Folio X

This folio’s placement is debated. The text begins with description of the life of a shepherd, and it is unclear if Aethon is reminiscing about the life he has lived—based on Zeno’s placement of this folio here—or if he is currently living that life and dreaming of another, as would be the case if this folio appeared earlier. Aethon realizes, “In much wisdom is sorrow, and in ignorance is much wisdom” (557). Zeno speculates that Aethon chooses to return to his human form.

Seymour: Idaho State Correctional Institution; 2021-2030

Seymour is sentenced to 40 years to life in prison for his attack at the library. His life there is monotonous, and he teaches himself several coding languages. He has learned that Bishop’s army and their compound were lies, which makes him feel stupid for becoming radicalized. Ilium, a tech company that will create the Parambulators, Vizers, and the Argos, offers Seymour a job “to review potentially undesirable items” in scanned images of Earth. These images will constitute the Atlas. Seymour verifies whether flagged images are inappropriate and, if so, they are censored. At first, Seymour delights in removing the ugliness from the world; however, he starts to question why Ilium wants to censor the images.