The Fifth Season: Chapter 8 Summary & Analysis

Now on the road toward Allia with her new “mentor,” Syenite finally learns that his name is Alabaster. As they travel, he often falls asleep in his saddle, and he snaps at her when she points this out, reminding her that they still need to have sex every night. Syenite wonders about his constant tiredness until about a week into their journey, when she notices that Alabaster is constantly quieting all of the tiny unnoticeable earthquakes in the area around them. Syenite is confused by this, as the Fulcrum has taught her to redirect the earth’s energy, not halt it altogether, lest the “microshakes” lead to something bigger in the future.

Syenite thinks about this mystery for a few days as they travel along the Yumenes-Allia Highroad, an old Imperial Road that is safe and efficient but that she also finds incredibly boring. Any travelers they meet avoid speaking to them when they notice Syen and Alabaster’s black Fulcrum uniforms, and every night the two have sex for a few minutes and otherwise spend the time in silence. Finally, one night, Syenite asks Alabaster why he is quieting the microshakes, and he is surprised both that she can sense him doing it and that she hasn’t asked before. The two bicker some, and then Alabaster reveals that he’s doing it to give the “node maintainers” a break from their work.

Syenite thinks of what she knows about the node maintainers: nodes are outposts placed at certain points across the Stillness that have been deemed important as hot spots or as being near fault lines, and a Fulcrum-trained orogene is assigned to each outpost. Their job there is to keep the surrounding area stable from earthquakes. Syenite doesn’t know of anyone who has been assigned to be a node maintainer, but she imagines that it must be an incredibly boring job. She says this to Alabaster—that maybe he should let the node maintainers do their jobs to keep them from dying of boredom—and then it takes her a moment to see that he is staring at her with hatred.

Alabaster asks Syenite if she has ever been to a node, and she responds that of course she hasn’t. Alabaster says that every “rogga” should visit one. Syenite is surprised to hear him casually use this word, which is usually an insulting slur. Alabaster also says that if Syen can sense him quelling the microshakes, then she can probably do it as well. At first, she questions why she would ever want to do this, but then she agrees to help, at least as something to pass the time. Alabaster then says that there is a node station two days away, and that they will go to visit it next.

Syenite is enraged to hear this—as it’s significantly out of their way—but she also knows that her hatred of Alabaster is irrational, and that she should be trying to get on his good side, as he is by far the highest ranked living orogene. At the same time, all of the tricks of flattery and politeness that she’s learned at the Fulcrum don’t seem to work on Alabaster at all, so she finds herself being honest with him—which means being angry. She snaps at him and then they go to bed. As she reaches for him to have their usual perfunctory sex, he stops her, reminding her that her period is late but also saying that this doesn’t necessarily mean anything yet. Syen is embarrassed to realize that he has been keeping track and waiting for a break from having sex with her.

The next morning, the two have sex, and afterwards Alabaster asks Syenite why she seems to hate him so much. Syen knows that if he were a usual Fulcrum elder, she would lie and be polite, but instead she says, “I just do.” Alabaster then suggests that she doesn’t really hate him, but rather the world and the way that it treats orogenes. Syen tries to argue that the way things are is the only possible way, but Alabaster goes on, saying that other empires besides Sanze must have been successful, and there must be other ways of treating orogenes besides their current system of either slavery or murder. As an example, he gestures to a nearby forest, where an ancient ruin rises up beyond the trees.

Syenite argues that those other civilizations failed, and so they must have been wrong, but Alabaster counters that “survival doesn’t mean rightness.” He suggests that society could instead let orogenes be in charge of things. Syenite scoffs at this, but Alabaster says that people only hate and fear orogenes because centuries of stonelore have taught them that all orogenes are evil monsters. Syenite says that stonelore can’t change, but Alabaster says that in fact it changes all the time: Tablet Two, for example, has been damaged seemingly on purpose. Furthermore, other tablets have been excavated from a dead city that contained stonelore very different from what society now teaches. Even the rule against changing stonelore might be a recent amendment, Alabaster says.

