick someone up, but the convoy found no one at the coordinates. When he investigated, he discovered that his Worker Theus body had been trapped and that Gwen had met an unidentified man who suddenly appeared beside her.

• Theus assigned Gwen to travel with soldiers to a location and pick someone up.
• After the convoy reported that no one was there, Theus checked the coordinates and found that his Worker Theus body was confined in darkness and unable to communicate.
• Theus went to the site with Beatrice, who used her Investigator abilities to examine the footprints and memories of the place.
• Beatrice saw Gwen with an unidentified man, who fell when Theus returned, and then another person suddenly appeared beside them and spoke with Gwen.

Theus learned that Lina had taken Little Gwen toward the Empire, where all traces of them vanished, and feared that Gwen had defected. Back at Blood Port, Zoe reported that Jules had become Emperor and Isaac had publicly become Pope, confirming Isaac’s betrayal of Castel.

• Beatrice said an unidentified red-haired woman whose past had been erased from the world's memory had taken Little Gwen away willingly.
• Theus recognized the woman as Lina and learned that she and Little Gwen had headed toward the Empire before their trail vanished.
• Theus ordered Beatrice and Alexei to continue investigating, then returned to Blood Port with the banshees.
• Zoe told Theus that Jules had become Emperor of the Empire as heir of the Joan Family.
• Zoe reported that Isaac had publicly taken office as Pope and betrayed Castel.

Theus learned that Isaac had become Pope and launched sweeping reforms to secularize the Mechanical Cathedral and industrialize the Holy See. Isaac rejected Castel’s attempts to contact him and formally declared war on it, leaving Theus worried that the Holy See could match Castel’s industrial strength.

• Zoe told Theus that Isaac had been captured by the Holy See and had now become Pope.
• Zoe reported that the Candlelight Society and the Mechanical Cathedral had officially merged, leaving three great Churches.
• Zoe described Isaac’s decrees, which reorganized the Mechanical Cathedral around technical research, expanded mechanical augmentation and education, and encouraged industrial growth.
• Theus recognized that Isaac’s reforms drew on policies used by Castel and the Empire, and wondered whether Isaac wanted to cooperate with Castel.
• Zoe said Isaac had rejected Castel’s attempts to contact him, severed his ties with Castel, and formally declared war on it.

Theus explained to Zoe why the Empire’s vast population could threaten Castel if it industrialized, but argued that adopting Castel’s system would undermine the Holy See’s religious order. He then questioned why Isaac and Jules supported reform and began writing Jules a letter to ask directly.

• The chapter compared the populations of Castel, Blood Port, the Duchy of Tis, and the Empire, emphasizing the Empire’s overwhelming numerical advantage.
• Zoe worried that the Empire would become impossible to defeat if it acquired Castel’s technology.
• Theus argued that industrializing would force the Empire to prioritize technology and truth over faith, destroying the Candlelight Society’s existing system.
• Theus wondered why Isaac and Jules were pursuing reforms and how Lina had ended up leaving with Little Gwen.
• Theus began writing a letter to Jules, addressing him as Mr. Jules and preparing to ask his questions directly.

Sister Lynn secretly left the church through a hidden passage to buy forbidden books, then became so absorbed in reading that people recognized her. The chapter ended with a masked man pulling her hood back over her face as the room fell silent.

• Lynn changed into dark clothes and used a hidden passage beneath the Confessional to leave the church.
• She visited a clandestine book seller and bought a batch of contraband books.
• Lynn began reading a book about Monica and remained engrossed for four hours.
• People gathered around Lynn and recognized her as kind-hearted Sister Lynn after her hood slipped back.
• A masked man stepped forward and pulled Lynn’s hood over her face.

Lynn panicked after being caught reading unofficial histories, and Father Jen revealed that he had been reading them too. Their nighttime meeting was interrupted by Benitez’s patrol, and the chapter ended when Lynn found a contraband story in Benitez’s robe.

