Motif · Book 7, This Inevitable Ruin

The failsafe

The Syndicate Council's last resort for a crawl gone wrong: kill the system's star. Cascadia is 'one crisis shy' of it on the eighth floor; Zev prays they never learn what it does; Princess Formidable demands it and is muted on a decorum sanction; Prime Minister Glory refuses, because half the galaxy's wealth is trapped in orbit and in the Scolopendra Club.

Segment appearances

• Prologue — Prologue
• Chapter 20 — Christmas Morning; the Ramp-Up
• Chapter 28 — Toyotomi; Agatha is looking for Carl
• Chapter 34 — The king's message; Rosetta's whip
• Chapter 35 — Volteeg; the dwarves' tunnel
• Chapter 36 — Orren's zero zone
• Chapter 37 — Growler Gary, and Princess Formidable's four choices
• Chapter 39 — Alliances break; Operation Snake Pit
• Chapter 41 — The production facility; Aryl goes dark
• Chapter 43 — Odette hosts; 'It's coming'
• Chapter 58 — Sultan Rishi the Usurper
• Chapter 69 — Interlude — Several days earlier; Interlude — Rosetta; Zarogoths
• Chapter 78 — The Scavenger's daughter is with us now

Progression

The fuse on Paulie's interface: five or six things must trip before the star goes nova (ch. 0); Carl presses Disconnect instead, and the red dot grows (ch. 20). Formidable means to trip it by hand (ch. 34); it is dead, and Orren asks if it can be undone (ch. 36); her crew press the button and Aryl goes dark (ch. 41). 'We should have blown the failsafe weeks ago' (ch. 78).