Justine Burnelli
Names: Justine BurnelliJustineMother
First appears in Book 1: The Dreaming Void, chapter 4 (2)
Appearances
What you know
Book 1: The Dreaming Void
- Ch 4Justine is over a thousand years old, born in the early twenty-first century; she had her stored body revived after two centuries inside ANA to meet the Ocisen Ambassador.
- Ch 4Justine distrusts re-life, believing clones fed a dead person's memories are not the same person, so she kept her original body rather than letting it be discontinued.
- Ch 4Justine represents the human government of Earth and is empowered to negotiate with the Ocisen Empire.
- Ch 4Justine feels responsible for the death of Kazimir McFoster, her lover, and has never let that memory fade.
- Ch 4Justine says Living Dream's Pilgrimage is a simple political gesture and cannot pass the Void's event horizon, so no one need worry.
- Ch 4Quietly agrees with much of the Ocisen's concern; ANA:Governance will propose a Senate motion asking Living Dream to desist from reckless action.
- Ch 4Was ANA:Governance's second choice for her role; Toniea Gall was first. She is Gore's daughter and reluctantly must consult the Raiel.
- Ch 8Justine favors peaceful solutions toward the Ocisens; Gore is her father.
- Ch 8Justine voted against any physical force against the Empire fleet and left the meeting in exasperation when told the committee would only reconvene afterwards.
- Ch 8Gore warns Ilanthe not to underestimate his daughter Justine.
- Ch 10Justine Burnelli is a wealthy ally of Paula who theorises an early-version full-clone of Inigo could receive Void dreams, helping its controllers.
- Ch 10She deduced the Delivery Man cleared the hangar using the Hawking m-sink, and plans to warn Kazimir that such weapons are loose.
- Ch 10She will fly to Centurion Station to check its confluence nest for traces of Void dreams, hoping to identify the Second Dreamer.
- Ch 14Justine is an ANA representative who travelled alone five hundred hours in the Silverbird to Centurion Station to review the Void observation first-hand.
Book 2: The Temporal Void
- Ch 1Justine lives in an old, aged body, has biononics and a force field, and uses a gaiafield link; she decides to fly into the Void to negotiate.
- Ch 1Justine believes fleeing is cowardly and argues the Raiel's million years of force have failed, so humans should try a diplomatic approach with the Skylords.
- Ch 3Justine is Gore's daughter, a diplomat of centuries' experience, flying alone in an ultradrive ship toward the Void to negotiate with the Skylord.
- Ch 3Justine was at Centurion Station when the devourment began and defied her father's pleas by heading straight for the Void.
- Ch 3Justine flies the ultradrive ship Silverbird toward the Void boundary while billions follow her flight through the unisphere; she is frightened but keeps going.
- Ch 5Justine was swallowed by the Void; the Council is waiting for news of her, and Kazimir thinks she may be Mayoress of Makkathran.
- Ch 6Justine survived passing into the Void, and sees herself as an ambassador from one universe to a different universe.
- Ch 6Justine finds she can use Farsight inside the Void, moving a wineglass with her mind, though weakly compared with the Waterwalker.
- Ch 6After days of failing to find a way to navigate, Justine accepts she is lost and enters medical stasis aboard the Silverbird.
- Ch 6Justine has macrocellular clusters and biononics, and is effectively immortal, with memories stored for cloning if needed.
- Ch 8Justine entered the Void, and her thoughts and vision were received by an unidentified other Dreamer, not the Second Dreamer.
- Ch 8Justine is dreaming but has gone into suspension, removing her from events for a while.
- Ch 10Justine dreams of her two-day love affair with Kazimir on Far Away, despite it being impossible to dream in suspension; she wakes in tears aboard the Silverbird.
- Ch 10Justine met Kazimir after landing a hyperglider past Mount Herculaneum while celebrating a rejuvenation; she was two hundred years older than he.
- Ch 10Justine betrayed Kazimir by informing the security services when he came to Earth, and she has never forgiven herself in twelve hundred years.
