Chapter 11
Jeff is singing a fifty-year old song playing on his mp3 player. He is idly shaving using an old razor, which accidentally severs his earbud cables. Unfortunately he misses his train and arrives at the lecture hall late. Nigel and Rufus, brandishing a pillow, are already there. Sophie, their usual lecturer, has gone to Paris for a conference. However, a quick shot of an apartment near the hologram-covered Eiffel Tower shows that she is playing strip poker.
After the lecture, Marcy (with a rather glamourous hairstyle) greets Jeff. Walking on the campus grounds, she is about to invite Jeff to get a snack when her phone rings. She has to dash off for a group meeting, and bids Jeff goodbye. Jeff sits at a bench and gets a call from Amy, who is lazing about at home. She wants to go to the theme park Gigantua with him. She picks Jeff up in near the parking well and they head off down the highway. She catches Jeff admiring her body and laughs. While waiting to get in, Amy suddenly launches into a performance of the "Chicken Lick'em" dance, much to Jeff's amusement. Their first ride is the Stratoscreamer, an enormous rollercoaster the height of the Washington Monument. The train carrying Amy and Marcy ascends rapidly to the summit, and they briefly admire the view. Then it plummets towards the ground. Amy joyfully eats Chicken Lick'em while Jeff looks ill. He heads for the restroom, just as a creepy looking youth approaches Amy.
He tries to pick her up, but Amy rebuffs him. Angry, he lashes out at Jeff, thinking him to be her boyfriend. The last thing he sees before darkness is an accelerating fist. Amy rouses him, and they walk past a poster advertising Simulcra. Sitting on a bench, Amy examines Jeff's bruised eye. He learns she is actually smarter than she seems, but it rapidly forgetting everything she learned in high school.
They visit an attraction called "In The Body" - a giant reproduction of Michelangelo's David, containing all the organs and blood vessels. After taking an elevator up one of the statue's legs, they marvel at the urinary system and heart. The sun is setting as Amy drops off Jeff at the maglev station. He waves goodbye, then examines his black eye.
Chapter 12
We are downtown, zooming in on a hexagonal apartment tower which doubles as a support structure for the elevated maglev line. It's where Jeff and Rufus are now living. Jeff and Rufus set up some decorative holograms to liven up their living quarters. A call comes in from Marcy, inviting them to their second session of Simulcra. She pops by to see their new place, and is shown around. Rufus drives them to Simulcra, where Amy and Nigel are waiting. Rufus comes across a display case containing some old artifacts. The top glass panel has been removed. He picks up what appears to be an odd shaped dinosaur egg and chomps on it. Jeff and Nigel neglect to tell him that it is actually a coprolite (fossilized dinosaur dung)
The gang try to decide on a date to travel to, rejecting both the 1920s and the 1990s. After donning the helmet and taking a sleeping pill, Marcy wakes up in an ornate bed. The holographic timestamp shows the date to be April 15, 1534, the high renaissance. Marcy is role-playing Anne Boleyn, who was beheaded by her husband King Henry VIII. Ladies of the Privy Chamber arrive to dress "Queen Marcy". Walking through the palace, King Henry tells Marcy he hopes she will get along with Mary when she visits. Lady Mary (played by Amy), arrives by coach.
She sees Marcy's "daughter", the future Queen Elizabeth the First. Things get tense at the dinner table, with Marcy and Amy trading insults. We then see Nigel helping Jeff with his armour at the jousting tournament. Nigel is explaining what jousting is when Rufus bursts in, making the tent collapse. Meanwhile, Amy and Marcy are being driven by coach to the tournament. They pass the original St Paul's Cathedral, which was destroyed in the Great Fire of 1666. They arrive at the tournament, while Jeff struggles with lifting the lance. Marcy greets Jeff, but has to defend her choices of Rufus and Jeff. The two square off on the lancing ground and race toward each other, but Jeff falls off his horse. He decides to engage in combat with Rufus over his lost honour. Rufus gains the upper hand, and after Jeff taunts him, he impales Jeff with his sword. Jeff stuns the crowd by getting to his feet, unscathed. King Henry believes him to be a sorceror, and orders his arrest. Suddenly they vanish from the simulation.
We then see Rufus dropping Marcy and Jeff off. They decide to eat at "Always AGMI". After making small talk, they talk about their fears and anxieties of facing adult life.
Chapter 13
The opening shot is of the Earth, viewed from space. We see a large, triangular shaped space craft orbiting the planet. Inside is the President of the Lunar Republic, Estelle Hannaford, as well as members of her staff. Her assistant, Carl, tells her they will be entering the atmosphere soon. She reads the Cordola Tribune on her VirtuaScribe, which includes articles on Carnelian Diva, the 2048 U.S Elections, and her own impending arrival. The spacecraft, known as Space Force One, begins to glow as it approaches Carnelia.
The next view is of the Hannaford Estate, where Marcy is typing. She gets a phone call from Amy, who is expecting her to accompany her to the Carnelian Diva auditions. Unfortunately, Marcy is already planning to accompany her mother, who is arriving imminently. She long queue of auditioners outside the Carnelian Hotel downtown. She becomes engrossed in a documentary on the life of Lakesha Primrose, a famous singer who was killed tragically at the pinnacle of her fame. A few blocks away, the Hannafords, accompanied by their bodyguards, arrive at the Crown Tower. Talk turns to protests about the decadence of Luna, and the threat of terrorism. Estelle tries to deflect Daphne's talk, and instead focus on their meal.
Amy briefly mentions her part time job as a model for karaoke videos. As the documentary on Lakesha draws to a tragic close, Amy absentmindedly sings a Lakesha song. She is shocked to hear another person singing the same song nearby.
