The novel opens with a conversation between a young boy and his father. The boy tells his father that he fell during a childbirth and that his mother gave him extra money for his injury. The father tells the boy that his forefathers created the book, which they thought would never be used again, but now they are using it to guide the future generations. The young boy asks his father why he didn't tell him that his parents were in the hospital, and the father tells him that he is all his mother has. He then tells his son that he has to take his class notes for the next two weeks, and that he will find a way to cure him of his ailment. The chapter ends with a description of the young men who have come to the north hills hospital to protect the people from darkness.