Chapter Summaries

Tulan helped Hesta prepare to leave the reserve underground hospital and pushed her through District 3 one last time before they boarded a ship. As they listened to the radio, Hesta asked about Sophie and learned that Sophie’s younger brother had died, leaving her the entire Wilford family inheritance.

• Tulan found Hesta dressed in her AHgAs uniform and helped check her sparse luggage before their departure.
• Hesta chose not to bring furniture, realizing she had not arranged a personal tea corner in a long time.
• Tulan pushed Hesta to the lawn by the outdoor training ground, where Hesta remembered Liz teaching her the Quicksilver Needles battle song.
• Tulan changed the radio to classical music after Hesta heard reports about the ongoing scandal involving Bishop Yusef and Prosecutor Robin.
• Tulan told Hesta that Sophie had likely entered an identity protection program and that Sophie’s younger brother had died in a fall, leaving her the full Wilford inheritance.

Hesta received her ticket and an unsettling Embarkation Notice for her voyage aboard the Ascending Bright to District 14. After noticing its strange instructions and an unfamiliar handwritten message signed by Albodokani, she asked Tulan to send a photograph of it to Ligo and Miss Chiba.

• Tulan told Hesta that Sophie's assets had been frozen until she turned twenty, and Hesta reacted with pain while denying that she knew Sophie.
• The head nurse delivered Hesta's ticket, and Tulan identified the Ship Card as being for the Ascending Bright.
• Hesta told Tulan that she was leaving that night and read the Embarkation Notice, which gave unusual recommendations for entering Waiting Room No. 12 and boarding.
• Hesta and Tulan found a handwritten note signed by Albodokani on the back of the notice, but neither recognized the name.
• Hesta asked Tulan to photograph the notice and send it to Ligo and Miss Chiba.

Silei, Tulan, and Hesta traveled to Afur Harbor to board a ship, but an unusual Embarkation Notice and Chiba’s continued absence raised questions about their plans. After Hesta became ill at the harbor, Silei discovered that the notice directed them to Waiting Room Number 12, though the harbor had only eleven waiting rooms.

• Silei met Tulan and Hesta at the Reserve Base and learned that Chiba had not answered their calls.
• Tulan showed Silei the Embarkation Notice, which included a handwritten message signed by Albodokani and said they needed to enter the waiting room by three.
• Silei drove Tulan and Hesta to Afur Harbor, where they discussed the crowds, Silei’s case, and the possibility that Quicksilver Needles was responsible for the assassin’s speed.
• Hesta got out of her wheelchair at the harbor entrance, vomited, and was taken to an emergency medical room.
• Silei returned from the reception desk and told Tulan and Hesta that Afur Harbor had only eleven waiting rooms, despite their notice naming Waiting Room Number 12.

At Afur Harbor, Hesta, Silei, and Tulan investigated the mysterious Embarkation Notice directing Hesta to a nonexistent Waiting Room 12. They found other Ascending Bright passengers searching for the same room, including a group marked Thorn Monks, while Silei revealed the ship’s voyage was not open to the public and would be its last.

• Silei said the authorities had confirmed Hesta’s trip was classified and that they could not interfere, while Chiba remained unreachable.
• Hesta insisted on leaving the medical room to investigate, and Silei and Tulan accompanied her despite Silei’s concerns.
• At Afur Harbor, Hesta spotted a group of Ascending Bright passengers discussing the missing Waiting Room 12 and noticed their badges read Thorn Monks.
• Silei and Tulan photographed the harbor map, then Tulan saw the Thorn Monks heading to photograph it too.
• Silei told Tulan that fewer than seventy passengers were aboard and that the Ascending Bright’s final voyage would end with its donation to a District 14 port museum.

Tulan, Silei, and Hesta discovered that Buli’s group was also looking for Waiting Room No. 12, and Hesta noticed their Embarkation Notices lacked handwritten messages. Silei exchanged contact details with Buli and learned his group had hidden their luggage, while Buli left believing the voyage was a training game and offering help.

