A consciousness named Anlic wakes up in the ruins of an abandoned gravity mine in outer space with no concept of her own identity. She's part of an entity called The Conflux, the great river of consciousness through which all human minds flow. Another consciousness named Geador tells Anlic that they are in Mine One, built on the ruins of the primeval galaxy from which humans first emerged. That was so long ago that the mine became exhausted and will soon evaporate completely. Geador also tells her about the Afterglow, a brief period after the Big Bang, when humans arose. Nobody has been born since the Afterglow, except Anlic. Geador encourages Anlic to give herself up to the Conflux. When Anlic reawakens, the universe is much older. The entire Conflux is fleeing an unseen force that spans the universe. Anlic pauses, and Geador begs her to keep moving. Superclusters of black holes are evaporating, and the Conflux must farm them for energy before it's too late. They collect the black holes in a giant net called the City. Geador tells Anlic that everyone wakes up from time to time on accident, although she is unique in that she doesn't know where she came from and cannot remember the Afterglow. Anlic flees with Geador, returning to the Conflux. Anlic wakes up for the last time. The Conflux of minds has dispersed. She sees a thin plasma of electrons and positrons decaying from the last of the Big Bang's hydrogen. She spends ages seeking out Mine One, but nothing remains there except a slow writhing movement. She realizes that this is the singularity that once chased the Community. Now it is a knot of quantum foam. It is much weaker than before. She waits next to the singularity and sees complexity emerge and dissipate. Some of the mass-energy fragments gather and store information about the thinning universe. It finally emits a spark of consciousness, just like Anlic. She nurtures it and allows it to develop sophistication, adopting it as her daughter.