How High We Go in the Dark

Content Warning: This chapter contains depictions of a viral outbreak that may be difficult for some readers following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr. Cliff Miyashiro arrives in Siberia after his daughter, Clara, falls to her death. In 2030, rising temperatures have thawed ancient ice, exposing frozen creatures underneath. Maksim, a staff biologist, introduces Cliff to the other scientists and informs him that a quarantine order is in effect because of a virus they reanimated from the melting permafrost. Cliff meets Yulia, the botanist, and is overwhelmed as people share brief memories of Clara. He thinks back to her memorial service, when Clara’s supervisor invited Cliff to continue her work in her stead. His wife, Miki, resisted the idea since the two are responsible for Clara’s daughter, Yumi.

Maksim takes Cliff to “Annie,” the mummified body Clara found before she died. Cliff reads the notes from her preliminary exam, and the two men discuss her uniqueness. Cliff muses about Clara’s devotion to bettering the world at the expense of seeing her family as he visits Clara’s sleep pod, finding her journal but not the purple crystal necklace she wore since her adoption at age three. He also finds her dogū statue, meant to be a protection from evil.