In this configuration, the respective trusted authorities are separate physical nodes that perform QKD with other nodes and user devices, not just separate logical nodes. Also note that she had to deal with some generational issues involving some of her forefathers. This warns that the oil has become degraded from excessive fuel oil and needs to be changed. For instance, as a metaphor for life "your life's journey through time is a you-shaped hole that only you can travel", the kids fever dreams notwithstanding. Deadhouse Gates follows on from the first novel, Gardens of the Moon and takes place simultaneously with events in the third novel Memories of Ice.