Mellanie Rescorai
Names: Mellanie RescoraiMellaniebaby MelMelRescoraiMellanie RosewellSaskiaLalage VereJasmine
First appears in Book 1: Pandora's Star, chapter 10 (NINE)
Appearances
What you know
Book 1: Pandora's Star
- Ch 10Mellanie is a nineteen-year-old first-life diver on Oaktier's national squad who moved in with Morton against her parents' wishes.
- Ch 12Mellanie, Morton's young partner, was dropped from her diving squad by her coach.
- Ch 14Mellanie attends the trial daily in carefully chosen outfits, projecting both innocence and sex appeal as the loyal girlfriend.
- Ch 14Mellanie is Morton's lover; she hysterically screams and struggles against court officials, trying to jump the railings to reach him after the sentence.
- Ch 16Mellanie is a young, strikingly beautiful woman who was Morton's lover and lived in his penthouse; she is now penniless and shunned by her former friends.
- Ch 16Mellanie believes Morton is innocent and says she will wait for him despite his hundred-and-twenty-year sentence.
- Ch 16Mellanie smashed a GPbot and threatened the bank staff with a carving knife when they repossessed the penthouse.
- Ch 16Mellanie refuses to return to her parents' house, with whom she had a hostile relationship over Morton.
- Ch 16Mellanie sold her life story through the reporter Rishon and insisted on playing herself in the resulting drama.
- Ch 16Mellanie was a swimmer whose team chances were ruined after she got involved with Morton, according to Jaycee's reading of the script.
- Ch 16Mellanie is twenty, was trained with a squad, and has fast reflexes and strength; she kneed Jaycee in the groin when he tried to coerce her into sex.
- Ch 16Her media career lasted forty-five minutes. She wants to become a celebrity like Alessandra Baron and refuses to depend on anyone again.
- Ch 16Mellanie is still affected by the trial; her ex-lover Morton is held in a suspension chamber, and she has no money.
- Ch 20Became a successful TSI media personality and Oaktier's rep after a court case, and criticizes Paula's handling of the Johansson case.
- Ch 22Mel is a confident, attractive young woman who recently arrived in Randtown and questions Mark about the blockade and the town's support for it.
- Ch 22Mellanie aired a heavily edited interview with Mark on Alessandra Baron's show, making Randtown and Mark appear backward and antihuman.
- Ch 24Ambitious first-life reporter from Darklake City and Alessandra's affiliate; reports from Elan; envies the wealthy Society world.
- Ch 24Spots Paula Myo at the party, which interests Alessandra.
- Ch 24Mellanie is a reporter who tails Paula Myo through Paris, hoping to learn what Myo is doing for the Burnellis; her editor gives her two days.
- Ch 24Mellanie hired hacker Paul Cramley to run illegal search programs on restricted city listings to locate Myo.
- Ch 24Mellanie is a young woman who seduces Dudley in the kitchen, flatters him, and offers a drive to a Silent World or her hotel room.
- Ch 25Mellanie is a reporter working for Alessandra Baron, covering Randtown's blockade and secretly pursuing the Paula Myo case to gain independence from Alessandra.
- Ch 25Mellanie manipulates Dudley Bose with sex and sleeping pills, and finds the Cox Educational charity lead about Myo's interview.
- Ch 25Mellanie pitches Alessandra that Paula Myo believes the Starflyer is real, hoping to get a research team for her story.
- Ch 25Mellanie has been sleeping with Dudley Bose to get information, and is on Elan.
- Ch 25Mellanie claims a charity that funded Bose's Dyson Pair observation was a front arranged by the Starflyer, though she is unsure it is true.
- Ch 25Mellanie is a reporter who has an unexplained link to the unisphere and gives Mark's handheld a connection; she is unharmed and unpopular with locals.
- Ch 25She reports live from Randtown's bus station and is cut off as Prime ships land, leaving Alessandra fearing for her.
- Ch 25Mellanie, using the SI's inserts, tells Dudley she will follow the convoy, intending to keep her hold over him as her ace.
- Ch 25Mellanie uses her SI-supplied inserts to freeze four Prime aliens and force them to drop their weapons, her face turning almost entirely silver.
- Ch 25Using her inserts and the SI, Mellanie perceives Prime electromagnetic signals and disrupts them, freezing the soldier motiles invading Randtown.
- Ch 25Mellanie sends the SI's interference through her inserts to stop the soldiers, then escapes through a wormhole just before sixteen atom lasers hit her position.
