Adele spots the quake rippling out through shadow, moments before it strikes the city. As the cabal drives around they see many signs of the disaster: fallen rubble, fires, and accidents. Valkyrie uses her powers to calm the flames as they pass by while Mammon and Adele notice the many fire elementals taking advantage of the situation. Then as they pass a burning building, Colt spots someone in the window, trying to get out. He tells Mammon to stop and asks Valkyrie to fireproof him. Then he jumps out of the car and runs into the smoky building. As he climbs through the inferno, Valkyrie slowly gets the flames under control. Meanwhile Adele and Mammon spot ever shifting spirits of chaos trickling out from the heart of city. Adele also spots Colt grabbing a person from third story of the building. He carries out an old woman who had succumbed to the smoke and is not breathing. Valkyrie and Colt resuscitate her, calling out to an off duty cop to get an ambulance. As the crowd grows around the old lady, Colt and Valkyrie slip away. Valkyrie worries about her son, Evan.
They decide to drive to the center of the city, spotting many signs of chaos ringed with chaos spirits both in Shadow and Twilight. They pull over at an abandoned convenience store and grab a case of water bottles for use as Spirit Jars. At the others' urging Mammon leaves some money for them. Mammon quickly makes a spirit jar and forces a chaos spirit into the bottle, causing the other spirits to scatter. As they drive further along, Colt chats with it. It says that Cob is dying and demands to be free. Meanwhile Adele can see a growing mound in Shadow at the same location as the clockmaker of Valkyrie's Awakening. Suddenly three of the car's tires blow out simultaneously. Mammon pulls the vehicle to a halt while the chaos spirits attack the car, smashing windshields and denting the body. Adele attempts to command them and in retaliation one of them inflicts her with claustrophobia. Mammon has more luck driving one off. Colt meanwhile kicks out the door and escapes with Norna. Adele scurries out after them. Once out in the open Adele commands one into a water bottle. Their number halved, the remaining chaos spirits flee.
They continue their journey to the epicenter on foot. As they approach the Shadow hill they see that it is enfolded in a web of steel. There are also numerous chaos spirits fighting Pattern Spiders, some of which seem broken or mad. Mammon does his best to reorganize the pattern spiders and restore order. After a brief discussion, they decide to cross over into Shadow. But first Colt takes Norna to the Promethean to be safe. Just as they leave Mammon is called on his disposable phone by Dr. Smith. The doctor admits to being a mage and asks Mammon for his help. He claims to be able to stop the growing chaos and requests a meeting. Mammon says he will call him back and hangs up. At the same time Adele is called by Midas, who says they have much to discuss and asks for a meeting as well. Adele says she will meet him at a diner in two hours. Mammon, Adele, and Valkyrie discuss the information, agreeing that they can't trust the Seers of the Throne. Valkyrie checks on Evan and is relieved to hear that he is safe. Meanwhile at the Promethean, Colt runs into Councilor Babbage. They talk for a few moments and the old mage tries to persuade him to do whatever is necessary for the good of the city. Once upstairs Decima greets them and explains Athaliah has been filling her in. After hearing the latest portions of their story, she comments that the men in black sound familiar. She lets Colt get back to dealing with the growing chaos, taking Norna and the captive chaos spirit into her care.
Colt returns as Adele and Mammon finish a ritual casting to create a portal into Shadow. They fill Colt in as they pass through into the other realm. As they push through webbing, strands begin to vibrate attracting the attention of a pattern spider. Mammon is able to convince the spider to not attack and the cabal is able to squeeze through. A vast open space is on the other side with an irregularly shaped rift opening in the floor. Over this opening, a web of thick cables strains against some invisible force. Each stand quivers with tautness, a few have snapped. The anchor points crack and split with stress. Several pattern spiders scurry about. A particularly large pattern spider, Cob, sprawls next to the rift, trying in its weakened condition to weave two strands together. Cob moves sluggishly, tass spurting from a huge rent in its abdomen. Colt drives off a nearby chaos spirit, while Mammon tries to heal Cob. The powerful but dying spirit is fatalistic, saying the chaos will return and that nothing will save it. Adele meanwhile looks into the rift. Multicolored vapors rise though the mesh. Below is a swirling mass of molten ooze. As this primordial soup surges against the rift’s walls, some splashes though the web. The droplets form Chaos and Fire spirits. These spirits attack the webbing until pattern spiders converge upon and immobilize them. Many thick cables pump the raw chaos up into some realm above them. Cob tells them of the attack by the biker vampires and fire spirits. It also tells them that the Seers of the Throne are trying to replace him so that order is maintained. But time is short, Cob will die soon. The cabal decides to return to the Fallen world and on Cob's advice they climb the cabling to an exit. Passing through a greenish black barrier into somewhere not Shadow and not Fallen, they find themselves in a vast cave.
Dozens of tunnels open from the walls, some spilling water into a lightless pool below. A series of balconies, steel bridges, suspended landings, and ladders crisscross the space. The air throbs with a hum of strange machinery. Giant test tubes hang from the ceiling, attached to machines by cables and wiring. Bodies in various stages of growth float in amber fluid, occasionally convulsing. But there are signs of recent fighting as well. Piping and power cables are severed. Some spray pressurized water, or thrash and sizzle from live electricity. Others drip multicolored liquid or emit dazzling sparks. Catwalks tilt precariously. Some of the cloning tanks have shattered, aborting their contents; undeveloped bodies sprawl in pools of nutrient fluid like fish out of water. Mammon tries to view shadow in this realm but suffers paradox with the normally covert spell. Colt in the meantime realizes the entire space is a large Space spell, protected by Wards. Adele sees there is no Shadow here and the two put this together to realize they are in a pocket dimension. Mammon takes a picture of the cloning tanks, just as they hear someone moving above them. Adele calls out to them and a pair of Swedish twins with some clone guards arrive. The guards point rifles at the mages while Frey and Friia speak to them. Mammon says they are here to see Dr. Smith. The twins move away to confer in Swedish, then leave to get Dr. Smith. When they return the cabal is led into an elevator and taken to the top of the medical center building.
