Devoted: Merritt's Story - Chapter Recaps (detailed) (Patreon)

Since Merritt's Story is picking up after a period of sparse updates, I put together some summaries and synopses.  This way folks can jump into the new chapters with their memories refreshed, even if you don't have time to reread any past chapters in full.

There are two posts.  They will be updated periodically.

1. This previous post post is a public post with very brief summaries of each chapter.

2. This post you're reading now is a $2+ patrons post that includes full recaps of all the important details of each chapter.

Warning: If you check out any summaries or recaps of chapters you haven't read yet, you might run into spoilers.

[Table of Contents]

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DEVOTED: MERRITT'S STORY

CHAPTER RECAPS

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Book 1

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Book 1, Chapter 1

SUMMARY:

Chem Ops Private Merritt endures a deluge of threatening messages when word breaks out that he’s hacked the North Sphere’s intelligence database. Belmont sets out to paint him as a public enemy, but King Damen Mercury wants to learn more about the ace who managed to outwit his top intelligence officials.

SYNOPSIS:

Chem Ops Private Merritt wakes up to a deluge of threatening messages when word breaks out that he’s hacked the North Sphere’s intelligence database. Colonel Harding attempts to intimidate him, making no secret of the grudge between them. Belmont sets out to paint him as a public enemy, but King Damen Mercury wants to learn more about the ace who managed to outwit his top intelligence officials. Together, Mercury and Belmont head to the military district to ask questions and observe Merritt. Mercury commands his police chief to let the soldiers finish their session, then arrest Merritt.

Characters: Merritt, Mercury, Belmont, Harding, Rush, Balbo, Pierce, Lincoln

Mentions: Torrence, Mannheim

Details:

• Merritt illegally sat in on classes at the North’s elite colleges, and he hacked the intelligence database for his thesis at the School of Technology.
• Belmont attended the College of Science and Medicine. He poisoned and killed his dean for his senior thesis.
• Belmont orchestrated the string of death threats against Merritt.
• Merritt has two disciplinary marks against him in the military, for intoxication and insubordination.
• Mercury has a history of taking cute male prodigies under his wing. Belmont was once one of them.

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Book 1, Chapter 2

SUMMARY:

Mercury calls for Merritt’s arrest, and he’s brought to the military prison for questioning.

SYNOPSIS:

During training, Colonel Harding comes out a loser after trying to humiliate Merritt in front of Mercury and the entire Chem Ops unit. Mercury calls for Merritt’s arrest, and he’s brought to the military prison for questioning. Through naïve candor and a devotion to serve his sphere, Merritt convinces Mercury to spare his life. Upon Merritt’s release, Mercury promotes him to sergeant.

Characters: Merritt, Mercury, Balbo, Pierce, Harding

Mentions: Torrence, Fern, Palmer

Details:

• Merritt is a military private, just shy of twenty-one years old.
• Belmont is Mercury’s top advisor but is scheming to one day be his right hand.
• The North’s military is made up of orphans whose parents left them too small an inheritance to bribe their way into a higher position.
• Merritt is good with syringe darts and practices trick shots at bars.
• Supposedly, Merritt got his disciplinary marks by approaching Harding while drunk and offering him a blowjob in exchange for a promotion. One more mark, and he’d be demoted to the Shield Squad – essentially a human shield in battle.
• Merritt has a horrible poker face.
• Merritt has a schoolboy crush on his King
• Merritt likes computers. :)

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Book 1, Chapter 3

SUMMARY:

Merritt is invited to an elite party hosted by Mercury. He meets Archer and Belmont. Sparks fly. 

SYNOPSIS:

After six months, Merritt is invited to an elite party hosted by King Damen Mercury. He meets Archer, who invites him to talk poisons over lunch someday. He also meets Belmont, who’s skeptical of his presence of the party and quickly attempts to demean him while simultaneously hitting on him. Merritt is unable to find time to talk to Mercury at the party, but then he receives a message by pigeon inviting him to have coffee with the King. Merritt thanks the pigeon for the message.

Characters: Merritt, Torrence, Archer, Belmont

Mentions: Mannheim, Mercury, Higgins

Details:

• Archer was a guest lecturer when Merritt illegally attended the College of Science and Medicine.
• In school, Merritt developed a drug that counteracts the effects of alcohol, but he keeps the formula a secret.
• Archer graduated at the top of her class at the College of Science and Medicine and is the youngest person to ever head up the North’s department of surgery.
• Belmont is the master of the 3 B’s—bribe, bed, and blackmail. But some say he also employs a fourth B—backstab.
• Belmont is the Underground Card Game champion.
• The rumor is that Belmont is good in the sack and well hung. But he might have started the rumors himself.
• Belmont doesn’t want to be called “sir.” “My name means a hell of a lot more down here than a generic title.”
• Belmont uses a handkerchief with the monogrammed initials G.B.
• Merritt is a nerd who drinks Focus at parties.
• Merritt has no interest in climbing the ranks and just wants to serve his sphere wherever he’s placed.
• Torrence is a musician. He and Merritt were once in a band together, but Merritt didn’t feel he could match Torrence’s skill.

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Book 1, Chapter 4

SUMMARY:

Merritt joins Mercury for coffee at an elite café. After Merritt inadvertently insults Mercury’s leadership, Mercury challenges him to a game of cards.

SYNOPSIS:

Merritt joins Mercury for coffee at an elite café. After Merritt inadvertently insults Mercury’s leadership, Mercury challenges him to a game of cards. Merritt has the opportunity to win the game by using his knowledge of a former blue-tie colleague, Kimball, who defected to the South. Instead, he throws the game and allows Mercury to win because he doesn’t want to embarrass his King in public. Mercury finds out about the defection and confronts Merritt, challenging him to take his wins in public and prove his worth.

Characters: Mercury, Merritt

Mentions: Balbo, Rhodes, Harding, Belmont, Kimball, Pine, Sinon, Warwick, Brady, Magnolia, Torrence

Details:

• Merritt doesn’t like coffee. He prefers tea, Focus, and water. Water’s great!  He drinks a lot of water. In fact…
• Mercury believes there’s no such thing as luck. Merritt disagrees.
• Merritt feels his general sometimes makes poor decisions because of his lack of experience in battle.
• Every underground citizen carries a card deck with their own mix of cards, from ace (low) to king. East is clubs, West is hearts, North is spades, and South is diamonds.
• The card game was passed down from prisoners on the surface in Chicago, who pasted their mug shots onto a standard card deck based on their established hierarchy.
• The underground’s only exit to the surface is in the South Sphere, but it requires a treacherous journey on motorcycle.
• Merritt has hacked into the South Sphere’s security feeds.
• The South Sphere smuggles people onto the surface and “baptizes” them by letting them set both their feet on the surface, which clears them of any sphere ownership, then allows them back into the underground and South Sphere citizens. This is how people escape from other spheres and join the South.
• Blue-ties don’t share casual physical contact.

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Book 1, Chapter 5

SUMMARY:

Merritt has a restless night in the wake of his moment of physical contact with Mercury, and he makes some questionable choices to try to settle his mind.

SYNOPSIS:

Merritt has a restless night in the wake of his moment of physical contact with Mercury. Mercury has challenged him to prove his worth, but Merritt feels he can’t build his worth due to a past failure to carry out an order. He attempts to approach Colonel Harding to make right, but he’s stopped by Balbo, who forbids him from ever approaching Harding alone. Instead, he goes to Yackley’s and turns to a casual encounter in the stairwell with a high-ranking North Sphere stranger to clear his head.

Characters: Merritt, Balbo, Pierce, Kiona, Argus, Yackley, a high-ranking North Sphere stranger

Mentions: Mercury, Harding, Torrence, Randolph

Details:

• Merritt frequently reads books from the archive of pirated ebooks from the surface
• Mercury has stated publicly that he believes the North should be a meritocracy, and that anyone can rise in rank if they are talented enough, regardless of lineage
• Everyone else seems to get what they need from casual hookups, but Merritt longs for something different.
• Balbo prefers to sleep in the enlisted soldiers’ quarters instead of with the officers. “I’m Chem Ops first, officer second.”
• Balbo tells excellent bedtime stories.
• Chem Ops soldier Kiona is having a fling with East Sphere soldier Argus
• Merritt put together his laptop using spare parts. He couldn’t afford to buy one with his minuscule soldier’s pay.
• The military police is one of the cushiest jobs in the military and requires a higher.
• Merritt feels most comfortable when he is serving others and obeying commands.
• The stairwell at Yackley’s is a place for hookups.

