10

Jonas parts from Fiona at the House of the Old and proceeds to the Annex for his first day of training. An attendant greets him as “Receiver of Memory,” unlocks a secured door, and explains the locks protect privacy, signaling a rare exception to community norms.

Inside a comfortable dwelling unlike typical homes, Jonas notices luxurious touches and, most strikingly, walls filled with countless books—far more than the few allowed in households. The Elder he recognized from the Ceremony welcomes him as the new Receiver and notes his own age-weariness and the failed selection a decade earlier.

The Elder invites questions and clarifies the assignment: he will transmit memories—not his personal past, but the memories of the entire world, stretching back generations and including Elsewhere. He explains that such memories bring wisdom to guide the community’s future, though the burden has aged him.

To begin, the Elder searches for a starting point, likening his burden to a sled in deep snow, then realizes Jonas lacks concepts like snow, sled, and downhill. Deciding to start there, he has Jonas lie face down on the bed, switches the speaker off—another extraordinary breach of normal rules—and assures Jonas the process won’t be painful.

The Elder announces he will transmit the memory of snow and places his hands on Jonas’s bare back, initiating Jonas’s first direct encounter with memories beyond his world.