Water in a Fishtank
“The flashing screens of text morphed into solid waves, like white water sloshing back and forth in a black fish tank.” (Chapter 2)
In this scene, David and Milo are watching a playback of the video feed from the lab where Kate is currently encased in a tube with yellow liquid. On the video feed, Kate is looking at the moving data on a screen on the wall. When David speeds up the playback speed, the data looks like sloshing waves, emphasizing how the information means absolutely nothing to David, as well as how the situation is inevitably out of control, like the waves of the ocean. The simile also accentuates the fact that Kate is currently floating in liquid in a similar container.
A Contestant in a Dunking Booth
“The glass opened, and she fell straight down, like a contestant in a dunking booth.” (Chapter 3)
After David exits the tube in the lab, Kate falls out of her tube as well. This simile emphasizes the abruptness of Kate's fall as well as the splash of the liquid falling out of the tube, giving this serious scene a bit of comic relief. This seemingly humorous comparison, though, actually makes the situation seem more dire.
A Fire Poker
“Alpha’s words beat down upon him, smothering him like the heat from the fire poker on the ruined planet.” (Chapter 3)
Alpha, the voice of the computer, has just told him that Kate only has a few days to live, and she has to have emergency surgery if she's even going to survive the day. The weight of this information smothers David; this simile emphasizes the overwhelming pain he goes through when he hears this news about the woman he loves.
Snow Caterpillars
“The rows of pop-up habitats spread out across the flat sheet of ice like an endless flow of white caterpillars dug into the snow.” (Chapter 4)
This quote describes the Immari base on Antarctica as seen through the eyes of Dorian, who's following Ares. This simile highlights the fact that in the cold, harsh winterlands of Antarctica, even permanent dwelling look like weak insects trying to hold on to something slippery. The image is also a somewhat humorous one - the Immari probably wouldn't respond well to having their buildings said to look like caterpillars.
Sand from an Hourglass
“Another group of yellow dots sprang from the fleet. Hundreds of points, like sand from an hourglass, falling across the firing line, toward the white landmass and the Immari base.” (Chapter 9)
This scene describes the attack of an enormous air fleet against the Immari base in Antarctica. The yellow dotes representing the missiles of the planes are compared to "sand from an hourglass," making them sound nearly countless and absolutely inevitable. Ironically, Ares virtually neutralizes them with the snap of a finger, making the simile irrelevant, or at least changed in perspective: those missiles were actually no more dangers than grains of sand to him.
