PUBLIC RECORDSECOND WAKING: ~40 YEARS ACTIVE

The Drawn

For roughly fourteen centuries after the Casting Off, the Stacks did not wake anyone.

Then the old Counter reached zero. Within days, the Stacks opened.

Since then, sleepers have been drawn into waking life for seven days at a time. Each receives a four-digit register key and a line on the brass Counter.

At zero, most return to the Stacks. Some do not make the return. No one agrees on why the cycle exists.

KNOWN

The Second Waking began about forty years ago.
Every Drawn receives seven days awake.
The brass Counter tracks each Drawn separately.
The number beneath the pod paint is the person's register key.
At zero, most Drawn return to the Stacks.
Only the dead go on the Remembrance Wall.

UNKNOWN

Why the old ship-wide count ended when it did.
Why waking lasts seven days.
Why one sleeper is chosen over another.
What “counted to the meeting” means.
Whether returning is the Counter's purpose or only one consequence.

OPEN COUNTER REGISTER ANOTHER WAKING