On the planet Resurgam (a human research colony in the Delta Pavonis system, year 2551), archaeologist Daniel Sylveste oversees an archeological excavation. A severe razorstorm is approaching and a team member insists that they should evacuate to the nearby settlement of Mantell. Sylveste refuses.

In the central pit, Sylveste speaks to Pascale Dubois, a journalist documenting the excavation. They examine two Amarantin burial chambers. The Amarantin were an alien species, now extinct. They were roughly humanoid with birdlike facial features, and they died out approximately 990,000 years before the events of the novel, in an event Sylveste refers to as “the Event.” The pit also contains a large, buried obelisk inscribed with Amarantin writing and diagrams.

A senior student named Sluka challenges Sylveste, insisting that the dig should stop due to the incoming storm. During their heated discussion, she warns that rival colony leader, Girardieau, is planning a coup against Sylveste. As she leaves the site, Sylveste retreats to his crawler and activates a beta-level simulation—a sophisticated but non-conscious AI facsimile—of his deceased father, famous scientist Calvin Sylveste. He has not spoken to the simulation of his father in some time and their conversation alludes to a costly mistake.