Long ago, the traveling planet Ardulum brought cellulose technology to the Neek people, then vanished back into space. Now, a young outcast must reconcile her planet’s religion with the slave child whom she has chosen to protect—a child whose ability to manipulate cellulose is reminiscent of the ancient myths of Ardulum. But protecting the child comes at a cost—the cultural destruction of her world and the deaths of billions of Charted System inhabitants.