The Carls 2
Hank Green
1. April admits they have been lying to everyone by trying to convince them they are safe
2. Maya has always been a private person. She has done her best to keep her identity obscured from the public eye through everything that went on with April and the Carls. She grew up on the Upper East Side of New York. Her father worked hard to be an investment banker in a hostile environment. He wants to ensure Maya is taken care of while fighting the system that wants to keep them down and out. While Maya believes in his dreams for her future, she can’t work on something unless she is passionate about it. In her frustration, she calls her mom, who reminds her she used to love planting things and that she needs to focus on something else for a bit. Maya ends up at her parents house. With her mother’s help, they plant some potatoes in a pot. When her father comes home, he tells her there are support programs for people that were addicted to the dreams. Maya gets angry and decides to leave. She tells them she will talk to them tomorrow when they are all less angry. She plans to be in New Jersey. She takes the potato pot with her.
3. When Andy hears the knock on the door and gets the text from April, he does open the door. There is a leather bound book with gold print called “The Book of Good Times.” When he opens it, it starts right into the beef of the book, no title page or anything like that. It tells him it is magic and will only work if he keeps it a secret. It describes what he is doing, including putting the book down and picking it back a few times. It tells him to go to Subway and have Rebecca make him his usual sandwich. He decides to do what it says. Someone snaps a picture of him and he gets annoyed by it. He goes into subway and a dark skinned girl starts making his sandwich. He sees the name tag on the girl is labelled “Becky” and he asks if it is short for Rebecca. She confirms it is because her parents wanted her to have a normal American name. He asks if anyone has asked about him. She says they haven’t and she wouldn’t tell them anything anyway. He asks if she had ever seen a book like his new magic book before. When she asks to take a closer look, he remembers he isn’t supposed to tell anyone about it. He goes to the park to eat his sandwich. When he goes to throw away his sandwich wrapper, he sees a cloth bound book, “The Book of Good Times, Part 2.” He pulls it out of the trash can
4. After April went missing, Miranda couldn’t continue working on the Som. She goes back to Berkley and is surprised to find her professor hadn’t fully written her off yet. She was working on making squishy chips to implant in living things to track their health and movement like a Fitbit. In the group chat, Maya points out Peter Petriwicki’s article about how he never wished harm on April, but was just trying to bring up the conversations that needed to be had. He is retired in the Caribbean. Miranda’s work hasn’t been very cerebral and her mind keeps wondering back to Peter’s article. Peter tells about his trials and how he has given his island dog a new life. He has a new secret project underway and he shows off the cinderblock building in Puerto Rico his team uses to mine crypto currency. Great minds from giant companies to come help him in his goal to improve life and push mankind forward. Miranda know what he is up to in reality.
5. Andy takes the book out of the trash can and is shocked into having to defecate. He thinks about going to a Starbucks, but instead opens the book. It tells him there is a public restroom in the park he is in. He rushes to it and continues to read while he relieves himself. It tells him it is only trying to help. It has two tickets for him to go see Stomp and wants him to take someone to the show before he reads any more. He obeys. He has no idea who to ask to go with him, so he asks Rebecca from Subway. She agrees. After the show, she asks why he asked her. He admits he doesn’t have too many friends since April disappeared and has been traveling a lot. She asks him to coffee, but he is so anxious to get back to the book he declines. The book tells him to invest in $100k in AGRI, sell it in four days, and to convince Miranda she has to do it. The book tells him to stop until this is done and he again obeys
6. Maya is on a mission to find out what happened to April. There have been several labs that have been broken into around Trenton, New Jersey. Also, twice there have been pods of dolphins that swam up the Delaware River and died near Trenton. She decides there must be a reason they decided to go further in rather than back out to sea. Maybe something scared them. She gets a Air BnB in Wenton, NJ to investigate. She goes into the local coffee shop that has an odd amount of Egyptian decor. The owner, Derek, says the entire town has it. She asks for the WiFi password, but he tells her it doesn’t work. It is a touchy subject for him because it has been an issue for a while and coffee shops are expected to have WiFi.
7. Miranda goes to her legendary professor Constance Lundgren to ask if she had seen the Peter Petriwicki article. She had and she admits they approached her with a job offer. She turned it down. Miranda thanks her, but Constance explains it wasn’t because of her. She used to be a person that worked too hard and thought she was above others because of the work she was doing. She doesn’t want to be like that again. They discuss how they both know that group is researching how to control people’s brains. Constance points out their type of rushed research usually doesn’t end well and it is the drawn out scientific testing and research that ends up leading to groundbreaking discoveries. She warns Miranda that her absence has put her behind and that she has a lot of catching up to do. She wants her to forget about Peter and social with her friends instead. Miranda knows that is what she should do, but she is still obsessed with Peter’s project and finding out more about it.
8. While talking to Blake Wolfe on a podcast, Andy tells him a lot of people want to be in the room where something notorious is happening. He wants to be the guy that makes sure people are in the rooms they want to be in. Andy makes the investment the book told him to against his dad’s advice. He sends Bex a text and they agree to talk again when he gets back into town from his scheduled appearance to talk about the anniversary of the Carls arriving. Andy’s process involves watching a bunch of videos to come up with inspiration on what to talk/post about. He finds one video posted by The Thread (an anonymous poster’s channel) who contemplates how Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star was written by someone that was actually wondering what it was. Now we know and the song is a bit pointless. Andy writes his video script to tell people things have changed. Even the past is different because before we didn’t know that there were other life forms in the universe. He emphasizes the meaning of life is still in caring for each other. He sends the video to his roommate and offers him $500 to edit it and post it while he is in France for the Carls anniversary.
