The Big Time · Chapter
XV: Lord Spider explained
The Soldiers retrieve the Maintainer and restore the Change Winds, but Sid stages a convincing deception by impersonating a Lord Spider, only to reveal his trick and seize control of the Minor Maintainer.
What happens
The Soldiers retrieve the Maintainer and restore the Change Winds, but Sid stages a convincing deception by impersonating a Lord Spider, only to reveal his trick and seize control of the Minor Maintainer. Bruce then disarms the bomb chest, declaring it safe.
Themes in this chapter
Reality and Illusion
Sid's elaborate impersonation of a Lord Spider blurs the line between reality and performance, fooling even the Soldiers.
Power and Knowledge
Control of the Maintainers shifts power dynamics; Sid's deception and Bruce's bomb disarming highlight knowledge as a tool of power.
Survival and Resilience
The group faces the atomic bomb threat and internal betrayals, yet adapts and continues to strive for survival.
Characters to notice
- Sidney Lessingham
Deceives everyone by impersonating a Lord Spider, then seizes the Minor Maintainer and threatens to destroy the Place.
- Erich von Hohenwald
Retrieves the Maintainer and activates the Introversion switch, restoring the Change Winds.
- Lili Foster
Brought in by Kaby; shows mixed emotions about the Change Winds and is later accused by Sid of hiding the Maintainer.
- Kaby
Marches Lili in and later hands the Minor Maintainer to Sid.
- Greta Forzane
Narrates the events; feels the Change Winds and is shocked by Sid's deception and Bruce's actions.
- Bruce Marchant
Disables the bomb chest, declaring it safe, after a tense moment of apparent betrayal.
- Beau Lassiter
Takes the Major Maintainer and begins tuning it to call headquarters.
- Doc
Howls like a wolf, revealing he was responsible for the Spider wail sound used in Sid's act.
Key passages
“I felt the changing pasts blowing through me, and the uncertainties whistling past, and ice-stiff reality softening with all its duties and necessities, and the little memories shredding away and dancing off like autumn leaves, leaving maybe not even ghosts behind, and all the crazy moods like Mardi Gras dancers pouring down an evening street, and something inside me had the nerve to say it didn’t care whether Greta Forzane’s death was riding in those Winds because they felt so good.”
The narrator experiences the Change Winds as a liberating force that dissolves past certainties and memories, bringing a reckless joy that overrides concern for Greta's fate.
Captures the intoxicating and transformative effect of the Change Winds on the narrator.
“Lord, I am filled from top to toe with confusion that you should so honor my poor Place... Prithee, how may I serve thee, sir? I know not e’en how most suitably to address thee, Lord… King… Emperor Spider!”
Sid speaks with exaggerated deference to an imagined Spider lord, expressing awe and terror.
Shows Sid's theatrical skill in fabricating a convincing Spider presence.
“Back, tricksy trull! Not the breadth of one scarlet toenail nearer me, you Queen of Sleights and High Priestess of Deception!... You least of all do I trust. Why you hid the Maintainer, I know not, ’faith, but later you’ll discover the truth to me or I’ll have your gizzard.”
Sid angrily warns Greta to stay away, accusing her of deception and threatening to force a confession.
Reveals Sid's suspicion and his dramatic, confrontational manner.