Syenite is shaken by this, but she still tries to cling to the idea that “stonelore is as old as intelligence” and that anyone who tries to go against it inevitably fails. She asks Alabaster where he heard about the ancient, excavated tablets, and he says that he has been going on missions outside the Fulcrum for 20 years and has friends all over the continent. Syenite can’t believe that an orogene would have friends beyond the Fulcrum, especially people willing to talk about heretical things like this.

Syenite starts to ask Alabaster another question, but then she notices that he is suddenly distracted. She follows his attention and realizes that there is about to be a massive earthquake beneath the town of Mehi, which is about 200 miles away. Alabaster falls to his knees, and Syen can feel the force of his orogeny speeding off into the distance, toward the hot spot. Suddenly Syenite feels her own orogeny being “grabbed” by Alabaster’s and dragged along toward Mehi. She tries to resist and break free but cannot, and soon they reach the hot spot, which is truly massive. Alabaster begins diverting the force of the magma and earth, using Syenite’s power to help him.

Suddenly Alabaster uses his orogeny to make a kind of “punch,” and Syenite can feel all the pressure of the magma bubble release. Alabaster then pulls them out and back to the surface of the earth, and suddenly she feels like “his strength is at her disposal,” and she uses it to complete the work of ensuring that no small earthquakes destroy anything and that a fault line isn’t created at this spot. With Alabaster’s power, she can sess the earth better than ever before, and the work is easy. As soon as Syen is done, she finds herself back in her body, with Alabaster curled up next to her and a circle of frost surrounding them.

Shaking, Syenite crawls over to Alabaster to see that his body is clenched, but he is alive. Syenite tries to understand what just happened—enormous hot spots like that don’t just spontaneously explode. Further, it’s supposed to be impossible for two orogenes to work together, as the weaker one will burn out—but none of that explains what Alabaster just did.

Syenite sits gathering her strength and then gets some food out and waters the horses. She crawls back to the bedroll and falls asleep beside Alabaster for a while. When she wakes, he is awake too, and he says that they have to go the node station immediately. Syenite argues that they’re too tired, low on supplies, and shouldn’t ride in the dark. Alabaster curses to himself and gets up, suddenly urgent about the need to leave right now. He says he’ll go without Syen if he has to and gets angry when she tries to stop him again. Syenite feels like something is wrong with Alabaster, or he’s gone crazy, but she finally manages to convince him to wait until morning.

Alabaster stops his preparations and gazes off into the distance for a while, still seeming agitated. Finally, he explains why he feels the need to get to the node immediately—as Syenite already thought, hot spots like that never come out of nowhere, and the center of the big one in Mehi was the node station itself. Syen finally realizes that he means that the node maintainer himself must have set off the hot spot. Using so much power also must have iced the entire town, she realizes, but she also has no idea why the node maintainer would do such a thing.

Alabaster plans for their trip—they’ll leave before dawn, he says, and push the horses as fast as they can, but he at least agrees to rest for the remainder of the night. Before dawn they saddle up and head toward the node station. On the road, people actually seem relieved to see them, as even “stills” could have sessed the disaster that almost took place and they are grateful to see Fulcrum orogenes now. That night, Syenite and Alabaster stop and sleep for a few hours before setting out again. The next day they finally reach the node station, which consists of a large central pyramid, three smaller ones, and a flimsy metal wall.

Alabaster immediately notes that no one has come out to meet them, and he can’t hear anyone inside. Syenite asks who usually lives at a node station, and she is surprised to learn that node maintainers don’t have Guardians but do have live-in doctors. She assumes that everyone must be dead from the “torus” of ice but also realizes that the surrounding forest should be iced as well, and it isn’t. Alabaster rides up to the gate and somehow creates a torus with a center outside of himself—something that Syen had no idea was possible—and uses it to freeze and break open the gate. He dismounts and immediately hurries inside.