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Book 1, Chapter 6

SUMMARY:

Merritt has lunch with Archer at an elite restaurant, where she proposes they work together on a confidential poisons project.

SYNOPSIS:

Merritt has lunch with Archer at an elite restaurant, where she proposes they work together on a confidential project to improve the North Sphere military’s poison blockers. Belmont spots them together and vows to ruin Merritt.

Characters: Merritt, Archer, Belmont, Mannheim

Mentions: Mercury, Torrence

Details:

• As a kid, Merritt and his friends used to sneak out to fishing spots to catch fresh fish. There wasn’t enough food at the orphanage where he grew up.
• Belmont and Archer went to college together. Belmont started stalking Archer and trying to sabotage her before graduation when she beat him out as valedictorian, but Archer came out ahead.
• The North Sphere respects people in D&P (Drugs and Poisons) more than those in surgery and medicine. Archer is trying to break into D&P so she can gain Mercury’s respect and rise in rank. She is the director of surgery, but her goal is to become the director of science and medicine, the North’s highest ranking director and a jack.
• According to Archer, Mercury “doesn’t measure everyone with the same ruler,” and that she knows the side of him the media is paid to ignore.
• Archer offers to pay Merritt for his partnership on the poison project, and she also offers an additional favor of Merritt’s choosing – connecting him with a high-ranking colleague or getting a friend or family member elite medical care. Merritt asks for lessons in elite etiquette.
• Belmont and Mannheim are childhood friends dating back 20 years.

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Book 1, Chapter 7

SUMMARY:

Belmont assigns Merritt to aid the East Sphere’s General Troy in an attack against the West, but all signs point to a setup.

SYNOPSIS:

Belmont assigns Merritt to escort the East Sphere’s General Troy through the North’s waterways to aid them in an attack against the West, but all signs point to a setup. Captain Balbo knows the orders are suspicious and arranges for Merritt to undergo extra training. She tells him that, if he lives, there could be a promotion in his future. Merritt guides Troy through the waterways and finds that he’s suspiciously friendly. At their rest stop, Troy attacks Merritt in an apparent attempt to test his skills as a soldier.

Characters: Merritt, Balbo, Hayes, Troy

Mentions: Belmont, Rhodes, Palmer, Cannon, Samsid, Higgins

Details:

• The waterways are extensively equipped with traps to protect the North Sphere’s borders. Sergeant Hayes is a Waterways Unit soldier. Merritt had advanced training in the waterways but is still a Chem Ops soldier.
• As a sergeant, Merritt feels intense pressure to protect his soldiers. He’s been given all the Chem Ops unit’s rejects, but he’s built them into competent team.
• Troy is a “typical armband,” who supposedly values physical strength, aggression, and bravado over a thoughtful, tactical approach. Troy is a jack of spades, outranked only by Cannon, his King, and Samsid, the King’s right hand.
• In the North, soldiers are peasants. In the East, soldiers are the elite.
• East Sphere soldiers don’t use honorifics, but Troy seems to warm up when he’s called “sir.”
• The East Sphere enjoyed the story of Merritt hacking the North, because they liked seeing a soldier outsmart the elite who look down upon soldiers.
• East Sphere rations are a lot nicer than North Sphere rations.
• High-ranking East Sphere officers, including generals, fight on the front lines alongside the rest of their soldiers.
• Troy says Merritt’s skills rival his own soldiers, and he’d want Merritt as a captain at least.
• Merritt’s code name is Corvus Corax

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Book 1, Chapter 8

SUMMARY:

Upon completion of their waterways mission together, Troy attempts to capture Merritt.

SYNOPSIS:

Upon completion of their waterways mission together, Troy attempts to capture Merritt. Thanks to Belmont’s attempt to sabotage Merritt, Troy has everything he needs. But Merritt has anticipated this and sets a poison trap on his own body. He manages to incapacitate the East Sphere’s renowned Elite Squad, and a photo of his accomplishment quickly goes viral. Troy reports the outcome of his mission to Mercury, and he tells Belmont that Merritt is smarter than his general.

Characters: Merritt, Troy, Belmont, Pangolin, Jackal, Pardus, Balbo

Mentions: Gray, Torrence, Cannon, Samsid, Mercury

Details:

• Troy respects Merritt as a fellow soldier and talks to him on equal terms.
• Merritt hates the West Sphere’s dog trade, and he voices his opinion to Troy.
• The West Sphere’s soldiers have a reputation for being terrifying and unbeatable, but Troy and Merritt agree that it’s all a charade.
• Troy claims that Gray is all bark and no bite, and that he can beat a dog but doesn’t fight.
• Armbands don’t shake hands.

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Book 1, Chapter 9

SUMMARY:

Merritt is invited to Mercury’s exclusive quarterly review party. Belmont offers him an alliance, but their agreement quickly falls apart.

SYNOPSIS:

After a promotion to lieutenant, Merritt is invited to Mercury’s exclusive quarterly review party. Belmont uses the party to try to get Merritt drunk for the purpose of humiliating and ultimately demoting him, but Merritt’s alcohol inhibitor keeps him lucid, and he wins a bet that results in his promotion to captain. When Belmont realizes he can’t outsmart Merritt, he offers an alliance. But a misunderstanding leads to Merritt body-slamming Belmont and dislocating his shoulder in front of all his elite colleagues. Belmont vows to destroy Merritt. Mercury and Archer warn Merritt that he doesn’t want Belmont as an enemy.

Characters: Merritt, Archer, Balbo, Pierce, Mercury, Nicolet, Higgins, Wilson, Coulter, Crilly

Mentions: Troy, Rhodes, Torrence, Mannheim

Details:

• The quarterly review party is a supposed “boys’ night out” for all of Mercury’s closest allies.
• As a perpetual duty soldier, Merritt has to be sober and on alert at all times unless he’s explicitly excused from duty.
• The North Star Lounge’s balcony is the equivalent of the Yackley’s stairwell—inviting someone onto it is inviting them for a hookup while everyone on the other side of the wall of windows can watch.
• Merritt’s poker face sucks, except when he’s in soldier mode and ready to protect his sphere.
• Torrence’s birthday is August 13. He and Merritt have celebrated their birthdays together ever since they were six years old. 
• Coulter is a ten of spades and one of Mercury’s favorite advisors. He’s getting noticed more and more.
• Wilson is the Director of Science and Medicine, and Archer’s boss.
• It’s poor etiquette to decline an offer of food or drink from an elite.
• Accepting a glass of Potent from someone else is an unspoken agreement to share a sexual encounter with them. Merritt has never had Potent before.
• Mercury tells Merritt to call him Damen.

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Book 1, Chapter 10

SUMMARY:

Merritt attends his first board meeting with Mercury, where he’s given the task of coordinating the creation of poison traps. Higgins, Mercury’s right hand, offers to mentor him.

SYNOPSIS:

Merritt is invited to his first board meeting with Mercury. After impressing Mercury with his military insights, he’s given the task of coordinating the creation of poison traps to protect the North from an expected West Sphere invasion. Higgins, Mercury’s right hand, offers to mentor Merritt, possibly offering him a way out of the military and into Mercury’s board of advisors. Belmont tricks a rival advisor into initiating his own execution. The tension between Merritt and Belmont is palpable throughout the meeting, and Mercury tells Merritt to find a way to make nice.

Characters: Merritt, Belmont, Higgins, Mercury, Pratt, Evans, Mannheim, Coulter, Lawrence, 

Mentions: Torrence, Rhodes, Cannon, Pangolin, Freya

Details:

• As part of his promotion to captain, Merritt is given permission to go over Colonel Harding’s head and work directly with General Rhodes.
• Balbo seems to have reservations about Merritt’s promotion, and he feels less warmth from her but doesn’t know why.
• Higgins has a habit of chewing on the stems of his glasses.
• Mercury’s board of advisors is known as his “board of eye candy,” because the members all look like fashion models and carbon copies of each other.
• Board meetings are attended by Mercury’s advisors and industry directors. He normally does not invite anyone from the military, not even General Rhodes.
• Pratt and Evans are the North’s military advisors, and they’re seen as above the military, not a part of it.
• North Sphere colognes often include chemical substances with mind-altering properties. Mercury’s cologne has an effect on Merritt.
• It’s considered rude for someone to give their phone more attention than an elite in their presence.
• Belmont storms out of the room when he hears Higgins offer to mentor Merritt.

