Here is Mielikki Neith, Inspector of the Witness, in the embassy of a foreign power. In the cot between two filing cabinets and an old, non-regulation refrigerator, she lies with her head in her hands. In a moment, she will stand, and begin the very last part of her journey into the dark. For now, she is caught in that place between waking and gloom that comes with deep sleep. Her mind is working deep and slow, like the idle of a diesel fishing boat, just below the threshold of action. She is paralysed by scope. Today she must lift the world.