- Ch 25Mellanie opens a small wormhole into the Turquino Valley so the Randtown refugees can escape, insisting on it despite the SI's objection.
- Ch 25Mellanie remotely took control of an alien flyer and made it shoot down another flyer; she tracks Prime movement through the handheld array.
- Ch 25Mellanie recognizes the five bright stars above the valley as human-made, not Prime.
- Ch 26Mellanie survived the Elan invasion and wants to lead an investigation into Myo and the Starflyer, but Alessandra seems unaware of that plan.
- Ch 26Mellanie has hidden Dudley in a cheap chalet on Oaktier, hoping to get more information from his confused memories.
- Ch 26Mellanie lied to Alessandra that the refugees' alien starship was an old CST dormitory station.
- Ch 26Mellanie suspects Cox Educational is a front tied to the Starflyer, and plans to tell Paula Myo what she has found.
- Ch 26Mellanie realises Alessandra must be working for the Starflyer, because she was the only person told about Mellanie's investigation of the charity.
Book 2: Judas Unchained
- Ch 3Mellanie has SI inserts that give her great powers; the SI acted through her to destroy Prime soldier motiles on Elan.
- Ch 3Mellanie no longer works for Alessandra Baron and believes Baron works for the Starflyer.
- Ch 3Mellanie wants someone in authority to act on the Starflyer, but leaves Paula's apartment unsure whether Paula is trustworthy.
- Ch 4Mellanie is hiding with Dudley at a cash-rented chalet in Greentree, fearing the Starflyer and what Baron might do to her.
- Ch 4Mellanie told Dudley her meeting with Paula Myo went badly because they distrust each other, ruling out joining forces against the Starflyer.
- Ch 4Mellanie accepted a three-month roving reporter job with Michelangelo at Bravoweb, turning down a TSI drama and a Reuters position.
- Ch 4Mellanie plans to go to Far Away, claiming she knows she can meet strong allies against the Starflyer there, with Bravoweb paying.
- Ch 4Mellanie manipulates Dudley with sex and keeps him under control because he will be useful for her next meeting.
- Ch 4Mellanie alleged the Cox records were doctored and that Alessandra Baron works for the Starflyer; Paula sees she has changed and gained confidence.
- Ch 4Mellanie led part of the evacuation of Randtown on Elan during the Prime attack and is now Dudley Bose's girlfriend.
- Ch 4She is now a Michelangelo studio correspondent, and is travelling to Far Away to report; she has slept with Michelangelo to get the job.
- Ch 4Mellanie suspects fellow passengers Trevelyan and Ferelith might be Starflyer agents and keeps aloof; she began to doubt Murderous Seduction's portrayal of Paula Myo.
- Ch 4Mellanie is traveling to Far Away with Dudley; she is impatient with his lecturing but is in a relationship with him.
- Ch 4Mellanie is a wealthy celebrity reporter newly arrived from the Commonwealth who wants to contact the Guardians.
- Ch 4Mellanie works with the SI and carries its subroutine in her inserts; she asked a barkeeper where to meet a Guardian and was refused.
- Ch 4Mellanie is a reporter for the Michelangelo show who uses sex to get information, and she has begun to feel troubled by how many people she has slept with.
- Ch 4Mellanie feels deeply betrayed by Alessandra, who used her sexually on behalf of the Starflyer.
- Ch 4Mellanie has OCtattoos and inserts that boost her senses and link her to the SIsubroutine and virtual vision.
- Ch 4Mellanie deduces the second watcher team are Guardians and, after the street crashes, calls the leader's net address.
- Ch 4Mellanie is a reporter with a powerful, elusive monitor program and an unseen non-human ally that saved her life; she distrusts the Institute.
- Ch 4Mellanie believes her former boss Alessandra Baron is a Starflyer agent and plans to gather evidence and hack Baron's communications to find her network.
- Ch 4Mellanie got a onetime unisphere contact address from Stig and left for the Commonwealth with Dudley on a Carbon Goose flight under false names.
- Ch 5Mellanie has returned to Darklake City from Far Away and is hiding from Alessandra, avoiding her own apartment, while hunting evidence against the Starflyer.
- Ch 5Mellanie is a reporter and former soft porn star who recently returned from Far Away and is protected by mysterious software.
- Ch 5Mellanie tells Paul the Starflyer is real and that Alessandra Baron is part of it, and asks him to track Baron's encrypted communications.