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Book 1, Chapter 11

SUMMARY:

On Mercury’s command, Merritt attempts to make nice with Belmont by offering him a bottle of his favorite South Sphere wine.

SYNOPSIS:

On Mercury’s command, Merritt attempts to make nice with Belmont by offering him a bottle of his favorite South Sphere wine. Belmont uses the opportunity to humiliate Merritt. Belmont’s manipulation leads to Merritt nearly offering him oral sex in exchange for reconciliation, which Belmont uses as proof that Merritt didn’t earn his promotions through talent alone.

Characters: Merritt, Belmont

Mentions: Mercury, Higgins, Wilson, Kimball

Details:

• Belmont’s favorite wine is South Sphere Deering white.
• Kimball offered Merritt a favor to repay him for keeping her confidence, and he asked for a bottle of Deering white. She gave him three.

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Book 1, Chapter 12

SUMMARY:

Feeling shaken after his meeting with Belmont, Merritt turns to Torrence for comfort, only to be given devastating news.

SYNOPSIS:

Feeling shaken after his meeting with Belmont, Merritt turns to Torrence for comfort. He invites him out for pizza, only to be given devastating news. Torrence is terminally ill, but he won’t tell Merritt what’s wrong with him. If Merritt had known, he could have used his favor with Archer to get Torrence into a hospital instead of taking elite etiquette lessons.

Characters: Merritt, Torrence

Mentions: Belmont, Archer, Harding

Details:

• Merritt protected Torrence from bullies at the orphanage.
• Torrence has a prized pendant that his mother left him after her death.
• Merritt’s eagerness to please eventually led to an end to his beatings at the hands of his caretakers but then resulted in them beating other children who couldn’t live up to the expectations Merritt set.
• Merritt has a fighter’s body without a fighters heart, while Torrence has a fighter’s heart without the body to match.
• Merritt’s first romantic experiences were with Torrence at the orphanage, but then Torrence drifted away from him and started showing interest in girls. Merritt responded to the loss by signing up as a perpetual duty soldier.
• Torrence works in a medical office doing administrative tasks. “I serve coffee and shred top secret documents and scrub floors and get spat on.”

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Book 1, Chapter 13

SUMMARY:

Grieving after the news from Torrence, Merritt confides in Archer. Archer questions him about his feud with Belmont and offers him a new way to protect himself.

SYNOPSIS:

Grieving after the news of Torrence’s illness, Merritt finds Archer in his hometown of sub-Norwood Park and invites her to share a light meal. He confides in Archer over Torrence’s condition, and then the subject turns to his feud with Belmont. Archer tells him she knows a way that he can better protect himself, and they agree to meet at her labs. Archer secretly begins Merritt on a regimen of poison immunizations. She fails to immunize him against Belmont’s knockout drug of choice, IPJ-8, but he gains a hypersensitivity to the drug and will immediately get sick if he ingests it.

Characters: Merritt, Archer

Mentions: Torrence, Belmont, Mercury, Higgins

Details:

• Norwood Market’s bakery serves “herbed” baked goods, single serve test tubes of chemical drinks, smoking pipe refills, and drugged drinks. Merritt typically avoids drugs.
• Kids at Merritt’s orphanage would often starve, die of illness, or be stolen from their beds in the middle of the night.
• Belmont was also a genius and prodigy who forged his path by earning Mercury’s respect early on. They were once inseparable.
• Archer’s poison project, which she worked on with Merritt, gained Mercury’s respect and opened the doors to her immunizing him and his top allies against common North Sphere poisons.
• Archer has been invited into Mercury’s inner circle. She’s pledged her allegiance, kissed his ring, and was given a double-banded blue tie to denote her status.
• Belmont has ordered massive quantities of IPJ-8—enough “to knock out a small village.”
• Merritt admits to spying on the East Sphere via the South’s hacked security feeds.
• Merritt greatly admires Samsid. He finds him inspiring and says that, if he’d been in the East Sphere military, he’d jump at the chance to serve Samsid. He’s a skilled soldier and he stands up for his aces and twos.
• Archer speaks of Mercury’s sexism.
• Archer warns Merritt to be more discreet about his infatuation with Mercury. 

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Book 1, Chapter 14

SUMMARY:

Suspecting an assassination attempt, Higgins enlists Merritt to help him, but it might already be too late.

SYNOPSIS:

Suspecting an assassination attempt, Higgins enlists Merritt to help him, but it might already be too late. Higgins asks Merritt to help him find evidence of the culprit, but when Merritt arrives for their first meeting together, Higgins is dead. After a post-mortem exam, all signs point to MYGG-2 poisoning. Merritt suspects Belmont, but he doesn’t have proof. Mercury appoints Belmont as his new right hand.

Characters: Merritt, Higgins, Mercury, Magnolia

Mentions: Belmont, Archer, Rhodes, Torrence

Details:

• MYGG-2 is typically administered via injection, but there are no signs of MYGG-2 in Higgins’s system, which suggests he may have been given hundreds of low doses over a long period of time.
• Blue-tie kids play games to see who can sneak a drop of blue food coloring into each others’ drinks, as a way of developing their poison/poison defense skills. At the orphanage, Torrence had the record for best defense.

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Book 1, Chapter 15

SUMMARY:

Belmont invites Merritt to a party celebrating his promotion to right hand. But Merritt plans to use the party—and Belmont’s attraction—to investigate Belmont’s crimes.

SYNOPSIS:

Belmont flaunts his new position as Mercury’s right hand and invites Merritt to the party celebrating his promotion. Merritt doesn’t want to go, but he can’t decline a right hand’s invitation. His old friend Swann introduces him to Devon, a member of the North Sphere intelligence department who nearly lost his job due to Merritt’s hacking incident. As a peace offering, Merritt asks Devon to accompany him to Belmont’s party as his guest. At the party, Merritt begins to suspect that Belmont used poisoned wipes to clean Higgins’s glasses, knowing he had a habit of chewing on them. He plans to seduce Belmont to get into his suite and search for evidence, and he enlists Archer and Devon to help in his plan. Merritt gets in over his head after accepting a glass of Potent from Belmont.

Characters: Merritt, Swann, Devon, Belmont, Archer

Mentions: Torrence, Higgins, Yackley, Troy, Balbo, Littlehands

Details:

• Devon isn’t an elite yet, but he wants to be one. He’s always wanted to go to an elite party, and he’s hoping for just one more boost in rank.
• Devon’s boss is Mannheim.
• Swann was once a blue-tie, but she was traded to the East and now works as a technical specialist for their military, in border surveillance.
• East Sphere citizens greet each other with hugs, but Merritt isn’t used to the physical contact.
• Merritt has been put on the Do Not Trade list by Mercury. This means he’s not up for negotiation during the underground’s monthly citizen trades. Most other people on the Do Not Trade list are face cards or occasional nines and tens, and are citizens that the sphere leader deems integral to their sphere.
• Merritt is oblivious to Devon’s attempts to flirt with him.
• As right hand and a queen card, Belmont is now protected by the law of touch. Only citizens within two ranks of him are allowed to touch him without permission. Anyone violating the law could be thrown in prison or executed on the spot.
• Torrence hasn’t been answering Merritt’s texts.
• In the underground only Kings and Queens go by both their given name and surname. Everyone else uses one or the other, then takes their sphere as their honorary surname.
• Belmont North’s full name is Grant Belmont. Merritt North’s full name is Merritt Norwood, but his surname is just the name of his orphanage, and he doesn’t know his parents’ surname.
• Belmont’s handkerchief was monogrammed by an East Sphere fighter whose ad he found in the classifieds.
• Potent intoxication is characterized by rosy cheeks and lips, and hypersensitivity to touch. Frequent usage builds up a tolerance, so people who have rarely or never used Potent will feel its effects more intensely.
• Low grade Potent’s effects last an hour and a half, standard grade lasts three hours, and high grade lasts six hours.
• Belmont gives Merritt four thousand dollars to buy himself a designer suit.
• Coulter expects to be named Mercury’s top advisor now that Belmont, the previous top advisor, has become Mercury’s right hand.
• Belmont made a wax mold of Coulter’s one-of-a-kind cufflinks and had thousands of cheap knockoffs made and sold to all the North’s peasants.

