Ortho in Book 7

Book 7 begins with Ortho presenting the theory that the mirror in the prefect’s bedroom in Ramshackle is a connection to another world, and might possibly be utilized to send the prefect home. (This chapter first ran in December of 2022. As of this post, this plot thread has yet to be revisited.)

After escaping Sage’s Island Ortho’s parents debate how they are to infiltrate back in, as the CHARON armor AI “isn’t equipped to adapt to such a new situation and make the necessary snap judgments” but it is too dangerous for a manned unit.

Ortho volunteers, and is given the assignment to set up an analysis anchor and return as soon as he can without the objective of subduing Malleus.

Malleus attempts to destroy Ortho three times but Ortho manages to escape with the anchor and its data, which leads his parents to the conclusion that the only way to free the island is to convince Malleus to do so of his own volition.

Ortho contacts Idia within his dream, and Malleus’ dream-world for Idia responds by resetting. He then appears in person and the dream begins to collapse.

Malleus explains, “You don’t belong here. Your appearance has ensured that this dream can no longer be a happy ending. Once the collapse is complete, you shall be swallowed in the abyss.”

Ortho realizes he means that his presence causes a paradox, as him existing means that human-Ortho must have died, but human-Ortho is alive within Idia’s dream (Malleus: “Today, you shall all be reborn. Into a world without sorrow, where you will never lose a single person —not friends, not family.”)

Later, Ortho describes this as “a critical error” that triggers when he appears in Idia’s dream, which forces him to connect to Idia via a video chat that does not set off the paradox.

The drama of Idia’s dream seems to be happening almost simultaneously with the drama of Lilia’s: by the time Lilia sends Silver and the rest of the group away to take Malleus on himself and buy them time to save the world, Ortho is able to warp through the same dreamway that Silver also uses to move between dreamscapes.