- Ch 5Mellanie says the navy fired Paula Myo and that Myo believes in the Starflyer.
- Ch 5Mellanie's protector will not give her evidence; the Barsoomian warned her not to trust it.
- Ch 5Mellanie, now a grown and beautiful young woman, is Morton's former lover who visits Kingsville offering him a front-line correspondent job for the Michelangelo show.
- Ch 5Mellanie now works as a reporter for Michelangelo's show, and has arranged for Morton to send reports from Elan.
- Ch 5Mellanie received sophisticated OCtattoos from the SI and is learning to use them; she uses them to create a private simulated environment.
- Ch 5Mellanie has an arrangement with the SI: she supplies unusual information and it acts as her agent, though she doesn't fully trust it.
- Ch 5Mellanie believes the Starflyer is real, that it may have triggered the war, and that its agents tried to kidnap her.
- Ch 5Mellanie believes the navy is compromised by the Starflyer and wants Morton to send her classified information about the Primes.
- Ch 6Nigel and Nelson suspect Mellanie is an SI observer; her great-great-grandfather Vaughan was her way into the SI.
- Ch 6Mellanie is a reporter, formerly a soft-porn TSI actress, who fell out with Alessandra Baron and joined Michelangelo; she is Dudley Bose's partner.
- Ch 6Mellanie refuses Paul's marriage proposal but agrees to pitch Michelangelo a story to investigate a Sheldon lifeboat on Cressat.
- Ch 6Mellanie spent a night with her old lover Morton at the Cat's Claws barracks, then returned to Dudley feeling guilty.
- Ch 6Mellanie is going to Earth to pitch Michelangelo again about investigating Dynasty starships, and plans to stay in an LA hotel.
- Ch 6Mellanie feels responsible for Dudley, since she got him into danger from Alessandra Baron and the Starflyer's agents.
- Ch 7Mellanie correctly told the team where local survivors would be; she was in Randtown when the Primes invaded.
- Ch 7Mellanie works for the SI and tells Morton via encoded messages not to inform the navy that he has the Bose motile.
- Ch 7Mellanie promises to arrange to extract Morton's group from Elan and tells them to keep the Bose motile and refugees safe.
- Ch 8Mellanie broke her promise and rents a cheap apartment near Venice Beach, paying cash so there is no record.
- Ch 8Mellanie works gigs for Michelangelo studio while trying to trace three lawyers and a link to Baron.
- Ch 8Mellanie trusts Adam Elvin more than anyone else in her life, though they have never met, and feels isolated in her situation.
- Ch 8Mellanie agrees to consider Dudley's plan if he gathers detailed figures, mainly to keep him occupied and out of trouble.
- Ch 9Mellanie is an ambitious intern reporter sleeping with her senior Michelangelo; she openly wants his job and is secretly chasing the Starflyer story.
- Ch 10Mellanie is a famous investigative reporter who has disguised herself as a freckled, raven-haired teenage clubber called Saskia to infiltrate the Saffron Clinic's circle.
- Ch 10Mellanie found the Saffron Clinic in Greenford Tower and chose to follow Kaspar Murdo, whom she judged to be her target, after he left the clinic.
- Ch 10Mellanie carries an SI subroutine in her inserts and can emit silver software blooms from her skin to take over others' organic circuitry.
- Ch 10Mellanie used a hidden bar array's i-spot to decompress the SI subroutine after her unisphere link was cut.
- Ch 10Mellanie took the cattle prod by seizing control of a femfeline's organic adaptations, then killed Dorian and said she would tell Alessandra herself.
- Ch 10Mellanie is undercover as 'Saskia', a trainee cleaner at the Saffron Clinic, seeking the lawyers Michelangelo said had been admitted there.
- Ch 10Mellanie found that Murdo spied on her with sensors and a holocamera, and refuses his French maid outfit by locking comms and opening a locker.
- Ch 10Mellanie believes Alessandra's people followed her from the Michelangelo studios and are watching Dudley and her apartment.
- Ch 10Mellanie, disguised as a nurse, infiltrated Saffron Clinic after tracking the lawyers there, and tells Paula where they are.
- Ch 10Mellanie told the truth about the three admissions matching the lawyers; Paula wants her held separately and unable to call anyone.
- Ch 11Mellanie has inserts that turn her skin silver when frightened; she remembers Randtown and was upset by the Greenford Tower casualties.
