Contents
29. Boxmaker
Overview
Marly and Jones reach the heart of the orbital Place and witness the boxmaking machine amid a slow storm of salvaged objects. Josef Virek hijacks a screen, boasting that he engineered events, owns the cores, and is sending Paco. Marly senses the threat as the device finally begins to move.
Summary
Marly and Jones follow a knotted guide line through cold, stale tunnels, pausing at branches where Jones powers lights from old solar-fed systems. Overwhelmed by the suit, Marly insists on removing it and continues in her clothes, clutching her purse as they reach the end of the line.
They enter a brilliantly lit dome where a construction-remote, welded into the structure and bristling with manipulators, cradles an unfinished box. Around them drifts a mesmerizing cloud of artifacts—spoons, gloves, dolls, tools—endlessly circling the machine. Marly grasps that this is the maker of the boxes she has pursued.
A crookedly mounted screen flickers on, showing Josef Virek’s generated face. Virek declares Marly has fulfilled her contract, reveals he manipulated her movements to force Maas to expose the source feeding Mitchell’s breakthroughs, and claims he has purchased the orbital cores. He says Paco is en route to oversee his interests.
Marly recognizes Virek’s intent to transcend his diseased body and is horrified by the implications. Jones dismisses it as another sermon, but Marly insists nothing Virek seeks can be good. As her dread mounts, the turret’s arms vibrate and begin to move, signaling the machine waking to work.
Who Appears
- Marly KrushkhovaReaches the boxmaker with Jones, rejects the suit, witnesses Virek’s message, and fears his plan as the machine activates.
- Jones (CJ Jones)Guides Marly through the Place, powers lights, explains Wigan’s sermons, and marvels at the drifting artifacts and machine.
- Josef VirekAppears via screen; boasts of orchestrating events, buying the cores, sending Paco, and seeking liberation from his failing body.