In 'Pig Son,' Dorrie's ex-husband David is a research scientist who harvests organs inside pigs' bodies. When a woman has a baby, Jun and the others deliver them out of the darkness and back into life. Together, the companions journey in and out of each other's memories, allowing them to understand one another better. He meets many people, all of whom are caught between life and death. While in his comatose state, Jun travels into a memory garden. In 'Through the Garden of Memory,' shortly after contracting the plague, Jun falls into a coma. When Skip meets Dorrie and her son Fitch, his relationship with his work changes. The park is designed to help children die peacefully and to help their parents say goodbye. He accepts a job at a new euthanasia park called The City of Laughter. In 'City of Laughter,' after the Arctic plague outbreak, Skip has trouble finding work as a stand-up comedian. Eventually, a mysterious virus seeps out of the Ice Age girl's body and infects the crew. He finds it increasingly difficult to engage with his wife Miki and his granddaughter Yumi when they call him. Cliff's evolving relationships with the team and growing investment in Clara's research, gradually alter how he sees himself, his life, and the world beyond. When he arrives, the research team tells him about Clara's discovery of the Ice Age girl's remains in a nearby cavern. In '30,000 Years Beneath a Eulogy,' after Cliff's daughter Clara dies while performing environmental research in Russia, Cliff travels to Siberia to complete her work. The following summary adheres to the author's chapter divisions, while relying upon a linear structure and the present tense. The novel embraces an atypical narrative structure, which disrupts conventional notions of time and space.

Sequoia Nagamatsu’s How High We Go in the Dark is written from the first, second, and third person points of view, and employs both the past and present tenses. The following version of this book was used to create the guide: Nagamatsu, Sequoia.

How high we go on the dark