Exceptional Circumstances

Now that Connie knows Mitch is alive, she contacts him through the computer. She is relieved but also angry that she has spent weeks grieving him. After a few private memories convince her that the person answering truly is Mitch, he apologizes for the pain and says his supposed death surprised him too. Their reunion is cut short when Agent Bourland disconnects the computer.

Mitch is living under FBI protection, though he feels more like a prisoner than a volunteer. Bourland warns that outside contact threatens Mitch and anyone who knows his location. Mitch argues that he needs help deciphering the secret information he has recovered from Novacom and Andromeda. References to Fizzy Cola, Grizzly Chips, birdhouses, Claremont, and a launch date look like an ordinary shopping list, and even Arthur Dent’s disc has not yet made their meaning clear.

At Whit’s End, Alex, Cal, and Mandy tell Connie what their investigation has uncovered. They believe the NovaBox is influencing people to buy products they do not want, and the machine keeps operating after it is unplugged. The product names are the same ones Mitch has found in Andromeda’s secret files, though Connie must conceal her contact with him.

Tom Riley joyfully brings Agnes home from Hillingdale Haven. She remembers the house and insists on walking with him along their old trail. On a hill above the farm, they enjoy the sunset and recall the years they spent there together. Agnes dislikes the Novacom tower that now interrupts the view, but Tom reminds her that the company leases the land from him and created the treatment that has restored her health. Nearby, he notices the remains of a small campfire but lets the matter go so he can enjoy the evening with his wife.

Whit returns from a meeting with good news: the board that controls Mary’s Story Shop has agreed to sell him the Connellsville Whit’s End. Jason, meanwhile, finds two names throughout Eugene’s encrypted research - Eugene’s own and that of a local scientist named Duncan Mathis. An old newspaper article says Duncan received an award for scientific excellence, and the telephone directory places him at a rehabilitation center. Jason goes to meet him.

Duncan is a scientist who has been quadriplegic for twelve years, and he served as both a researcher and test subject in Eugene’s radio-wave study at Campbell College. The team hoped to translate brain waves into radio signals so people with disabilities could control machines by thought. Duncan describes the triumph of moving a computer cursor, then typing a letter and his own name without using his hands. To him and Eugene, the discovery promised extraordinary freedom for many people.

After Eugene left briefly for a family emergency, the researchers reported their success to the dean. Visitors from Chicago arrived, but instead of asking how brain waves could operate machines, they wanted to know whether the process could be reversed - whether radio waves could alter brain waves. Duncan realized that the mysterious sponsors cared more about influencing minds than helping people. When Eugene returned and learned what had happened, he fled with the research.

Duncan also reveals the NovaBox’s terrible weakness. Its benefits do not last. When the effect wears off, a person’s abilities deteriorate until that person is worse off than before using it. Duncan has experienced the reversal himself and believes it will happen to other users.

Monica Stone enters and is startled to find Jason with Duncan. Jason learns that Duncan is her brother and that helping him is the reason she has worked for Andromeda. Duncan has never known the crimes she has committed on his behalf. Monica insists that the technology only needs more time, while Duncan insists that innocent people deserve the truth. At last Monica admits that she caused the diving accident that put her brother in a wheelchair. Her guilt has driven her to do whatever she believes might restore him.

Jason understands her desire to help, but he warns that good intentions cannot make Andromeda trustworthy or justify Monica’s crimes. He urges her to question Bennett Charles directly about the NovaBox’s failures. Duncan wants Jason to tell the public what has happened, and Jason intends to make sure his warning is heard.

Whit takes that warning to Tom, who refuses to believe that Agnes’s improvement will reverse. He accuses Whit of meddling and will not surrender the happiness he has regained. Soon afterward, however, Agnes prepares a dinner plate for their son Timmy as though he were still alive. When Tom reminds her that Timmy has died, she recognizes her mistake and becomes frightened. She begs not to return to Hillingdale, while Tom tries to reassure them both that it may be only a brief relapse.

Connie finally receives another computer message from Mitch under the ridiculous new name Sparky the Happy Giraffe. Nick nearly sees it, but Connie manages to keep Mitch’s survival secret. Once Nick leaves, she begins telling Mitch about the children’s school project and their discovery concerning the NovaBox.