In two universes, the protagonist (Kyr) is known as “Vallie.” In the universe where the Earth has not been destroyed, this nickname is short for Valerie Marston. She is called “Val” more often than “Vallie,” however. Val is with Cleo, who was just assigned to the Victrix. They are on Hymmer Station, shadowing at Secpol, which operates security and policing. This is their last Academy rotation as part of the Terran Expeditionary forces. Val says that she’ll buy Cleo a drink, and Cleo says that Val has to have two drinks. They go to a restaurant where they are given priority as lieutenants in uniform. There are diverse species inside.

Val admits that she’s assigned to Victrix. Cleo is excited that they’ll be together. They are currently roommates, and Cleo wants her nemesis to remain close by. Tonight, Cleo wants to have sex and looks lustfully at one of the waiters. Val has a date later with a woman named Lisa. Cleo wants to see a picture, but Val refuses to show her one.

Val takes Lisa to the nicest restaurant on Hymmer. They compliment one another and talk about the menu. Lisa admits that she thinks the Terran Expeditionary, which she calls Fleet, shouldn’t exist. Val laughs and jokes about being “a tool of the fascist oppressor” (260). She believes that she and her organization are peacekeepers and that she is a protector. Lisa says that she was drawn to Val even though she doesn’t agree politically with her job. Lisa studies at the Xenia Institute and works in a free clinic that she passionately discusses over dinner. Lisa and Val have strong academic backgrounds, unlike Kyr.

After dinner, Lisa and Val go for a walk in the park. Val chastises some teenagers for throwing stones into the fishpond. Lisa asks why, and Val says that the kids are creating unnecessary work for the janitorial staff. Val asks to kiss Lisa, and Lisa says yes. While Val is enjoying the kiss and loving her life, her comm goes off. She reluctantly answers it.

There is a yellow alert, and Val has to report to the security station. Cleo shows up shortly after Val. The Secpol captain, Harriman, says that they’re going door to door looking for a terrorist from the Ziviri Jo, a xeno paramilitary group. They have no description of the terrorist. Val considers the horrible optics of this.

While carrying out their orders, Val refuses to gossip about her date, saying that she needs to focus on the job. Humans are more aggressive than the other species that Val and Cleo encounter. They find a Sinnet drug dealer but no terrorists. When they return to the station, they see Ari Shah and other reporters trying to get a statement about the night’s events. Cleo says that she’s going back to the man she was hooking up with, and Val heads back to their apartment.

She sees that the door is broken open and the alarm is disabled. Her brother, Max, is inside; he is the terrorist they are looking for. Max is with Yiso, whom Val doesn’t remember. Yiso uses shadow-engine power to make Val remember being Kyr. It physically hurts Yiso to use the Wisdom.

Kyr repeatedly thinks, “None of this is real. All of this is real” (268). She locks herself in the bathroom. While marveling at the luxurious waterfall shower, Kyr mentally contrasts the Cleos of the different universes. Their relationship is better in Val’s universe. Next, Kyr contrasts her life on Gaea with Val’s life. She realizes that Lisa is a version of Lisabel and wants to call her. She wishes that she had told Mags she was a lesbian when he told her he was gay, and she starts crying.

Max knocks on the bathroom door, but she ignores him during her shower. Val likes Max less than Kyr likes Mags. Kyr struggles with the two voices in her head—her Gaean self and Val—having different opinions. After putting on pajamas, Kyr goes back to the living room. She manages to fix the door. Then, she asks Yiso why they gave her back the memories.

Yiso didn’t want to be alone in the knowledge of the multiple universes. They haven’t shared Mags’s memories with Max, and Kyr approves of this. Kyr hugs Mags and tells him she loves him. Yiso doesn’t think that Avi exists in this universe. Ally doesn’t exist in this universe, and Ursa is Ursula, a commander of the Samphire. Then, Kyr realizes that Jole took the credit for her saving Earth because it earned him power and influence. She breaks a framed picture of Val shaking hands with Jole but then apologizes after Val’s voice internally chastises her. Mags says that there is no Wisdom, and Yiso corrects him.

Yiso explains: Humanity stole the Wisdom. It is broken and injures Yiso whenever they use it. It also has negative effects on majo worlds. Jole’s Providence directs the negative repercussions of using the Wisdom away from humans. Kyr refuses to go back to a universe where the Earth is destroyed. Yiso asks her to stop Jole, and they all agree to destroy the Wisdom.

Kyr changes as Val argues with her decision internally. When Yiso, Kyr, and Mags leave, they are stopped by a Secpol patroller. Kyr flashes her badge and says that they’re on a classified mission. She thinks about how women weren’t allowed to become lieutenants on Gaea. Val describes how Jole manipulated everyone by pitting them against one another. He killed anyone who rebelled, using Nursery deaths as a cover. Kyr tells Val to shut up in her mind as she, Yiso, and Mags arrive at Yiso’s ship in Hymmer’s hanger. Cleo arrives at the same time.

Cleo realizes that Mags is the terrorist and tells Kyr not to throw her career away. Then, Cleo asks about Yiso. Kyr says that Providence is controlling the Wisdom, which is broken and destroying planets. Cleo doesn’t believe her. Yiso uses Wisdom’s power to give Cleo her memories from the other universe, and it causes a bleeding welt on Yiso’s cheek. Kyr is upset about this. Cleo falls to her knees, and Kyr kneels with her. They hug as Cleo cries.

Then, they talk about Lisa as Lisabel, the Sparrows, and what happened after Kyr left Gaea in the first universe. Jeanne died shortly after she was assigned due to a dart’s technical failure. Arti and Vic’s lesbian relationship was discovered, and Arti got sent to Nursery. Cleo was beaten for letting Kyr escape. After cursing Kyr, Cleo agrees to come with them and help them take down Jole and Wisdom.