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Book 1, Chapter 16

SUMMARY:

Having seduced his way into Belmont’s suite, Merritt tries to uncover evidence incriminating Belmont in a murder. But the glass of Potent he drank at the party is hitting him hard.

SYNOPSIS:

Having seduced his way into Belmont’s suite, Merritt tries to uncover evidence to prove Belmont killed Higgins. But the glass of Potent he drank at the party is hitting him hard, and he’s tempted to abandon his mission in favor of continuing his tryst with Belmont. He feels attracted to Belmont and believes the drug is to blame. He searches Belmont’s suite and finds the poisoned alcohol wipes, but he has to rely on a diversion from Devon to escape with the evidence.

Characters: Merritt, Belmont

Mentions: Archer, Devon, Mannheim, Higgins

Details:

• Belmont’s design sense is just a little bit ostentatious.
• Belmont had Higgins’s old belongings trashed before moving into his suite.
• Merritt confirms the rumors about Belmont’s sexual reputation.
• Merritt is given implicit touch permission when Belmont puts Merritt’s hand on him. Implicit touch permission in a romantic encounter lasts until permission is revoked or until the romantic encounter ends.
• Belmont has a dresser in his closet that’s full of sex toys and BDSM gear.
• Belmont has a drawer full of portable storage drives labeled with the names of people he’s presumably blackmailing.
• Belmont has a really big bed.
• Merritt carries multiple concealed weapons and poison packs due to his role as a perpetual duty soldier.

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Book 1, Chapter 17

SUMMARY:

Merritt meets Archer at her lab to verify the evidence he collected from Belmont’s suite. Not wanting to go home with such a valuable item, he calls Devon and asks to stay the night.

SYNOPSIS:

Merritt meets Archer at the lab, who tests the poisoned wipes and confirms that they’re contaminated with MYGG-2. Merritt, not wanting to go back to the barracks with the evidence, asks Devon if he can spend the night. Devon finally gets Merritt to notice that he’s interested in him, and they sleep together before the effects of the Potent wear off. It’s a pleasant experience, but nothing compared to his body’s previous thirst for Belmont. Merritt lies awake, disturbed by the realization that it wasn’t the Potent that was responsible for his attraction to Belmont.

Characters: Merritt, Belmont, Archer, Devon

Mentions: Mercury, Mannheim, Torrence

Details:

• An undone blue tie is considered suggestive.
• Devon has pretty good water, in Merritt’s opinion. But the most expensive water isn’t always the purest or best tasting water. The best water Merritt ever had was…
• Kids in the sub-Norwood slums walk 2lb. pet rats on leashes.
• Potent has physical effects but is not a mind-altering drug.

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Book 1, Chapter 18

Merritt schedules a meeting with Mercury to deliver the evidence implicating Belmont in murder.

Merritt delivers the evidence implicating Belmont to Mercury, with disappointing results. Mercury lauds Belmont for an impressive job assassinating Higgins. He won’t punish Belmont, but he returns the evidence to Merritt, stating that Higgins still has allies in the underground, and now Merritt has the power to ruin Belmont if he so chooses. Merritt talks himself out of his attraction to Belmont by telling himself that they’d never have anything meaningful together.

Characters: Merritt, Devon, Mercury

Mentions: Belmont, Torrence, Higgins, Archer

Details:

• Merritt learned to cook working in the military’s mess hall, and he refined his skills by reading pirated cookbooks from the archive of above ground ebooks.
• Most blue-ties don’t cook for themselves. Elites have fully stocked kitchens, but their ingredients are only meant for decoration.
• Merritt cooks Devon breakfast as an offer of thanks for his help, and for a nice night together. Devon says that Merritt is a good cook.
• Devon appears to be addicted to sleep enhancers.
• Merritt still fondly remembers his mornings with Torrence, holding hands under the table and sharing secretive smiles over what they’d done the night before. He wants something like that again, but he knows he’d never get it from Belmont, and he can’t imagine ever sharing breakfast the morning after sex with Belmont.
• For the first time, Merritt feels like Mercury looks down on him.

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Book 1, Chapter 19

SUMMARY:

Merritt wonders if there’s a way to work peacefully with Belmont, but a betrayal ruins his chance at an alliance.

SYNOPSIS:

After his meeting with Mercury, Merritt wonders if the best path forward is to work with Belmont as allies. He meets with Devon at Yackley’s to talk about what had happened, but something about Devon’s questions doesn’t feel right. Merritt realizes too late that Devon has betrayed him and allied himself with Belmont. Belmont attacks Merritt in retaliation for his attempt to implicate him in Higgins’s murder. Due to the law of touch, Merritt can’t defend himself, but Samsid, East Sphere King Cannon’s right hand, intervenes. Merritt confronts Devon, who says he was discovered by Belmont and did what he had to do to save his own life. Merritt forgives him but knows he can no longer trust him as an ally. Archer is furious about Devon’s betrayal, but Merritt convinces her not to retaliate. Merritt realizes that he needs to go on offense if he wants to get the upper hand on Belmont.

Characters: Merritt, Devon, Belmont, Samsid, Archer

Mentions: Mercury, Yackley, Higgins, Balbo, Torrence, Harding

Details:

• Ace lover is a pejorative term used for high-ranking people who are supportive and understanding of aces and twos. Samsid has a reputation for being an ace lover.
• According to Devon, the only people who have anything good to say about Belmont are his exes, because he takes care of them. He’s only cruel to his professional rivals.
• Samsid disapproves of Merritt for not defending himself against Belmont, and he disapproves of Belmont for attacking Merritt when he couldn’t legally fight back.
• North Sphere soldiers protect their ties from any sort of damage except bloodstains, which are evidence of their service to their sphere.
• Samsid was a famous motorcycle racer as a teen.
• Samsid declines the opportunity to have Merritt in his debt.
• The North Sphere has medications that rapidly heal injuries and minimize lasting scars.

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Book 1, Chapter 20

SUMMARY:

Merritt turns to a South Sphere ally to set a trap for Belmont, but Belmont targets Merritt’s biggest weakness: Torrence.

SYNOPSIS:

Knowing that Belmont won’t pull his punches, Merritt plans to face off against him in earnest. He turns to a South Sphere ally to help protect himself and set a trap for Belmont. Odell, a famous South Sphere journalist, owes Merritt a favor for having saved her life years ago. She agrees to set up a fake “news bomb” that would expose Belmont’s assassination of Higgins to all of the underground. Merritt plans to use the threat of the news bomb to hold off any attacks from Belmont. As Odell works on the news bomb, Belmont continues his relentless attacks against Merritt, ultimately threatening to target Merritt’s biggest weakness: Torrence.

Characters: Merritt, Odell, Belmont, Rhodes, Mercury, Coulter

Mentions: 75th, Higgins, Freya, Torrence, Devon, Rose

Details:

• Odell was once an investigative journalist who uncovered scandalous information about the West’s trafficking of other spheres’ citizens. After Merritt saved her from a gang of West Sphere hunters who planned to kill her, she finished her report and eventually went on to become the public face of the South Sphere’s ruthless team of journalists.
• Odell is treated as a hero in her own sphere, but other spheres hate her for the investigative work she’s done. Merritt, however, respects her.
• 75th is head of the South’s surveillance department and Odell’s romantic partner. She answers to Freya.
• The South’s sphere identifier is a white band around the middle finger.
• News bombs deliver news as an emergency notification to the cell phones of every citizen in the underground, regardless of sphere association. Only the South Sphere has the ability to do this.
• Odell refuses to create a real news bomb for Merritt because she doesn’t believe the news about Belmont is scandalous enough, but she agrees to fake it so he could use it to blackmail Belmont.
• Freya has a video clip of Belmont jerking off to Merritt’s playing card.
• The South has an extensive surveillance system throughout the underground, but no one has ever found a wire or camera leading back to the South. They use the videos for both cyberwarfare and entertainment.
• Odell believes that Merritt is “one of the good ones,” which she can’t say very often.
• Belmont spotted Torrence performing a song at a café in sub-Norwood. He left Torrence a $100 tip and a note that he’d pay him ten times more for a private performance. He also states that he knows where Torrence lives.