• Buli approached Tulan, Silei, and Hesta, but his group’s Embarkation Notice blew into Hesta’s lap before she returned it without reading it.
• Hesta noticed the back of the men’s Notice had no handwritten message, and Silei wondered whether passengers with messages followed different rules from those without them.
• Silei followed Buli and confirmed that his group was searching for Waiting Room No. 12; she exchanged business cards with him and learned the men had concealed their luggage.
• Silei told Buli that passengers could board through the direct-access passage and check luggage at reception, then said Hesta was her friend’s daughter.
• Buli dismissed the situation as a training game and offered to help Silei and Hesta if they encountered difficulties.

Silei learned that the Thorn Monks believed early arrivals could take multiple guides, while Hesta sensed someone watching them. The three entered an unexpectedly deep underwater level and found an exhibition organized by Palan.

• Silei spoke with Will Buli, who promised to save her a guide and invited her for a drink aboard the ship.
• Silei told Tulan that the Thorn Monks' rules might let early arrivals take as many guides as they wanted.
• Hesta sensed gray-blue eyes watching her from the northeast of the hall, but the group saw nothing as they left by elevator.
• Silei, Tulan, and Hesta descended to an underwater level and found visitors, an undersea restaurant, and an exhibition poster.
• Hesta pointed out that Palan had organized the exhibition, leaving Tulan confused about who Palan was.

Silei, Hesta, and Tulan visited Palan’s forest exhibition, where a silver banyan tree and a discussion of mythology drew Hesta’s attention. An old man challenged the familiar story of Alecto, claiming Alecto was Dech’s youngest son named Yarek.

• Silei invited Hesta and Tulan to visit the exhibition, but Hesta refused to check her box and insisted on keeping it with her.
• The three entered the free “From the Deep Forest” exhibition and passed nature-inspired displays and pre-Great Blackout Era paintings.
• In a dark room, Silei realized the glowing silver banyan tree was projecting its image onto a tilted black canvas, beneath the words about ancient Libo Bay.
• A middle-aged woman spoke about the tree of life and described the giant banyan as a natural temple.
• Hesta identified Libo Bay as the mythological location of Alecto’s temple, and Silei explained Alecto’s story to Tulan.
• An old man said Alecto’s story had been altered and claimed Alecto was Dech’s youngest son, whose real name was Yarek.

Hesta, Tulan, and Officer Silei toured the exhibition, where Hesta and Silei felt an uncanny familiarity with a middle-aged woman and the girl accompanying her. As the group reached the exit, Hesta spotted a pair of eyes in a gap near a display case.

• An old man described Dech as a masculine hermaphrodite who gave birth to Yarek, but the women showed little interest in his account.
• Hesta watched the middle-aged woman leave the exhibit and noticed Officer Silei also seemed to recognize her.
• Silei kept pace with the woman, hoping to speak with her after the tour, while Hesta felt an unexplained familiarity with both her and her young companion.
• Hesta overheard three Thorn Monks searching the exhibition for clues and wondered whether they were passengers on the Ascending Bright.
• At the screening room, the girl quietly spoke to the woman and then jogged toward the exit, while Silei waited for a chance to approach the woman.
• Hesta turned toward a gap near a display case and said she had seen a pair of eyes.

Hesta, Tulan, and Officer Silei investigated the strange eyes before a power outage plunged East Alpha District into darkness and silence. As they evacuated toward the surface, Hesta noticed an electronic shackle on the middle-aged woman, while Officer Silei revealed that she recognized her.

• Officer Silei found no hiding place behind the display case, leaving Hesta unsure whether she had really seen the gray-blue eyes.
• Hesta and Tulan received Ligo's message telling them to board immediately, but Tulan's call to him went unanswered.
• A sudden power outage silenced and darkened East Alpha District, and Officer Silei helped the middle-aged woman as emergency lights and evacuation announcements came on.
• Officer Silei reported the outage and the Ascending Bright Embarkation Notice to the police, warning that the outage might be a prelude to a malicious incident.
• Tulan carried the middle-aged woman upstairs while Officer Silei carried Hesta, who spotted an electronic shackle on the woman's ankle.
• Officer Silei told Hesta that she recognized the woman but would explain who she was once they reached safety.

After the port alarms signaled a Chelated Being, Tulan and Hesta realized no Quicksilver Needles had arrived and that the danger was likely underground. Tulan went down with Zero to investigate, leaving Hesta outside with the middle-aged woman.

