A seedy bar in the depths of poverty stands stalwart against the perfect sparkle of the mar-fab city. A nearly sunken boat lures the foolish exile who might try to bring it to dock. A translator unducted from a festival finds themself in trouble they never expected. An unexplained power outage soaks the whole region in sheer chaotic darkness on a moonless night. With no friends left standing, another exile seeks the solace of the end of a life. What else is there? What else could there be?

These breaks in the pattern bring hope. And hope, like a broken pipe of clean water, springs eternal. Or, nearly so.