• Lynn fled the building and broke down in an alley, fearing she would be reported for heresy.
• Father Jen found Lynn, disabled her hand cannon, and confessed that he had been reading Nini’s reports.
• Father Jen tried to take Lynn back, but Benitez and the nighttime patrol confronted them during curfew.
• Benitez revealed that he had overheard them discussing unofficial histories and threatened them.
• Lynn grabbed Benitez’s robe and found a book called The Story Theus and the Old Butler Had to Tell, while the patrol claimed it was confiscated contraband.

Sister Lynn discovered that the priests and guards were secretly reading Lady Nini's unofficial histories, and she reassured herself that her own reading made her relatively loyal to the Church. Beniste then invited her to join the priests in sharing their books under the guise of praying together.

• Sister Lynn confronted Benitez and the priests about reading Lady Nini's books, while they defended their reading and argued over who read the most outrageous histories.
• Lynn hid Benitez's book beneath her robe and reasoned that, compared with the others, her own reading made her loyal to the Church.
• Lynn realized the priests had not been assigned to night patrol and had secretly left the Church, but Beniste said they could claim overtime for volunteering.
• The Church guards let the suspicious group back inside and signaled to them, leaving Lynn shocked at how openly the priests pursued their books.
• Beniste stopped Lynn as she headed to the confessional and suggested that the priests pray together so they could share more Holy Scriptures.

Lynn considered joining Benister’s group prayers in exchange for sharing her books, while Chloe dealt with the spread of unofficial histories across Castel. The chapter ended with Little Bu telling Chloe she had found something more interesting to study.

• Benister persuaded Lynn that exchanging unofficial histories at group prayers would let her read more exciting stories, and he gave her the address Castel.
• Chloe became angry after unofficial histories portrayed her and Nora as lovers, so she complained to Theus and helped crack down on cults.
• Nini went underground and founded the Deep Sea Alliance, an organization for writing unofficial histories.
• Chloe finished teaching the Machine Soul and worried she had no new books for Little Bu.
• Little Bu reassured Chloe that she had found something more interesting.

Chloe discovered that Little Bu had read all of Nini’s books and written a novel of her own, despite the Untouchables’ supposed inability to create. Theus examined Little Bu’s story and learned she had written its hundred-thousand-word manuscript in about two hours.

• Chloe saw Little Bu reading a love story and worried it was one of Nini’s dangerous books.
• Little Bu revealed that she had written the book herself and proudly admitted she was a fan of Nini who had read all her books.
• Chloe realized Little Bu’s reading habit had led her to finish Nini’s entire collection, sometimes by accident and sometimes on purpose.
• Chloe brought Little Bu’s handwritten novel to Theus, who questioned how the Untouchables could innovate in literature when they could not innovate in science.
• Little Bu explained the story’s ending, in which a Machine Soul burned its lover in a combustion chamber and made them one, then said she had written the hundred-thousand-word book in about two hours.

Theus discovered that Little Bu and many other Untouchables could write books at extraordinary speed, and learned that their novels were spreading through Castel and the Empire. He summoned Nini after discovering her books had become popular even within the Candlelight Society, and she arrived disguised beyond recognition.

• Theus tested Little Bu's writing talent and directed her to create an unofficial history starring Nini.
• Chloe and Gaia investigated the Untouchables' reading habits and found that many had begun writing books of their own.
• Chloe obtained information from Nini's post office and learned that Untouchables' novels were being sold to the Empire and praised by the Candlelight Society.
• Theus told Chloe to monitor the Untouchables, then discovered through statistics that Nini's books had spread widely in the Empire.
• Theus summoned Nini to his office, where he laughed at her elaborate disguise.

Nini explained that her unofficial histories had spread through much of the Empire and proposed using her devoted readers to trigger mass Cognitive Interference. Theus recognized the plan’s potentially catastrophic scale, but Nini admitted she had no confidence it would work.

