"Well he or his’ll see something, I suppose. They’re still coming, ain’t they? Gods know what they’ll face." He shook as if chuckling, emitting no sound. "The militia must know Iron Council’s coming. It’s good that they’re coming. I’m sorry it’s later than we’d have liked. We were thinking of them, when we did what we did. I hope we made them proud."

By noon he was in a coma. Madeleina watched him.

She said: "It was him tried to stop the mob, when they took revenge against the hostages. He tried to step in."

"Listen to me," Judah said to Cutter. They were in the hallway. All Judah’s uncertainty was gone. He was hard as one of his own iron golems. "The Collective is dead. No, listen, be quiet. It’s dead and if Iron Council comes here it’ll be dead too. They’ve no chance. The militia’ll amass on the borders, where the trains come in. They’ll just wait. By the time the Council gets here-be, what, four weeks at least?-the Collective’ll be gone. And the militia’ll pour everything into killing Iron Council.

"Cutter. I won’t let them. I won’t. Listen to me. You have to tell them. You have to get back and tell them. They have to go. Send the train up north, find a way into the mountains. I don’t know. Maybe they have to desert the train, be fReemade. Whatever. But they can’t come into the city.

"Be quiet. " Cutter had been about to speak but he closed his mouth hard. He had never seen Judah like this: all the beatific calm was gone, and something stone-hard remained. "Be quiet and listen. You have to go now. Get out of the city however you damn well can, and find them. If Rahul or Drogon or anyone finds their way back I’ll send them after you. But Cutter, you have to stop the train from coming."

"What about you?"

Judah’s face set. He seemed wistful.

"You might fail, Cutter. And if you do, I might, just, be able to do something."

"You know how to use the mirrors, don’t you? You remember? Because those militia… they’ve come all the way through the cacotopic zone. They’ll reach the Council. And I ain’t sure, but I bet I know what they are, what they’d have to be to be hardcore enough to take us, but travel quick and light like they’ve done. If I’m right you’ll have to do what you can, Cutter. You’ll have to show the Council. Do right by me, Cutter."

"And you? What are you going to do? While I’m off persuading the damn Council."