Playground: A Novel

Following the success of her article, Evelyne received a proposal to author a book about the oceans. By this time, her twins were teens who had vastly different personalities. Evelyne was rarely at home and, when she was, she didn’t share a bed with her husband. Nevertheless, he was the first person she spoke to about the book proposal. She was full of doubts, not least about writing in English rather than her first language (French). Bart encouraged her, even giving her the obvious title for her book: Clearly It Is Ocean. Evelyne accepted the proposal and wrote the book for young adults, dedicating it to her twins so that they “might know [her]” (317). The two years of writing were hard, but Evelyne shared her favorite memories of diving in oceans around the world. Among the many subjects in her book, she described the pistol shrimp and the goby, two quite different creatures that formed “one of the ocean’s weirdest partnerships” (322). The last chapter was the most difficult. She wrote about the breathtaking experience she once shared with the cuttlefish, hoping to end the book on an optimistic note. Her disarming writing style was an immediate success. Her book succeeded beyond her wildest expectations, transforming her into a minor celebrity. Readers wrote to thank her for changing their lives. She appeared on television to advocate for environmental causes; she hated every moment of celebrity but she appreciated her new platform. After returning from one trip, she noticed that Bart had lost weight. He revealed that he was terminally ill, and she nursed him through his illness. As he approached the end of his life, they were closer than ever. He forgave her for her absence and thanked her for everything she had given him. He compared their relationship to that of the shrimp and the goby. When Bart died, Evelyne drew closer to her children through their shared grief.

Todd recalls his reaction to Rafi’s unexpected demand for money. He was shocked that his old friend would think of their conversation in these terms. He tried to assure himself that Playground was entirely his idea and, in a rush of emotions, responded with a counteroffer: a job and a conversation. Rafi raised his demand to $1,000,000. When Todd approached his legal counsel, he received criticism. If Rafi didn’t have a case before, he was told, he certainly did now. Eventually, they reached a legal settlement on Rafi’s original proposed amount. Todd was horrified to receive a mysterious communication, presumably from Rafi, suggesting that the legal battle was just another evolution in their years-old competitive game-playing.

On Makatea, Rafi explains his horror to his neighbors. Todd Keane isn’t interested in sea cities, he says, only in “revenge” against Rafi. Todd has turned the Makatean people into pawns in their ongoing game. Rafi urges the people to vote against the consortium. Didier refuses to delay the referendum. Voting will take place, and every person receives a white and a black stone from Wen Lai’s Go game. Each person on the island has their own motivation for voting. Each casts their vote, even the reluctant Evelyne. The result is close, but the consortium wins. The community is stunned, as if suddenly regretting their collective decision. A party is held, and the morning after, people think about what will happen next. Palila and Didier talk about the complex tangle of property rights on the island. Didier suspects that the project won’t move ahead as simply as the consortium would like. As news of these delays spreads, people discuss the revelation that in the wake of the referendum, Todd Keane has set out for Makatea on “his self-piloting yacht” (354). Everyone looks at Rafi, who begins to understand the nature of the game being played with his old friend.

Todd tells his AI device about a distressing incident in which dementia caused him to lose his “sense of self” (355). After a series of these incidents, he made up his mind to change his will. As the dementia progresses, some of his childhood memories become even more intense.

The whole world watches the US billionaire embark on the world’s first solo crossing of half of the Pacific Ocean. His expensive boat is fully automated, which is important as Todd knows nothing about sailing and is too frail and sick to do anything except talk to his computer. The Makatean people follow the online updates of the boat’s progress as Todd makes a journey that their ancestors once made. Rafi tries not to think too much about what Todd intends for him. The boat arrives at Makatea, and the local fishermen go out to meet Todd. A welcoming party gathers on the shore to witness a withered old man being carried ashore. Rafi and Ina struggle to recognize the “shrunken, hunched parody of their old friend” (365). When Rafi speaks to him, Todd barely remembers how to talk.

Todd speaks to his AI to explain how he found Rafi. He trained an AI device on every written communication he ever made with Rafi, as well as Rafi’s academic records and transcripts. The AI device believed that Rafi was an anonymous user of Playground, and Todd studied his old friend’s posts obsessively. On Playground, Rafi seems not to be held back by writer’s block or inhibition. He’s something of a celebrity, and Todd pieces together bits of Rafi’s life from the posts on the site. Rafi was working as an assistant in a university library. However, the university’s tendency to destroy old books to make space horrified Rafi. He began taking these unwanted books home and, when the university found out, they fired Rafi. When Todd found out, he tried to use his connections and his money to have Rafi reinstated.

Todd received the news from Ina that “Rafi passed away three and a half weeks ago” (369), noting that he died in the middle of writing a Playground post. Ina describes how she now lives on Makatea with her two adopted children. Todd and Ina exchanged many emails, and she helped him through “that very dark time” (370). Ina reveals that Rafi left her the money he won from Todd; Rafi never touched it. Around this time, Todd began to experience the effects of his disease. He trained his AI device to describe new worlds and stories for him in which Rafi and Ina were still alive and together. This is the story in Playground, set on a version of Makatea where Rafi is still alive. The world is so convincing that Todd mistakes the “characters for the people they once were” (372). Todd knows he won’t live to see the impact of the technology he invented. However, he hopes that his inventions have helped achieve Rafi’s dream of defeating death.

On Makatea, residents lead the frail Todd up to the community center. They realize that “the person they have just elected god of their island is failing” (374). The confused old Todd looks around and struggles to comprehend what he sees, including the famous French-Canadian oceanographer who died many years before. He can’t communicate his real emotions to Rafi, Ina, or anyone else. He wants to apologize to Rafi but struggles to form the words. Todd dies on the island and is buried at sea. Ina tells Evelyne that the dead billionaire left everything to her. The fortune is “large enough to safe-guard every living thing all the way to the horizon” (378). A final referendum is held, and the people vote to become a people of the ocean once again. At the funeral, Rafi reads a poem. He throws the Go counters to his dead friend in tribute. In the ocean, the fish and the rays swim on.