• Theus questioned Nini’s disguise, and she explained that readers kept recognizing and pursuing her for updates and autographs.
• Nini told Theus that her cultural infiltration had spread through the Empire’s outer regions and reached lower-level readers in the central regions, including clergy.
• Nini proposed continuing the infiltration until Rhine was reached, then ending her serials at once to provoke Cognitive Interference among her readers.
• Nini revealed that she might guide more than sixty million people into sharing one perception and perhaps create a true [God].
• Theus asked how confident she was, and Nini said she had no confidence because the Gem Bay testing grounds had never attempted Cognitive Interference on that scale.

Theus and Nini discussed a plan to spread Nini’s wild histories through the Empire, but Nini pointed out that an unknown whisper had recently taught stories to many people and sharply raised literacy. Her observations led Theus to suspect that a thought imprint made him instinctively reject gods, and he began connecting his identity to the lonely figure from his dream of the Throne Room. Seeing his companions and the thriving city of Castel, he recognized that he was no longer alone.

• Theus questioned whether Nini’s wild histories could reach the Empire’s largely illiterate population, and Nini said literacy had recently increased at least tenfold after people heard stories in their dreams.
• Theus declared that he would investigate the mysterious whisper while Nini pursued her History-Blasting Plan.
• Nini recalled that Theus had reacted with disgust when Ash once called him a god, and suggested he might have a thought imprint that made him loathe gods.
• Theus realized he could not become a god and wondered whether someone had carved that rule into his soul, then connected the possibility to the existence trapped on the throne in his dream.
• Theus looked at Nini, the Banshees, and Castel’s factories, docks, churches, and schools, and saw that many companions now shared his path.

Rebecca’s dull shift at the post office turned chaotic when Nini teased her and then learned that Chloe and Monica had arrived with the Tribunal and the Banshee Inspection Squad. Nini went out to confront them, while the staff feared the fight might be complicated by Monica riding Ash.

• Rebecca regretted leaving Castel's testing grounds for the boring, lower-paying post office job and looked forward to eating fried fish after work.
• Nini startled Rebecca at her empty desk, then agreed to call it even if Rebecca treated her to fried fish.
• An employee rushed in to warn Nini that the Tribunal had arrived, and Nini learned Chloe had come with Monica and the Banshee Inspection Squad.
• Nini strode out to confront Chloe and Monica, while Rebecca laughed at Nini's bravado.
• The employee revealed that Monica had ridden there on Ash, alarming everyone as fighting sounds grew outside.

Rebecca watched Chloe and Nora capture Nini with a self-propelled cannon, then realized how much the brief excitement had lifted her spirits. After setting out to bring Nini a meal at the Tribunal, she learned that Nini was being replaced as post office supervisor, and the promise of stability angered her.

• Rebecca learned that Chloe and Nora had used a self-propelled cannon to capture Nini and take her to the Tribunal.
• Rebecca returned home cheerful, but grew frustrated as her mother urged her to live a safe, ordinary life.
• Rebecca decided to take Nini a meal and headed for the Tribunal, though she hesitated at its gates.
• Rebecca met a coworker, who told her that Nini would be replaced as post office supervisor by someone with a clerical background.
• Rebecca felt irritated when her coworker praised the prospect of a stable post office.

Rebecca visited Nini in the Tribunal to deliver fried fish and French fries, only to find Nini’s cell wall freshly broken and Nini crawling back inside. Rebecca admitted she was considering leaving the post office for more interesting work, and Nini asked if she wanted such a job.

• Rebecca’s colleague asked why she was at the Tribunal, and Rebecca said she was delivering food to Lady Nini.
• The receptionist mistook Rebecca’s visit for a jailbreak attempt and directed her to Nini’s underground cell.
• Rebecca found a fresh hole in the cell wall but no Nini, then watched Nini crawl back through it.
• Nini welcomed Rebecca, ate the food, and learned that Nora had started making French fries with Bettis.
• Rebecca told Nini she might leave the post office because she wanted a more interesting job, and Nini asked if she wanted one.