- Ch 10Justine bore Kazimir a son and named him after him.
- Ch 10Justine concluded the Skylord is too alien, with fixed thought routines, to help her; she doubts it is truly sentient.
- Ch 10Justine is heading to a star with a forming accretion disc, likely lacking habitable worlds, mostly as a comfort measure.
- Ch 11Justine entered the Void and the Skylord refused to take her to the nucleus; she is still alive.
- Ch 13Justine wakes from suspension aboard the Silverbird as it nears a star system inside the Void, having dreamed of her lost lover.
- Ch 13Justine concludes that willpower governs the Void, and that the Void does not want the Silverbird to fly.
- Ch 13Justine refuses to be cruel to Kazimir, treating him as a person, though she is pained and tempted to leave.
- Ch 13Justine wants to reach whoever runs the Void's nucleus and convince them to stop the expansion, but does not know where it is.
- Ch 13Justine has been in the Void four days of her own time, but four years have passed outside.
- Ch 13Justine is attracted to Kazimir and reluctantly accepts she must go back in time, which will end his existence, promising to find him if she can.
- Ch 13Justine uses the confluence nest to copy Edeard's method of reaching into the Void's past, and resets the Void to a chosen moment in her life.
Book 3: The Evolutionary Void
- Ch 2Justine awakens aboard the Silverbird after the Void was reset to a point three years into her journey, and she knows the reset worked.
- Ch 2Justine repeats her first conversation with the Skylord, this time asking directly to be taken to Querencia, and it agrees.
- Ch 2Justine shuts down the confluence nest so her amplified dreams stop leaking out and warping reality, then goes into suspension for the rest of the flight.
- Ch 2Justine promises the memory of Kazimir that she will make him real again.
- Ch 3Justine, an emissary to the Skylords, is on her way to Makkathran inside the Void.
- Ch 17Justine wakes from forty years of suspension aboard the Silverbird, aching and weak, and realises her body sensations are being shared with much of humanity through her father.
- Ch 17Justine expects to wait weeks, years or decades at Makkathran before Gore's plan becomes apparent, so she replicates clothes, food, camping gear and a pistol.
- Ch 18Justine's dream of landing the Silverbird in Golden Park at Makkathran reached the Dreamers, showing she made it.
- Ch 19Justine has lived alone in the abandoned Makkathran since landing in the Silverbird, camping in the Sampalok mansion and exploring the city daily with farsight and a third hand.
- Ch 19Justine is troubled by loneliness and awaits her father's word; she thinks she can only leave the Void by resetting it to a time before she landed.
- Ch 19Justine realizes the Lady's statue depicts someone she personally met, and bursts into hysterical laughter at the irony.
- Ch 19Justine has lived roughly a thousand years in a meat body, after spending her first thirty years in the East Coast party scene.
- Ch 19Justine understands Inigo's building of Makkathran2 as an act of worship after seeing the bakery where Boyd was murdered.
- Ch 20Justine has lived in Makkathran seven weeks, learned to command the city's simple routines, sculpted ge-chimps, and rides travel tunnels; she now looks tanned and wild.
- Ch 20Justine is a Commonwealth eternal who looks barely out of her teens; she commands the group and pilots toward the Heart.
- Ch 20Justine is distraught at Gore's elevation but declines to join the Heart, choosing to go home.
- Ch 21Justine summoned Kazimir back from the Void's creation layer and takes him to the Tulip Mansion, her family home on Earth.
Connections
- family ofGore Burnellidaughter and father
- family ofKazimir McFostermother and son
- ally ofKazimir Burnelli
- ally ofPaula Myo
- member ofANArepresentative
- related toSilverbirdpilots
- family ofKazimir Burnelliher son
- partner ofKazimir McFosterformer lovers; this Kazimir is a Void-made copy
- related toKazimir McFosterKazimir was created from Justine's dream/memory by the Void
- ally ofGore Burnelli
Key moments
- Book 1 · Ch 4Justine revives her body
Justine inspects her preserved body, downloads her consciousness back into it from ANA, and teleports to the Tulip Mansion to prepare for the Ambassador's visit.