- Ch 11Mellanie says she knows of more Starflyer agents and identified Isabella as one of them.
- Ch 11Mellanie was kept unaware that the cage would absorb weapons fire; Paula admitted she wasn't sure of Mellanie's loyalties and wanted her to act naturally.
- Ch 11Mellanie went to LA with a Senate Security escort to collect Dudley Bose, worried about him.
- Ch 12Mellanie has been messaging that she is trying to get them off the planet but has given no time frame.
- Ch 13Mellanie flirts with Nigel and shows disapproval of Dudley's possessiveness.
- Ch 13Mellanie says the Primes are a single consciousness spread across billions of bodies, and that the Bose motile holds Dudley Bose's memories.
- Ch 13Mellanie arranged with Nigel Sheldon for a wormhole to rescue Morton's team and the Bose motile.
- Ch 13Mellanie sleeps with Nigel, refuses his marriage proposal for now, but admits she is tempted and tired of being a whore.
- Ch 13Mellanie's SI inserts let her hear MorningLightMountain's thoughts at Randtown; she believes humanity cannot share a universe with it.
- Ch 13Mellanie offers Qatux an interview with a more emotional, wetwired girl instead of Paula's feelings, and will cover Baron's arrest.
- Ch 14Mellanie now works as a professional troubleshooter with CST security backing and goes to Wayside Production to recruit Tiger Pansy.
- Ch 14Mellanie headbutts and knees Jaycee after he insults her, repeating a previous fight between them, and takes Tiger Pansy away.
- Ch 14Hurt by Dudley's dismissal, Mellanie still wants Alessandra Baron's arrest to cover and plans to ask Nigel for Hoshe's favor.
- Ch 14Mellanie apologises to Nigel for pushing him to open the wormhole and says she did not go to Far Away because she has no death wish.
- Ch 16Mellanie feels growing shame over the sexual services she once willingly performed for Alessandra Baron, and no longer pictures a future as a corporate trophy wife.
- Ch 16Mellanie abandons the Baron arrest to infiltrate Cressat by impersonating Vanora Kingsley, a call girl hired to seduce a teenage boy with wild ginger hair.
- Ch 16Mellanie was sent by the SI to find out what happened to Ozzie, and infiltrated the mansion in place of the girl meant for Orion.
- Ch 16Mellanie is using the alias Jasmine with Orion and has been hired to act as a distraction. She has a history with someone named Dudley.
- Ch 16Mellanie kisses Orion to reassure him and then sleeps with him that afternoon, feeling proud and delighted.
- Ch 16Mellanie and Ozzie secretly communicate via text through interfaced i-spots, while the security staff watch their act through mansion sensors.
- Ch 17Mellanie is a media figure and friend travelling with Ozzie; Giselle recognises her and threatens her.
- Ch 17Mellanie is a reporter who works for the SI, and has been proposed to by Nigel but has not yet said yes.
- Ch 17Mellanie plans to hijack a Dynasty frigate and fly to Dyson Alpha to end the war.
- Ch 17Mellanie is horrifically wounded by security fire when she tries to deflect their sensors, and loses consciousness in Nigel's presence.
- Ch 20Mellanie woke after three weeks of clone grafting in the Bermuda room of the Illanum mansion, with many inserts removed or damaged.
- Ch 20Mellanie leaves her top unisphere position to travel the galaxy with Orion, recording worlds to return to the number one slot later if she wishes.
- Ch 20Mellanie says reaching the top showed her the harsh price of staying there, and she needs time to find out who she is.