Daphne notices Marcy's sour mood, and invites her to see the view from the revolving restaurant. Thinking it has something to do with Jeff, she prods her for more information. She shows her sister the news that Toby Macintyre is now dating Melanie Sathridge, and tells her that if he can move on, so can she.
Amy storms over to the other girl, and finds out she is singing the same song for the audition. Even worse, she is singing before her. Her complaints fall on death ears, and Amy kicks a banner in anger. Jeff advises Amy to find a new song to sing, as they still have 3 hours to wait.
At lunch, Marcy is distracted by a creepy looking young man staring at her table. Suddenly, he rushes towards Estelle. The bodyguards quickly move to grab him. The man is yelling anti-lunar rhetoric and is rapidly brought to the ground. Rodney stays behind to assist investigations, while two of the bodyguards escort the rest of the Hannafords out.
At 3 in the afternoon, Amy is called to the auditions. Jeff gives her a reassuring hug, and she nervously enters the room. Three celebrity judges, Kyle Seacord (musician), Miriam Hodge (Radio host) and Dave Worefield (TV Producer) stare back at her. Amy immediately makes a bad impression, and is lucky to be allowed to sing. 15 minutes later, she rushes out, elated. She has made the first cut. When they leave the building, Marcy is waiting for them, holding a bag of MegaBurger takeout. Amy treats Marcy coolly, but relents when Marcy apologises. Her condition is that they must sing karaoke with her at Takeshi's.
Chapter 14
We see the inside of Nigel's apartment. He is watching a documentary on the first Mars Landing. He gets a phone call from Rufus, ready to pick him up for their road trip. Rufus is driving a Devlok Scapula, a skycar. Marcy tells Jeff she is tired as it was her mother's last night in Carnelia and they stayed up late.
Amy tells all that she will be moving into the Diva House, a reality show about the contestants of Carnelian Diva. Rufus tells everyone that the skycar will fly about 40 km to Castilla. However, Marcy has fallen asleep, and doesn't hear him. After a few hours driving through the countryside, the skyline of Cephra appears. It's a large resort city, with a massive hotel complex shaped like chess pieces. Nigel reveals most of the city was built by the eccentric billionaire Ali Hassan-Al Fulani, who also was behind the construction of Daudaeus. They take an elevator up the White King Tower for lunch. Marcy learns that they will be airborne shortly, and is scared. Jeff tries to comfort her by telling her to visualise her favourite place in the world. It appears to work.
The sky car lands safely outside Castilla. The landmark Castilla Tower, shaped like an olive skewered by a stick, is clearly visible. Rufus drives right onto the Cedar Cove ferry. Jeff notices that Marcy is not among them, and looks for her. He finds her standing alone on the top deck. He tries to apologise for not supporting her enough in her dispute with Rufus, but it turns out she merely isolated herself because she was sea sick. As he helps her to the toilet, Amy is spying on them, frustrated they are not a couple yet.
Chapter 15
The sky car is driving through the sleepy town of Cedar Cove. Amy has become incensed at learning of Marcy's seasickness and is scolding Rufus. They arrive at their rented holiday house, a modern glass clad structure with a cascading green wall. Jeff shows Marcy to her room, and receives an impromptu hug. Marcy shyly explains its in appreciation of his compassion earlier. Excusing himself, he leaves and Marcy lies on the bed, thinking. She naps, and in her dreamstate casts her mind back 3 years to her high school days. 15 year old Marcy and Amy (lacking her distinctive hairstyle) arrive at school. Amy seems to be more knowledgable in chemistry, confirming what she told Jeff at the fairground to be true. Mr Tinnyson, their teacher arrives and begins a lesson on chemical equilibrium. Amy enthusiastically answers, as we pan to a student at the back of the class. Janine plans on a sadistic prank - a shock-site's gruesome image that has been making the rounds on the internet is forwarded to Amy via the internal mail system. However Marcy recognises the filename and prevents disaster. Crafty Amy sends the file back to Janine and forces it to open on her computer as punishment. Mr Tinnyson hears the commotion and ponders opening the file for all to see. Unfortunately he decides to open it. Even young Rufus passing by outside hears the class screaming. It's lunchtime now and Neil, one of Amy's brainy friends, joins the pair. He gushes about the new band he's formed, Quadraticus, who promptly buzzes Neil, trying to squeeze a quick jam session during lunch break. Neil invites the girls to meet his band. Here we finally see the start of Marcy's true association with the now famous star Toby Macintyre - he is a member of Quadraticus. They converse over their similar backgrounds before an impatient Neil interrupts them. Neil and band leave in their van, leaving Amy to tease Marcy about her wedding a kilt-wearing Toby. Marcy wakes from her dream - her extended nap has lasted until 4:15 am. She gazes out over the twinkling lights of the town, then takes a shower. She browses Holex on her Virtua Scribe, lingering on Jeff's profile. After sunrise the rest of the group wake up and they all head down to the town for breakfast. We follow 2 parallel conversations plus Amy's musings. A few snapshots later, they arrive at Makota beach. Amy reveals a slim bikini body, grabbing Rufus' interest. He announces his intent to seduce her, much to Nigel's dismay. Nigel attempts to thwart Rufus' plans, but is thrown on top of his own sandcastle. Rufus offers to rub sunlotion on Amy's back, and invites her to a private nocturnal visit to the holiday home's hot tub. Amy almost relents, but says she can't. Why not? Because his actions led to Marcy 'refunding'! Meanwhile Marcy is explaining to Jeff what it's like to have the lunar president for a parent. She talks of her first independent outing on her own at the late age of 17. Amy is splashing in the water and calls out for Jeff to join her - he heads out, leaving Marcy watching from the sand.