How High We Go in the Dark

Content Warning: This chapter contains depictions of a viral outbreak that may be difficult for some readers following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr. Cliff Miyashiro arrives in Siberia after his daughter, Clara, falls to her death. In 2030, rising temperatures have thawed ancient ice, exposing frozen creatures underneath. Maksim, a staff biologist, introduces Cliff to the other scientists and informs him that a quarantine order is in effect because of a virus they reanimated from the melting permafrost. Cliff meets Yulia, the botanist, and is overwhelmed as people share brief memories of Clara. He thinks back to her memorial service, when Clara’s supervisor invited Cliff to continue her work in her stead. His wife, Miki, resisted the idea since the two are responsible for Clara’s daughter, Yumi.

Maksim takes Cliff to “Annie,” the mummified body Clara found before she died. Cliff reads the notes from her preliminary exam, and the two men discuss her uniqueness. Cliff muses about Clara’s devotion to bettering the world at the expense of seeing her family as he visits Clara’s sleep pod, finding her journal but not the purple crystal necklace she wore since her adoption at age three. He also finds her dogū statue, meant to be a protection from evil. He reads some of her diary entries, remembering when he was at another archeological dig and Clara, Miki, and Yumi visited him. The visit ended with him trying to force Clara to stay in California rather than travel to Siberia. Clara cut her visit short as a result.

Yulia invites Cliff to join the other scientists for dinner, where they drink both to welcome Cliff to the site and to memorialize Clara. He asks Yulia about the missing pendant, but she doesn’t know where it is. The next day, the team heads to the dig site, where fellow scientist Dave teaches him about the area and the archeological location. At the large crater, Yulia takes Cliff to the hole where Clara fell and died on impact—it’s where Annie was discovered, leading Cliff to ruminate on both their deaths. He notices cave carvings that Yulia says are too advanced for the time period, and Cliff jokes about extraterrestrials. He then goes to where Dave is collecting water samples, and Dave explains the importance of reanimating ancient viruses to develop protective measures before they infect people. Back at the compound, Cliff texts Miki and begins another examination of Annie. His work on the Neanderthal child makes him think about his family. Clara’s husband, Ty, and Yumi moved in with Cliff and Miki when Ty struggled to find work. He was stabbed to death while attending a wedding; Clara missed the funeral because of work. Cliff smokes with Maksim and Dave; he tells them about Yumi, and they tell him about the virus’s unique behavior.

A week later, Annie’s genetic analysis is complete, but news about the virus is kept quiet. After a video call with Miki and Yumi, Cliff writes a goodbye letter to Clara in her journal, finally understanding what drove her intensity. News of a viral outbreak hundreds of miles away reaches the group. They continue to monitor their own virus, which causes abnormal cellular growth such as “brain cells in the liver, lung cells in the heart” (28). Over time, the scientists begin to develop symptoms and start to test positive for the virus. Cliff throws the dogū statue into the crater and struggles to return to the compound.