Summary

Chapter 31 begins with Ea thinking longingly about Google. Meanwhile, the “Sorting” has begun, when the new vira commanders under Split get to pick which females are theirs (225). Ea tries to lose herself in the crowd and finds herself with some older peripheral females that remind her of her mother. Perspective shifts to Google, who is finding it “impossible to go on, without [Ea]” (227). He is tormented by memories of the fire that burned him. Meanwhile, Split relishes in the power he now holds. Put off by the disorganized chaos of the females awaiting sorting, which Split assumes is Devi’s fault, he instead gives “the order for the hunt” (231). The pod is reluctant at first, since the Spawning Moon is that night.

The ocean-wide spawning begins in chapter 32. The wrasse remembers his old tribe, whose death came this time last year, and gets...