- Book 1 · Ch 4Ocisen Ambassador arrives
The Ocisen Ambassador lands on the Tulip Mansion grounds and is received by Justine and Kazimir, while Gore watches via an icon; tension arises over the Fandola assault.
- Book 1 · Ch 4Ambassador demands Pilgrimage be stopped
In the McLeod room, the Ambassador demands that Justine prevent Living Dream's ships from entering the Void, fearing a devourment phase; Justine downplays the danger.
- Book 1 · Ch 4Ocisen Ambassador's ultimatum
The Ocisen Ambassador demands the Commonwealth stop the Living Dream Pilgrimage ships, threatening Empire action with new allies. Justine and Kazimir refuse force but promise a Senate motion.
- Book 1 · Ch 8Council meets on Ocisen fleet
Kazimir informs the ExoProtectorate Council that a huge Ocisen fleet is heading for Ellezelin; members debate force, diversion or diplomacy without agreement.
- Book 1 · Ch 8Committee votes to confront the Ocisen fleet
The committee votes by majority for the Navy to warn the Ocisen command ship and disable it if ignored. Justine and Creewan oppose; Justine leaves, and Kazimir will reconvene if the fleet keeps coming.
- Book 1 · Ch 10Paula briefs Justine
Paula tells Justine the raid was Faction-organized, identifies Corrie-Lyn and Aaron/Telfer fleeing on the Artful Dodger, and plans to stay visible while someone unexpected finds the Second Dreamer.
- Book 1 · Ch 10Machine destroyed
The Delivery Man flies the Jomo into the hangar and vaporizes the whole planet-moving machine into the Hawking m-sink in forty minutes, then leaves Arevalo. Justine watches him depart.
- Book 1 · Ch 10Justine plans Centurion trip
Justine and Paula discover the hangar was cleared and learn Living Dream is preparing for martial law and possible invasion of Viotia. Justine decides to go to Centurion Station to seek traces of the Second Dreamer.
- Book 1 · Ch 14Gravity waves strike Centurion Station
At Trachtenberg's party for Justine, gravity waves hit the station. The Void's boundary is expanding superluminally, and the Raiel's DF machines move into position, so the station begins evacuation.
- Book 2 · Ch 1Centurion Station evacuated and destroyed
Gravity waves from the Raiel DF spheres and the Void's expansion wreck Centurion Station. Trachtenberg orders evacuation and all species flee; the station's structures collapse.
- Book 2 · Ch 1Justine heads into the Void
Justine decides to fly the Silverbird into the Void to speak to the Skylords. Gore agrees to persuade the Second Dreamer to help her.
- Book 2 · Ch 3Gore's appeal to the Second Dreamer
Gore Burnelli broadcasts a message to Araminta asking her to persuade the Skylord to let his daughter Justine enter the Void, and warns that factions are hunting her.
- Book 2 · Ch 3Justine's chase to the Void
Raiel warships pursue the Silverbird with hyperspace shock waves; Araminta, via the gaiafield, asks a Skylord to open the boundary, and Justine enters the Void.
- Book 2 · Ch 6Arrival lost in the Void
Justine survives passing through the Void boundary but finds the hyperdrive dead, no boundary, no nearby mass, and unrecognizable nebulae. She discovers she can use Farsight.
- Book 2 · Ch 6Justine enters stasis
After failing to locate Querencia or the Skylords, Justine sends a repeating call to the Skylords, sets course for the nearest star at 0.7c, and enters suspended animation with periodic revival.
- Book 2 · Ch 10Justine's dream of Kazimir
In suspension, Justine dreams of her two days with Kazimir on Far Away, then wakes aboard the Silverbird to find it decelerating toward a Skylord.