Connections
- partner ofMortonRob accuses Morton of being pussy-whipped by Mellanie
- ally ofRishonreporter who wrote her story into a script
- friend ofHoshe Finnhelps her out of sympathy
- family ofSentient IntelligenceThe SI contains her great-great-grandfather's memories
- related toSentient IntelligenceBecomes her agent
- enemy ofMark Vernon
- member ofAlessandra Baronaffiliate reporter and lover
- partner ofAlessandra
- ally ofPaul Cramleyhacker who helped her illegally
- partner ofDudley Bosehe loves her; she manipulates him
- related toDudley Bosemanipulates him sexually for information
- ally ofSentient Intelligencemade a deal with it and uses its inserts
- related toPaula Myowary former acquaintance seeking her help
- related toMichelangeloworks for him as correspondent and is sleeping with him
- ally ofDudley Boseshe has brought him along and looks after him
- enemy ofAlessandra BaronMellanie believes Baron is a Starflyer agent
- friend ofDudley Bose
- friend ofNiall Swalt
- ally ofAdam Elvin
- related toAlessandra BaronMellanie's former boss
- member ofMichelangelo show
- member ofMichelangeloreporter for his show
- family ofVaughan Rescoraigreat-great-grandfather
- member ofMichelangeloworks for him as a reporter
- member ofSentient Intelligenceworks for the SI
- partner ofMichelangelo
- ally ofPaula Myo
- ally ofNigel Sheldon
- partner ofNigel Sheldonhe proposed; she hasn't answered
- related toCSThas CST security operatives backing her
- friend ofTiger Pansy
- ally ofHoshe Finn
- ally ofOzzie Fernandez Isaac
- friend ofOzzie Fernandez Isaac
- friend ofOrion
- partner ofOrion
Key moments
- Book 1 · Ch 10Morton's private reflections
After they leave, Morton reveals his predatory view of Mellanie, his ambitions for Gansu, and unease over Tara and Cotal, then prepares for a party on Resal's boat.
- Book 1 · Ch 14Morton arrested
Paula and Hoshe arrive at Morton's penthouse and arrest him for the bodykill and memory erasure of his ex-wife Tara Jennifer Shaheef and Wyobie Cotal. Morton insists it's a mistake.
- Book 1 · Ch 14Media frenzy and start of the trial
After Morton's arrest is announced, reporters flood Oaktier. The trial opens in a refurbished Court One before a global audience, with Morton and Mellanie presenting careful images.
- Book 1 · Ch 14Morton sentenced
The judge sentences Morton to 120 years of life suspension. Shaheef shouts at him, Mellanie is restrained, and Morton is led away while the prosecutors celebrate and Paula Myo leaves unmoved.
- Book 1 · Ch 16Hoshe defuses the penthouse standoff
Hoshe talks Mellanie out of the kitchen after she damaged a GPbot during repossession, helps her pack, arranges a B&B, and gets her cybersphere account reactivated.
- Book 1 · Ch 16Mellanie sells her story
Mellanie tells Rishon her story, insists on playing herself, and he sells it within a day as an eight-part drama.
- Book 1 · Ch 16Mellanie discovers Wayside's porno intent
On set at Wayside Productions, Mellanie realises the drama is a sex-heavy production that portrays Morton as a murderer; she objects, and Jaycee tries to placate her.
- Book 1 · Ch 16Mellanie attacks Jaycee
Pressed by Jaycee to perform sex on record, Mellanie refuses, knees him in the groin and walks out of Wayside Productions.
- Book 1 · Ch 16Mellanie recruits the SI as her agent
Penniless, Mellanie contacts the SI. It agrees to manage her media career and fund her neural enhancements, in exchange for occasional access through her senses.
- Book 1 · Ch 22Mark meets Mel
Mark meets a flirtatious newcomer, Mel, who probes him about the blockade's aims and support in town.
- Book 1 · Ch 22Mark humiliated on Alessandra Baron's show
At the Phoenix bar, Mark discovers the reporter he spoke to was Mellanie Rescorai, whose edited interview portrays him as a backward, antihuman simpleton. Messages of abuse flood in.
- Book 1 · Ch 24Murielle's engagement party
Justine hosts a 1950s-themed engagement party for Murielle and Starral at Tulip Mansion despite Thompson's murder, greeting guests including Estella, Alessandra and Mellanie.
- Book 1 · Ch 24Alessandra assigns Mellanie to Campbell Sheldon
Alessandra instructs Mellanie to seduce Campbell Sheldon for navy information; then they notice Paula Myo at the party and Alessandra grows curious.
- Book 1 · Ch 24Myo catches Mellanie
Mellanie tails Paula Myo through Paris but is caught; Myo warns her and hints she should look in deep space before leaving by limousine.
- Book 1 · Ch 24Mellanie approaches Dudley
Dudley flees to a hotel kitchen, where Mellanie praises his courage and offers to take him upstairs or to a Silent World.
- Book 1 · Ch 25Mellanie learns of Myo's interview and the Cox charity
After hours of Dudley's rambling, Mellanie gets him to reveal Myo's interview and the Cox Educational charity, then asks the SI about it and finds suspicious funding.
- Book 1 · Ch 25Mellanie pitches the Starflyer story
Mellanie calls Alessandra with her Starflyer story, but the SI warns of the attack and she dives behind the bed.
