Chapter Summaries

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.

Xius learned that the Gear Sage recognized him as Prometheus and granted him Level I permission, raising questions about his memories and the world’s history. He discovered that his authority could override Lina’s control of her body, but whether this came from his permission level or his status as her [father] remained uncertain.

• The Gear Sage addressed Xius as Prometheus, leading him to suspect he had been in the world for centuries or millennia despite remembering only a few years.
• Xius queried the Gear Sage and learned he had Level I permission, could activate Visitor Mode, and could view the supreme protocol to protect humanity.
• Lina learned that Xius could issue commands to Level I permission holders, while her own permission level was lower.
• After Lina refused his command to do a handstand, Xius used his ability to force her into one, then released her and let her fall.
• Xius suggested that Lina’s [father] might be a form of authority, leaving Lina wondering whether he was also a [Named One].

Theus realized the Gear Sage’s records supported the possibility that a forgotten group of I-class permission holders had fought the gods, prompting him to reconsider Castel’s plans and investigate their failure. As Theus and Lina exchanged information, Little Gwen suggested Lina visit Castel, but Theus refused and instead invited Little Gwen to see how Blood Port had changed.

• Lina asked Theus whether he was a [Named One], and he denied it while questioning her assumptions.
• Theus realized the Gear Sage had recorded his [Descent] and [Return] abilities, leading him to suspect that a past history of fighting the gods had been erased.
• Theus reconsidered whether expanding Castel’s industrial zone could strengthen reality and wondered if the Holy See was not their only enemy.
• Little Gwen invited Lina to visit Castel, but Theus refused to let Lina enter his territory.
• Theus invited Little Gwen to revisit Blood Port and teased that it might have changed more than she expected.

After returning to the Throne Room, Theus considered the Steel Ark’s connection to Moth Chasing Flame and resolved to investigate the Churches’ hidden history. Recalling a dream of the Throne Room’s past, he realized he had sat at the long table while another figure occupied the Golden Throne, and wondered why the white-robed priest now sat in his place.

• Little Gwen and Lina continued their journey to Rhine to speak with Jules while Theus returned to the Throne Room.
• Theus connected the Steel Ark to Moth Chasing Flame and decided to investigate the Ark, Moth Chasing Flame, and the Churches’ scriptures and doctrines.
• Theus accepted that the Gear Sage would remain with Lina for now and considered using her Candlelight Society ties to gain information from Jules.
• Theus remembered that he had sat at the long table in his dream while a blurred figure occupied the Golden Throne.
• Prometheus identified the white-robed priest as sitting where he had sat in the dream and questioned why the priest was in his seat while he remained imprisoned on the throne.

After confirming that the Gear Sage knew his identity as Prometheus, Hsiu told the banshees about his lost memories and the secrets of the authorities and Steel Ark. He emerged to find the banshees assembled in armor, silently pledging to follow him wherever he went.

• Hsiu returned to Castel and told Nini and Ash that the Gear Sage had confirmed his name was Prometheus and shared what he had learned about the authorities and Steel Ark.
• Nini concluded that someone had tampered with Hsiu's memories, and Hsiu decided they should investigate the hidden histories, including the Church's.
• Nini directed Hsiu outside, where he found armored banshees lining the corridor and filling two floors.
• Hsiu saw Monica standing among the assembled banshees and understood their silent formation as a pledge to follow him to the end.
• Hsiu recalled the banshees' earlier mock prayer at the church, then smiled faintly and continued on.

Lynn told Father Benister about meeting the coffin-carrying girls Gwen and Lina, who had arrived from the border and were staying at the church. She also shared news that they planned to meet Lord Isaac, who was preparing to establish Church schools.

• Lynn arrived late to the forbidden-books reading club and told Father Benister that important Church guests from the border had come to the church.
• Lynn described how Gwen had confronted her while she handled remains used to make Moon Candles, and how Lina calmed Gwen and protected her.
• Lynn said the bishop verified Gwen and Lina’s identities, and they were now staying in rooms at the church.
• Lynn told Benister that Gwen and Lina planned to meet Lord Isaac, who intended to establish Church schools that would teach scripture and mechanical skills.
• Lynn declared that she planned to remain in the Church for the rest of her life.