As the starship counts down to launch, Zelu wears an Ankara bracelet and feels the engines roar through her body, while her womb stays oddly quiet around the cells of her unborn child. She reflects on the choices that brought her here, especially the one she made an hour after taking the pregnancy test.

In flashback, Zelu had called Jack Preston, sobbing about her pregnancy and her fear of failing everyone. Jack offered her an experimental 'organic augmentation' injection developed by his research team, modeled on tardigrade DNA, that would protect her and the baby from cosmic radiation and add an extra chromosome enabling future genetic capabilities. Jack had taken it himself. Zelu accepted without hesitation, knowing it would permanently alter her and her child's DNA, taking another step away from humanity.

At liftoff, the g-force presses on her, and she perceives a glowing, jagged tear in reality descending over her body and shining onto her belly. She submits to it, sensing a transformation taking hold of her and her unborn child.

Once in orbit, Zelu feels reborn as 'Space Zelu,' the One Who Left Earth. She whispers greetings to her family and her unborn daughter, whom she names Ngozi, meaning 'blessing.' Closing her eyes, she sees Ijele, the great masquerade of her father's stories, dancing in space, confirming that the spirits can follow her anywhere.

Looking down at Earth through the window, Zelu watches her legs float weightlessly and realizes she was made for this. A complete novel suddenly downloads into her mind like a compressed file, ready to be written. She decides this story will be hers alone, kept private from the world that has demanded another book from her.