Pluribus

Hello!

You okay?

Sorry, we didn't mean to startle you.

We wouldn't have intruded but, if you don't mind us saying,

maybe you could slow down and take a break.

You've been at it for two hours straight.

You people are spying on me.

Oh, no. You just happened to be outdoors this morning.

How? Where? Where are you watching me from?

- An MQ-9 Reaper. - A what?

It's an Air Force drone. It's…

I don't see anything.

Yeah, no, you wouldn't really. It's way up at 40,000 feet.

It's not dangerous. It's not even armed.

Sorry. Bad idea. It's leaving.

Please? We'd feel so much better if you'd hydrate.

What's in it?

Water.

And what else? Something that's gonna make me turn into one of you?

No, we're months away from knowing how to do that.

Jarmell Gurky says it's okay.

Who is Jarmell Gurky?

He's a bottling line supervisor in Winston-Salem.

He was running the second shift at the Aquafina plant

when this got filled on May 8th.

To the best of his knowledge, it's just good clean water.

Why are you standing in my yard talking

about whatever the fuck it is you're talking about?

Who are you?

Someone we thought you might like.

Not so much. No.

Sorry about that, Carol.

Regardless, you are on the verge of heat exhaustion,

and that's the opinion of every medical doctor on Earth.

How about it?

You have water in the house. Please drink some.

And maybe pace yourself.

We can see we're upsetting you.

Wait.

Stop.

You're gonna need a pickax by the way.

There's a lot of volcanic rock in that soil.

Your neighbor Martin at 1204 has one in his garage, along with a sun hat and

work gloves.

Wait right here. Don't move.

What the hell is this?

Are you supposed to be my character Raban? Why?

If we chose poorly, we apologize.

We just want you to be happy.

Why Raban as a woman?

My original version of him was a her.

But I talked myself out of it.

And we never told anyone.

Helen and I were the only ones who knew.

So if you can't read minds--

Carol, you may find this hard to believe but yesterday

was the greatest day in the history of humanity.

Helen thought so too.

No. Helen is not one of you.

She joined us before she passed.

She's gone but all of her thoughts,

her memories, they're right here.

Should we tell you how much she loved you?

You bunch of ghouls!

You are a goddamn bunch of grave-robbing psychopaths!

You are the reason she is dead!

And now you're gonna speak for her?

Fuck you! Fuck every single one of you!

Oh, jeez.

Hello?

Anybody?

Is anybody there?

Hello? Are you still there?

Fuck.

Shit.

Shit.

Jesus Christ! What's…

Okay.

What… Oh, my God, I…

Hang on.

Here we go. Here we go.

Okay. I'm gonna bring you down.

All right. Down, down, down!

Shit! Sorry. Sorry.

Hang on.

No, no. No, no. No. What…

Turn, turn, turn, turn, turn.

No, no. Come on, come on.

Fucking piece of shit!

Down, down, down, down. Down.

Goddamn it!

Fuck. Come on. Fucking shit…

- Carol? - Fu--

We can take it from here, if you like.

I was just trying to…

We know, Carol.

We're all right.

Thank you.

Hi, Carol. How may we help you?

The pirate lady can come back if she wants.

Absolutely. She'll be right over.

Is there anything else we can…

Carol?

Was that me? Did I make everybody freeze like that?

We're affected by your emotions.

The negative ones,

if they're directed right at us, they can be a little tough to take.

So, how many people did I hurt just now?

Oh, please. That is not how you should look at this. Not at all.

Did anybody die?

How many?

Worldwide? It's a few.

Dozens?

Hundreds?

There is a quicker way if you're open to it?

The astronauts up in the space station, are they like you?

They are.

They're on their way back.

And everybody at the South Pole and on nuclear submarines?

Missile silos? Area 51?

Yes.

We made a point of reaching them early on.

That's kind of the best way to do it.

How many people like me in the world did you say?

Eleven others?

Actually, now there are 12.

There's a gentleman in Paraguay whom we became aware of this morning.

Were any of them hurt today when I…

Did any of them get hurt?

There was just one minor injury.

Mostly there was consternation.

They're okay.

These 12, how many speak English?

Five either as a second or third language.

I want to meet those five.

Communication wouldn't be an issue for the 13 of you.

- We can translate. - Nope.

Just the English speakers.

We'll have to ask their permission.

Fine. Ask.

The sooner the better.

Oh, shit. No, no, no, no, no, no. Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. Hey. Hey!

Are you there? Can you hear me?

We can hear you.

All five say yes.

How you doin' back here, Carol?

- Is there anything that we can get you? - I'm good.

Just…

You're more than welcome to sit up front with us, if you'd like.

You could take the controls.

It's fun.

Who's flying this thing? That gal from TGI Fridays?

Maybe just concentrate on her.

Well, let us know if there's anything you need.

Carol, this gathering today, we have high hopes for it.

Great.

- But? - But, as we say, your lives are your own.

Which means what?

We can't really protect you from one another.

We'll be landing in Bilbao in 40 minutes.

- Where did you come from? - Did you have to travel far?

- Oh, yeah. I had a good time. Yes. - Peru.

- And you? - China.

I have some pictures. It's very beautiful.

Yes. It's my first time outside of my country.

It was a bit long.

Would it be acceptable to everyone if we continue in English?

- Yeah. - Of course.

- Sure. - Wonderful.

Sorry. I was just in the…

Doesn't matter.

Hi.

Hi. I'm Carol.

Hello. Otgonbayar.

Pleased to meet you.

Otgonbayar.

- Otgonbayar. - Otgonbayar. Okay. Pleased to meet you.

My name is Xiu Mei. Hello.

Hello, Xiu Mei.

I'm Carol.

Kusimayu.

Kusimayu, that's a lovely name.

- Nice to meet you. - Nice to meet you.

And…

I'm Laxmi.

Laxmi.

Great to meet you. Great to meet all of you.

Wow. Just… Wow, right?

This is such a relief.

Do you know who these guys are?

Hello, Carol.

We're family members.

This individual is Byamba, Otgonbayar's daughter.

Hi, Carol. This individual is Neu Xiansheng, Xiu Mei's husband.

T'ika, Kusimayu's aunt.

Sisa, Kusimayu's cousin.

Aarush, Laxmi's husband.

Padma, mother of Laxmi. And this is…

Ravi, Laxmi's nine-year-old son.

We're very pleased to meet you, Carol.