The Unraveling

Connie Kendall is still trying to accept Mitch’s reported death. Some days she remembers that he is gone; at other moments she reaches for the telephone to share something with him before reality returns. After speaking with his sister Rachel, Connie decides to visit Maine. She hopes that seeing Mitch’s grave, meeting people who knew him, and visiting the places he described will help her understand her loss.

Back in Odyssey, Mandy Straussberg shows Alex Jefferson and Cal Jordan her family’s new NovaBox. Its virtual-reality math game has made learning enjoyable, and Rodney Rathbone claims his own box helped him earn an excellent grade. Alex and Cal distrust anything made by Novacom, but Mandy sees only a useful game. Their social-studies assignment soon draws their attention to a stranger problem: Mandy and her mother have each bought a birdhouse even though the family already owns one.

At a neighborhood grocery store, the children learn that local shopping habits have changed in sudden waves. One week nearly everyone wanted Fizzy Cola, the next week they bought Grizzly Chips, and now customers are purchasing birdhouses as quickly as the store can obtain them. People admit buying things they do not like or need and cannot explain why beyond saying that each purchase seemed like a good deal.

Alex, Cal, and Mandy interview neighbors for their report. They discover the same pattern everywhere. A man who dislikes Fizzy Cola has stocked up on it, and another shopper on a fixed income has filled his garage with chips. Then they catch Rodney in Mandy’s backyard wearing his NovaBox helmet and hiding her birdhouse. A pile of other stolen birdhouses lies nearby. Rodney claims that the helmet has made him both brilliant and public-spirited, but he cannot answer a simple question about what he is doing.

In Maine, Rachel welcomes Connie with photographs Mitch regularly sent of his life in Odyssey. She takes Connie past places from his youth and finally to the cemetery. Standing at the grave marked Robert Mitchell, Connie tries to say the goodbye she never had a chance to give. Grief and anger pour out together. She mourns their unfinished plans, feels guilty for being angry with someone she believes was murdered, and wonders why Mitch placed himself in danger by becoming involved with Novacom.

Rachel shows Connie the nearby grave of Justine Baker, Mitch’s childhood friend. After Mitch went to work for Galaxy Enterprises in Boston, he helped Justine obtain a job in its executive office. She discovered confidential papers about Operation Think Tank and suspected the company of illegal or unethical activity. After she questioned Bennett Charles, she left a terrified message for Mitch saying that a car was pursuing her along the bluffs. She died there before the authorities could uncover enough evidence to charge anyone.

Unable to let Justine’s death go unanswered, Mitch began his own investigation. He learned that Operation Think Tank had a connection to Campbell College and moved to Odyssey, transferring to Galaxy’s new sister company, Novacom. Working inside the company allowed him to search for proof while secretly helping others recognize its danger. Under the identity Arem, he sent clues about the Whit’s End modem, the Connellsville cameras, and Eugene’s radio-wave study without exposing himself. Connie realizes that the mysterious figure she and her friends distrusted had actually been Mitch trying to help them.

Rachel assures Connie that Mitch did not befriend her merely to gather information. She believes her brother truly loved Connie and had never been so excited about anyone. The truth does not remove Connie’s pain, but it gives her a clearer understanding of his character and renews her desire to oppose Novacom wisely rather than remain helpless.

Alex connects the neighborhood’s strange purchases to the NovaBox. Nearly every household buying the same unnecessary products also has one of the devices, and Rodney has worn its helmet constantly. Mandy objects that her mother does not use the box, but the earlier black-box signal affected people who were merely nearby. The children inspect Mandy’s NovaBox and hear it humming after she switches it off. Cal unplugs it, yet the sound continues. The device is still operating and apparently cannot be turned off.

As Connie prepares to go out with Rachel, she hears the distinctive computer sound that always accompanied Arem’s messages. Mitch’s secret name appears on Rachel’s screen. Rachel reluctantly admits that she has withheld something because revealing it is dangerous and because Mitch himself has insisted on secrecy. Then she tells Connie the astonishing truth: Mitch is alive.