Story so far
Deagan Knox headed Mechanical, where he had earlier served as a shift manager. A very large man with a thick beard, he worried about Juliette working too many extra shifts, welcomed her home with a hug, and helped pass her computer material to Scottie and Walker. When she was arrested, he asked what she wanted him to do and later apologized for failing to act.
After Walker’s revelation, Knox challenged the election and the secrecy imposed on Mechanical. He admitted that trust and fear had led him to let a worker be taken for cleaning, then sought an alliance with Supply, prepared food, water and defenses, and left Jenkins responsible for operations below. He hoped to expose IT’s secrets and achieve a bloodless transfer of power, but carried a gun and bombs and accepted that weapons might be used. He regarded both his mechanics and the Supply volunteers as his responsibility and feared leading good people to slaughter. During the ascent he sent Shirly and Courtnee to help farmers with a clandestine power connection.
Knox threw a bomb into IT and died in the attack. Jenkins took over; Shirly later imagined how his leadership might have changed the fighting, and Juliette mourned him on her return. His memory remains part of her life below: watching work on the generator recalls him, and she remembers his account of how the temple on ninety-nine arose during his father’s childhood. Juliette specifically remembers the IT level as the place where he died.
Appearance
He was a very large man with a thick beard.
Role
He was Mechanical’s leader and led its armed expedition with Supply; his death left Jenkins to take over.
Relationships
Juliette — Knox supported Juliette, regretted his inaction during her arrest and is mourned by her.
Sources — 68 recorded facts, by chapter
Chapter 10
- Deagan Knox is head of Mechanical.
- Bernard says IT has filed complaints with Deagan Knox about the preferred sheriff candidate’s requisitions.
Chapter 12
- Knox is a very large man with a thick beard.
- Knox sends his young shadow to guide Jahns and Marnes to Juliette.
- Juliette says Knox gets angry if she works too many extra shifts.
Chapter 13
- Marck recalls that Knox was a shift manager when Juliette completed her pump assignment.
- Marck says Knox angrily demanded to know how Juliette had completed her assignment.
Chapter 17
- Knox remembers an emergency generator shutdown from his time as a shadow.
Chapter 21
- Knox described Scottie as having become too smart for Mechanical.
Chapter 24
- Knox forwards to Scottie the computer material Juliette sent him.
Chapter 26
- Knox greets Juliette’s return with an enthusiastic hug.
- Knox sends Juliette a smile made from a semicolon and parenthesis.
Chapter 27
- Knox brought Walker a program from Juliette.
Chapter 28
- Knox is present when Deputy Hank arrests Juliette.
- Knox asks Juliette what she wants him to do as she is handcuffed.
Chapter 29
- Knox sends Juliette a note apologizing for his failure to act during her arrest.
Chapter 37
- Knox is the head of Mechanical.
- Knox denounces the election as a sham and complains that Mechanical is kept uninformed.
- Knox resents Mechanical workers being sent to clean for a view they do not care about.
- Knox calls for calm as more workers gather after Walker’s revelation.
Chapter 40
- Knox plans to approach Supply before IT learns of Mechanical’s intentions.
- Knox orders Jenkins to lead Mechanical while the delegation is away.
- Knox orders food and water stockpiles in preparation for possible fighting.
- Knox orders checks of Mechanical’s locks and hinges in case fighting reaches them.
- Knox wants to expose what IT has been hiding.
- Knox carries welding smocks and helmets to Supply.
- Knox believes Supply, the dirt farm, and Mechanical could together sustain a defensive fallback position.
- Knox admits he allowed a worker to be taken for cleaning because he trusted and feared the system.
- Knox credits Walker and his helpers with giving him courage to question the silo’s lies.
- Knox argues that cleaners might survive if taken back and treated, rather than accepting IT’s assurances.
Chapter 43
- Knox describes the planned action as setting things right rather than an uprising.
- Knox plans to leave a dozen mechanics below to keep operations running.
- Knox says the remaining mechanics will leave around ten and arrive at Supply by three at the latest.
- Knox proposes welding doors shut to keep residents inside during the operation.
- Knox would accept a peaceful transfer but is prepared to use the weapons being made.
- Knox wants Bernard and some others sent out to clean.
- Knox believes the fears of the outside and cleaning were based on lies.
- Knox hopes that exploring the outside world will inspire people.
- Knox comes to regard his followers’ loyalty as a heavy burden.
Chapter 45
- Knox arms himself with a newly manufactured gun and ammunition.
- Knox believes killing should take enough effort to give conscience time to intervene.
- Knox carries a bomb in his hip pocket.
- Knox is disappointed that McLain insists on joining the advance.
- Knox fears that the armed participants are angry enough to kill.
- Knox hopes the weapons will not have to be used.
- Knox plans to meet McLain on level thirty-five and advance the last level together.
- Knox asks McLain to avoid trouble until his group catches up.
Chapter 49
- Knox hopes the armed expedition will achieve a bloodless transfer of power.
- Knox hopes to uncover what IT has been doing and perhaps vindicate Jules.
- Knox fears that he is leading good people to slaughter.
- Knox carries concealed bullets, an extra bomb, bandages, and pain salve beneath ordinary supplies.
- Knox leads the armed group out of Supply and up the stairs.
- Knox considers the Supply participants his responsibility as well as his own workers.
- Knox begins to question whether the people condemned in the old uprising stories had reasons as compelling to them as his own.
Chapter 51
- Knox leads the expedition upward through the sixties with few stops.
- Knox offers two workers to help farmers make an illegal power connection, provided Mechanical’s involvement stays quiet.
- Knox orders Shirly and Courtnee to stay behind to help the farmers and catch up later.
- Knox describes Shirly and Courtnee as his best workers when the farmer objects.
Chapter 53
- Knox throws the second bomb into IT.
- Marck understands Knox, his boss and good friend, to have died in the attack.
Chapter 54
- Marck tells Shirly that Knox is dead.
Chapter 55
- Knox has died, leaving Jenkins to take over.
Chapter 68
- Shirly thinks of Knox as an absent leader whose presence might have changed the fighting.
Chapter 71
- Knox is dead and no longer in charge.
Chapter 81
- Juliette receives terrible news about Knox and mourns him.
Chapter 195
- Watching Shirly clean the generator, Juliette imagines Knox doing the same work.
Chapter 202
- Knox once explained to Juliette how the temple on ninety-nine arose during his father’s childhood.
Chapter 203
- Juliette remembers that Knox died on the IT level.