• Silei set Hesta down outside and hurried back into the port to evacuate passengers trapped underwater.
• At 15:00, alarms warned that a Chelated Being had been sighted, but no Quicksilver Needles appeared and the warnings continued only around the underground passages.
• Hesta tried to stop Tulan from going below, but the middle-aged woman challenged her reasoning and told Zero to accompany Tulan.
• Tulan entered the emergency passage with Zero while Hesta stayed behind, then sat beside the middle-aged woman as she spoke about her family's long lives.

Hesta questioned Anna Sokolova about her identity and learned that Anna was a fellow passenger from Northern District 14, familiar with Viborg Harbor. When panic erupted after a boom shook the harbor, Hesta set out to get Anna aboard the Ascending Bright, and they slowly approached the pier.

• Hesta asked Anna about her electronic ankle shackle, identity, and Embarkation Notice, then read that their notices had identical rules.
• Anna told Hesta about Viborg Harbor, nearby Hesta settlements, and a Guard War memorial in the Vilyuchinsk Wilds.
• Passengers rushed out of underground escape routes, and a boom shook the harbor as people fled toward land.
• Unable to reach Chiba or Ligo, Hesta put Anna on a blue metal cart and began hauling her toward the Ascending Bright.
• Hesta stopped to rest near a bulletin board while Anna saw crew members waiting at the edge of the ship’s deck.

Hesta and Anna weighed whether to approach the Ascending Bright or evacuate while a Chelated Being alarm kept sounding, then reached the ship. In a monitoring room, Chiba tracked the evacuation and learned that Anna had named the voice in her earpiece Zero.

• Anna questioned whether Hesta trusted the message urging her to board the Ascending Bright, and Hesta considered the risks of each option.
• Hesta decided to head for the ship, explaining that she did not want ordinary people implicated if she hid among the crowd.
• Hesta asked Anna how she had met Silei, but Anna said she did not know the police officer.
• Anna told Hesta that the Ascending Bright was nicknamed the Alecto, and crew members arrived with wheelchairs for them.
• Chiba monitored the evacuation, confirmed that Jane had not boarded yet, and learned that Anna had named the voice in her earpiece Zero.

Chiba asked Zero to tell Anna to look east while Hesta exposed Sanders Land as a United Government Special Operations Department agent posing as an Ascending Bright crew member. The harbor then shook with underwater explosions, and the port terminal began sinking as seawater flooded the passages below.

• Chiba waited for news that Tulan and Silei had reached safety, then asked Zero to pass Anna the message, “Look east.”
• Hesta questioned the supposed crew members and attacked the one who gave evasive answers.
• Hesta exposed the man as Sanders Land by finding his United Government Special Operations Department ID and ordered him to explain himself.
• Explosions shook the harbor, and Hesta saw the port terminal sway and sink as seawater flooded its basement passages.

Hesta confronted Sanders Land at the dock and demanded to know why she could not board, but Avinash refused to explain and claimed she had withdrawn from AHgAs's combat roster. Anna recognized Avinash as her former student and reassured him that the ship would sail, then struck Hesta with her cane when she pressed her about Tulan and Silei.

• Hesta overcame an illusion of sinking ground, took Land's walkie-talkie, and demanded that he speak to her directly.
• Avinash arrived at the dock, sent the Quicksilver Needles away, and told Hesta to ask Chiba about the boarding restrictions.
• Avinash ordered Land not to tell Hesta anything and claimed she was transferring to District 14 to recuperate.
• Anna recognized Avinash as her former student, and he assured her that the Ascending Bright would sail that day.
• Hesta asked Anna how she knew Tulan and Silei were safe, and Anna smacked her thigh with her cane and told her to keep her cool.

After helping evacuate the underground crowd, Silei reunited with Anna and recognized her as the woman who had comforted her years earlier under the alias Ms. Paka. Anna learned that her past advice helped Silei overcome her anxiety before an interview, though Silei ultimately entered a different career path.

• Tulan returned with Hesta's uniform jacket, and she and Zero described how they had helped Silei evacuate the underground crowd.
• Silei recognized Anna as Ms. Paka, whom she had met on a train in the winter of 4617.
• Anna revealed her real name, Anna Sokolova, and Silei excitedly told her she had seen her book, When the Forest Sings.
• Silei recalled how Anna had advised her to focus on outperforming the other interview candidates instead of dwelling on gender discrimination.
• Silei explained that Ms. Mabel vetoed her for the auxiliary field agent position but later recommended her to the reconnaissance division.
• Anna learned that Silei had searched for her for years, and she congratulated Silei on what she had achieved.

