IX. Life — Libby

Libby visits Belen Jiménez in a hospital, noticing a severe decline since their last meeting. Belen is handcuffed, under investigation for war crimes, and reveals frontotemporal dementia—likely accelerated by the biomancer Nothazai after she refused his “fix.” Their conversation turns to power’s costs, accountability, and whether Libby seeks forgiveness or closure.

Belen rejects repair and offers gallows humor and blunt counsel: power must be taken, guilt will linger, and there is no true “other half.” She challenges Libby to make someone happy instead of chasing redemption. When Libby confesses she hurt someone she thought was her other half, Belen dismisses the notion and warns Libby’s selfishness could harm many—but assures feeling will return.

After a nurse interrupts for medication, Libby departs. She detours to LARCMA, slipping among students and briefly encountering Professor Maxwell T. Mortimer, who fails to recognize her. She watches the building’s rhythms, then leaves, symbolically releasing that era.

Libby returns to her childhood home, sneaks into Katherine’s room, and finds a stash from a wall vent: a journal and trinkets. Reading Katherine’s teenage entries—equal parts frustration, desire for life, and love for Libby—she relives their last fight and Katherine’s hunger for experience. The final teasing line about Libby’s bangs makes Libby laugh until she cries, granting a tender, imperfect closure.