Summary

The prologue begins with the story of how a character known only as “she” was created out of paper by a man named Antonio. "She" was created in an abandoned monastery/factory.

The prologue first describes how the monastery was abandoned by the monks that lived there after a “papal decree” that determined that all new life should begin as the result of sexual activity rather than by being “born of the ground or from the marrow of bones.” The monks were instructed to wander the world and forget all about the location of the factory, which they did – all except the fifty-third monk, who disappeared during the journey.

The prologue then describes how Antonio became “the first origami surgeon,” using paper to create organs and other aspects of physical life. He first experimented on his beloved cat, bringing it back to life by...