9. Maya dreams that she has large metal hands that take April from the warehouse fire. When she wakes up, she decides she is going to find the internet provider, Carson Communication, and follow around one of their trucks. She spots one of the service vans on the road and follows it. One of them ends up leading her to a large barn named Cowtown. When she tries to go in, the technician tells her they don’t open for another half hour. She realizes the internet provider mostly uses contractors for their repair services. She decides to only follow trucks leaving their building with supplies from then on. On Tuesday, it is the anniversary of the Carls and Maya doesn’t feel like being alone and following around cable trucks. She goes into the coffee shop hoping Derick might be able to give her some advice on what to do in town. He tells her there isn’t much to do there, but Cowtown is open that day. He tries to explain how the flea market works, but tells her she’ll really have to experience it. She decides to go and wanders around for a bit. She finds a older woman selling vintage dresses and tries a few on. She sends Miranda a picture of her in a red dress asking if she looked okay in it. Miranda says she does and Maya explains she is looking for someone to peer pressure her into buying it. Miranda feeds her compliments and she gets the dress. While looking around, she sees some strange objects that look like rocks. She asks the vendor if that is what they are and he says he doesn’t know. He refuses to answer any of her questions. She realizes he is racist and leaves. She hides in the dressing room of the lady selling vintage dresses. She opens her phone and wants to call April, but just stares at the tiny profile picture. The lady checks on her and tells her to let her know if she needs anything. Maya thanks her and watches Andy’s video.
10. Any lands in the Cannes (South of France) and meets Robin who jokes with Andy about not having a book to sell. After a few minutes, he remembers he is trying to treat Robin more like a person rather than just an assistant. He asks how he is doing and how the new firm is. Robin is happy to be working with professionals. They are going to a yacht party to meet the Redstone CEO and afterwards they are going shopping to get Andy a suit. While on the yacht, Andy is a bit shocked to meet Gwen Stephani and wishes April was there to meet her too. He realizes the only reason he is there to experience all of this is because April died. When he goes to get some air, he finds Robin there. He apologizes for not always treating him like a person. They both talk about their guilt over April’s death. They hug and cry together. When they look at each other, Andy backs off and Robin laughs at Andy thinking he was going to kiss him. They spend the next few hours walking around Cannes and shopping and people watching. Andy gives his speech pointing out how the world has changed since the arrival of the Carls. He is talking to a bunch of rich people who try to predict the future to make their fortunes. He tells them to consider trying to stabilize the world if not for humanity, then for their own self interest, to ensure they are maybe a bit more prepared for the next surprise that comes their way. One of the planners, Stewart Patrick, comes up to Andy after his speech to compliment him and give him his card. Andy excuses himself to go to the bathroom. He found out IGRI was bought out by a car company trying to lock up cobalt mines to make electric-car batteries. He now had $1 million in stock in that company. Miranda calls and he almost drops the phone.
11. Miranda can’t focus on anything fully. She thinks her work is going to become pointless once Peter’s new project, Altus, takes off and comes up with answers. She scrubs her name on the internet as best as she can to remove her association with April. She finds a posting for a position with Altus. She hesitates to submit the application. While she doesn’t feel like she really belongs to the group and usually avoids initiating conversations, this time, she knows she needs to call Andy. He tells her it is dangerous, but he thinks she should apply and find out what they are up to. He has had a few experiences that make him believe the whole ordeal with the Carls is not over. Miranda clicks the button to submit her application
12. When Maya has gathered herself back together, she goes out of the dressing room and finds the old lady that sells the dresses. She tells her about the man that refused to sell her the rocks and asks her to go back to that stall and buy all of them for her. She gives her a large sum of cash and tells her to make it seem like they are valuable. When the lady comes back, she said she got all four stones and was able to resist the urge to haggle. Maya thanks her and gives her the rest of the money. She gets a sausage sandwich and sits down at a table to eat. She pour the rocks out to look at them. A man comes up to her and she puts them away. He asks if she is Maya and says he recognizes her from April’s videos. Maya knows she was never in any of April’s videos. The man explains he is playing an RG game and his mission is to get whatever she bought to go up two levels. He offers to pay her for them and increases his offers up to $10k. Maya refuses and packs up her sandwich to leave, but as she backs away he gets closer. She throws the sandwich at him and runs through Cowtown. When she doesn’t see him following her anymore, she slows down. Another man comes up to her and asks if she is Maya. She rushes back to her rental car. She is tempted to go back to Manhattan right then, but she feels like she might be into something.
13. Andy is excited to read the next installment of the Book of Good Times. It tells him what to do with his stick portfolio over the next two weeks. It does warn him that it is using insider information and is illegal, but not necessarily wrong. It tells Andy he is going to need a lot more money for the plan to work. It goes on to tell him to introduce Bex to Jason. Lastly, it tells him to wait 2 weeks before continuing. He can’t help himself and turns the page. It scolds him and says that April will be fine. That night, Bex comes over and they play a word game with Jason. They have some discussions in between and Bex calls them out for getting their news from the Thread. She admits she watches it too, but mostly because it can be important to know what the white men in the country are up to. After a while, Jason goes to his room. Andy asks Bex if he can walk her to the train station. She tells him no, but that he can kiss her Goodnight. He does.
14. Miranda has a virtual interview with Altus. Dr. Sealy and Tom the HR guy question her and seem very interested. She does her best to weave her lies around the truth. She does mention Dr. Ludgren and says she already has her approval for the job. When the interview is over, she leaves a message for Dr. Lundgren to stop by her lab to talk about something important when she has a chance. A few hours later, she arrives. Miranda tells her about applying and interviewing for a job at Altus. If there is something wrong going on there, she wants to know and be able to blow the whistle. While Constance is worried for Miranda’s safety, she refuses to diminish her ambition. Miranda knows she will not be aloud to talk to anyone about what she will be doing, but asks if she could tell Constance. She agrees. Miranda warns her it could put them in jail, but Constance assures her she is prepared for the consequences. Miranda thinks Constance sounds pretty sure about Miranda getting the job. Constance points out there aren’t a lot of people in their field and they need all the people they can get. After she leaves, a package is delivered to Miranda. She opens it to find one of Maya’s odd stones inside. She starts to experiment on the rock to find more out about it. After a while, she realizes she is avoiding texting Maya. She does and tells her she hasn’t seen anything that odd since the Carls and that she is curious enough to keep looking into it. Maya calls to talk to her. Miranda tells her she applied for the job at Altus. Miranda reminds her that she shouldn’t take stupid risks just because April would. Miranda explains her need to do something to stop Peter. She apologizes for not being able to stop April and for sleeping with her. Maya laughs realizing that is why Miranda has been so quiet with her. She sympathizes with her and lets her know it is okay to be unsure about her sexuality. Everyone figures it out eventually. Miranda promises not to make any stupid choices like April would have, but she knows she is lying.
