Untitled Revisionist Western Chapter Summaries:
Chapter One:
Kiona Kork stands on a sacred butte overlooking two rival towns: industrial Blackridge and peaceful Eden’s Drift. After being cast out by her mother for an unspecified wrongdoing, she reflects on the loving life she lost and realizes she finally exhausted her family’s forgiveness.
As railroad surveyors decide which town the railroad will connect to, Kiona forms a desperate plan: she will go to Blackridge and sabotage its chances of getting the railroad. She believes that if Eden’s Drift wins instead, she can return home as a hero and regain the love and acceptance she lost.
Symbolizing her transformation, Kiona cuts off her long hair, abandoning her old identity, and heads toward Blackridge determined to do whatever it takes.
Chapter Two:
Kiona leaves Edens Drift and heads to the railroad planners’ camp, determined to stop the growing conflict between Eden’s Drift and Blackridge. As she walks, she struggles with fear, anger, and memories of feeling trapped and rejected by her community and family. At the camp, she overhears railroad officials debating which town should become the rail hub. They favor Blackridge because it has a bank and the infrastructure to support industrial growth, while Edens Drift remains isolated and traditional.
Listening to them, Kiona realizes the bank is the key to Blackridge’s power and future prosperity. She decides that simply stealing from it would not be enough — she wants to destroy the influence of the powerful Blackridge families completely. At the same time, she reflects on her painful separation from her family, especially her mother, and how cutting her hair symbolized breaking away from her old life. The chapter ends with Kiona entering Blackridge, seemingly resolved to take drastic action.
Chapter Three:
Kiona arrives in Blackridge and reunites with her childhood friend Elm, who was falsely declared dead after being exiled from Eden’s Drift. Elm brings her to a Willing’s Day ceremony, where the impoverished townspeople gather around a mysterious pit. The Mayor introduces a young man, Sarbonio Yosant, as “the Willing,” and, to the crowd’s delight, he voluntarily jumps into the abyss. As the ground shakes and a monstrous roar rises from below, Kiona realizes that Blackridge is sustained by a dark and powerful force—and decides she will destroy it.
Chapter Four:
A violent earthquake interrupts a celebration in Blackridge as a telepathic voice announces a 32-minute countdown until "planetary core failure." As the earth fractures—swallowing the Mayor and destroying nearby towns—a ancient, metallic spaceship named ARK IV emerges from beneath the ground.
Amidst total panic and destruction, Kiona and Elm escape through a side hatch alongside four other survivors. The engineer seals the ship just before the street collapses. The ship launches into space, leaving only six people aboard. From orbit, they watch in stunned silence as the Earth shatters into a cloud of fire and stone.
Chapter Five:
Escaping Earth’s destruction aboard ARK 4, six survivors—Kiona, Elm, engineer Edgar, Thomas, Edna, and child Gina—face a dying oxygen supply. They learn the ships are meant to dock together, though some collide.
To survive, Kiona takes charge, leading them into the corridors. However, the automated Command Intelligence activates, threatening to process non-essential personnel into food. Mechanical copper arms attack, brutally killing Gina as Edna tries to save her ruined flower.
The remaining five force open a door into fresh air, only to be captured at gunpoint by golden guards. A bizarrely dressed leader claims them as forced labor—and food.
Chapter Six:
Guards march Kiona, Thomas, Elm, Edgar, Edna, and Gina into an enormous, machine-filled breeding floor. Outnumbered, they face capture until four-armed aliens crash through the ceiling, triggering a chaotic brawl. A train-themed robot from the Ark Railway Association intervenes, only to be promptly short-circuited by the aliens.
Escaping into an adjacent chamber, Kiona discovers thousands of her own clones in glass containers. When the lead guard proudly boasts about the breeding program, the newly released clones vaporize him and swiftly overrun the facility, overwhelming the guards. Spotting a mysterious Space Cowboy outside, Kiona and her companions successfully escape amidst the chaos.
Chapter Seven:
Casey Kork meets Ted Blackridge and witnesses the arrival of the Ark Railway Consortium. Commissioner Zefecato offers Casey gold and supplies for his family in exchange for secretly transporting materials, and Casey accepts by sealing the contract with his blood.
Meanwhile, Thomas is badly wounded, and Edgar is shaken by the deaths of the clones. Kiona’s clones turn on each other before Kiona raises her father’s knife, which Edgar recognizes, realizing she is the coachman’s daughter.
Edgar later reveals how Ted used the Consortium’s gold, a printing press, and promises of a bank to become mayor. He admits Kiona’s DNA was needed for research and that he knew Zefecato’s plans. However, he reveals that Kiona’s destroyed home may actually still exist underground, as the ship uses screens to manipulate what its servants see.
Chapter Eight:
Elm goes toward the underground Blackridge with a group of Kiona clones to see if Sarbonio is stll alive while Kiona, Edgar, and two clones head for Eden’s Drift. Traveling through maintenance tunnels, they emerge into a grim, soot-covered simulation of Kiona’s hometown, now transformed into a breeding ground for the train-like Chuggernauts.
As they cross the ruined town, Kiona encounters Mr. Kang, Kiona’s old neighbour. Kang reveals that Kiona’s father is actually the Consortium’s Chief Logistics Officer and a willing participant in their operations. Enraged, Kiona slashes Kang’s throat, provoking the surrounding Chuggernauts to pursue her and the clones.
Edgar leads them to a golden horse-drawn carriage mounted on train wheels, but is injured while trying to hold off the Chuggernauts. He welds the tracks shut, buying Kiona and the clones enough time to escape. The carriage races toward the real Eden’s Drift, where Kiona hopes to finally confront Zefecato and discover the truth about her father.
