Dawn

Much time has passed. For a year, Lilith lived in a part of the ship that has been designed to mimic the Amazonian rainforest on Earth, where the human community will be sent to live.

Lilith is now in a large room almost the size of a football field. She can shape the walls within the room as she pleases, including making herself a small cubicle that encloses one of the twelve bathrooms. Clothing and food are stored in unmarked cabinets that only Lilith will be able to detect. She has been told that the food will be replenished as needed from within the cabinets.

Along one long wall there are “eighty sleeping humans—healthy, under-fifty, English-speaking, and frighteningly ignorant of what was in store for them” (115). Lilith has been instructed to Awaken at least 40 people of her choosing, based on the dossiers she has been provided.

Before she went to live in the giant room, Lilith had asked Nikanj to take her to someplace on the ship where she could see the stars. Nikanj took her to an observation bubble, where she could see the outlines of Earth’s continents. With tears in her eyes, Lilith let Nikanj lead her to where she was to stay until her group of humans was ready to emerge.