Contents
V. Rationalism — Interlude
Overview
Atlas narrates how Alexis repeatedly revives Neel, who foresees Atlas killing them all, and how Atlas deflects suspicion without altering Alexis’s mind. Folade’s poisoning appears cursed, Alexis gains clearance, and Neel dies in loops.
Atlas’s restraint, love for Alexis, and fatalistic philosophy crystallize his path toward destructive ends.
Summary
Atlas frames his story as one of choice and ends, then rewinds to months after leaving the Society manor. Alexis Lai arrives, saying Neel believes Atlas will kill them all; she presents a newly revived Neel. Atlas denies culpability, quietly disarms Neel’s mental turmoil, and withholds the truth about Ezra.
Atlas reflects on his upbringing, his telepathic work to keep his mother alive, and his ambition—shared with Ezra—to control the archives. He refuses to manipulate Alexis’s distrust, wary of leaving a signature, and lets her opinion stand.
Alexis reports she has been granted government clearance after a Society meeting. When she asks Atlas about his future, he jokes about wanting “happiness,” recalling the archives’ denial of such a request. His fatigue and bitterness harden his resolve to build a new world.
Later, Alexis returns with Ivy Folade, recently poisoned. Folade tests the archives and concludes the affliction is a curse. As Alexis seeks Neel’s input, she repeatedly revives him through successive deaths, from aneurysm to pneumonia, each time returning more certain that Atlas is responsible.
By Neel’s third revival, Alexis openly demands truth or mental alteration. Atlas chooses not to change her mind and realizes he loves her. He concludes that knowledge’s hunger and fate’s inertia make certain ends inevitable: he cannot save Alexis, and his trajectory toward catastrophic choices as Caretaker is set.
Who Appears
- Atlas BlakelyNarrator; recalls early caretaking, restraint from altering Alexis, love for her, and fatalistic commitment to consequential ends.
- Alexis LaiNecromancer reviving Neel; gains clearance; grows from suspicion to accusation that Atlas is responsible for Neel’s deaths.
- Neel MishraDivinist repeatedly revived; foresees Atlas killing them all; dies from aneurysm and later pneumonia.
- Ivy FoladePhysicist poisoned; consults the archives and suspects a curse after tests yield little.
- Ezra FowlerAtlas’s clandestine ally; his supposed death is part of Atlas’s broader plan.
- HuntingtonCaretaker who avoids the manor when no recruits are present; leaves Atlas largely alone.
- Atlas’s motherTroubled by worsening thoughts and alcohol; motivates Atlas’s early telepath-for-hire survivalism.