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Book 1, Chapter 21

SUMMARY:

Merritt rushes to protect Torrence from Belmont, all the while knowing that he’s walking into a trap. He only hopes his plan with Odell works out.

SYNOPSIS:

Merritt rushes to Torrence’s flat to protect him from Belmont, all the while knowing that he’s walking into a trap. He brings his loyal old poisons team for backup, even though it puts them at risk of a treason charge. Belmont counters by bringing the entire Elite Border Guard, and they get the upper hand on Merritt and his team. Belmont threatens to take Merritt on a “joy ride”—dragging him from the back of a motorcycle—if he doesn’t bow down. Merritt stalls just long enough for Odell’s notification to come through: the fake news bomb is supposedly ready to be deployed if anything happens to Merritt or Torrence. Belmont realizes he can’t touch Merritt, and he withdraws.

Characters: Merritt, Torrence, Belmont, Ellis, Wells, Attrill, Page, Oakley, Nicolet, Hoxie, Ashland

Mentions: Odell, Mercury, Palmer, Higgins

Details:

• Merritt’s former poison squad—Chem Ops Squad 269—is comprised of Ellis, Hoxie, Wells, Attrill, Page, Oakley, and Nicolet. Ellis is an escaped West Sphere POW suffering from PTSD, Hoxie is allergic to poison blockers, and Wells is a medic who faints at the sight of blood.
• Torrence wrote a song about Merritt during six months when they weren’t on speaking terms, right after Merritt signed up for perpetual duty. This is the song Belmont heard him perform. Merritt had only faintly heard the song back when Torrence wrote it but was never close enough to understand the words.
• Merritt wrote an email to Rush Subs on Sub-Rush to inquire about the source of their excellent tap water.

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Book 1, Chapter 22

SUMMARY:

Card champion Belmont challenges Merritt to a game. If Merritt wins, he gets Belmont’s handkerchief. If Belmont wins, he gets Merritt’s innocence.

SYNOPSIS:

Tomorrow is the big day, and Merritt pulls an all-nighter to protect the poison traps from any potential sabotage on Belmont’s part before his presentation to Mercury. His rest is interrupted by a trombone given to Captain Ashland by Belmont, and then by a hookup between Kiona and Coulter in the bunk above him. The next day, he successfully presents the poison traps to Mercury, who’s impressed. Belmont is suspiciously quiet and doesn’t attempt to undercut Merritt. After the successful completion of the poison traps, Belmont invites everyone involved in the project out to celebrate at the Brighton Rose. During the party, card champion Belmont challenges Merritt to a game. If Merritt wins, he gets Belmont’s handkerchief. If Belmont wins, he gets Merritt’s innocence. Belmont keeps the game close but deviously allows Merritt to win, for the purpose of using Merritt’s challenge to expose Coulter’s affair with Kiona, getting Coulter shot by Argus. Belmont thanks Merritt for the help. He says that Coulter got too close to Mercury, and that anyone who gets too close to his King needs to be taken care of. Merritt realizes that, in spite of the news bomb threat, Belmont still hasn’t stopped his scheming.

Characters: Merritt, Belmont, Archer, Mercury, Ashland, Kiona, Coulter, Rhodes, Nina, Argus, 75th, Troy

Mentions: Torrence, Mannheim, Odell, Cannon, Quincy, Littlehands, Samsid, Noble, Dolon

Details:

• Rhodes introduces Merritt to his magic eye drops that eliminate the redness and puffiness that come from lack of sleep.
• Belmont doesn’t like Avalon red wine.
• Merritt finds himself seething at the sight of Belmont dancing with a dog, and he finds it irritating that Belmont is an amazing dancer.
• Merritt confirms that he bought a four-thousand-dollar suit with Belmont’s money.
• This is Belmont’s one and only card game loss.
• The East Sphere military used to use honorifics, but they don’t anymore. Merritt suspects that Troy prefers the old ways and likes to be called “sir.”
• When Belmont plays cards, he bets on highly sensitive and personal items.
• Belmont claims that his handkerchief was monogrammed by his great-great-grandmother on her deathbed. He’d previously claimed it was monogrammed by an East Sphere fighter he found in the classifieds, which Troy confirms since the fighter is one of his.

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Book 1, Chapter 23

SUMMARY:

In order to survive, Merritt resolves to cast aside his honorable nature and fight on Belmont’s terms. But he has second thoughts when Torrence begs him not to change.

SYNOPSIS:

In order to survive, Merritt resolves to cast aside his honorable nature and fight on Belmont’s terms. But before doing so, he visits Torrence to deliver six months of painkillers he’d gotten from Archer. He arrives at Torrence’s flat only to discover that he’s gone into hiding after the previous altercation with Belmont and the Elite Border Guard. He calls Torrence and leaves the painkillers for him. Torrence reveals that he hadn’t drifted away from Merritt because he was no longer interested in men, but rather because Merritt was a soldier who’d signed his life away to his sphere. Torrence begs Merritt not to change. Merritt says that he’s always tried to protect Torrence, but he’d never managed to do it right. Torrence replies that this was still the best thing about him.

Characters: Merritt, Torrence

Mentions: Archer, Belmont, Mercury, Higgins, Coulter

Details:

• Merritt gets six months’ worth of painkillers for Torrence, which is worth more than the total sum of money he’s made in his life.

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Book 1, Chapter 24

SUMMARY:

The North’s military is called to respond to an invasion by the West Sphere. Merritt becomes suspicious of the general’s orders and worries that he’s been compromised by Belmont. He defies his command and heads to Station 0, convinced that Belmont is out to sabotage him at the expense of their entire sphere.

SYNOPSIS:

Merritt’s plans for a night out are interrupted when the military is called to respond to an invasion by the West Sphere. Merritt becomes suspicious when General Rhodes orders the troops to the locations where he’d installed automated poison traps, and he worries that Rhodes might have been compromised by Belmont. He defies his command and instead heads to Station 0, convinced that Belmont is out to sabotage him at the expense of their entire sphere. When he arrives, he discovers that Rhodes has been killed, Belmont has been taken hostage, and all of Station 0 is under attack by the West’s troops.

Characters: Merritt, Balbo, Palmer, Rhodes, West Sphere soldiers, Meade, Ellis, Mercury, Belmont, Poros

Mentions: Torrence, Belmont, Harding, Steuben, Higgins, Gray

Details:

• Balbo ran over Captain Ashland’s trombone with Lucy, her battle motorcycle.
• One of Palmer’s lieutenants went missing for days, but Palmer didn’t question him, stop him at the border, or revoke his clearance as required by protocol.

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Book 1, Chapter 25

SUMMARY:

In the midst of the West Sphere invasion, Merritt stands in as general and issues orders to his troops while simultaneously attempting to rescue a hostage.

SYNOPSIS:

In the midst of the West Sphere invasion, Merritt rescues Belmont, who’s being held hostage. Together they return to the control room, where more West Sphere invaders infiltrate. Merritt fights off the attackers while standing in as general and issuing orders to the rest of the North’s military. The poison traps do their job at the other points of invasion, but the battles at Station 0 and the business district continue. When Belmont discovers that surveillance cameras caught his abuse at the hands of the West Sphere soldiers, he begs Merritt to hack into the feed and erase it. Despite Merritt’s urgent need to back up his troops, he stops and does as Belmont commands.

Characters: Merritt, Belmont, West Sphere soldiers, Mercury, Lorel, Ellis, Crius, Lucky, Matton, Attrill, Wells, Carroll, Nicolet

Mentions: Poros, Rhodes, Balbo, Steuben, Harding, 

Details:

• Belmont’s code name is 45.

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Book 1, Chapter 26

SUMMARY:

In the wake of the West Sphere invasion, Merritt tends to the blue-ties who are the most in need.

SYNOPSIS:

In the wake of the West Sphere invasion, the North’s soldiers celebrate their decisive victory while mourning the fallen.  Merritt tries to tend to the blue-ties who are the most in need. His soldiers and most of the affected civilians are doing well, but he spots Belmont sitting alone, clearly affected by the day’s events. He senses that Belmont shouldn’t be alone and offers his company, and they share a moment of understanding.

Characters: Merritt, Belmont, Attrill, Wells, Ellis, Hoxie, Mercury

Mentions: Balbo, Rhodes, Harding, Meade

Details:

• It’s a tremendous accomplishment to get West Sphere soldiers to retreat.