15. After a while of driving around, Maya stops to start researching the Fishing game people are playing and what it might have to do with her. All she can tell is people are chosen through the WhatsUp app and asked to do things to advance their levels. Maya looks at the business card that came with the stones. She had asked Kara (vintage dress lady) to tell him those stones were important and she’d pay well for more. Maya plans to follow Kurt Butler when he leaves CowTown. She decides she should be safe enough there with such a crowd, but waits in her car. When Kurt leaves, she follows him to a motel. When he is still out back after an hour, she drives around and sees him going through the trash. When he looks up at her, she panics and hits a utility pole. She gets out of there as fast as she can and drives around for a while. When she is pretty sure Kurt must be gone, she goes back and speaks to the person in the lobby. When she asks about Carter Communications, the man behind the desk tells her they are out there every few weeks accusing them of messing up the internet. This makes him livid because they depend on their customers having internet as well. Maya asks if any of the trucks have been around because she is looking for a friend. He says he hasn’t seen any, but some one that drives one sometimes goes through their dumpster. She thanks him for his time and goes out back. She starts going through the dumpster, but decides to get out after finding a few used needles. She goes back in to grab a book she saw. Once she is in her car, she see it is the Book of Good Times. She opens it and is surprised at how much detail it knows about her life. It promises she will be safe from the Fishing game for a while. It tells her about how she was afraid of the furniture in the room where she found out her grandmother was dying. She confided in a friend that she was afraid of the wood chairs at the school. When her friend told her they were made out of trees and this was the first time she realized they were the same thing. She wasn’t afraid of the wooden furniture again. She told the story to her girlfriend one night because she was afraid of going to talk to a professor. They laughed about it. The book tells her she came too soon. She needs to go home and come back in three weeks. Maya sits in the car and cries. She goes back to the Air B&B and finds one of her potatoes has a tiny sprout.
16. Andy writes to the Thread to see if the owner of the account would be willing to talk to him. It isn’t too long before he gets a response telling him the Thread is made up of a group of people that are all anonymous. They use numbers instead of names and if Andy joined, he would be 12. Only One knows their Identities and if there are any questions or hints about who people are, they are instantly blocked from the group. There are dues for membership based on net worth. People in the group that make below the net average are paid. People who make above it are charged to be in the group. Andy writes back about his hesitation in joining due to his recent increase in net worth. He would have to pay $1 million to join and isn’t even sure how that would be possible to pay. The Thread replies they can help with the transfer, but the price is not negotiable. Andy knows he is going to have to think about the offer. He finally does what he has been putting off for a long time. He calls Maya. He was worried they wouldn’t be friends without April to bring them together. He cries when they talk and she helps him through it. He finally starts feeling like his life is real and he deserves to be where he is.
17. Weeks later, Miranda has gone back to her regular work schedule and has given up on Altus. That is when she gets a call from Dr. Sealy asking her to fly down to Puerto Rico for an in-person visit. They have a flight ready for her to go to Miami the next day where they will meet her and take her to Puerto Rico. She agrees. She then sends a text to Andy to let her know she is going. Constance warns her they are trying to “wow” her with their aggressive interviewing approach and warns her they will likely take her cell phone when they arrive. When Miranda lands in Miami, she is taken to a small airport with a private jet. They take her and the other candidates’ cell phones before they board the plane. She sends quick texts to Andy and Constance before giving it up. Dr. Sealy asks what they each think Altus is doing. Sid and Paxton explain their theories on the project having to do with a mix between machines and brains. Miranda blurts out she thinks they found a link using the Carl’s dream. When they land, it is revealed they are not actually in Puerto Rico, but in Val Verde, a small island country closer to Venezuela with an active volcano. They are given a quick tour. Miranda is impressed with the newness and equipment in the lab. When they move onto separate interviews, Miranda asks her questions about why there are so few women working for Altus. Dr. Sealy admits they haven’t had a lot of women apply. After he asks her questions, Peter comes into the room. He asks Miranda how much she hates him. She tells him she never hated him, but does pity him for chasing power and control to feel significant. She kicks herself for ruining her interview by answering honestly. She is taken back to her room and getting ready for bed. There is a knock on the door and Miranda is surprised to see Peter there. He doesn’t say anything and just walks away. Sid and Paxton come to ask her what happened. She tells them who she is and they are surprised. She has a bit of a meltdown that he had to come see her and ruin her chances of getting hired.
18. Maya spends the next three weeks impatiently waiting. She has dinner with Derek and his family. She researches Fishing. She tries to find out more about the stones. But when those three weeks are over, she finds herself waiting out back of the hotel where she found Kurt dumpster diving. The second time she gets out to urinate, she hears the loud thud of a door opening. She gets dressed and looks to see what is a very familiar figure coming out of the door.
19. The first time April woke up, she wasn’t in pain, but she could feel the missing pieces of her face and arm. A calm voice tells her it is too soon for her to wake up. She faints. The second time she wakes up, the part of her arm that is missing is replaced with the shiny stone stuff shaped into an arm. She sits up and sees she is in what appears to be a well-lit dive bar. She looks down at her legs and finds both are gone. She remembers the voice she heard earlier and calls out. Something fuzzy jumps up on her and scares her. She sees Carl and is surprised they fit in the spot. She feels a prick in her neck and falls back asleep. When she wakes up agin, she hears Carl’s genderless voice from a speaker on the bar. An XTC song is playing in the background. Carl says he does not have a real body so considers itself wherever its consciousness can reach. It says it was also the fuzzy thing that jumped on the bed. April starts feeling the missing parts of her face. Carl apologizes for not being able to replace them with the proper parts. She sees that her legs are also made out of the same odd material. She has feeling in them and jumps out of the bed. She asks for clothes and Carl tells her they are under the bed. She gets dressed and goes into the bathroom. April asks why Carl switches back and forth between pronouns. Carl explains they are many physical entities. It tells her to sit and has a sandwich for her. It starts asking her simple questions. She asks how long she was out: about 6 months. April asks if people think she is dead. Most people believe she is, but the people she loves still have hope.