As fireworks erupted over Afur Harbor and tactical police secured the boarding area, Hesta and the others waited to board amid the aftermath of a chaotic evacuation. The bedraggled Thorn Monks arrived, and Miss Chiba appeared behind the group.

• Anna confirmed that she had taught Chiba at the Reserve Base, and Hesta recounted their recent encounter with Avinash.
• Fireworks burst over the harbor, forming an image of two women in white and green gowns with red marks on their chests; Hesta recognized the painting from somewhere.
• Special Operations Department tactical police sealed off the boarding entrance while Hesta, Silei, Tulan, and Anna waited.
• The Thorn Monks arrived battered and diminished after some withdrew from the voyage and two people were injured in a stampede during the evacuation.
• Hesta spotted the old man from the underground exhibition hall and then turned to find Miss Chiba had arrived.

Chiba arrived to escort Hesta and the others away from the restricted area aboard the Ascending Bright, while Silei questioned her absence during the earlier danger. The group reached the deck, where they discussed the linguist Bo Shanfu and Hesta noticed a distance between Chiba and Anna.

• Chiba pushed an empty wheelchair to Hesta and said she would take the group onward after Rand confirmed he had barred them from boarding.
• Tulan sat in the wheelchair to leave Bullet Time, then Chiba led everyone toward the stern while Silei examined Chiba's United Government Special Operations Department ID and challenged her explanation for missing their calls and texts.
• Hesta took Tulan's place in the wheelchair, and the group rode an elevator upward while discussing Bo Shanfu, the linguist with Pulse Sound Phobia.
• Hesta noticed that Chiba and Anna had barely spoken, then Zero pushed Hesta's wheelchair across the elevated trestle bridge toward the deck.

After the harbor hall collapsed, Silei and the others boarded the Ascending Bright while Chiba hurried off with Tulan. The temporary staircase broke apart, leaving more than twenty Thorn Monks dangling over the pier as the ship’s boarding entrance began to give way.

• Chiba took Tulan away to handle an urgent matter, leaving Silei, Anna, Hesta, and Zero to wait aboard the ship.
• A crew member offered to retrieve luggage in case the group needed medicine or other supplies after the harbor accident.
• Silei wondered whether the pier disturbance was the notice’s promised unforeseen consequence and whether anyone had found Waiting Room Number 12.
• The temporary metal staircase snapped, crashed onto the pier and into the sea, and left more than twenty Thorn Monks hanging from its chains.
• The chains swayed from a steel bar attached to the damaged boarding entrance, which began to deform under their weight.

As the chain holding passengers over the sea began to fail, Ligo arrived and rescued them. Anna then asked Silei to cut Ligo’s safety rope, leaving Silei facing a shocking proposal.

• Several passengers jumped from the swaying chain, and one died after colliding with another in the water.
• The iron pin holding the chain snapped, but Ligo secured it with a padlock and nylon ropes and began pulling the stranded passengers to safety.
• Hesta identified the silver-haired rescuer as Ligo, her friend.
• Anna offered Silei a pair of anvil shears and told her to cut the nylon rope, claiming the passengers would then refuse to board the ship.
• Anna assured Silei that no one would report her and urged her to act, while Hesta said nothing to stop her.

After Silei threw Anna’s scissors into the sea, the Ascending Bright departed and Mantel escorted most of the Thorn Monks from the fifth-floor lobby to a welcome reception at Bishop Restaurant. There, Hesta woke to see Robogriye arrive and wondered why the Thorn Monks had brought their luggage.

• Silei threw Anna’s scissors into the sea and left, while Hesta asked Anna who would push her wheelchair.
• The Ascending Bright set sail fifteen minutes late, with fewer than one-third of the expected passengers aboard.
• Mantel invited the Thorn Monks from the fifth-floor lobby to a reception at Bishop Restaurant and said they would receive room cards afterward.
• Mantel left the guests on the sixth floor, and they followed the corridor toward the restaurant.
• Robogriye arrived at Bishop Restaurant, where Hesta woke and asked why the Thorn Monks were carrying luggage.