On Yiso’s ship, Cleo and Kyr head to the bunkroom. They talk about Kyr being in love with Lisabel and not realizing it in the first universe. Cleo makes fun of how Kyr acted on Gaea: “the very best space fascist girl scout of them all” (286). Kyr apologizes, and Cleo says that she wanted to be just like Kyr. Cleo describes her genetic alteration—amazing hand-eye coordination—and demonstrates by juggling a variety of items, including a knife and Kyr’s stunner. This is similar to her father’s genetic modifications, which probably caused his death. Kyr offers her condolences.

Kyr and Cleo get some sleep. Mags is sleeping when Kyr wakes up. In the main compartment, Yiso gives Kyr some nutrition paste to eat. Kyr says that she’s struggling with her own identity. Yiso is no longer afraid of Kyr; they say it’s because they know her better now. Yiso points out that Kyr saved Yiso and gave them medical aid. Kyr claims that she doesn’t care about Yiso. Yiso says that Kyr only needs to care about injustice. They picked Kyr over Mags because she never gives up. Then, Yiso announces that they’ve arrived.

They approach the physical Halls of the Wise on the homeworld of the zi. Jole’s ship, Triumphalis, is there. Mags flies Yiso’s ship and seems to enjoy it. The other ship sends out darts. Mags teleports the ship. Yiso uses the Wisdom to open the space station for the ship and starts bleeding from their eyes as well as their welt. As they walk through the station, Yiso proceeds slowly. Kyr tells Mags to carry Yiso if they need to run.

Yiso leads them past the storerooms that Kyr saw in the Wisdom. Soldiers from Providence destroyed the contents of the rooms before Kyr and the others arrived. Yiso stumbles and falls; Kyr carries them. They give directions from over her shoulder. Eventually, they encounter a security door installed by Providence. Yiso uses the Wisdom to open it and passes out. Cleo compares the situation to the agoge level-nine simulation and goes off to scout.

Mags admits that he misses Val from his universe, and Kyr admits that she misses Mags from hers. Kyr also confesses that Mags killed himself in her universe. Cleo returns and leads the way to a choke point. As they walk there, Yiso regains consciousness and can walk again. Kyr is surprised that they haven’t seen anyone from Providence and asks Yiso to find out what happened to them. Yiso suddenly heals and tells the others to follow them. Cleo is unwilling to do so, worried about a “sting in the tail” (301), or a surprise near the end of an agoge simulation. She stays behind.

Yiso tells them that 19 of the 20 Providence agents were transported to habitable but unsettled worlds. They arrive at a shadow engine above a pool. Avi is there and talks about retrieving the other Providence agents. He won’t tell them what his name is in this universe but brags about fixing the Wisdom.

Mags is charmed by this Avi. Avi considers sending Yiso, Kyr, and Mags to an uninhabited planet, but Kyr tosses Avi’s tablet into the water. Avi takes Yiso hostage, putting a knife to their throat. Then, Avi rants, criticizing Kyr and Mags for their lack of a good plan and discussing how it was easier to fix the Wisdom after Yiso arrived. Kyr offers herself in exchange for Yiso, but Avi refuses to trade.

Yiso, Avi explains, is like a priest or incarnation of the god machine. Cleo arrives behind Avi and frees Yiso. She and Kyr disarm Avi and ignore his threats. Yiso says that they don’t want to destroy the Wisdom because it is no longer broken and causing harm around the universe. Furthermore, Yiso claims that the Wisdom belongs to them and turns to look at the engine. Cleo tries to shoot them in the back of the head, but Yiso uses the Wisdom to make the bullet disappear. Then, Jole walks in.

Jole is surprised. Avi tries to get his attention and impress him, but Cleo hits Avi. Yiso turns around, and Kyr is frozen in place. Yiso says that they don’t want Jole or Avi there and tries to teleport Jole. However, Jole has implants that keep him from being manipulated by the technology. Mags runs in between Jole and Yiso, protecting Yiso. Jole calls Mags and Kyr traitors and tosses some distorted space at them, which knocks them back. Kyr rides the wave and lands on her feet. Then, she attacks Jole and steals his knife.

Cleo releases Avi, who is good at fighting in this universe, and he attacks Kyr. Jole teleports Kyr into a burning cage and disarms her. Yiso gets in the pool of water and says that the Wisdom is their home and that humans don’t deserve its power. Kyr calls out to Yiso. Yiso says, “Let it end, then” (314), and starts speaking in their native language. The cage starts to flicker in and out of existence, and Kyr prepares to escape. Yiso destroys the shielding around the engine, and it moves them to a void, a cave, and back to the hall.

Jole takes Yiso’s staff and punches them. Avi says that he can’t fix the Wisdom quickly. They are back in the starry void. Jole declares that the era of the majo has ended and that the Wisdom will serve humanity. The hall reappears, and the engine starts to crack. Kyr helps Yiso get up and sees that Cleo is on the ground. Yiso tells Kyr that the Wisdom is dying, as she wanted. Jole brings up the star projection of the many majo worlds in order to destroy them like Avi did in the other universe. Yiso is shut out again. Kyr tries to hug them, which confuses them. Yiso and Kyr apologize to one another.

Yiso asks Kyr if she would do it again. The room turns into a void without stars; Kyr realizes that she is back in the Wisdom. The Wisdom, which looks like Yiso, says that it’s finally making a decision. Leru destroyed Earth because the Wisdom predicted that humans would use the technology to destroy the majo worlds. The Wisdom apologizes. Kyr says that she would do it all again; she refuses to stop. However, this time, the Wisdom will choose the moment they return to. Kyr wants to choose, but it doesn’t allow her to do so.