20. Carl is a person, but not human. January 5, 1979 is the date it because existing, the first of five awakening. It doesn’t know who its parents are or anything about them. It was flung in pieces towards earth before it was alive. The unliving pieces collided into earth in pieces and consciousness didn’t happen until they were self-arranged properly. Carl is not a robot. It is an artificially created plant spanning consciousness. The pieces were created something else, but it did not self-assemble elsewhere. It was never conscious on any other planet. It remembers needing things. It first self-assembled inside bacteria called pelagibacter. It did away with the virus that was able to kill pelagibacter and was able to grow until it had its second awakening and was able to take over sea life. When it heard Danger Zone, it had its third awakening. What it found about the world was the the collection of people was not what was important, but the collection of thoughts. It was sent to save the world, but it had no idea of what the consequences would be if it failed.
21. April refers to Carl as “they/them” because it does not have a gender. It would ask her questions and then she would get to ask Carl a question. It asks a few questions about things April doesn’t know about. When it asks about Nancy Reagan and April does actually know something, she feels a pain in her head and sees a light in her eye. She passes out and when she wakes up, she knows more about Nancy Reagan than she should. She starts to wonder how much of her has been replaced and if she is even herself anymore or if April died in the warehouse fire. She realizes she isn’t freaking out as much as she should. Her panic would just fade. She asks Carl about it and they tell her she is medicated to keep her from panicking. April tells her she doesn’t consent to being drugged and tries to leave. Carl says they cannot let her leave. April accuses them of kidnapping and walks out the door.
22. Miranda wakes up the next morning and is sad to be leaving Altus without finding much out. There are a couple of people who have been up all night watching Bumblebee on DVD because internet access is too limited to stream. They ask her what her first screen name was and she admits it was “Diggles” on Neopets. They are excited to have gotten it out of her so easily and explains people that are hired on are called by their first screen names. When Paxton and Sid Come out of their rooms, she tells them hers and asks about theirs. Sid easily gives his up: SippyCup. Paxton hesitates for a bit, but eventually tells her it was Peanut. The other two cheer like it is a frat party. She feels bad about prying the information out of Paxton, but she knows she has to fit in. Those of them that have been hired on are going to take a tour. They are taken into a room with the new hires and told that they will be given a demonstration on what they have been working on. They all sign confidentiality contracts and will be stuck on campus for the next 12 months. Miranda signs knowing she is planning to violate the contract. She is taken into a room with Paxton and Sid and they each sit in a recliner. They are given blood pressure cuffs, oxygen monitors, and a VR headset. Once they are all adjusted, the program starts. Miranda sees a field, but just her mind is there. When they take the next step, she can see her naked body has joined her consciousness. Suddenly, the doctor in charge says they have to take a break and stops the demonstration. When Miranda takes off her headset, Paxton isn’t looking good. Sid explains how some of the others told them this could happen and he’ll never get to experience what he and Miranda did. They give him a few minutes to gather himself and promise they won’t tell the others what happened to him. The doctor says they will let the higher ups and medical staff know, but his coworkers will not be informed. Peter comes to talk to Miranda alone. He tells her Paxton saw his body separated from his consciousness in the demo and it is a traumatic experience for anyone that experiences it. He will not be able to go back into the program and will likely never get over the trauma of the experience. Miranda asks if it could happen to her and he tells her once she has entered safely, she won’t have any issues. He admits he almost sent her home. He was angry about what she said because it was true. She is considered a security risk, but he thinks they need her. She lies and tells him even if she did hate him, she’d rather work on something big with someone she hates than something small with the people she loves.
23. April comes up to Maya and tells her they have to go right then. She gets in the car and Maya starts driving. April keeps her head down and “If You Seek Amy” plays. Maya realizes it isn’t the radio playing it when the song stops and nothing else plays. Maya tries to focus on driving when a cop car signals her to pull over. April begs her not to, but she decides she has to follow the laws. When the officer comes to her door, she is immediately asked to get out of the car. She is searched and then put into handcuffs. April gets out of the car and starts telling both of the officers about their families. Suddenly their wives call them to make sure they are safe. April frees Maya’s hands and cuffs the officers together. April asks why they pulled them over when they didn’t have a reason to. They tell her they play a game called Fish and they were told if they pulled over and detained the two people in the Nissan Frontier, they would be taken to the final destination. April puts her hands into the police car’s engine and ruins it. The girls get back into the truck and leave. April says they are going to need a different car and some coffee. Maya calls Derek and says she needs his help. He is reluctant at first, but agrees. When Maya shows up with April, Derek’s wife is willing to help them. Maya asks to buy a car off of them and they offer to loan her their old Chevy S10 truck that they don’t drive often. April asks to take the coffee table book of gardens and they tell her to return it with the truck. They leave and get far away before they fill up the tank. April steals money from an ATM and Maya starts to freak out. April notes it is the appropriate reaction. Once they are back in the car, Maya texts Miranda, Andy, and Robin that she will be going off-grid for a while. They have a chance to catch up with each other through text before hand. April tells Maya to find a small town in Vermont where they can hide out. Miranda picks Warren. When April notes the population is the same number as the founding year, Miranda pulls her phone out to check. April takes it and throws it out the window.
24. Between Carl’s third and fourth awakenings, they realized it was very easy to impact an entire ecosystem without meaning to. The reason they picked April was because in their simulations, she was the one who had the best results consistently. If things had been different in the world, they would have picked someone else. When April died, Carl had another awakening. Carl hadn’t expected to start caring for people as individuals rather than as a whole.