- Book 1 · Ch 25Aftermath in Randtown
Mark's group enters Randtown, finds the streets full of glass and blood, and carries a wounded man to the General Hospital, where Simon and Mellanie are present.
- Book 1 · Ch 25Evacuation order and Prime landing
Simon announces an urgent convoy to the Highmarsh after Mellanie warns the aliens are coming; Prime ships then descend through the clouds over the Trine'ba, and her feed cuts out.
- Book 1 · Ch 25Mellanie halts the aliens
Mellanie walks into the street and, with the SI's help, freezes the Prime troops and grounds their flyers, telling the humans to take their weapons and retreat to the convoy.
- Book 1 · Ch 25Mellanie stops the Prime soldiers at Randtown
Mellanie and the SI disrupt the Primes' communications, freezing the soldiers, so Mark's group can take weapons. The SI confronts MorningLightMountain, which vows destruction. Mellanie escapes through a wormhole as flyers fire.
- Book 1 · Ch 25Randtown convoy reaches Turquino wormhole
The convoy flees to the Turquino Valley, where Mellanie has opened a small wormhole, and Carys's group begins to pass through.
- Book 1 · Ch 25Defense of the Turquino Valley
Mark, Liz and Simon fight Prime flyers; Mellanie hijacks one. Mark's battery bomb wrecks the advancing aliens while the last Randtown refugees reach the wormhole.
- Book 1 · Ch 26Mellanie and Alessandra argue
In Alessandra's Salamanca penthouse, Mellanie refuses to seduce Robin Dalsol and insists on her Starflyer investigation story, puzzling Alessandra.
- Book 1 · Ch 26Mellanie flees Alessandra
Mellanie deduces that Alessandra warned the Starflyer's cover-up, flees the penthouse, and heads to Dudley, intending to find Paula Myo.
- Book 2 · Ch 3Mellanie confronts Paula Myo
Mellanie visits Paula in Paris and tells her about the Starflyer, the fraudulent Cox charity and Baron. Paula is noncommittal, says she'll investigate, and asks Mellanie to come to her, not the media, with proof.
- Book 2 · Ch 4Mellanie returns with job offers
Mellanie returns to the Greentree chalet, tells Dudley she took a Bravoweb job that will take her to Far Away to find allies against the Starflyer.
- Book 2 · Ch 4Paula briefs Hoshe
On Hoshe's first day, Paula assigns him to re-investigate the Cox charity and discusses Mellanie and the Rowden escape from LA Galactic.
- Book 2 · Ch 4Mellanie and Dudley depart for Far Away
Mellanie and Dudley push through the crowds at Boongate, get cleared by inspectors with Niall's help, and board a train through the Half Way gateway.
- Book 2 · Ch 4Flight across Half Way
Mellanie and Dudley take a ten-hour Carbon Goose flight from Shackleton to Port Evergreen, seeing whurwals along the way.
- Book 2 · Ch 4Passage through the Far Away wormhole
When the stormrider powers the gateway, the passengers step through to Armstrong City; Mellanie stumbles in the low gravity.
- Book 2 · Ch 4Arrivals watched
Stig McSobel and Olwen McOnna watch Halgarth and Alwon arrive and plan to alert the raiders.
- Book 2 · Ch 4Mellanie and Dudley arrive
Stig and Olwen watch Mellanie and Dudley arrive through the gateway and identify them. The two check into the Langford Towers.
- Book 2 · Ch 4SI subroutine installed
Mellanie releases the SI's observer subroutine into Armstrong City's net to find the Guardians, then asks a barkeeper about meeting them.
- Book 2 · Ch 4Stig learns of the presence in the net
Stig bribes the barkeeper and learns of Mellanie's request. Dr. Friland senses a machine presence in the city net, and Stig concludes Mellanie sent it.
- Book 2 · Ch 4Mellanie investigates Guardian links
Mellanie researches court cases at the grand courthouse, finding that a few lawyers represent paid punks who attacked the Institute, and realizes two groups are watching her.
- Book 2 · Ch 4Cheyne Street car attack
Institute troopers threaten Mellanie; the SIsubroutine hijacks cars, killing both troopers and blocking the Cruisers. Mellanie and Dudley escape in a taken-over car.
- Book 2 · Ch 4Mellanie calls the Guardian contact
Mellanie calls the Guardian leader's code. Stig, having received the call, parks near Franico's at 3F Plaza to meet her.
