At Susur Secundi, Alpharael watches Raphaella accept the Monoist plunge. The black hole does not carry her cleanly beyond observation. Relativity leaves her stretched across the horizon, visibly dying without reaching an ending. Doctrine calls that passage holy; a brother's eyes see suffering held in place. Unable to reconcile the two, Alpharael asks to join the next assault on the Dawnsire.
The Celestial Palatinate has sent that immense vessel to reverse Sothera's collapse. Its mission makes the rival theology physical: Monoists protect the supervoid as the threshold of final purpose, while Summists would reignite the star so life can expand. Haliya arrives with the Sunstar Free Company as Syr Vondam's squire, proud to serve a future whose goodness appears mathematically secure.
Alpharael receives a captured singularity called sekhar and boards an impact craft with volunteers who expect not to return. He tells himself death will reunite him with Raphaella. Beneath the ritual is a less orderly motive: if her choice has made life impossible to understand, following it will end the need to understand.