25. The Book of Good Times tells Andy to invest in gold (even though it is only valuable because people perceive it to) and Alta-coin. After getting Maya’s text message, Andy felt the need to join the Thread to feel like he was doing something as important as her and Miranda. As soon as he logs in, he can see people’s biographies only have their expertise listed. One tells him to join the “Big News” chat. Andy joins and the. Scrolls back to find out what they are talking about. Altus has made their software available to a limited base of people with 8k VR headsets. Five days they are going to try it and Andy says he will too. Five DMs Andy to give him some tips about joining safely. Andy completed the download, accepts the risk, and launches the program. A voice explains to him things can be created for other users and things can be purchased using Alta-coin. Andy spends some time going through the shop to see what others have created. He doesn’t find what he is looking for, so he opens up the design menu. He creates a patch of grass and then duplicates it until it fills about a mile. He then adds a sky. When he goes back into the store, he sees there is something called “sunny day” and he previews it. He knows his is better, but not enough to get attention. He goes back to his design and creates a slight breeze. He can see the grass moving in the created wind. He lists it in the shop for five coins.
26. On their way to Warren, April asks questions to herself and feels the pain when the answer comes to her. The bigger the question, the more pain she feels. She thinks she is starting to get used to it when they arrive at a small cabin. They go inside and are watching a Polly Shore movie, Son-In-Law. Maya goes to the kitchen to make popcorn and screams because she thinks she sees a very large squirrel. April asks if it could be a monkey. there is a knock on the door. April answers it to see a man there with a gun pointed at her. He tells April she has to come with him. April moves the gun away from herself as it is fired. She breaks the man’s hand. Carl tells April that Maya was shot. April goes back to Maya and checks her chest to find she was shot just below her breast. Carl tells her to apply pressure and she does. Her hand seems to melt and her pinky detaches to go into Maya and get the bullet out. Carl tells April she’ll be okay and April goes to the man. She starts beating him, but there are gaps in the memory of it. She blacks out.
27. Maya is surprised when she is shot. Things are a little fuzzy for her, but she is able to get up and go outside. She finds April unconscious on the ground. They ask if Maya is okay to drive and that they can inhabit April’s body if she is not okay. Carl tells her they have to get to a place that is unpredictable (he predicted she would take the Book of Good Times from the dumpster). They end up at a high school and Carl’s 10-foot statue form carries April down to the boiler room. Maya gets their things inside and Carl shows how they have already prepared the room for their stay. They apologizes for killing the dolphins in the process of saving April.
28. Carl’s fourth awakening was when they were the statues all over the world. People in several countries gave them the uranium required to manipulate matter. They were able to predict the deaths, but those were acceptable numbers to save the world. Rather than just anonymously killing April’s attacker, they had to do it so it would be known it was them. However it had to be done because he needed April to succeed.
29. April wakes up and Carl takes her and Maya to the auditorium to tell them their story. While Carl was growing and learning, their more powerful sibling was doing the same. The point of the sibling was to be able to get rid of Carl if they failed. They don’t have to beat the sibling, they just have to improve the percentage of humanity’s survival. He demonstrates they have been like a car narrowly missing accidents running a red light through a busy intersection, but it is about to become an eight-lane highway they are trying to cross. He tells them Altus is the key and they will have to destroy it.
30. Miranda notices that filling the Soda Stream canisters is a regular job people take upon themselves. So when she sees an empty canister, she grabs it. She takes it outside in the middle of the day and takes the nozzle of the CO2 tank and puts it onto the Hydrogen one. Sippy and Peanut approach her while she is doing it. Peanut wants to go back into the Altus space and try again and asks if she will be there with him that night. She agrees. On her way back to her room, she grabs some condoms. She gets to Peanut’s room and Sippy is already there. Miranda asks if she can have one of Peanut’s knit hats because she gets cold in her room. He agrees and she takes one she hasn’t seen him wear much. They make some small talk before he puts on the headset and is ready to give it another try. He has the same out of body experience and Sippy pulls him out. Miranda and Sippy try to reassure him he’ll be okay. Once alone in her room, Miranda takes the hat apart until she has 2 long pieces of yarn. She fills the condoms with hydrogen to make balloons. She ties them all to the cell phones and then sends a group text message out to let ever friends and Dr. Ludgren what is going on. She gets word back that Altus launched the Altus Space publicly and Andy has had access. Maya tells her she hopes she packed a few dresses. Miranda realizes they were dresses only April would know about and realizes Maya is with April.
31. Carl tells April and Maya they need to increase the probability of survival to 50% to stop their sibling. He has been following them and caught Maya’s phone when April threw it out the window. He gives it to her and she lets her mom know she is okay. She convinces April to tell her parents she is okay and comforts her after the call. April asks about her face and Maya admits it is still beautiful, but intimidating. Carl lets them know they have prepared a new place for them to stay that is unpredictable, but they have to move before the students start arriving. Altus announces they are the fastest growing startup in history.
32. Miranda is a bit surprised when Peter takes the time to come talk to her. He takes her out to the server farm and says that is also where they are working on the premium version of the Altus Space. He has her try it out. She decides to try education first and her consciousness is in the body and mind of someone that understands solving linear algebra equations. She is able to learn this particular topic quickly because she can see how the person that already understands it thinks. She tries adventure and finds herself skiing down a mountain. She falls face first into the snow when she tries to stop herself, but she is thrilled with the experience. When she comes out of the premium Altus Space, she tells Peter it is going to change everything, but she wonders how exactly it is done. He takes her to meet Aletha, a bald girl with electrodes hooked up to her head. She says she likes to read, so she does it for them. During the period of Carl and the dream, they found out two people in the same space could experience things slightly differently, but within 24 hours, it would solidify and be the same from then on. They weren’t sure where it was stored. Peter explains it is found in everything alive. Carl turned them all into computers to store the data. When the Carls left, the took the dream, but left the computer. Their system moves things from people’s minds into other people’s minds. They are using Aletha to transfer data out of her mind and move it into other people’s minds. He explains they will soon be able to have people create things in the Altus Space and sell them. He is promoting her to create sandboxes for the Altus space. She thinks this is an extreme underutilization of her skills. He takes her to a room filled of beds and people with headsets. He explains it is the server farm and the people that make up their servers live there. All of the people working on this project live there, so her stuff has been packed up and is being taken to her new quarters. She realizes this means someone must have found her phone and read her text messages. She realizes she is now a prisoner.
