Chapter 4: The Gift
Contains spoilersOverview
After the rigged Laurel fuels anger, Eo redirects Darrow into a forbidden biodome where they glimpse the sky and intimacy softens his fury. There, Eo demands he lead the Reds, framing their lives as slavery and urging risk for freedom. Darrow refuses, clinging to family and obedience. Returning at dawn, they are discovered, escalating immediate danger.
Summary
In the aftermath of Gamma receiving the rigged Laurel, Darrow seethes while the clans simmer with resentment. Eo defuses the fury by calling for music and dancing, then pulls Darrow away through the Webbery to a newly exposed ventilation shaft despite the risk of lashes.
They emerge into a hidden biodome: living grass, trees, bioluminescent insects, and a transparent ceiling revealing the stars. Awed by color and open space, Darrow and Eo make love and speak of constellations, his scars, and the alien vastness that unsettles him.
Eo reframes their lives as slavery and claims the land as rightfully the Reds’, pressing Darrow to lead and risk everything for freedom. Darrow resists, citing his father’s execution, the futility of martyrdom, and his duty to protect family. Their argument crystallizes opposing creeds: freedom through defiance versus survival through obedience, as Eo urges him to “live for more.”
They watch the sunrise transform the biodome, then return through the ducts. As Darrow helps Eo out into the Webbery, an Earth-accented man confronts them for trespassing in the guarded gardens, ending the chapter with the threat of punishment and exposure.
Who Appears
- Darrow
Helldiver; anger at the rigged Laurel turns to awe in a secret garden. Resists Eo’s call to rebel, prioritizing family, then is discovered.
- Eo
Darrow’s wife; reveals a hidden biodome, argues Reds are slaves, urges Darrow to lead and risk everything, telling him to live for more.
- Unidentified Earth-accented man
Confronts Darrow and Eo in the forbidden garden, implying authority and imminent punishment.