Rebecca considered Nini’s offer to open a bookstore selling banned books in the Empire, while Lina and Little Gwen performed a ritual to find Lina’s supposed [father]. The ritual connected Little Gwen to Theus, who was startled when she asked if he was her father.

• Nini told Rebecca she was leaving the post office and offered her a bookstore job that would also serve as an intelligence contact point in the Empire.
• Lina explained that she believed Theus might control the threads through the Sea God’s power, and asked Little Gwen to channel her strength into a ritual.
• Little Gwen activated the ritual while a familiar figure warned her that Lina was fundamentally insane, and Little Gwen urged the figure to be careful.
• Lina reflected that spreading knowledge mattered to Theus and Lord Bruno, though its price was heavy.
• Little Gwen appeared before Theus at Castel and asked, "Are you my father?"

Little Gwen asked Theus if he was her father over a Mind Link, only for the exchange to become public entertainment for the Banshees. Theus wondered whether he might be her biological father, while Lina misread the conversation and grew convinced he was.

• Little Gwen asked Theus if he was her father, and Theus denied it while the Banshees flooded their Mind Link with comments.
• Theus muted everyone, then removed Little Gwen's mute after Nini burst into his office and complained.
• Nini claimed Little Gwen had come to meet Theus's parents, so Theus had Ash silence her.
• Theus admitted he could not remember whether anything had happened during a past trip to the Northern Territory and asked who Little Gwen's mother was.
• Theus and Little Gwen clarified that she meant he was her psychological father, while Lina mistakenly suspected he was her biological father.

Theus realized Little Gwen was searching for the creator of the Named Ones and asked whether his real name was Father. After weighing whether to reveal his secret to the banshees, he told her the name he remembered from his dream: Prometheus.

• Little Gwen asked Theus whether he had created the Named Ones, and he initially misunderstood her question.
• Little Gwen explained that the Named Ones were deliberately created with a mission and said she was following Lina while continuing to search for Father.
• Little Gwen questioned whether Theus was Father and asked if Theus was his real name.
• Theus remembered a different name from an uncertain dream and considered whether to share it with the banshees through the Mind Link.
• Theus told Little Gwen the name: Prometheus.

Xius tested whether the name Prometheus connected him to Little Gwen’s [Father], but Lina rejected it and Little Gwen called him to meet in person. Xius reached the Throne Room, tried to question the white-robed priest, then descended into Worker Theus’s shell, where he found Lina and Little Gwen waiting.

• Xius told Little Gwen the name Prometheus, but Lina said it was not their [Father]’s name and ordered the ritual ended.
• Little Gwen asked Xius whether he knew about [Gods], then severed the connection after summoning him to meet her alone.
• Xius told Ash and Nini not to let anyone disturb him, then used Return to reach the Throne Room.
• Xius asked the white-robed priest for his name, and the priest silently mouthed a short name before returning to his still state.
• Xius descended into Worker Theus’s shell and found Lina with her hand inside his chest; Little Gwen pulled it out as Xius questioned why she trusted Lina.

Theus learned from Lina that [Named Ones] could perceive [World Deviation] because their [Anchors] lay outside the present world, while [Gods] had been erased from its history. As Little Gwen began explaining what she had discovered, Theus secretly tried to take control of Lina’s body.

• Theus wondered whether his ability to purify Pollution and control Lina’s shell connected him to the [Named Ones].
• Lina explained that [Anchors] tied people’s cognition to the present world and that [World Deviation] caused cognitive impediments.
• Lina asked where Theus’s [Anchor] was after he revealed that he knew the word [Gods], which did not exist in this world.
• Theus said he had thought imprints that kept him from knowing his own name, and he told Little Gwen that he had dreamed of the name Prometheus.
• Little Gwen began recounting what she and Lina had discovered, while Theus focused on Lina and attempted to descend into her body.

