Picking through wrecked desks after the giant Escape is sucked back, Evar and Starval argue about family roles. Starval calls Evar their “glue,” valuing his humanity as strength. Evar clings to his mysterious book, feeling it as the one thing happening to him that he cannot let slip away.

They rejoin Clovis, Kerrol, the Assistant, and the Soldier for a rare full council. Evar urges abandoning the Mechanism, but Clovis rejects withdrawal, and Kerrol cites research: the Mechanism leaks “creative energy” that, outside its control, becomes dangerous, draws shape from nearby texts, and to persist needs a person. Starval insists the failure is intentional; Evar suggests maintenance is impossible from inside.

Evar warns that failures worsen: trickle becomes deluge. He then reveals four Escapes emerged; the Soldier destroyed two. Asked why he intervened, the Soldier says he acted to save the book, not Evar, shifting the stakes onto the object Evar carries. Clovis demands to see it; Kerrol presses for it, but the Assistant intervenes.

The Assistant takes the book, declares it Evar’s, and returns it. Her glowing gaze leaves ghostly lines on the once-blank cover, hinting at a figure emerging from chaos. The siblings are left with a new priority: the Mechanism’s escalating breaches and a book the library’s guardians will protect at any cost.