- Book 2 · Ch 4Mellanie meets the Guardians
At Franico's, Mellanie and Dudley meet Stig and Dr. Friland, seeking Guardian cooperation against the Starflyer. Stig gives her a onetime contact address and they depart for the Commonwealth.
- Book 2 · Ch 5Mellanie confronts the SI
Back in Darklake City, Mellanie questions the SI about its involvement. It says it will protect her but has not decided whether to save humanity, shaking her faith.
- Book 2 · Ch 5Mellanie contacts the Guardians
Mellanie calls Adam Elvin, learns the LA Galactic killer was Bruce McFoster, and gets a new onetime address. She then visits Paul Cramley.
- Book 2 · Ch 5Mellanie recruits Paul
Mellanie persuades the disgraced hacker Paul to run an observation routine on Alessandra Baron by telling him the Starflyer is real and that Baron is involved.
- Book 2 · Ch 5Mellanie visits Morton
Mellanie, grown up, arrives at the barracks and offers Morton a correspondent contract. She and Morton retreat to the rec room and have sex.
- Book 2 · Ch 5Mellanie recruits Morton as a source
In a private simulated space within Morton's inserts, Mellanie tells him about the Starflyer and asks him to smuggle classified Prime information from Elan in his reports; he agrees, and she gives him encryptionware.
- Book 2 · Ch 6Mellanie meets Paul in his crypt
Paul reveals his wetwired state, traces the attackers' payments to Bromley, Waterford, and Granku, and tells of lifeboat projects. He asks Mellanie to investigate a Sheldon lifeboat on Cressat and proposes marriage; she declines.
- Book 2 · Ch 6Nigel suspects Mellanie is an SI observer
Nigel, Nelson and Perdita review Mellanie's background; Nigel concludes she is probably an SI observer and orders discreet surveillance, and a search for Ozzie.
- Book 2 · Ch 6Nigel investigates Mellanie
Nigel is alerted to Mellanie's visit to Paul Cramley's house and begins digging into her, then phones Michelangelo.
- Book 2 · Ch 7Debate over informing the navy
On the mountain saddle, Morton persuades the group to delay telling the navy about Bose. Mellanie's message confirms the secrecy and promises extraction from Elan.
- Book 2 · Ch 7Randtown destroyed; Mark reassigned
Mark and Liz watch Randtown's nuclear destruction on Michelangelo's show. Giselle then visits, grants them lifeboat berths and orders them to move to starship assembly.
- Book 2 · Ch 8Mellanie reports to Adam Elvin
On a beach near Santa Monica, Mellanie tells Adam she can't trace the lawyers and mentions Morton's contact with Bose's memories; Adam names more Starflyer agents.
- Book 2 · Ch 8Mellanie and Dudley discuss the habitat plan
After talking with Adam, Mellanie hears Dudley's plan to hire an inter-orbit tug to find Ozzie's habitat and its wormhole, and tentatively agrees to consider it.
- Book 2 · Ch 9Michelangelo's tip on the fugitives
Michelangelo explains that the fugitive lawyers would seek baseline DNA modification on Illuminatus and gives Mellanie the Saffron Clinic lead.
- Book 2 · Ch 10Mellanie goes undercover on a nightcruise
Disguised as 'Saskia', Mellanie boards the Cypress Island, having tracked Kaspar Murdo from the Saffron Clinic, and is approached by Dorian.
- Book 2 · Ch 10Mellanie kills Dorian
Cut off from the unisphere, Mellanie borrows a cattle prod in the club, lures Dorian into a sprinkler-soaked corridor and remotely triggers the prod, electrocuting him.
- Book 2 · Ch 10Mellanie infiltrates the Saffron Clinic
Mellanie enters the clinic with Murdo, probes its network, finds three candidate admissions, and rebuffs Murdo's maid outfit by locking the room's comms.
- Book 2 · Ch 10Paula's team infiltrates Saffron Clinic
Paula's armored team takes the clinic's net down, catches Mellanie, learns the lawyers' locations, and assigns teams to each.
- Book 2 · Ch 11Paula and Mellanie leave Illuminatus
After the Greenford Tower aftermath, Paula and Hoshe take Mellanie by police van to the CST station and board an express toward Earth.