33. April and Maya pack up their stuff and head outside to leave. They find Derek’s truck has been replaced with a white van and Jessica and Mitty (EMTs that helped April when she was stabbed) are there to help them. They are confused so Carl explains that a bunch of school children seeing them could inform his brother of something happening, but these two individuals seeing them wouldn’t set an alarm. Jessica explains they each got a Book of Good Times and it lead them there. They ask about the potato. Maya and April get in the back. After they have driven a bit, Carl tells them it is time to open the crate that is in the back with them.
34. Andy’s roommate Jason pulls him out of the Altus Space to give him a package that arrived for him. It is another Book of Good Times. The book tells him to get himself cleaned up for his next set of tasks. In the morning, he picks up food and takes it to an apartment building. He tells the front desk he is going to his good friend, Josh Crane’s apartment and they let him in. He puts the food in the fridge. A man and a woman arrive to deliver a large birthday cake and leave immediately. Once the elevator is gone, April and Maya come out of the cake. Andy passes out. When he wakes up again, He greets his friends. When the elevator opens again, Maya and Andy hide in the kitchen while April goes to greet Robin. Andy tells his friends what they have been up to and how much money he has made. Carl admits to writing the Book of Good Times they have all been receiving and tells them to expect more because it is the best way for him to communicate with them. They decide Andy will need to be an Altus advocate so people will trust him when he tells them it is bad news. He is secretly please he can continue his addiction.
35. After Andy leaves, April, Maya, and Carl all choose their separate rooms. They agree to keep their phone ringers on in case Miranda tries to message again. They will also keep their stuff packed and ready to move at a moment’s notice. April checks her Twitter and sees some messages she has been tagged in recently. Maya joins April and shows her the gun shot wound. It is a bit bruised around the pearlescent material where the bullet went in. April looks at her left hand that is slightly smaller than the right and only has 4 fingers. Maya pulls one of the stones she bought at CowTown out and gives it to April. It melts into April’s hand and her pinky comes grows back. Later, April goes to Maya’s room and apologizes for the way she treated her when everything started happening. She doesn’t want Maya to think she is just saying it so they’ll get back together, so she goes back to her own room as soon as she’s done.
36. Andy goes home and cancels his plans with his roommate so he can go back into the Altus Space. He is in the top 25 sellers and tells the other members of the Threads. When he goes back in and sees people selling trinkets quickly to become top sellers. He jumps back on the thread to see if anyone knows why. Five tells him celebrities are asking fans to buy their silly trinkets to get into the premium space. One messages Andy to tell him he needs to get there legitimately. He asks for Andy’s item and is impressed when he tells him it is Breezy Spring Day. Andy goes in and makes a copy of his Breezy Spring Day and makes it “alien” themed. He adds a caption telling people it is a special edition available for one day for people who want to bump out the celebrities that are trying to buy their way in. Andy then signs out to get some fresh air. He goes down to the Subway where Bex works. He apologizes to her for not being in touch. He sits and eats while she starts closing up the store. She tells him to just get in how he can. He tells her he wants to be someone who created their way in. She knows he is anxious about his ranking. He checks it online and sees that he has slipped out of the top 50. He is thinking about Tweeting something when he gets a message from One not to worry about it. There is a Tweet from Justin Bieber telling people go check out Andy’s Breezy Spring Day and Andy’s ranking improves throughout the night. He invites Bex back to his place and they hang out with his roommate. He cleans up his bedroom before inviting her in. They have sex.
37. Andy wakes up and gives into the temptation of the Altus Space. Things look the same, but Alta is no longer just a disembodied voice. It is a small figure that looks a lot like April. Andy is a bit upset at first, but Alta explains she takes the form of whatever the user thinks is an attractive female. He is taken through a demonstration of someone’s memory of walking through the jungle where he can feel everything they felt. He realizes this could mean so much for learning and empathy. He is waken up by a kick to his side. He exits to find Bex standing over him. She is upset and he tries to apologize. She gets dressed and leaves. He tries to text her, but nothing sounds right and he ends up not saying anything. He goes back into the Altus Space.
38. Miranda is working on the sandbox projects fro the premium space. She doesn’t have a lot to do in her free time because she hasn’t come across anyone. She eventually gives in and goes into the Altus Space to pass time. She starts staggering her breaks so that she has been in the hall at all times of day. She rarely ever sees anyone in the cafeteria with her. One day, she is sitting there and a giant tube of Capstick appears. She goes over and touches it, but it quickly disappears. She realizes she has been trapped in the Altus Space and she doesn’t know for how long.
39. Maya lives in the apartment with April and Carl. She is still mad at Carl and they stay away from her. They are affectionate towards April. One night, she and Carl are on the couch and she asks what they are thinking about. They have many different thought streams, but one in particular is the war with their brother. He checked on Miranda just over a day ago and she was doing okay. Maya asks if he can check on her then and they say they will try. Suddenly, Carl opens its monkey mouth and lets out a cry.
40. Carl is in pain. They set up parts of themself in a network of Fruit flies in Val Verde. When they returned to them, their brother was waiting. Carl sent a clear message to Miranda to inform her of her situation and then amputated those cells from their being and abandoned them. While it was a minor thing, it was painful. Then just as quickly as the pain started, it stopped.
41. April rushes out of her room to see what is going on. Carl explains their intermission is over and things have been set into motion because part of their self was accessed by Carl’s brother. They tell the girls they will be in Val Verde in 19 days and they have a lot of things to do before then. They go to their room to rest. April is afraid of being back publicly. Maya tells her she is going to have to make a video so she doesn’t appear to be manipulating people when they find out what she looks like. She makes a video announcing that she is alive. She says she agrees Altus is right about communication is key, but they are taking things a bit too quickly. She wants to slow down with humanity.
42. While Altus releases a statement saying they are not responsible for how long people spend in their space, critics are concerned what a lack of limitations on the environment will mean for humans. Miranda is determined to work the problem and find her way out. She knows this environment - while amazing - is not good for humanity and she intends to fight it.
