I ask one of the stewards, a plush white woman with her hair swept up in a beaded hairnet, where I can find information about the Makers’ other communities.

“Hmm, I have an idea. You wait right here.” She pats my arm and bustles off.

There’s beautiful copper detailing throughout the library that I had thought was decoration, but when a few minutes later a glace tube comes whizzing into a cubby next to me, I realize that it’s a system of pneumatic pipes. I remove two scrolls and a slip of paper from the tube and send it back through the chute. A cursory glance shows that both scrolls are maps, and the paper is the shelf location of a book.

Once I find the book, I sit down in one of the private study nooks—out of sight of the guards patrolling the Ark—to examine everything more closely. One map is of the world, but it’s very different from any map I’ve ever seen. There are numerous additional landmasses, and the familiar continents are on a completely different scale. Africa is notably much larger and Antarctica much smaller than I would have expected. The second map illustrates the entire Atlas route, and the book is an illustrated geographic reference text, clearly intended for young apprentices, titled Exodus & Exile: The Geography of Maker Past and Present. All of these will be extremely helpful.

There are five areas on the world map that are labeled as “Delegations to the Maker Council.”

In Foundations, Michael explained that the Council is the group of delegates from each of the Maker communities who meet to make decisions regarding important issues that affect Maker society as a whole. I know that Arcadia democratically elects the Genesis headmaster, who acts as their delegate.

Avant is indicated to be in the Alps, and Exodus & Exile provides some additional information like the fact that it’s ruled by a monarchy. A fact that seems to conflict with their supposed utopian ideals, but okay.

Arcadia is in the Atlantic Ocean, southwest of Bermuda. (I note that it is suspiciously right around the area known as the Bermuda triangle.)

Midway between Avant and Arcadia is a cluster of small islands labeled the Misty Isles. I’ve heard a bit more about the Misty Isles, the domain of the Matriarchy of the Isles, from Mbali. Her mother is the leader of the Keftiu Matriarchy. The reference book explains that at the time of the Exodus, the Matriarchy provided refuge for fleeing Makers, many of whom chose to integrate into their society. Once the Atlas was built, and long-distance travel became easier, representatives of each guild were sent to establish themselves under the auspices of the Matriarchy, and more Makers began to take up residence there. It’s not unusual for Islanders like Mbali to choose to study in the Maker schools.