- Book 2 · Ch 11Isabella ambushed on the express
Isabella Halgarth, a Starflyer agent, attacks the compartment; Paula's team traps her in a cage, disables her with a dump-web and nervejam stick, and captures her alive. Paula reveals it was an entrapment.
- Book 2 · Ch 13Meeting at Newark station
Paula, Justine and Mellanie tell Nigel and Nelson the Starflyer is real and has infiltrated the navy and Halgarths. Nigel orders a secret strike on Dyson Alpha, and Paula deduces the Starflyer travels in a train wagon.
- Book 2 · Ch 13Wormhole rescue from the Trine'ba mountains
Morton's team receives Mellanie's message, verifies her, and passes through a wormhole to Augusta with survivors and the Bose motile.
- Book 2 · Ch 13Dudley meets his motile
Dudley demands his memories from the Bose motile, learns he was killed at Dyson Alpha, and rebuffs Mellanie before both go to a treatment room for the transfer.
- Book 2 · Ch 13Night with Nigel
Mellanie visits Nigel's bedroom; he reveals he got information through his son Michelangelo and asks her to marry him. She declines but stays tempted.
- Book 2 · Ch 13Breakfast confrontation and Dudley's demand
Morton confronts Paula Myo at breakfast. At the meeting, Dudley demands lifeboat berths and reveals the Second Chance's message to the Primes.
- Book 2 · Ch 13Qatux describes Starflyer's control
Qatux reveals how Isabella was compelled as a child, how the Starflyer adapted its plans, and agrees to help Paula read captured agents' memories in exchange for emotional experience via Mellanie's contact.
- Book 2 · Ch 14Mellanie recruits Tiger Pansy
Mellanie fights Jaycee at Wayside Production and persuades Tiger Pansy to join her for a special sensorium job, promising medicine and rejuvenation.
- Book 2 · Ch 14Dudley dumps Mellanie
Dudley Bose coolly ends his relationship with Mellanie, with the Bose motile agreeing it is because he is an asshole; she leaves and later bargains with Hoshe.
- Book 2 · Ch 14Gateway hijacked
Nigel opens Boongate for Alic's team, but Mellanie and Johansson reveal Victor and a second unregistered train; Nigel loses control of the gateway system and Alster stops responding.
- Book 2 · Ch 16Mellanie diverted to Cressat
As Hoshe's arrest team moves on Alessandra Baron, the SI tells Mellanie to impersonate call girl Vanora Kingsley and reach Ozzie Isaac on Cressat; she leaves the operation.
- Book 2 · Ch 16Mellanie's secret contact with Ozzie
Posing as Jasmine, Mellanie kisses Ozzie to activate a simulation in his inserts, delivering the SIsubroutine. Ozzie shares his Dark Fortress theory and plans an escape.
- Book 2 · Ch 16Ozzie's escape plan
Ozzie asks Mellanie to leave that night and have a car waiting while the SIsubroutine subverts security so he can run to the car.
- Book 2 · Ch 16The staged betrayal
Orion finds Jasmine and Ozzie embracing and flees in tears. Ozzie, acting, sends Mellanie after him, which gives her a reason to stay and leave after dark.
- Book 2 · Ch 16Mellanie comforts Orion
Mellanie finds Orion crying in his room, is moved by his sincerity, and kisses him. They spend the afternoon together and he falls asleep.
- Book 2 · Ch 16Escape from the mansion
With the network infiltrated, Mellanie leaves a note for Orion and takes a cab. Ozzie joins her at the cattle grid and they head off to find the Dynasty's starship base.
- Book 2 · Ch 17Ozzie visits Giselle
Ozzie and Mellanie arrive unannounced at the Illanum home of Ozzie's wife Giselle, who slaps him.
- Book 2 · Ch 17Infiltrating the starship complex
Giselle drives Ozzie and Mellanie through security to the assembly platforms and the frigate dock, where Ozzie charms Mark into letting him aboard the Charybdis.
- Book 2 · Ch 17Mellanie shot
Armored security squad arrives; Mellanie tries to deflect their sensors and is gravely wounded, with Nigel appearing as she blacks out.
- Book 2 · Ch 20Mellanie wakes
Mellanie wakes after three weeks of treatment; Orion stays by her, accepts her past, and they kiss.
- Book 2 · Ch 20Ozzie parts from Orion, Mellanie and Tochee
Ozzie says goodbye to his friends, who go on to Tochee's world. Ozzie and the Bose motile take a Silfen path to MorningLightMountain's home.