43. After they make the video, April and Maya have some time before they can post it in the morning. Maya stares at her while she sends texts and realizes she still loves April. They have sex and afterwards April sleep. Maya scrolls the internet and finds some people think the Altus Space will solve the isolation issues the internet brought about. Maya thinks that is an oversimplified idea. April wakes up and Maya asks her to be her girlfriend again. April agrees. Maya tells her she loves her and April replies with the same sentiment.
44. They finally make the video public and the responses are numerous and various. April still feels odd about being different, but Carl tells her she will be different whether or not she uses her new abilities or not. She starts looking into Altus. People are having concerns about the economy and their loved ones. Maya goes to open a document to write down what they have learned, but the internet is down. Carl explains that happens with larger queries. Maya realizes it was Carl that had been knocking out the internet in New Jersey. They start constructing emails to address people’s concerns and use the survey data.
45. April and Maya wait and count down the days. Andy brings them food and other supplies to keep them going, but they get pretty stir crazy. On the eighteenth day, April and Maya are trying to figure out how they are supposed to be in Val Verde the next day. Carl is trying to explain how he is trying to keep the humans and their brother from destroying humanity. Their brother doesn’t care about the odds of survival anymore. He is leading them down a path of destruction without tracking specific people and Carl is doing what they can to keep the odds in their favor. The girls asks about them going to Vermont and realize Carl knew Maya was likely going to hurt. They admit there was a four percent chance she wouldn’t survive. April is angry over it.
46. Jason drags Andy out of the Altus space to take him down to a coffee shop. He points out a gaunt looking man in the corner and tells Andy that is what he looks like.
47. Andy realizes they hav Emmy heard from Miranda in over a month. He goes into the Altus space to see if he can find a clue. He goes into a generic sandbox called lab. He notices the periodic table is completely filled out, which would take a lot of work from a developer. He pushes by the americium and in the wall finds a not from Miranda explaining how she is trapped in the space and she thinks others are as well. The next intervention includes Bex. She shows him she has been getting The Book of Good Times as well and it was the only reason she agreed to come to his apartment for the intervention. She says she is happier when she listens to what the book tells her to do. Andy thinks he has had the same phenomenon. He tells them what he has been doing and how he wants to take down Altus. He wants to make the value drop so he can buy it all up with the five billion dollars he has made from listening to the Book of Good Times. Bex points out it how difficult it will be to accomplish and she doesn’t think five billion dollars will be enough to buy the whole company, but it is the start of a plan.
48. April and Maya are anxiously waiting for everything to change from their comfortable lives in the luxury apartment with Carl the monkey. Andy comes over and tells them his plan. He says he has to stay there to make it work and wishes them luck in Val Verde. They get on a private plane with two pilots who have also received their own Book of Good Times. While they are not allowed to land in Val Verde without a flight plan, they plan to do it anyway. After they land, April tells Maya she knows how they are going to get the extra money
49. Andy starts selling off his Altacoun. He calls Stewart Patrick and asks about the financial dealings he is going to need. Any is a bit weary of him because he lied about being named after Captain Picard (he was born before Next Gen aired). Stewart stops Andy from explaining his reasoning. He doesn’t need a noble cause to make money. Andy says they will need a bit of time to come up with the rest of the money they will need to get the majority share of Altus.
50. Aprils connection to the outside world seems to be turned off. She can reach out for answers, but nothing comes back. Maya hides in the bathroom with Carl while April gets off the plane. The people yelling at the pilots for landing there stop to address her. Maya and Carl are able to sneak out and make their way through the jungle. Carl tells Maya she is going to have to throw them up into the compound and that she will have to go back the way they came to go get Miranda. Maya asks if Carl will be okay and they reply that they can use a different body. Maya makes her way back to the concrete building and starts approaching the guard. He tells her to stop and holds up his gun. Maya stops, but then the guard suddenly crumples to the ground.
51. Carl is pleased that their plan to slowly infect Altus was successful. However, once the guard fell down, their sibling becomes aware of Carl’s presence and they have to move fast.
52. April gets off the plane and is escorted to a room full of people including Peter. She makes comments about how he just did what he did to grab onto some semblance of power and now he is working for the very thing he preached against. He refuses to believe he is being controlled by a space alien. Peter points out she is alone and will be joining Miranda soon. Carl takes over April’s body and kills the guards that try to kill April. She is shot just below her arm, but it is in the substance that Carl used to fix her. She demands Peter take her to Miranda.
53. Miranda doesn’t know how long she has been trapped when Maya rescues her. Miranda thinks it is too good to be true and asks Maya to prove it is really her. Maya tells her about the dresses April told her about. Miranda hugs her and apologizes for sleeping with April. Miranda moves around and wonders how her body is so mobile and healthy. She tells Maya they need to get out immediately. Miranda starts to run for the door. She starts to attack Maya and strangling her. She doesn’t have control over her body.
54. Maya fights off Miranda knowing she can’t control her body. She tells Miranda she knows it isn’t her that is doing it. Miranda gains control again, but admits she doesn’t know if or when she could lose control again. Suddenly Carl arrives. They grab Miranda’s wrist and Miranda seems to be better and says she understands. Carl and Mirada sit and look defeated.
55. As April walks with Peter, he tells her they haven’t done anything wrong. Carl lands on Peter’s chest and is in bad shape. The voice comes slowly from the watch speaker around their neck. Carl asks her to take them inside. The door looks like it was hit with a battering ram. April is shocked to find Maya and Mirada beat up in the room. Carl tells April to put Peter’s hand in Carl’s other hand. April goes to Maya and asks what is going on. She explains Carl’s brother took over people’s bodies. Maya had footage, but her phone was broken in the attack. Miranda warns them against opening the door. April secretly slips her phone to Maya while starts to argue Peter. Peter thinks he hasn’t done anything wrong and starts saying how the government in Val Verde won’t come after him for kidnapping. Maya records the entire conversation and they send it to Andy
56. Andy gets the video together and talks to Stewart Patrick about it. He doesn’t think the info about Alien technology and kidnapping is enough to drop people’s confidence in the new technology. Stewart says it has to be hard and fast. Andy logs into the Thread chat to tell One what he has. Andy finds he has lost access to the chats. One thinks he can predict the world better with Altus in tact. Andy realizes One is Altus. Altus says Andy’s life will be better if Altus goes on. Andy is banned from the chat. He calls to Jason and Bex and tells them the Thread is Altus. He doesn’t have the credibility to post the video as himself. It could start a big debate, but it isn’t the hard and fast hit they need. Andy calls April, but it goes to voicemail. April calls back to let them know they are all okay. He updates her. She is going to make a video and send it to him.
