Page 356

on November 20, 2025
Chapter:

Welcome to the Kuiper Belt! This planet was originally going to be the real dwarf planet Sedna, but I’ve been told that “Sedna” is not the correct name of the Inuit deity in question, and moreover it’s not appropriate to use her actual name in daily conversation. So Nuna (Inuktitut for “land”), is either the name given to Sedna once actual Inuit move there, or else some other dwarf planet not yet discovered in 2025. I’m not sure which, and it doesn’t really change the story either way.
We’ll only get to see a glimpse of this Kuipermiut culture, in part because that’s all I feel qualified to write. But from the little we get to see here we know that they live underground, have gravity (but very little, jumping a few stories straight up is a good way to avoid taking the stairs), and that they brought animals with them, including these long-legged arctic foxes.

↓ Transcript
Panel 1: a ruddy, dark dwarf planet sits in the middle of deep space. On the night side you can see the faint glow of settlements.
Panel 2: Narrator: "We made it to the dwarf planet Nuna, eventually, where Seqininnguaq had relatives who hadn't been captured by Varangians. It was quiet. Safe." Inside the Kuipermiut settlement, plain structures with friendly shapes and the occasional mural are occupied by tall, thin people in colourful parkas and jackets. A pair of long-legged arctic foxes cautiously approach a man sitting at a table and sniff his hand.
Panel 3: Ibrahim sits with a cheerful old woman and a man carrying a plate of food. She's drinking tea and has facial tattoos. Narrator: "I never had to worry about basic necessities. Seqininnguaq was right, the Kuipermiut took care of each other."
Panel 4: Narrator: "But even she wasn't what I'd call a 'friend.' Not until later." Ibrahim sits in a public space looking at a holographic screen, as Seqininnguaq, the girl he escaped with, walks by with some other kid. She carries a hunting rifle.
Panel 5: After she walks on, Ibrahim resumes paying attention to his screen. Narrator: "The lost 'insider' kids like me were taken in by a community centre. Abandoning a child is the worst thing, to them. They would have let me stay forever, even if I would never be an 'outsider' like they called themselves."