Nyxia

Vandemeer makes Emmett do yoga to calm himself and then brings him back down to the Rabbit Room for the afternoon session. Bilal is in surgery and will likely take a full month to heal. Longwei, though badly beaten, does show up to the Rabbit Room for training. The race begins, but soon Isadora sabotages her and Emmett’s team, hoping to get Roathy more points so they can go together to Eden. Emmett, furious at Isadora’s betrayal, is stuck in a three-against-one battle for the victory. He uses his athleticism and nyxia skills to win, and he regains his motivation to fight for his spot to Eden.

Emmett goes to see Bilal after his surgery, and Bilal tells Emmett to relay this message to Longwei: “Tell him I know it was an accident. I forgive him” (248). Later that day at breakfast, Emmett gives Longwei the message, and Jasmine wishes that Bilal could get a free pass to Babel. The medical attendants interrupt them, and Vandemeer tells Emmett that they have arrived at the Tower Space Station above Eden.

The crew and competitors aboard the Genesis 11 line up in front of a nyxian docking wall that will connect them to the Tower Space Station. A rumor has circulated that there will be 30 more days of competition before eight competitors are selected to go to Eden. Currently, Emmett is in seventh place—over Roathy and Isadora, though Isadora’s position is secured. When the ship docks, Marcus Defoe announces that the next 30 days will entail a competition called the Waterway and that the contestants will compete as a team. Then the nyxian wall falls away to reveal a group of 10 additional competitors. Emmett realizes that Babel has deceived them; there is another group of teens competing for spots to Eden, and now those teens will be in competition with Genesis 11 for the final spots.

Marcus Defoe, the executive in charge of Genesis 11, and David Requin, the executive in charge of Genesis 12, tell the 19 competitors that they will compete against one another in a course called the Waterway. Emmett is shocked when he sees that the leader of Genesis 12, a girl called Morning, has scored almost 400,000 more points than even Longwei. The scoreboard now shows which competitors from each team have secured their positions and who is still in danger of failure. Emmett is one of nine competitors fighting for the final five spots. Before they go to bed that night, Vandemeer shows Emmett the planet below them to remind him of what he’s fighting for.

On the first day of competition aboard the Tower Space Station, both teams are led to the Waterway, a white-water rapids course Babel has built into the space station. Genesis 12, led by Morning, is more organized and disciplined as a team than Genesis 11. Emmett thinks that Kaya would have led Genesis 11 like Morning if she were still alive. Each team boards their water vessel, and they have 30 minutes to adjust to the nyxian controls before the first trial. The Genesis 11 crew argues about who will lead them, so Emmett volunteers. Before the first race, Anton of Genesis 12 attacks Katsu with nyxia, so Emmett crosses to Genesis 12’s boat to immobilize Anton and protect Genesis 11; Morning notices this. At the start of the race, it seems like Genesis 11 has taken the lead, but their infighting causes them to fall behind, and Genesis 12 wins.

The next morning, Emmett wakes up early and sits in the common room, waiting for his team. Morning approaches him, and they bond over Emmett’s music choices, their home lives, and Kaya’s death. Morning is impressed by how Emmett defended his team during the previous day’s race. They hold hands for a moment, but they are interrupted by Marcus Defoe.

Emmett and Morning share secret glances over the next few days, but Morning and Genesis 12 continue to beat Genesis 11 on the Waterway. Morning confesses that she likes Emmett, but she says that she made a promise to Genesis 12 to get all of them to Eden and that she won’t break this promise for Emmett. Individual fighting matches are held in the afternoons, and Emmett thinks that this might be a way for Genesis 11 to get additional points. However, Loche from Genesis 12 almost kills Longwei in a fight, so Emmett arranges a meeting that evening to talk to Morning about it. Morning asks Emmett about Kaya’s accident, and he tells her the truth. Morning becomes suspicious about Babel’s plans and sends Anton to further investigate the corporation.

Genesis 11 has lost 18 Waterway races in a row, and the team wants to replace Emmett as its captain. However, they don’t have a plan for who to choose or what their strategy should be. Later in the day, Emmett overhears Isadora and Roathy fighting because Isadora thinks Roathy isn’t trying hard enough to win a spot to Eden with her.