Contents
12. Antarctica Starts Here
Overview
Angie completes sensory calibration and rejoins her team as production resumes. David Pope’s interest in Tessier-Ashpool steers Angie toward their history, triggering unease and curiosity. After a clean physical and a managed public update via Continuity, Angie retreats and begins Becker’s Antarctica Starts Here, confronting images of Marie-France and Ashpool.
Summary
Angie undergoes Piper Hill’s Usher calibration, enduring heightened tactile and olfactory tests until optimal sensitivity is reached. Curious about arrivals at the house, she queries Continuity about Freeside and Tessier-Ashpool, learning of Hans Becker’s documentary Antarctica Starts Here and that director David Pope recently accessed it, which unsettles her.
Angie joins her gathered team—Pope, Porphyre, Rick Raebel, Kelly Hickman, Karen Lomas, Brian Ng, and Piper—who welcome her back. Pope, just down from orbit, mentions filming “solitaries,” and Hickman pulls Angie into wardrobe talk as preproduction momentum builds for her re-insertion.
After lunch, Brian Ng escorts Angie to a private clinic for a physical, which she passes cleanly. Waiting, she reflects on her father Christopher Mitchell’s undetected vévés in her neurology and Bobby’s theory that the loa Legba could obscure scans. Ng reports Continuity has issued a public, templated statement restoring her image post-detox.
Back home, a barbecue brings the team together. In a quiet moment, Pope describes orbital myths and the Tessier-Ashpool saga—Lady Jane, alleged parricide, cloning, and the family’s engineered obscurity—which intensifies Angie’s anxiety. Porphyre cautions her gently as she withdraws for the night.
Alone, Angie asks the house to play Becker’s video. As credits roll, she watches images of Marie-France Tessier and John Ashpool, recognizing the gravity behind their faces and feeling an intimate revulsion toward Ashpool, signaling that Tessier-Ashpool’s buried history is about to intersect with her own trajectory.
Who Appears
- Angie (Angela Mitchell)Undergoes sensory calibration, resumes work, probes Tessier-Ashpool history, passes a physical, and begins Becker’s documentary amid growing unease.
- David PopeDirector; recently researched orbital solitaries and Tessier-Ashpool; his interest prompts Angie to view Becker’s video.
- Piper HillPersonal technician; runs Angie’s Usher tests to optimal levels and reviews medical results with Pope.
- PorphyreProtective aide; monitors Angie’s mood at the gathering and quietly urges her to take care.
- Brian NgPiper’s assistant; escorts Angie to her physical and reports Continuity’s public statement.
- Rick RaebelEffects and editing; present for Angie’s return and planning discussions.
- Kelly HickmanWardrobe; reintroduces Angie to fittings and wardrobe plans for re-insertion.
- Karen LomasIn-fills specialist; consults with Pope and Raebel on Angie’s re-insertion details.
- House/ContinuityAI systems; answers Angie’s queries, manages schedules, and plays Becker’s documentary.
- Marie-France TessierAppears in Becker’s documentary as a foundational Tessier-Ashpool figure, catalyzing Angie’s interest.
- John Harness AshpoolShown in the documentary; evokes Angie’s visceral dislike and signals the family’s darker legacy.