Still, the changeability of the mortal mind never fails to amaze me. How much of history is written by those with wounded hearts? The ugly truth of the matter is that Misery Nomaki may have behaved abominably at various points in this tale, but they were not alone in their disgrace. For sure, they lied and manipulated others, over and over. For sure, they made choices that were selfish and ill-judged, then blamed others for those choices when they became embarrassed by them. But what of the greater injustices around them? The Heretic, held in secret in the catacombs of Angelsteeth, denied light and the warmth of human touch, taking advantage of the Messiah’s confusion, pretending to be innocent and harmless. The Throne and Emperor, who turned his existence into a dirty secret by concealing it from the rest of the Faithful—the media, their loyal subjects, the heaving syrup of the peasantry—and yet readily used that same existence as a tool in their negotiations with the Heretics. A hostage. A little political pawn. Then there’s the Church, who were not above using the young and vulnerable as means to achieve their ends, in their eternal power struggle against the Throne. The Archbishop of Remus, who connived to undermine the tenuous peace between Heretic and the Faithful. Not to mention all the bit players, each one carrying private gems of motivations and desires. The Duke. The General. More who haven’t come into the story yet. Who was right? Who was wrong? Who comes up top on the exalted list of the morally superior, and who is the scum of the universe that comprises the bottom? I cannot make that judgment. Can you? Or will it fall to those who shall write the record of what happened here? Perhaps it will be you. I suspect it will not be me. That is the way of these things.

CHAPTER 30

Several people on Angelsteeth know what KD principles are, and the phrase incites a great froth of excitement. Engineers swarm through rooms, chattering in language Misery cannot understand and cannot follow. Large and complicated diagrams blossom across the displays of the station’s command centers, packed with esoteric formulations and figures, quantum shit way above Misery’s reading grade. Lightning tries to translate, but it’s still too much. All Misery can do is listen, head empty and palms idle.

“You don’t understand,” Tank says. “Key-Demeter principles have been mere theory up till this point. No one’s ever got them to work. This is a huge deal. You have no idea how huge. Forge, I can’t believe I’m alive to witness this.”

Diamond is similarly impressed, despite herself. “The Heretics have somehow achieved this with their technology. It’s quite the achievement.”

“Unless that Heretic was lying,” Lightning says. Still piquantly bitter about Jericho, about what he is and what he’s done.