Chapter 1 Summary: The Habenula — Disappointment

⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.

Summary

The chapter opens with Bee Königswasser, a neuroscientist at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, reflecting on her favorite piece of trivia: Marie Curie wore her lab gown to her wedding. Bee recounts how the University of Krakow denied Marie a faculty position because she was a woman, which pushed her back toward Pierre Curie. But the story darkens when Pierre dies in a carriage accident in 1906, leaving Marie alone with two daughters. Bee's conclusion: love is an unstable isotope, constantly undergoing decay. Science, by contrast, never abandons you.

This framing sets up Bee's reaction when NASA notifies her that she's been chosen as lead investigator for BLINK, a prestigious neuroengineering project to build performance-enhancing technology for astronauts. She screeches joyfully in her tiny windowless office, then celebrates over the weekend: drinks with three favorite colleagues, a hair change from pink to purple, new green lingerie, a failed attempt at a Couch-to-Marathon plan (downgraded to Couch-to-5K), and baking treats for Finneas, her elderly neighbor's cat.

On Monday at 4:33 p.m., an email from NASA reveals the co-lead for BLINK: Levi Ward, her grad school nemesis. Bee calls her sister Reike in Portugal, waking her at 2 a.m. Reike immediately remembers