Who guards the Guardians? Who are the Guardians? Born after the War of Restitution as a Citizen in Society, Simora sets out to investigate the faceless forces that control him and the rest of Society. He begins to find answers after his affair with a beautiful barbarian, Mary, lands him in the gulag called the Colony. Finally, in the Settlement of the Guardians, Simora learns the answers to many of his questions, including the question of why his mother disappeared. But other questions remain, including Mary's fate. It remains his greatest quest ...