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Book 1, Chapter 27

SUMMARY:

Mercury calls Merritt in to discuss his future in the North Sphere military.

SYNOPSIS:

After the West Sphere invasion, Mercury calls Merritt in to discuss his future in the North Sphere military. Mercury questions the events that led to Belmont being taken hostage, and Merritt bends the truth to protect Belmont. Mercury offers Merritt the position of general. Merritt is both intimidated and elated by the promotion. He’s then reminded that, as general, he will report directly to Belmont.

Characters: Merritt, Mercury, Belmont, Pratt, Evans,

Mentions: Balbo, Harding, Palmer, Rhodes, Coulter, Higgins

Details:

• Merritt bends the truth with Mercury in order to conceal what the West Sphere invaders did to Belmont.
• At this time, the North Sphere’s general reports to the King’s right hand. 

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Book 2

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Book 2, Chapter 1

SUMMARY:

To “celebrate” Merritt’s promotion to general, Belmont throws him the party of his nightmares.

SYNOPSIS:

Merritt moves into his new subterranean quarters, where Archer gives him a special houseplant as a gift. To “celebrate” Merritt’s promotion to general, Belmont throws him the party of his nightmares. He invites all of Merritt’s greatest enemies and attempts to humiliate him in front of them. Merritt, after facing the West Sphere invasion with Belmont and believing they’d reached an understanding, confronts Belmont and demands he stop playing games. To prove that he’s serious, he fires every insubordinate soldier in attendance at the party and reminds Belmont that, as Merritt’s boss, his neck is on the line too.

Characters: Merritt, Belmont, Archer, Troy, Charles, Harding, Palmer, Mannheim, Pratt, Evans, Lyndale, Ashland, a high-ranking North Sphere stranger, Yackley

Mentions: Meade, Rhodes, Mercury, Torrence, Green, Tilden, Balbo

Details:

• Charles is a jade plant.
• Merritt believes that Torrence wouldn’t want to come to his party because he’s opposed to the military.
• Troy started his grape collection the first month he was general, by waging war on the South Sphere and stealing an acre of their farmlands.
• Troy has farm workers bring him a 2lb basket of grapes every morning.
• Troy tried to trade Pardus for Merritt in the citizen trade negotiations.

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Book 2, Chapter 2

SUMMARY:

On Merritt’s first day of work with Belmont as his boss, Belmont is intimidated by the breadth of Merritt’s military knowledge.

SYNOPSIS:

On Merritt’s first day with Belmont as his boss, he comes to work prepared, competent, and knowledgeable. When Belmont realizes the extent of Merritt’s military expertise, his insecurity rears its ugly head, and he needs to step away.

Characters: Merritt, Belmont

Mentions: Perry, Pratt, Evans, Balbo, 

Details:

• Merritt chooses to promote Balbo to Chem Ops colonel, Lorel as captain, Hoxie as sergeant, and Hayes as Waterways colonel.
• Belmont finds Merritt’s poison formula notes and ideas on his laptop.

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Book 2, Chapter 3

SUMMARY:

After a strong showing by Merritt on his first day of work, Belmont proposes a truce.

SYNOPSIS:

After a strong showing by Merritt on his first day of work, Belmont proposes a truce. His offer: if Merritt helps Belmont with his military knowledge, Belmont will teach Merritt how to be a leader and stand up to the elite. Belmont begins by coaching Merritt on his pathetic poker face and negotiating skills. Belmont invites Merritt to come with him to his next board meeting, where they will fight for Merritt’s military personnel picks.

Characters: Merritt, Belmont

Mentions: Mercury, Perry, Meade

Details:

• Belmont wears a theatre mask instead of a poker face because he’s never been good with poker faces.
• Belmont orders Merritt to practice his poker face every moment of every day.
• Belmont declares Merritt’s smile to be the worst smile.
• Merritt considers Belmont to be good at training his subordinates, and he does a thorough job of helping Merritt with his transition.

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Book 2, Chapter 4

SUMMARY:

Merritt attends a board meeting with Belmont, where they fight for his military personnel picks. After the meeting, Belmont tells him the ugly truth about his officer firings.

SYNOPSIS:

Merritt attends the board meeting with Belmont, where they fight for his military personnel picks. With a combination of expertise and strategy, they manage to attain all of Merritt’s picks. However, after the meeting, Belmont reveals to Merritt that the soldiers he fired will all have to be “retrained” or executed. He forces Merritt to choose which. Merritt initially chooses retraining, but after being challenged by Belmont, he realizes that, based on the needs of the military, he has to choose final dismissal.

Characters: Merritt, Belmont, Mannheim, Hale, Wolfram, Taylor, Pratt, Evans, Logan, Thomas

Mentions: Higgins, Lawrence, Balbo, Keating, Wallen, Hayes, Troy, Lorel

Details:

• Belmont’s inside joke, which Merritt doesn’t understand, is that the worst pickup line he’s heard from the slimiest guy is “Have you ever thought about getting involved in politics?”
• It’s a tradition among Mercury’s advisors to take the new guy out to a West Sphere club.
• According to Pratt and Belmont, the male patrons who visit the Skin Mill are disgusting, despite it being one of the most expensive clubs in the West’s red light district.
• Belmont claims to hate everyone who attends the board meetings.
• Belmont never sits next to Mercury in board meetings and tells Merritt not to either, because of his cologne. He says he’ll explain later.
• Belmont claims that Pratt has been trying to get with him for years.
• Belmont equates the retraining process to brainwashing. There are individualized plans based on each soldier’s psych eval, and the methods can get brutal. They can include mind-altering drugs, isolation, sleep deprivation, days-long interrogations, and more. Retraining is only used on colonels and higher.
• Final dismissal, a.k.a. assassination, is carried out by the military’s Blackout Division. It’s made to look like a natural death or inter-sphere murder, and Merritt would have no involvement. Final dismissal is usually carried out before the soldier knows they’re out of a job.

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Book 2, Chapter 5

SUMMARY:

Merritt is thrilled to offer Ellis a promotion to be his aide but shocked when he sees Ellis’s response.

SYNOPSIS:

Merritt is thrilled to offer Ellis a promotion to be his aide but shocked when he realizes Ellis thinks he needs to offer Merritt a sexual favor in order to secure the position. Ellis apologizes for the assumption and accepts the promotion. He says that he’s always respected Merritt for turning down Colonel Harding’s advance when he was faced with the proposition of oral sex in exchange for a promotion. Merritt is too ashamed to reveal to Ellis that he’d accepted Harding’s offer, but that, in his drunken state, he’d lost his nerve and been unable to carry out his order.

Characters: Merritt, Ellis

Mentions: Belmont, Perry, Rhodes, Mercury, Harding, Balbo

Details:

• Merritt wonders if he would have preferred to be an aide to being a fighter or general, because he would have excelled in a position where his only responsibility was to tend to the needs of a single superior. He thinks it might have been a dream job.
• In other sphere’s the general’s aide is a high-ranking position. It’s lower in the north because service work is considered demeaning.
• Ellis has a scar across his face. Most blue-tie soldiers fade their scars with scar cream, but Ellis couldn’t do this because he got his scar while escaping from the West as a POW.

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Book 2, Chapter 6

SUMMARY:

Mercury invites Merritt to his suite, where he reminds Merritt that, as a military general, he is not a leader but a servant.

SYNOPSIS:

Mercury invites Merritt to his suite, where he reminds Merritt that, as a military general, he is not a leader but a servant. For the first time, Merritt wonders if it’s truly his life’s purpose to serve his King and Sphere. Servitude is all he knows, but it hasn’t fixed the problems that matter to him most. Mercury says that he wonders what it would be like to invite Merritt into his inner circle. He asks that Merritt continue to offer his unquestioning service to his sphere.

Characters: Merritt, Belmont, Mercury

Mentions: Rhodes, Ellis, Higgins, Torrence, Wolfram, Crilly, Hale, Archer

Details:

• Merritt continues physical training for himself and Ellis despite their promotions.
• Mercury claims that he has not relieved Merritt of his obligations as a perpetual duty soldier because Merritt is a soldier down to his core, and the only thing he needs is to do is duty to his King and sphere.
• Mercury tries to get Merritt to reveal Belmont’s flaws, but Merritt refuses to criticize Belmont.
• Mercury says that he will give Coulter’s old double-banded blue tie to Wolfram.
• Merritt already knows the pledge he’d give Mercury if he was offered a double-banded tie and asked to kiss Mercury’s ring.
• Mercury gives Merritt a copy of The Soldier’s Faith, by Oliver Wendell Holmes.

