ABOVE THE ROADS, THE WEATHER HAS ENDED.
THERE IS NO RAIN NOW. NO WIND. NO ORDINARY SKY.
THERE IS ONLY THE CROSSING.
SUSPENDED OVER THE REMAINS OF THE OLD WORLD IS A KINGDOM OF DRIFTING RUINS, BROKEN MONUMENTS, IMPOSSIBLE ISLANDS, AND ENDLESS LANES OF OPEN AIR. THROUGH THEM DESCEND THE HYDRAS OF DISSOM-FIVE: SNARLING HEADS WITHOUT BODIES, MULTIPLYING FASTER THAN ANYONE CAN COUNT THEM, EACH ONE MORE CERTAIN THAN THE LAST THAT IT BELONGS THERE.
THEY HAVE GROWN TOO NUMEROUS. TOO COMFORTABLE. TOO UNTAMED.
THEY MUST BE STOPPED.
DISSOM-FIVE WAS ONCE A KINGDOM OF ORDER. ITS SCHOLARS NAMED THINGS. ITS COUNCILS CLASSIFIED THEM. ITS TOWERS FILLED WITH LEDGERS, CATEGORIES, AMENDMENTS, COMMITTEES, CORRECTIONS, AND INCREASINGLY ELABORATE EXPLANATIONS FOR WHY THE PREVIOUS EXPLANATIONS REQUIRED REVISION. THEN THE HEADS BEGAN TO APPEAR.
AT FIRST THERE WERE ONLY A FEW.
THEN THERE WERE MORE.
THEN EVERY PROBLEM SEEMED TO PRODUCE ANOTHER HEAD.
THE KINGDOM ADAPTED IN THE ONLY WAY IT KNEW HOW: BY BUILDING LARGER FILING CABINETS.
NOW THE SKY ITSELF IS INFESTED.
FROM THE RUINED CHAMBERS OF DISSOM-FIVE TO THE DISTANT LABORATORIES OF NIHM ISLAND, THE OLD INSTITUTIONS HAVE GATHERED BEHIND ONE PURPOSE: PRESERVE THE KINGDOM, PROTECT THE COUNCIL, AND MAKE ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN THAT NOBODY REACHES THE OTHER SIDE.
UNFORTUNATELY FOR THEM, ONE MAN STILL BELIEVES IN CROSSING THINGS.
HE WEARS A CAPE.
HE LOVES ROMAN NUMERALS.
AND HE HAS HAD ENOUGH.
ARMED WITH NOTHING BUT IMPOSSIBLE COURAGE, A SUSPICIOUSLY DURABLE PAIR OF GLASSES, AND THOUGHTS OF STEEL, HE LAUNCHES HIMSELF INTO THE VERTICAL WILDERNESS. THERE ARE NO ROADS BENEATH HIS FEET. THERE IS NO GROUND AT ALL. ONLY LANES OF DANGER, MOVING OBSTACLES, FLOATING RUINS, COLLAPSING ARCHITECTURE, HOSTILE HEADS, AND THE NARROW SPACES BETWEEN THEM.
EVERY LEAP MATTERS.
EVERY HESITATION HAS CONSEQUENCES.
EVERY SUCCESSFUL CROSSING BRINGS HIM CLOSER TO THE HEART OF DISSOM-FIVE.
THE HYDRAS DO NOT FIGHT LIKE ORDINARY ENEMIES. THEY DESCEND. THEY OBSTRUCT. THEY MULTIPLY. SOME RUSH DIRECTLY INTO HIS PATH. OTHERS DRIFT SLOWLY ENOUGH TO TEMPT A RECKLESS JUMP. SOME APPEAR HARMLESS UNTIL THE LANE CLOSES AROUND THEM. OTHERS ARRIVE IN CLUSTERS, TURNING OPEN SKY INTO A LIVING WALL OF TEETH, SMOKE, HORNS, SPECTACLES, CREDENTIALS, AND ADMINISTRATIVE CONFIDENCE.
AND STILL HE MOVES FORWARD.
ACROSS SIX WORLDS, THE CROSSING BECOMES MORE DANGEROUS.
HE WILL PASS THROUGH THE CLOUD COURTS, WHERE THE FIRST HEADS GATHER ABOVE THE ABANDONED AVENUES OF MAN. HE WILL LEAP THROUGH THE RUINS OF CONSENSUS, WHERE BROKEN MONUMENTS HANG IN THE AIR BESIDE MOUNTAINS OF FORGOTTEN PAPER. HE WILL ENTER THE FILING CABINET FRONTIER, WHERE THE KINGDOM STORED EVERYTHING IT UNDERSTOOD AND SEVERAL MILLION THINGS IT DID NOT. BEYOND THAT WAITS NIHM ISLAND, ITS LABORATORIES SUSPENDED OVER THE VOID, ITS COHORTS WATCHING EVERY LANE.
HIGHER STILL ARE THE COUNCIL SPIRES.
AND BEYOND THEM, THE PLACE WHERE THE HEADS ARE COMING FROM.
DISSOM-FIVE WANTS HIM EXHAUSTED.
THE COUNCIL WANTS HIM CATEGORIZED.
THE NIHM ISLAND COHORTS WANT HIM STUDIED, MEASURED, REDIRECTED, DELAYED, AND PREFERABLY RETURNED TO THE BEGINNING OF THE LEVEL WITH A CAREFULLY WORDED EXPLANATION.
THEY DESIRE YOUR FAILURE.
DO YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO DISAPPOINT THEM?
THE HEADS KEEP COMING — UNNATURAL GROWTHS OF A WORLD THAT HAS MISTAKEN MULTIPLICATION FOR UNDERSTANDING. THEY FILL THE LANES. THEY CROWD THE HORIZON. THEY INSIST THAT THEIR PRESENCE IS PERMANENT.
ONE MAN DISAGREES.
HE WILL MAKE GIANT LEAPS ACROSS SIX WORLDS OF PERIL BECAUSE THERE IS STILL SOMETHING BEYOND THE CLASSIFICATIONS, BEYOND THE COUNCILS, BEYOND THE ENDLESS HEADS MULTIPLYING IN THE SKY.
HUMANITY.
MESSY, CONTRADICTORY, HEROIC, RIDICULOUS HUMANITY.
IN ALL ITS FORMS.
AND HUMANITY IS WORTH CROSSING ITS ENEMIES.