Motif · from book 4
The count
Carl's tally of administrators killed, begun on the fifth floor with a note in the 25th edition — 'One.' — after a toy exploded beside Loita in a shielded trailer. Written for Coolie and for a gnome girl named Bonnie; 'What I do from here on out is solely for me and my people.'
First appears: Book 4
Series arc
Through book 7
An elite's assassination attempt (B7 ch. 13).
Open threads
Status is open or resolved; the chapter after it is the last one that moved the thread.
| Thread | Opened | Status |
|---|---|---|
| The count of administrators: 'One.' | B4 ch. 18 | open · B8 ch. 99 — Loita's count of administrators stands at one; the AI tells every screen 'I am not the Eulogist' and 'I am eternity', naming itself something other than the centre system's mind. |
All threads: Open threads.
Through book 4
Through book 5
'There's no going back after this' (B5 ch. 5). The count is now in hands.
Through book 6
An assassination at a club (B6 ch. 31).
Where they appear
| Book | Chapters they are in (of the book's) | Where |
|---|---|---|
| 4 — The Gate of the Feral Gods | 1/35 | Ch. 19 · the book's own page |
| 5 — The Butcher's Masquerade | 3/78 | Ch. 15, Ch. 17, Ch. 56 · the book's own page |
| 6 — The Eye of the Bedlam Bride | 7/74 | Ch. 19, Ch. 22, Ch. 32, Ch. 33, Ch. 34, Ch. 37, Ch. 54 · the book's own page |
| 7 — This Inevitable Ruin | 2/89 | Ch. 13, Ch. 56 · the book's own page |
By book
The count in book 4 — The Gate of the Feral Gods
Carl decides on it at the sight of a sobbing gnome girl (ch. 17) and plans it from Coolie's notes — a fingernail, a doll, a couch and a forcefield — then writes 'One.' in the Cookbook (ch. 18). The Syndicate's fact-finder investigates and cannot prove it, reconstructing an assassination far more complicated than the one that happened (ch. 19). By the floor's end the count has company: 'Might as well get started' (ch. 31), phases one to four of the plan (ch. 32, ch. 33), tens of thousands of NPCs drowned in a city as a favour, and the pledge to the hunters at the stairs (ch. 34).
The count in book 5 — The Butcher's Masquerade
'There's no going back after this' (ch. 5). The count is now in hands.
The count in book 6 — The Eye of the Bedlam Bride
An assassination quest from the Guild of Suffering (ch. 19); a target the others cannot be told (ch. 22); Samantha thought this was an assassination (ch. 32); did we do the assassination yet (ch. 33, ch. 34); Odette, who was not allowed to be set up for one (ch. 37); traps looted during the Astrid assassination (ch. 54) — an assassination at a club (ch. 31).