- Meet Wisty. Wisty is standing before a stadium's worth of spectators, feeling a little overwhelmed.
- And it's not just the people in the stadium watching—millions more are watching on TV.
- Wisty notes that, of all these spectators, none seem to be on her side.
- A tall bald man stands on a tower in the middle of the field. He is The One Who Is The One, and the crowd is wild for him.
- Wisty is with her family, the Allgoods, including her brother and her parents. And judging from the nooses around their necks, they're about to be executed.
- Wisty feels like she's getting ahead of herself, so she decides to rewind and start at the beginning.