Caris and Deedrix Discover the Dodecahedron’s Absence
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Caris and Deedrix discuss the Doctor's brief presence and the Dodecahedron's disappearance, highlighting their confusion and concern.
Deedrix and Caris analyze the situation, with Deedrix questioning how the Dodecahedron could have been moved, and Caris emphasizing their limited understanding of the device.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Frustrated urgency masking underlying panic about systemic failure
Caris aggressively questions Deedrix about the Doctor’s capability when the Dodecahedron goes missing, her pragmatic instincts confronting institutional ignorance. She pivots abruptly when Central Control’s warning breaks through, discarding debate to prioritize survival.
- • Determine who or what caused the Dodecahedron’s disappearance
- • Stabilize the power grid before societal collapse occurs
- • Tigellan leadership has dangerously neglected practical science
- • Immediate action must replace reliance on ritual during crisis
Desperately frustrated by the collapse of workable theories in the face of catastrophe
Deedrix scrambles to reconcile the physical impossibility of the Doctor moving the Dodecahedron with his hands-on engineering knowledge. His technical authority wavers when Canyon Control’s emergency cuts through his theories, forcing him to abandon inquiries in favor of evacuation.
- • Find a rational explanation for the Dodecahedron’s theft
- • Protect engineering staff and prioritize system survival
- • The Dodecahedron’s mechanics must follow discoverable scientific principles
- • Dogmatic adherence to ritual has undermined safety reserves
Urgently focused on mechanical failure amid institutional paralysis
The disembodied voice of Central Control broadcasts a concise emergency alert that shatters the engineers’ academic debate, immediately reframing the Dodecahedron’s absence as an active crisis requiring urgent physical intervention.
- • Notify operational staff of imminent grid collapse
- • Trigger emergency response before irreversible damage occurs
- • Routine operational stability requires immediate warnings when thresholds are crossed
- • System over-reliance on untested solutions demands rapid escalation
Detached neutrality masking latent tension between doctrine and survival
The acolytes enter reluctantly yet without hesitation, their silent presence serving as a physical reminder of institutional disunity—their hesitation contrasting with Caris and Deedrix’s urgency, marking a factional split that will shape later confrontations.
- • Execute Lexa’s directives regarding Dodecahedron access
- • Maintain physical presence according to Deon protocol
- • The Dodecahedron’s sanctity justifies obedience regardless of consequences
- • Personal survival aligns with maintaining institutional ritual
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
The Tigellan Sacred Dodecahedron violently disappears from its pedestal after the Doctor’s fleeting presence, exposing its mysterious power as the sole source of the city’s energy grid. Its absence immediately triggers terminal power drain warnings, revealing the civilization’s absolute dependence on a device whose internal workings remain unknown and suspect.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
The cavernous Power Chamber shifts from rigid ritual space to emergency triage zone when the Dodecahedron vanishes. The empty geometric pedestal becomes a gaping wound in the city’s nervous system, flinging systems into dysfunction—flickering emergency lights, overloaded conduits groaning under desperate redirects, and the acrid scent of burnt insulation saturating the air.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"The acolytes' entry during the crisis discussion highlights the religious dimension of the Dodecahedron's disappearance, which Lexa later exploits in her coup by framing non-believers as enemies."
Lexa seizes power and condemns the Doctor"The acolytes' entry during the crisis discussion highlights the religious dimension of the Dodecahedron's disappearance, which Lexa later exploits in her coup by framing non-believers as enemies."
Doctor condemned to ritual sacrifice"Caris and Deedrix's confusion about the Dodecahedron's disappearance and limits of their knowledge parallels her later manipulation by Meglos, who reveals his identity as the last Zolfa-Thuran."
Meglos unveils his true form and power"The power drain alert underscores the Dodecahedron's critical role, foreshadowing Meglos' theft of a Dodecahedron to power the Gaztak escape and his later production of one as proof."
Caris uncovers Meglos secret escape plot"The power drain alert underscores the Dodecahedron's critical role, foreshadowing Meglos' theft of a Dodecahedron to power the Gaztak escape and his later production of one as proof."
Meglos asserts dominance through violent transformationThemes This Exemplifies
Thematic resonance and meaning
Part of Larger Arcs
Key Dialogue
"CARIS: And then we waited outside. We saw the Doctor leave, and when we came in here the Dodecahedron was gone."
"DEEDRIX: How long was he here?"
"CARIS: Moments. Hardly any time."