World and places
What the text says about the world of The Mission and the places where it happens. Click an item marked ¶ to read the lines it comes from.
The world in brief
- Two layers. People (a police station, Connor Maguire's illegal casino, Sergio Garcia's past) and living office supplies that hide from people.¶ 2
- The law of the stationery. An object must have a job or it is eaten by The Trash Can or The Shredder. Talking to humans is forbidden: "They can't know we are alive or else we'll all be thrown away!" (
P1·Ch1). When a human is near, an object freezes and its human features vanish (P1·Ch3,P3·Ch2).¶ 2 - The box. The binderclips lay in a box marked "2000's deal! A whole box of binderclips and two pencils for only $1.99!" for 26 years ("26 to be exact",
P1·Ch3).¶ 2 - The city. Not named. There is a Green Line, stations called Riverside and Washington Square, a Trader Joe's, a CVS and a yellow brick church with a stained-glass Jesus (
P2·Ch1,P4·Ch2). Sergio works "in New England" (P2·Ch1).¶ 3 - Time (inference). Saturday: Sergio finds the binderclips on his desk, Arabella, the casino. That night: capture and escape. Sunday: Sergio is fired; Chaya's weekly call. The next morning before dawn: the break-in at Ryan's office. Then prison. ⚠ On the Saturday, Sunny says "But it's Sunday…?" (
P1·Ch2).¶ 3
Places named in the text
| Place | What the text says | Where |
|---|---|---|
| The police station | An office in a converted cafeteria: "a cafeteria that had been converted into an office", fluorescent light, tiled floor, a kitchenette and a storage closet behind it. Sergio's floor has cubicles with "the walls reaching over Sergio's head" | P1·Ch1, P2·Ch1¶ 2 |
| Sergio's desk and crime board | A black desk, a shelf with the binderclip box, the lamp Bulb, books, and "a giant cork board covered in interconnecting string and photos" | P1·Ch2¶ 2 |
| Sergio's apartment | Sixth floor, "Two rooms and a bathroom", a loft bed, beige walls, an "L shaped brown leather couch" | P2·Ch1¶ 2 |
| Riverside | Too clean: brick buildings "like LEGO sets that had never been played with", white streetlamps lit in daylight, black SUVs in straight rows | P2·Ch2¶ 1 |
| The laundromat | White brick front with "copper conduits snaking up the brickwork" and cooling fans; a storage closet that is "a giant Faraday cage"; the way in is an out-of-order dryer | P2·Ch2¶ 2 |
| The staircase down | A concrete stair that "spiraled down for meters and meters" behind the dryer | P2·Ch2¶ 1 |
| The casino | Underground, "the size of a gymnasium": poker tables under green-shaded lamps, slot machines, crates of soda, cigarettes and new monitors | P2·Ch3¶ 1 |
| The den | A back room of masked people with "terrifyingly sharp daggers" on the tables instead of money | P2·Ch3¶ 1 |
| The mansion | The "three-story Valerien house" behind the laundromat: a stained-glass "blue butterfly with gold accents" on chrysanthemums, moth-eaten war tapestries, a "Baroque-style chandelier", and a bookshelf that opens onto Connor's renovated corridor | P2·Ch2, P2·Ch3¶ 3 |
| The alley | The "dark alleyway" where Sergio's parents were taken; also the setting of his nightmares | P2·Ch1, P4·Ch2¶ 2 |
| Inspector Ryan's office | No trash can; instead "a shredder sat by the foot of his desk" | P4·Ch3¶ 1 |
| The prison cell | A "sad stone desk with two blocks" for chairs and a bunk bed | CV·In Prison¶ 1 |
| The camp in Iraq, 2004 | A tent that "looked like a circus tent", seven bunks | CV·At War¶ 1 |
| The infirmary | "a small wooden cabin with a triangular roof", ten beds with pale blue covers | CV·Betrayal¶ 1 |
| Grandma Felarie's house | A two-floor mansion up North, "marble wallpaper", marble floors, an expensive leather couch | CV·Forsaken¶ 1 |