- Book 2 · Ch 10Justine speaks with the Skylord
Justine pleads with a Skylord to guide her to the Heart and warns it that its universe harms the outside one. It refuses until she reaches fulfillment, says no humans remain, and departs.
- Book 2 · Ch 10Silverbird resumes course
Lacking options, Justine decides to continue to the star with the accretion disc, and the Silverbird accelerates back to 0.7 lightspeed as she re-enters suspension for another year and a half.
- Book 2 · Ch 13Silverbird lands on the dream world
Justine wakes, sees an H-congruent planet, and crash-lands the Silverbird beside a replica of the Grand Triad, a landing she realises was predetermined.
- Book 2 · Ch 13Justine meets the Void's Kazimir
Justine meets a seventeen-year-old Kazimir who does not know he is a creation. She tells him the truth, scans him, feeds him and shares her mission.
- Book 2 · Ch 13Gore speaks to Justine in a dream
While Justine sleeps, Gore pulls her into a dream of her childhood bedroom. He reveals he is the Third Dreamer and that four years have passed outside.
- Book 2 · Ch 13Gore explains the Void and tells Justine to go back
In a dream, Gore explains the Void's layers and resets, says Kazimir is a stored memory, and insists Justine travel back in time to reach Makkathran.
- Book 2 · Ch 13Justine parts from Kazimir
Justine wakes, kisses Kazimir and promises to find him if there is a way back, then prepares to leave.
- Book 2 · Ch 13Justine resets the Void
Using the confluence nest and Edeard's memories, Justine concentrates her mind on a past moment and forces the Void to reset to it.
- Book 3 · Ch 2Reset confirmed and second Skylord encounter
Justine wakes in the reset timeline, meets the Skylord again, and persuades it to take her to Querencia; it accelerates the Silverbird to 0.93 lightspeed.
- Book 3 · Ch 2Justine enters suspension
Told the trip will take until Querencia has orbited thirty-seven times, Justine shuts down the confluence nest and enters suspension for the rest of the flight.
- Book 3 · Ch 3Araminta contacts the Skylord
After sensing Living Dream followers celebrating Justine's journey to Makkathran, Araminta speaks to the Skylord, then shares Edeard's dream with Jessile.
- Book 3 · Ch 17Justine wakes near Querencia
Justine leaves suspension after forty years, recovers, and sees Querencia and nearby nebulae as the Skylord carries her in; she dismisses it and her ship goes on alone.
- Book 3 · Ch 17Silverbird lands in Golden Park
After preparing supplies and a pistol, Justine lands the Silverbird in overgrown Golden Park in Makkathran, using the confluence nest to keep failing systems working through a rough descent.
- Book 3 · Ch 19Justine meets Gore and Tyzak
In the Lady's church Gore appears with an Anomine, Tyzak. He tells Justine to survive and watch for the other Dreamers, warns her about Ilanthe, then fades away.
- Book 3 · Ch 19Justine recognizes the Lady
Studying the Lady's statue, Justine realizes its features belong to someone she knew, and she laughs hysterically at the irony of two civilizations worshipping her.
- Book 3 · Ch 20Arrival at Makkathran
After Oscar suffers Aaron's nightmare, the crew lands near the Silverbird; Justine greets them, and Aaron says Inigo must bring forth the Waterwalker.
- Book 3 · Ch 20Plan to reach the Heart
Gore tells the group to engage the Heart and persuade it to stop; Skylord-guided Edeard is the way in, and the group will use Makkathran as their ship.
- Book 3 · Ch 20Makkathran launches
Edeard persuades Makkathran, which encases itself in a crystal dome, shatters the land and sea, and lifts into space as a warship.
- Book 3 · Ch 20Gore's elevation
Using the nova's power through the Anomine elevation mechanism, Gore transcends and shares the method with the Firstlife and the Heart, showing an alternative to Ilanthe's inversion.
- Book 3 · Ch 21Homecomings after the Void's elevation
Oscar, Justine, Araminta and the Delivery Man return to loved ones; Araminta brings Aaron to the Silfen, where she meets Mellanie.