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Chapter 6 traces the historical and catastrophic events that shaped Ukraine in the twentieth century, focusing on the Holodomor famine engineered by the Soviet regime, which caused millions of deaths, and the Chernobyl nuclear disaster of 1986. It highlights the Soviet government's systematic oppression, denial, and manipulation of information surrounding these tragedies, as well as the lasting impact on Ukrainian society and memory.

The chapter intertwines the spiritual rebellion led by Keeper and Fromwest in the bureaucratic bardo realm, where they resist enforced forgetting to retain memory across reincarnations, with the grounded, Confucian life of Widow Kang. Kang's strict household management, her compassionate yet cautious sheltering of the monk Bao Ssu, and the political dangers they face—including the symbolic act of queue-cutting and Bao's subsequent torture and death—highlight the oppressive Qing regime's impact on personal and familial life. The narrative culminates in Kang's social ostracism and supernatural affliction, underscoring the intersection of political oppression, cultural identity, and spiritual endurance.

Sessine journeys through a vast cryptic landscape while haunted by dreams of ecological collapse and humanity's retreat into subterranean refuges and virtual realities as Earth succumbs to environmental disaster. The narrative shifts to a disoriented protagonist falling through a shaft, encountering mysterious bird-like lammergeiers who reveal the state has killed their wild counterparts and that a critical emissary from a chaotic crypt region, the asoora, is at risk. The lammergeier leader enlists Sessine's help to undertake a dangerous vacuum balloon mission to ascend a massive tower and deliver an important package vital for salvation, highlighting themes of survival, political conflict, and interspecies cooperation.

The chapter describes the Bulgarian border during the communist era, focusing on the electrified barbed wire fence known as The Installation, which was designed to prevent infiltration but symbolically pointed inward to control the population. It portrays the harsh and oppressive conditions faced by border soldiers, including psychological isolation, brutal leadership, and the deadly environment of the Furrow of Death, a strip of land meticulously maintained to detect any intrusion.

The chapter chronicles Felix S.'s desperate attempt to escape East Germany in 1971, his subsequent capture, brutal imprisonment, and psychological torment under the Stasi and Bulgarian authorities. It explores the systemic state repression and violence of the communist regime, the enduring trauma and memory of political imprisonment, and Felix's use of artistic performance as a form of resistance and reckoning with his past. The narrative intertwines personal experience with broader historical and political contexts, highlighting the complex legacy of division, authoritarianism, and resilience.