57. Miranda watches as April plans to make a video, but Carl tells her it won’t work from the dead monkey’s watch. April passes out into Maya’s arms. When she comes back, she says they took her into the dream. Carl is fighting to keep them safe but doesn’t know what is going to happen. They know their videos won’t be enough for them to take over Altus. Carl is very mad they didn’t guess the thread wasn’t human. April thinks Carl is losing power and is worried. Miranda gets mad and decides they have to work the problem. They decide they need to destroy Altus to succeed. Miranda gets an idea, but that is when Altus takes over her body again. Through her it says the humans are easy to predict, but they don’t know what they think. Altus thanks Peter for building him. Miranda knows what she has to do, but has to get free first. Altus threatens to kill Miranda. A shock goes through Miranda’s body and she is free. She runs to the dorms. There is an Altus experience where a woman tells them about the Terms of Service updates. She knows someone who worked on those updates. But it is the middle of the night and the campus is locked down. April knocks in a door. Miranda asks why she was let go. April thinks they are fighting. Miranda runs into Peanut and asks if Sippy is around. She asks them to push a new TOS update. They both asks where she has been. She tells them how she has been trapped int the Altus Space, but was able to get a message to a friend. She introduces them to April who says they need to move to avoid security. They start running for the server farm. April holds off the guards and sends them along.
58. April makes a video saying how she had a friend that was hired by Altus, but went missing after a month. April went to check out the rumors about kidnapping people. She then puts the recording of Peter’s rant Maya recorded in it. She explains how bad Altus will be for them, not just economically, but as humanity. She asks everyone to give them at least $10 so they can buy the company and free themselves from Altus. She tells them they have 3 hours, which is how long she can hold the door.
59. Andy makes the video as quickly as he can from the footage without believing they could actually shut down Altus. Andy sends the video to Stewart who asks what the plan is. Andy doesn’t actually know. Stewart is pissed off the big explosion he was expecting isn’t going to happen. Andy realizes if everything goes according to plan, he will be the sole owner of Altus. He does his social media part to try to inspire others to donate.
60. Miranda introduces Peanut and Sippy to Peter. She explains that just because Peanut cannot enter the space, doesn’t mean he can’t record experiences. Sippy will be making the TOS update, which ever user will see when they log in or come out of an experience. Miranda explains to them what has been going on. Maya shows them the scratches on her face and explains how Altus took over Miranda’s body to attack her. Maya explains they can’t always control where the power goes, but right now, they have the power to stop Altus from taking over humanity. Peanuts puts in the headset and records his experience of disconnection when he goes into the space. Sippy puts it as the TOS update. The monkey wakes up, but Carl doesn’t seem to be in it anymore. Maya calls out for Carl, but the monkey runs to April, is is moving very slowly
61. Users are experiencing the disconnection and once they do, it t happens everytime they try to go in. When April passed out and Carl took her to the dream, Carl explains they are dying. He has pulled his entire being to his metal body while Altus must keep his entire network in tact. He tells April he doesn’t my have much time left. They will know if they win if Altus stops his actions, such as the Thread will go away. April is still confused as to why she was chosen. Carl explains it was all of them that made the scenarios successful. April comes out of it and does her part to guard the others. She holds the door so Carl doesn’t have to. When the monkey crawls onto April’s shoulder, she tells them they have to go before the guards and Peter wake up. Maya asks about Carl and April says they died. They head for the plane and April cries. She tells the pilot they have extra passengers. When the pilot asks if everyone is okay, April sobs. Maya says they are.
62. Andy watches the money go up. Once people start experiencing dislocation, the price drops. Stewart is shocked, but does his job to start buying up stock in Altus. Andy asks April what they did. She warns him not to go in because the dislocation experience sticks with you. They don’t think there is a way to turn it off in Altus. April tells him to keep collecting money so people feel involved. They use the left over money for severance packages of the Altus employees. Andy feels like he is lacking compared to his friends, but tries to explain his theories on how people feel valuable. Andy is angry that he was the only one that was manipulated by both Carl and Altus. He also goes through with drawl from the space. He is mad at his friends for destroying the space. He finally texts April to tell her. He thought they were going to take it over for good. He understands they had to do what they did. April explains they cannot have a small group of people in charge of the world. Altus was an invasion and the best thing they could do with the power it provided was give it away. He asks Bex why she didn’t give up on him. She tells him to shut up.
63. Miranda goes back to Berkeley where Constance held her lab. They start looking into Altus’ code. The changes Carl made to their brains were permanent and children born after the dream had the change. She hires Paxton and Sid (Peanut and Sippy) onto her research team. Once they get their analysis done, they destroy all of the hard drives. Most are crushed into dust, but they each keep a small piece. They continue to do great science together.
64. Maya and April buy a house together with their pet monkey, Paulette. They live in the middle of the country as a compromise. When it is time, they dig up the potato plant and find their last Book of Good Times. Carl knew they weren’t going to survive long. They were not happy with the position their parents put them in. They advise avoiding that level of control. They tell April to listen to Maya. They did not like the loss of power, but they learned to deal with it. They warn them to prepare for about 50 people for dinner. Each person that comes has a Book of Good Times and had been chosen by Carl.
65. April reminds the world Altus is still around and the only way to keep it dormant is to keep their odds of survival up. One morning as April wakes up, Maya tells April the white stuff Carl used to make her arm and leg were not attached permanently. Her face is permanent because it attached to her brain. For so long, she believed she was just a tool being used. Suddenly, everything they went through felt real. She feels real. Maya says her body is a map of her life and she lives every part. April feels like she has learned how to be human.