Unique among the features of the Bird Islands, the Pyramid Mine is a colossal structure on the southern edge of West Bird, created with the help of off-world technology provided by the Electors.

When the Electors first arrived, it was feared that they were an invading force. However, they quickly explained that they did not intend to invade but to conserve—that the planet was in crisis and unless half of the population evacuated, the cycle of environmental implosion would continue and worsen until nothing was left, “…not a single tree, not one bird, not one blade of grass will survive.”

In order for the planet to evacuate, vast amounts of fuel had to be created to power the fleet of spaceships that would transport refugees to other worlds. However, the minerals and chemistry needed to produce the fuel were not endemic to the planet. To solve for this, a massive shard of bio-engineered material was driven into the earth to create a hemorrhage capable of producing raw fuel by converting existing biomass. This hemorrhage became known as the Pyramid Mine, due to its resemblance to a pyramid.

While the mine enabled the salvation of millions, it was a terrifying and dangerous place to work. It employed thousands of people to carefully manage the extraction, manufacture, and transportation of fuel to Yunkin Spaceport. Among those thousands of workers was Frank’s father—the old man. The old man’s work kept him away at the mine for much of Frank’s youth, creating a difficult dynamic between the two that only got worse once the mine closed and the old man joined the Brothers, a dangerous and violent cult hell-bent on taking control of the Birds.