Little Gwen told Theus how Lina had mistaken her for [Father], then recognized Theus’s presence in Lina’s eyes after he took control of Lina’s body. Lina identified Theus as [Father] but suffered in pain when she tried to reveal his name.

• Little Gwen recounted meeting Lina, who believed she was [Father] because she had acquired some of his traits.
• Little Gwen recognized Theus’s presence in Lina’s hollow expression and crimson eyes.
• Theus stood up and admitted he could control Lina’s body, then wondered whether Lina was only a vessel.
• Lina declared Theus was [Father] because only [Father] could control the [Named Ones].
• Theus asked Lina how she could verify his identity, and Lina began to tell him his name before clutching her head in agony.

Theus learned that he had absorbed the Forgotten Temple and the Sea God's power, increasing the reach of his story-telling ability, while Lina went to have the Gear Sage verify whether he was [father]. Little Gwen explained the different world-ending calamities prophesied by the old Churches and revealed that the Forgotten sect had completely perished.

• Lina asked Theus to speak his name so she could confirm his identity as [father], but he admitted he had forgotten it and asked for another way to verify.
• Lina remembered the Gear Sage and rushed off to find it, while Little Gwen wondered how she would relate to Theus if he really was [father].
• Theus discovered he could walk again after absorbing the Sea God's power bound to his shell, and Little Gwen explained that his stories could now reach more than half the Empire.
• Theus considered combining his expanded storytelling reach with Nini's plan, prompting Little Gwen to worry he might broadcast unofficial histories to the whole world.
• Little Gwen described the world-ending calamities recorded by the old Churches, including the Dream Poison, the Knowledge Flood, and the Silent Temple's gigantic white crow.
• Theus asked about the Forgotten, and Little Gwen revealed that the sect had completely perished.

The narrator feared being forced into overtime as new work kept piling up. The narrator hoped to finish before nine and asked readers to vote with their monthly tickets.

• The narrator had about two hours of work left, despite having only one hour's worth of work four hours earlier.
• The narrator worried about working overtime and hoped to leave before nine.
• The author asked readers to use their monthly tickets on the last day of the month.

Theus learned how the Forgotten built the Forgotten Temple to escape White Crow, only for their refuge to drift beyond the world's anchor and wear away through the passage of time. He and Little Gwen considered whether all five churches’ recorded world-ending calamities were real, before Lina arrived with Gear Sage.

• Little Gwen explained that the Forgotten Temple existed outside both the present world and the Sea of Unconsciousness, leaving the Forgotten unanchored and lost in their refuge.
• Little Gwen revealed that the White Calamity was the refuge’s accumulated passage of time, which had worn away the Forgotten and left the White Bone Sanctuary; Bazel had died of old age in an instant.
• Theus reflected on how Nora, Ignati, and the other Buriers chose to risk their immortal lives, then said the Buriers were living while speeding around the battlefield in self-propelled artillery.
• Theus and Little Gwen discussed whether all five churches’ prophecies of world-ending calamities could be true, and whether Castel would have to face them all.
• Theus and Little Gwen spotted Lina speeding toward them alongside the mechanical figure Gear Sage.

Theus and Lina investigated Gear Sage, hoping to learn whether Theus was the Mechanical Cathedral’s [Father] and uncover the machine’s origins. Gear Sage could not sense a Machine Soul in Theus, but a deep scan identified him as Prometheus and welcomed him back.

• Lina used her temporary control permission to activate Gear Sage and asked Theus to test whether he could access its administrator account.
• Gear Sage’s initial scan found no matching record, and Theus discovered that it had no Machine Soul despite its humanlike intelligence.
• Theus asked Lina about the Mechanical Cathedral’s history, and she agreed to help search for [Father].
• Gear Sage completed a deep scan, identified Theus as Prometheus, and welcomed him back.