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Book 2, Chapter 7

SUMMARY:

Merritt has trouble balancing Mercury’s demand for servitude with Belmont’s demand that he be a leader.

SYNOPSIS:

Merritt has trouble balancing Mercury’s demand for servitude with Belmont’s demand that he be a leader. Merritt is assigned to overhaul the North’s battle simulator software, and when he struggles to explain to the board why the military can’t blindly depend on the simulator, Pratt and Evans propose that they maim soldiers in order to obtain better test data. Belmont claims to have a better plan. He invites Merritt out to lunch to give him a break from work. They enjoy a relaxed meal and get to know each other better. After lunch, Belmont confronts Merritt about his shaky performance in the boardroom, and he realizes that Merritt is torn between Mercury’s demands for his servitude and Belmont’s demand for his leadership.

Characters: Merritt, Belmont, Mercury, Pratt, Evans, Wolfram, Taylor

Mentions: Keating, Belmont’s dad, Higgins

Details:

• Belmont’s dad was president of Northern Chem. When Belmont came to power, he developed NS-Tech, a government-owned competitor, and put his dad’s company out of business.
• Belmont studied D&P in college for the prestige, but he wanted to be a writer. 
• Belmont first worked as an assistant to Higgins and was tasked with writing memos, reports, articles, and editorials under his name. Belmont used the opportunity to sneak incendiary passages into his writing, in order to turn Higgins’s allies against him. This is how he gradually dismantled Higgins’s system of support.
• Belmont also writes poetry and novels and claims to be a master of every genre.
• Belmont wrote an article for Underground Business Week called The Secret Link Between Coming and Overcoming: Why You Should Mix Business and Pleasure.

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Book 2, Chapter 8

SUMMARY:

Belmont produces a questionable drug to aid in data collection for the battle simulator overhaul. Merritt refuses to implement the drug without first testing it on himself.

SYNOPSIS:

Belmont produces Merritt’s nerve sensitizing drug to simulate combat injuries to collect data for the battle simulator’s overhaul. Merritt refuses to inflict the drug upon his soldiers without testing it on himself first. While Belmont observes, Merritt goes through an obstacle course with increasingly heavy doses of the drug, but he fails the second run and falls unconscious due to the severity of the drug’s effects.

Characters: Merritt, Belmont, Balbo, Ellis, Wells

Mentions: Torrence, Mercury, Archer, Hoxie, Lorel

Details:

• Merritt doesn’t want to use the nerve sensitizer on his soldiers because he feels it’s torture.
• Belmont remembered the poison formula from the notes on Merritt’s laptop and has already secretly put it into production under the name NSA-2.
• Merritt officially introduces Belmont to Colonel Balbo, and they get along well.
• Belmont developed the GUS series of poisons in college. Merritt learned this by hacking the records of the College of Science an Medicine.

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Book 2, Chapter 9

SUMMARY:

Merritt wakes up unable to move after his torturous round with the nerve sensitizer. Belmont offers to take him home.

SYNOPSIS:

Merritt wakes up unable to move after his torturous round with the nerve sensitizer. Belmont offers to take him home and carries him to their coach. Despite Merritt’s condition, he can’t ignore his attraction to Belmont. Ellis tails them on their way home. When they arrive at Merritt’s quarters, Belmont chastises Merritt for accepting a gift from Archer without having it scanned by security. He does a quick check of Merritt’s quarters and finds a hidden camera, then tells Merritt to hire his specialist to thoroughly search the entire place. When Belmont leaves for the night, Merritt is overcome with loneliness.

Characters: Merritt, Belmont, Ellis, Balbo, Wells, Charles

Mentions: Pratt, Evans, Torrence, Hoxie, Troy, Samsid, Archer

Details:

• Merritt begs Belmont to stop production of NSA-2 because he believes it’s torture. Belmont says it’s too late to stop now, and that the poison might someday save his life, but Merritt says there will always be consequences.

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Book 2, Chapter 10

SUMMARY:

During an all-nighter to finish the battle simulator overhaul, Belmont confronts Merritt about the obvious attraction between them, and Merritt’s devotion to Mercury.

SYNOPSIS:

During an all-nighter to finish the battle simulator overhaul, Belmont  and Merritt get to know each other better. Belmont shares stories about growing up scrawny, dealing with bullies, and offering Jennifer the Goat her honorary North Sphere citizenship. Merritt tells Belmont about his toughest military battle and the piercings that commemorate his fallen comrades. After finally completing the simulator test runs successfully, Belmont spots Merritt’s notebook and discovers the pledge Merritt had written for if he’s invited into Mercury’s inner circle. Horrified by the pledge, Belmont confronts Merritt about the obvious attraction between them, and about Merritt’s devotion to Mercury. Belmont insists that Mercury is only manipulating Merritt. Merritt insists that he doesn’t have any feelings for Belmont, but his actions say otherwise.

Characters: Merritt, Belmont

Mentions: Ellis, Evans, Mercury, Belmont’s dad, Gration, Tamarin, Celine, Freya, Jennifer, Pangolin, Mannheim, Higgins, Rhodes, Coulter

Details:

• Belmont was a scrawny kid and didn’t hit his growth spurt until he was seventeen. His dad put him on a growth drug that had a fifty-percent chance of killing him.
• Belmont has taken pole dancing classes
• Belmont tells a story about how he issued Jennifer the Goat her honorary North Sphere citizenship.
• Merritt makes a note to hack Belmont’s school and track down his yearbook photos.
• Blue-tie soldiers get piercings to commemorate battles and fallen comrades. Merritt’s ear piercings honor the soldiers in his squad who were killed by Pangolin, and his eyebrow ring is for Balbo, who saved his life and almost didn’t survive.
• The South’s military includes drones, the robotic cavalry, and motorcycle squads.
• Belmont claims that Mercury’s cologne is a barbiturate that makes his targets suggestible.
• Belmont claims that Mercury tried to manipulate him the same way he’s doing to Merritt, and that he invited Belmont to call him Damen. But he refuses to do it because only Mercury’s female lovers call him that.

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Book 2, Chapter 11

SUMMARY:

After his all-nighter with Belmont, Merritt is called by Wilson, Archer’s boss. Archer questions Merritt about his relationship with Belmont.

SYNOPSIS:

After his all-nighter with Belmont, Merritt is called by Wilson, Archer’s boss. Wilson asks Merritt to do some free poisons development work, but Merritt, after seeing the volume of work required, declines. Wilson says he’ll go to Belmont to see if Merritt can take on the work. After their meeting, Merritt stops to see Archer, who questions him about his relationship with Belmont. Merritt insists there’s nothing between them, but Archer is skeptical. She questions whether he thinks it’s his job to be romantically available to Belmont, and Merritt is offended. They part on uncomfortable terms.

Characters: Merritt, Belmont, Wilson, Archer

Mentions: Belmont’s dad, Higgins, Devon, Mercury

Details:

• Belmont has promised that he’d have Merritt’s back any time anyone asked him to do work that was beneath him.

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Book 2, Chapter 12

SUMMARY:

Mercury invites Merritt to a diplomatic meeting with Samsid, right hand to the East Sphere’s King, but Merritt is disturbed when he learns Mercury’s definition of diplomacy.

SYNOPSIS:

Mercury invites Merritt to a diplomatic meeting with Samsid, right hand to the East Sphere’s King. Merritt, having idolized Samsid since his adolescence, arrives at his pre-meeting with Mercury well researched, but Mercury disapproves of Merritt’s adulation. When they meet with Samsid, Mercury demonstrates his definition of diplomacy. He demeans Merritt by asking him to do a servant’s work in front of Samsid, demonstrating what little value he has for soldiers, and for a sphere like the East, which is centered around soldiers—all in order to make Samsid feel small and powerless without the North’s help. In the parking lot after the meeting, Merritt apologizes to Samsid, but Samsid criticizes Merritt for allowing his King to demean him. Belmont finds Merritt standing alone and invites him up to his suite for dinner.

