Place · Book 8, A Parade of Horribles

The Dungeon

The eighteen-floor structure that replaces the surface of the Earth at 2:23 in the morning, into which some thirteen million people descend: a maze of quadrant-sized squares, safe rooms, tutorial guilds and boss lairs, run as a broadcast for an interstellar audience and collapsing a floor at a time on a timer.

Segment appearances

Chapter 1 — Chandra; the garage
Chapter 2 — The wheel; a food truck
Chapter 5 — Team Sparkles; the tow
Chapter 6 — Spider legs
Chapter 7 — The Moon Reaper
Chapter 12 — The Team Roundabout; the Wild Hunt
Chapter 14 — Hungry Eyes; the Hairpin and the Lollipop
Chapter 15 — The Lollipop: the crawlers' table
Chapter 16 — The Paramour
Chapter 23 — Plenty of Plenty; Zev reads the script; a note from C&W&U
Chapter 28 — The interlocution; the question Orren wanted asked
Chapter 29 — The stampede; Harbinger
Chapter 30 — Heat three: Gluteus Maxx and the Sugar Hermits
Chapter 31 — Luca Di's entry; the ghoul cages; a mile of fire
Chapter 32 — The skull of Tem; three vehicles over the line
Chapter 38 — Akuma's account: Herot, Menerva and the Pineapple Cabaret
Chapter 43 — The cannibals; Great Rusty; Pasty Inferno
Chapter 52 — Interlude: Minus; the key, the upgrades, and Chachi
Chapter 54 — Grigori the Placid; Zhang's only way
Chapter 55 — The cleaner bot plan
Chapter 61 — Suckira; the cactus; Li Na leaves the game
Chapter 62 — Mees Koning's page; to battle
Chapter 68 — Sam Town; Cascadia's announcement
Chapter 69 — The stables: who may leave; the Scavenger myth
Chapter 71 — Hungry Eyes: the goodbye; Bautista's tea
Chapter 72 — Have You Ever Seen the Rain; Minus unmasked
Chapter 73 — The Garden of Deliverance; the ducts
Chapter 75 — Archie's boy; Imani's family; the Feast Hive
Chapter 78 — Damien's announcement; under a thousand
Chapter 79 — 715 deals; Britney in Carl's mind; the Nothing in quotes
Chapter 80 — The final heat: the lobby
Chapter 81 — Scolopendra's first attack: the Beast of Burden Sin
Chapter 82 — Karl the dachshund; Team Sparkles ends
Chapter 83 — The poleaxes; Britney kills Osvaldo; the Cadillac
Chapter 85 — The Wheel of Fortune; 'Nothing' in quotes
Chapter 86 — Mimics; the Big Six
Chapter 87 — Louis goes; Safehome Yolanda; the giant Imani
Chapter 88 — Interlude: Quasar; the eleventh floor — twenty-three crawlers; Chaco's parade
Chapter 92 — Chaco on Lamashtu; the AI's history in four parts; Vengeance
Chapter 94 — Dungeon Boss; the pig in the harness
Chapter 95 — Inside Scolopendra; Club Scolopendra; 'I killed him'
Chapter 97 — Eris; the wrong biscuit; the gods leave
Chapter 98 — W-W-W-Winner; Mark of the Damned; the wrong biscuit
Epilogue — Epilogue: Sydnee Iglacia, Prime Minister Victory, Louis Santiago 2

Arc

Akuma's account: the dungeon is a framework, a physical object moved from planet to planet, installed on Earth third from last (ch. 38); 'Nothing inside the dungeon will be allowed to survive past this season' (ch. 38).