Syenite ties up the horses and then follows Alabaster, though he’s out of sight by now. Beyond the gates, everything is silent and seems abandoned—until Syenite sees a horse shed and looks inside to see three dead horses, all of them completely frozen. She heads toward the central pyramid, assuming that Alabaster and the node maintainer will be there. She lights a lamp and goes inside, and soon finds the frozen bodies of several soldiers and workers. At the center of the pyramid is the node chamber, which is large and empty except for what seems to be a chair made of wires and straps, with the node maintainer inside.

Syenite approaches and examines the chair, noticing that Alabaster is there as well. When she realizes what she’s actually seeing, she curses to herself. The body of the node maintainer is small, naked, and attached to a series of pipes and wires. She understands what the node maintainer really is—an orogene kept alive but entirely “immobile, unwilling, indefinite.” A shelf nearby is full of medicine, which Syenite assumes must be necessary to keep the node maintainer alive. She lets herself truly understand that the node maintainer is a child—a child with Alabaster’s features. In an emotionless voice, Alabaster explains that sometimes a “rogga” can’t learn proper control, but “Mother Sanze can always find another use for them.”

Syenite is shocked and horrified. Alabaster shows her something else—a scar at the base of the node maintainer’s neck. Orogenes’ sessapinae are larger than other people’s, he explains, and the node maintainer has been operated on to remove its self-control but keep its instinctive orogenic power. Syen knows that even a baby orogene can quiet an earthquake, so the system is horribly ingenious. She wants to vomit.

Alabaster explains that the problem must have been that someone let this node maintainer wake up. He says that some people have a fetish for the node maintainers and pay to have access to them but want them to be awake and aware of what’s happening. The node maintainers are normally kept sedated because using orogeny causes them pain, so when they are allowed to wake up, they experience terrible suffering—this must have led to the sudden creation of the hot spot. Hearing this, Syenite finally stumbles away and vomits.

Alabaster says that this is why he was so insistent that every orogene should see a node in person. Syenite says that she had no idea about any of this. Alabaster’s voice is cold and full of suppressed hatred as he says that “they” would do this to every orogene if they thought it was more useful. They see all orogenes as just weapons and monsters to be used, just like the node maintainers—all just “fucking roggas” in the end. Syenite lets this sink in and realizes that he’s right—orogenes like her and Alabaster are just “dressed up” versions of this tortured and mutilated child.

Alabaster and Syenite make camp in the node station’s courtyard. They sit beside the fire for a while, staring into the flames in silence until Alabaster starts to speak. He says that he thinks he has 12 children in all, but he doesn’t know where most of them are. Syen remembers that the node maintainer looked just like Alabaster. She tentatively asks about their own future child, and Alabaster says that it might become a node maintainer, but it also might be trained by the Fulcrum and become a successful orogene.

Syenite, now using the term “rogga” because “orogene” feels like a falsehood to her, says that they could also have a “still” as a child, and then it could grow up to be seen as a real human being. Alabaster says that he still wouldn’t want a non-orogenic child. No comm would accept them, he says, assuming that they still carry the curse of “Father Earth”—instead, they would be made into a Guardian. After saying this, Alabaster suddenly looks up and tells Syenite that she has to forget everything she saw today. When she makes her report, she should refer to the node maintainer as nothing more than a resource, and she must affirm that it existed for the good of the world. Now angry and cursing at Alabaster for this callousness, Syenite considers killing him in his sleep. Then, Alabaster starts laughing.

Alabaster’s laughter lasts a long time, to the point that Syenite can feel the earth moving with the rocking of his body. She realizes that what Alabaster really wants is to destroy the world, and that he is probably capable of doing it. When his laughter finally dies away, Syen asks him where his Guardian is. Alabaster says that she’s not dead, but he did something to her to make sure she was no longer a threat to him. Seeing the terror in Syen’s eyes, Alabaster apologizes, smiles sadly, and then gets into their sleeping bag.

After a while Alabaster speaks again, saying that he knows he’s crazy, but that Syenite will become crazy too if she stays with him and sees and understands more things like she did today. He tells her that she would be doing the world a favor if she killed him. Syenite thinks about this for a long time and then gets into the sleeping bag as well. As she drifts off, an obelisk floats by in the distance. The chapter ends with a proverb saying that after Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall, Death is the fifth season.