Characters: Merritt, Mercury, Terra, Samsid, Belmont

Mentions: Cannon, Troy, Freya

Details:

• Oranges are rare and expensive in the underground. They are also white.
• Merritt practices holding his breath to prevent the influence of Mercury’s cologne.
• Merritt was a fan of Samsid when he was a motorcycle racer as a teen. He famously faced off against Freya and was narrowly defeated, but the race is considered one of the best in history.
• Freya is considered the greatest motorcycle racer of all time.
• Merritt believes that Samsid is a great leader, but Mercury calls him an ace lover.
• The East Sphere’s military seems poised to rebel against King Cannon. The East’s military was built by private militias, but Cannon absorbed all of the militias into the national military last year in a way that caused tension among the former militia members.
• Samsid was a militiaman. Troy is head of the national military, but Merritt believes Troy would still side with Samsid over Cannon.
• Samsid has come to Mercury for help dealing with Cannon and the rift in the military.
• Armbands frown upon sappy compliments and instead use insults as compliments.
• Merritt overhears Mercury questioning Samsid about his eyes. Mercury says he’s done miraculous things for Samsid, but Samsid says he didn’t want his eyes and doesn’t owe Mercury anything for them.
• Mercury calls Samsid Jasper, his given name. Samsid doesn’t seem to like it.
• Merritt once snuck into an East Sphere arena just to watch Samsid perform in an unpopular motorcycle racing championship. Samsid compliments Merritt on his reckless move.

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Book 2, Chapter 13

SUMMARY:

Merritt and Belmont share a meaningful dinner, and Belmont offers Merritt a key privilege.

SYNOPSIS:

Merritt and Belmont share a meaningful dinner, where Merritt finally has a chance to address some of the lingering doubts he has about Belmont. Belmont answers his questions about Devon and the terms under which he’s willing to use sexual relationships for political manipulation. When Merritt is still reluctant to open himself up to a relationship with such a vast power imbalance, Belmont grants him touch permission and gives him an engraved tie clip as proof of their arrangement. Merritt accepts the tie clip but is too overwhelmed to use his new privilege yet.

Characters: Merritt, Belmont

Mentions: Wilson, Devon, Harding, Ellis, Higgins, Samsid, Mercury

Details:

• Belmont states that Wilson contacted him to ask if Merritt could take on poisons work, and Belmont turned him down.
• Belmont states that he and Devon still like each other but are not romantically involved. He gave Devon a cushy job, and they no longer need each other.
• Belmont claims that he exchanges sexual favors to forge political alliances, but that he doesn’t go the other way around and use his political power to coerce people into sleeping with him.
• Belmont says that forcing or conning someone into bed, or faking interest, makes you scum, and it makes for especially dangerous enemies.
• When Mercury grants touch permission, he offers a double-banded blue tie. When Belmont grants touch permission, he offers an engraved tie clip. Belmont is a lot less discriminating than Mercury in who he gives touch permission.
• It’s considered bold or pompous for any underground citizen besides a King or Queen to use their full name or initials instead of using their sphere as their surname.

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Book 2, Chapter 14

SUMMARY:

Merritt overhears plans of an embargo to punish the West for its underage dog trade. He wants his sphere to join in the effort, but Mercury is resistant.

SYNOPSIS:

Merritt hacks into the South Sphere’s surveillance network and overhears plans of an embargo to punish the West for its disgraceful underage dog trade. Merritt wonders why the North hasn’t joined in the effort, and he plans to ask Belmont. He goes to Yackley’s, where Belmont is high and winning lots of money in a card game. While waiting for the game to finish, he sees Odell and asks her about the embargo plans he overheard. She reveals that the meeting was staged to lure in the hacker who’d been infiltrating the South’s feed, but that the embargo plans are real. She tells Merritt that, if he can convince Mercury to join the embargo, she won’t report to her sphere that he’s the hacker. Merritt talks to Belmont about the embargo, and their discussion turns to an uncomfortable confrontation about the ugly things each of them have had to do to earn their place in the underground. Belmont ultimately reveals to Merritt that Mercury is resistant to the embargo because he has allies who utilize underage dogs. Merritt tries to peacefully convince Mercury to join the embargo, but when that doesn’t work, he uses the information from Belmont to blackmail Mercury, with success.

Characters: Merritt, Nora, Pangolin, Belmont, Yackley, Odell, 75th, Mercury

Mentions: Freya, Torrence, Troy, Gray, Bardia, Harding, Higgins, Belmont’s dad, Pratt

Details:

• Merritt recalls nights at the orphanage where adults would come into the bedrooms and take children. Torrence disappeared during one such night but eventually made it back. After that, Merritt trained his dorm mates to fight back against any adults who attempted to attack them.
• Merritt tells Belmont the truth about his history with Colonel Harding.
• Belmont reveals that his dad refused to pay the requisite bribe to get him his first job interviews out of college, because he finished college as number two instead of valedictorian. As a result, Belmont had to offer sexual favors to get his first job and maintain his elite status. Merritt deduces that the person on the receiving end was Higgins.

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Book 2, Chapter 15

SUMMARY:

After the success of the West Sphere embargo, Merritt takes Belmont out to a special place to celebrate.

SYNOPSIS:

After the success of the West Sphere embargo, Merritt wants to celebrate. He finds Belmont in the garage at headquarters, where he’s cleaning a South Sphere motorcycle he doesn’t know how to ride. Merritt, having learned how to ride South Sphere bikes, offers to take Belmont for a ride. Together they go out to a hidden pond that’s nearly impossible to reach. They share a bottle of Deering white wine, then swim together. Their swimming turns to roughhousing, then to romance. They share an intimate encounter, and they agree that this is the start of something bigger. Belmont swears Merritt to secrecy because their importance to each other is now a weapon that could be used against them.

Characters: Merritt, Belmont

Mentions: Odell, Archer, Wilson, Kimball, Torrence

Details:

• Merritt learned how to ride South Sphere motorcycles after he won a racing competition, with a training session as the prize.
• Belmont says he wishes he could step onto the surface and be a free man.
• Belmont says the South smuggles books in from the surface all the time. He jokingly offers to build Merritt a library.
• Belmont says he’ll get Merritt a South Sphere Mantis, the South’s best off-road motorcycle, so they could come back to the pond in the future without wearing out his Peregrine.

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Book 2, Chapter 16

SUMMARY:

Merritt cooks dinner for Belmont.

SYNOPSIS:

Merritt accepts the fact that he’s in love with Belmont, but their work schedule prevents them from spending as much private time together as they’d like. After Belmont gets delayed on their one day off together, depriving them of a day out, Merritt invites him over to share a home-cooked dinner. They eat and talk, and Merritt mentions that he’d cooked for Devon, because he liked the gesture of cooking breakfast the morning after. He and Belmont share an intimate night. In the morning, Belmont attempts to make breakfast for Merritt but burns the food, ruins Merritt’s pan, and sets off the smoke alarm. Merritt is moved by the gesture.

Characters: Merritt, Belmont

Mentions: 75th, Archer, Pratt, Mercury, Devon

Details:

• Merritt professes his love of water to Belmont, and Belmont offers to take him out to get water from his favorite underground region.
• Merritt developed a chemical to counteract the smell of the water from the military district. As a result, he smells like computers instead of dank water.

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Book 2, Chapter 17

SUMMARY:

Merritt is tasked with fortifying the North Sphere in the lead-up to the Underground Gala, but his work is interrupted when a demolition vehicle descends upon his home.

SYNOPSIS:

Merritt is tasked with fortifying the North Sphere in the lead-up to the Underground Gala, but his work is interrupted when a demolition vehicle descends upon his home. Belmont is behind the unannounced construction project, but he refuses to give Merritt details. Instead, he pulls Merritt away from his quarters and prevents him from returning until the job is done. When Merritt finally returns home, Belmont explains that he built Merritt a safe room for his twenty-third birthday—but not just any safe room. Merritt enters the room and discovers that it’s a library stocked with above-ground books, including the religious texts that he’d told Belmont he wanted.

Characters: Merritt, Belmont, Mercury, Charles, Pratt

Mentions: Troy, Rhodes, Evans

Details:

• The gala is an inter-sphere party for all of the underground’s most prominent citizens. It takes place in a different sphere each year, and violence of any kind is forbidden. No one has ever been killed or seriously injured at a gala.
• The rumor about last year’s gala is that Belmont gave Troy a long lap dance that Troy didn’t seem eager to stop.
• Merritt is invited to attend the gala for the first time.
• Merritt will protect Charles with his life.