How High We Go in the Dark

Content Warning: This chapter contains graphic depictions of death rituals and the preparations for them.

An unnamed narrator directly addresses an also unnamed “you,” who is ultimately revealed as Mabel, one of the neighbors from Chapter 10, “The Used-To-Be Party.” The narrator explains the procedures that will take place at Eden Ice, a “new death” company that provides alternative funerary arrangements. Although the plague has been cured, those who were infected are developing chronic issues like cancer that continue to cause high death rates.

The narrator tells Mabel about his work turning human remains into ice sculptures, and Mabel insists that her tattoos be surgically removed and preserved before he works with her remains. Over video calls and texts, they design an ice sculpture ship that will be made from her, a plan that takes years. During the course of their interactions, they learn about each other, and the narrator does research on jazz and folklore to impress her. She teases him about this, but they continue to digitally spend time together.

Mabel dies, and her body is sent to the narrator, who begins the process of turning her into an ice sculpture. While he does, he ruminates on what he knows and doesn’t know about her, wondering at what could have been different between them.