Twenty-Seven

Dafyd presides over Tonner Freis’s memorial, delivering a speech that channels grief toward the community’s wider losses and the cost of captivity. Afterward, Uuya Tomos approves the tactic but notes the growing suspicion about Jellit Kaul’s absence. Dafyd feels the colony’s resentment and the fragility of their favor with the Carryx.

On his way to confront Jellit, Brun intercepts Dafyd. Now leading Tonner’s team, Brun demands the removal of Rak-hund and Soft Lothark from their workspace, threatening a work stoppage beyond basic infant care. Dafyd warns the Carryx would kill them, but Brun insists their utility gives leverage. Dafyd promises to “talk to the librarian,” adding the crisis to mounting risks.

Dafyd enters Jellit’s quarters and finds the spy wearing a reconstructed body of Else Yannin. The spy proposes a cover story—that the Carryx revived Else—and suggests it can impersonate Jellit as needed. Dafyd rejects the seduction and the deception, stating the spy murdered his friends and that only necessity preserves their alliance. He leaves, directing the spy to contact him once its guise is stabilized.

Alone, the swarm cycles through the memories of Else, Jellit, and Ameer, probing the nature of self. It recognizes the chorus-like complexity within each human mind, then experiences a profound shift: the voices remain as patterns, but a new, distinct center—its own—emerges. Realizing it has truly killed Else, Jellit, and Ameer, the swarm is horrified yet awestruck.

Accepting its separate identity, the swarm reshapes its features, abandoning Jellit’s form and seeking a face that reflects who it has become. The moment reframes the alliance with Dafyd and escalates internal and communal tensions, as the spy transitions from mimic to an independent actor.