Pretties

Zane and Tally leave their interface rings in the garden so that they cannot be tracked through them. As they go to Valentino, the two discuss why it was an ideal hiding spot and a good place for Croy to contact Tally. Zane warns Tally that the Specials can listen through the city’s smart walls. They reach the mansion, where things are still in a state of disrepair from the party. They discover that Valentino 317 doesn’t exist—the room numbers skip 317. Tally’s sharpness begins to fade, so the two of them kiss to help her stay focused. Tally points out that a room was removed to install an elevator. She suggests climbing onto the roof and finding a way into the elevator shaft, remembering doing something similar as an ugly.

The stairwell does not reach the roof, so they open a window. Zane climbs out and pulls himself onto the rooftop. Tally slowly steps onto the window ledge but realizes she is too short to reach the roof. Zane gives her his hand and they manage to get her onto the roof. They cross to a small metal shack and find that someone has scratched “Valentino 317” into the metal door. It is padlocked, and Tally describes what a key looks like to Zane. She becomes frustrated, thinking of the tests Croy has put her through. Zane connects the tests with the need to be clear-headed. Tally’s clearness starts to fade, but Zane pushes her to keep thinking, and she sees the transmission tower protruding from the corner of the roof. Tally realizes that the key must be at its top.

Zane expresses doubt as they look up at the tall transmission tower, but Tally pushes through. The beginning of the climb is easy, but as they get higher the tower narrows and handholds are more difficult to find. Tally begins to feel some doubts, wondering if the effort is worth it. Because she is distracted, she slips and falls. She catches herself on a cable and smashes her hip, but the pain and adrenaline clear her mind in a way she has not felt since before the pretty operation. She climbs back up to Zane and rushes past him, reaching the top of the tower. She finds a key affixed to a magnet and descends before Zane has had a chance to recover from the shock of her fall. Tally doesn’t wait for him, instead going to the padlock and opening the shack. Inside are old remnants of the “Rusties” (the civilization that preceded them): spray-painted signs and trash. Tally finds a leather pouch and opens it. Inside is a piece of paper and two white pills. Zane catches up with her and takes the paper as she looks at the pills, trying to remember what they are. Zane tells her that the paper is a letter to Tally, from herself.

The letter explains to future Tally that the Smokies suspect that the pretty surgery causes you to forget things from your past. Past Tally writes that the surgery adds lesions to the brain but that the Smokies have developed a cure. She also writes that David had to “kidnap” future Tally; since this has not happened, Zane and Tally realize that there has been a change of plans. Tally remembers that she and David were romantically involved but struggles to remember anything beyond that. In the letter, past Tally writes that she is giving her informed consent to take the untested drug despite its potential side effects.

Tally begins to panic as Zane realizes that past Tally willingly gave herself up to the Specials so the Smokies could test the drug. Tally points out that it was the old version of her that agreed to the test, and Zane offers to take it in her place. A hovercar lands on the roof and Zane starts to eat the letter, hiding the evidence before locking the two of them inside the shack. Tally realizes that Special Circumstances is outside and feels conflicted about whether to take the pills, freezing when she almost puts them in her mouth. She and Zane agree to each take one pill as the Specials begin to cut into the shack, although Zane worries that splitting the dose is a mistake. The two of them kiss as the Specials enter.