There are two other denoted locations on the map: a tiny island in the Mediterranean Sea labeled “Eden,” and an area near the Middle East labeled “Naiot.”

I flip through the reference book for more details. Eden supposedly marks the location of the actual Garden of Eden from the Bible. Though from the little information I can find, no one lives there, and it is more of an environmental preserve and perhaps also a retreat for those who need certain kinds of rehabilitation. Naiot is also currently unpopulated, but the book says that’s only been the case for close to two decades, ever since the tragic event known as the Fall of Naiot.

Master Bose, my Testaments teacher—the one with the dog—read to us about the Fall of Naiot from the Book of Chorus in my Testaments class just the other day.

Naiot had once been a hidden village of prophets who had an alliance with the Makers. After world governments repeatedly used their prophecies for destructive ends, they stopped sharing them, which led to their expulsion. They hid themselves where they could train new prophets to control their prophecy and use it responsibly. But all of that ended with the Fall of Naiot.

I hadn’t fully understood the testament that described the Fall. I should probably read the prophecy again.

I close the reference book and maps and bring them with me to the section of the library where the Testaments of the Prophets are shelved.

Having grown up with Catholicism and Judaism, I’m pretty familiar with hearing about old prophecies. But according to Exodus & Exiles, this Chorus chick is still alive. That makes the Makers’ recorded prophecies a hell of a lot more recent than David and Samuel.

While the Guild Testaments are classified, the regular Testament section is easily accessible. Each of the Testaments of the Prophets has the name of a different Prophet embossed in gold on its spine. It’s the very last, extremely slim volume labeled Chorus that I pull down. I settle into a nearby love seat and begin to read.