The storm is still going and waiting in the rain is a large man, Dr. Smith. He turns and greets them. The Seer gets straight to the point. He fills in the gaps in their knowledge of Cob and the consequences of his death. Finally, he explains his plan to transform Norma Weaver into a powerful pattern spider. “I am not an evil man, nor an unreasonable one, but the path often forces us toward unreasonable decisions, unfortunate ones. If we fail to install a new warden, Chicago will fall and a seething chaos will warp the land." He asks them for their help in saving the city. When pushed he reveals that the being beneath the city is not a mere spirit but a fallen god, exiled from the Supernal from before the Fall. Moreover he reveals that his shadow name is actually Midas. They agree to discuss this with Norna and he lets them go.
The cabal takes the cab provided by the Seers back to the Promethean and find a quiet space to discuss the many events and revelations. They call and bring in Athaliah. She is able to fill them in on the MiBs, who seem to be a unusual paradox effect. They discuss what they can do, what alternatives they have to handing over Norna. Valkyrie calls Cicero and asks about using the city's ley lines to funnel the chaos out of the city. He tells her that it isn't possible as it would take too long and the geomantic network is backed up in Gary, Indiana. They decide to visit the Athenaeum to see if the Mysterium has useful information on their problems. On the edge of the University of Chicago, they enter the secret annexes that hide the largest magical library in the city. They are met by the mage Tesseract who guides them to the head Curator, Logos. After listening to their requests for information on Cob, transmutation into a spirit and the hidden god beneath the city, he balks a bit but provides some information of the first two while he gets the rest of the information. The books confirm what they already know. Cob is one with the city's infrastructure and his death will have grave consequences for the city. As to the ritual, it is real but quite dangerous. Being to set in one's ways or in the wrong ways can ruin it and destroy the mage's mind. Norna would be an ideal subject if there was one. The alternative would be a upper level Scion of God, like Rota. Logos returns with several books with the relevant details already marked. These are old tomes, from the deepest archives. They learn the history the city from the ancient legacy called Circle of Four which was destroyed shortly after the Fall to the end of the mysterious mound builder civilization to the deaths at Fort Dearborn and then to the fires that hit the city again and again.
The group divides up to investigate several methods to stop the impending disaster. Colt searches for Ellsworth, who has already become something like a spirit of the city and who might be able to complete the transition. He follows the ley lines, noticing that they have been bent and moved. After hours of searching, he finds his old friend, though the trauma to the city has left him wavering in strength. He informs him of their plan and the ghost agrees to help. Adele meanwhile dreams of Rota, while Valkyrie guards the sanctum. She descends an endless staircase and finds the grim reaper image of Rota waiting. She describes her troubles and the spirit laments that his own plans are so belated. He hypothesizes a ritual to transform Ellsworth into a spirit of the city but it is currently beyond her or anyone's power. It might be possible to use it temporarily however, though at great cost. Mammon meanwhile retrieves a new car, a blinged out H1 and drives to the Promethean. He finds the staff has been sent away and the Fist of Talos is guarding the lobby. Upstairs Mammon finds Decima teaching Norna Fate magic. Leaving her for a moment, the two confer. Decima is supportive of the cabal's actions as well as their decision about Norna. She also let him know Athaliah is working to create a potent order spirit to help should the worst come.
The cabal regroups at the Promethean and looks at their information. Ultimately none of the plans are good. They decide all they can do is stand by Norna's decision. They talk to Norna, informing her of the full threat to the city. The young mage is wavering between sacrifice and her own fears. Adele points out that Midas has set Norna up and that the fact her family was stolen away is not her fault. With that Norna says no. The group immediate prepares for the eventual Seer attack. In moments, an explosion shakes the building and the sounds of gunfire can be heard below. Adele notices that the hotel's ghosts are at the ready wielding bloody knives, tommy-guns, and other ghostly weapons. In shadow an epic battle is under way as Athaliah's Chainsaw spirits battle Midas's Fire Angels. Valkyrie fireproofs the area and the rest of the group quickly casts their spells.
Suddenly a portal opens up and mage with a hunting rifle jumps out. Colt shoots him and Valkyrie burns him with a flaming blade. Gritting his teeth, he shoots Valkyrie in turn, while a squad of identical quintuplets come through shooting at everyone. Mammon, Norna and Adele take cover. Then a mage in black, Midas's infamous right hand man Radium 226, rushes through moving at incredible speed. In seconds he runs around the other combatants and sinks an ensorceled knife deep into Mammon's stomach. The Mastigos crumples. As Colt runs over to heal his dying friend, Radium grabs Norna and tries to escape back out the portal. Adele lashes out with Death magic destroying the floor beneath him. He falls through while Norna pulls herself back at the last moment. As the other Seer flees, Decima bursts in and kills four of the soldiers in seconds, fraying their patterns with high levels of Death magic. The angry ghosts finish off the remaining combatant.
Finally as dawn breaks, Cob loses cohesion and breaks apart. As if sensing weakness, chaos surges and swells beneath the pattern-web. Then with a loud, metallic twang, cables snap. The ground trembles, the region shakes...and nothing happens! Mages throughout the city wonder what happened. Better still, what didn't happen. The Great Fire Spirit should have burst forth, reality should have unraveled, Chicago should even now be burning.
The cabal rests after their victory. But also wonder...what comes next?