Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of graphic violence, death, child death, and animal death.

The Archimedes arrives at the asteroid housing Quicksilver’s lab. Darrow reflects on the differences in the outer regions of the solar system, noting how it is eerie to be so far from the sun: “It feels like the sun, like life, has forgotten you” (299). While speaking to Cassius, Darrow defends his trust in Virginia. He examines their situation using insight from The Path to the Vale; he has also been training, studying, and writing.

Through the coms, Matteo greets Darrow, noting his beard. Darrow goes to Sevro, who has been isolating himself. Sevro has made a new weapon, named Abomination after Adrius’s clone. He ignores Darrow’s questions, returning to his work, and Darrow leaves.

Darrow and Matteo meet. Matteo expresses grief for the deaths of Theodora, Orion, and Dancer, and Sevro appears during Matteo’s eulogy. Matteo leads them to Quicksilver, who has long been watching Darrow through a powerful telescope. Darrow asks for military support, but Quicksilver declines. He does not have weapons, as he and Matteo have used their resources to create Tabula Rasa, a space-based community that they have populated with isolated Homo sapiens.