Klara and the Sun

Klara, Josie, and Chrissy are in a “Friend’s Apartment” (181) in the city, waiting for Paul, who is Josie’s father and Chrissy’s ex-husband. Paul arrives in a taxi and embraces Josie. He gives her a reversible mirror, made by a friend “in the community” (186). Paul asks Josie about her tutors, and Chrissy makes Paul say “hello” to Klara. Chrissy and Paul are curt with each other. They leave the apartment together in Chrissy’s car.

Chrissy and Paul talk about Chrissy’s job, and Paul says he’s satisfied without one: “I think the substitutions were the best thing that happened to me” (189). Paul is also suspicious of Mr. Capaldi. They pass the location of the AF store, but it’s been replaced. Klara spots the Cootings Machine nearby. They keep driving and arrive at Mr. Capaldi’s studio. Chrissy tells Mr. Capaldi she wants to see Josie’s unfinished portrait, and he brings her to a room upstairs. Klara notices a disturbance in Chrissy’s composure when she comes back downstairs. Mr. Capaldi then asks Klara to take a survey for his research and leads her to a room with a computerized test system. As Klara answers the survey questions, she can see the others through a glass door. Paul goes to see the portrait and is visibly upset when he returns, arguing with Mr. Capaldi.

Klara finishes her test and walks into the studio to see the unfinished portrait. She discovers that it is a 3D model, suspended in the air. It resembles Josie almost perfectly, but Klara notices it has the wrong hairstyle. When Klara returns to the family, Paul is still upset. He leaves, taking Josie with him. Chrissy tells Mr. Capaldi she is “having misgivings” (203), and he tries to assuage her. Mr. Capaldi and Chrissy ask Klara what she thinks of the portrait. She replies, “I’d suspected for some time that Mr. Capaldi’s portrait wasn’t a picture or a sculpture, but an AF. […] Mr. Capaldi has done an accurate job of catching Josie’s outward appearance” (204). Chrissy reveals that Capaldi also created an AF of Sal in the wake of her death, but that it hadn’t worked out. Chrissy also explains the true purpose of their visit to Capaldi’s studio and the reasoning behind her wish for Klara to observe and understand Josie so thoroughly: In the event of Josie’s death, Klara is meant to take over Mr. Capaldi’s model and become Josie. Mr. Capaldi tries to convince Chrissy to stick with their plan, arguing that her doubts about Josie having an irreplaceable soul are “sentimental” (207). Chrissy doesn’t give him a clear answer and leaves with Klara.

In the car, Chrissy asks Klara if she’d really be okay with becoming Josie. She also vents about the guilt she feels over Josie’s sickness. Klara agrees but says there may still be hope for Josie to get well. Chrissy stops the car and hugs Klara, and Klara feels Chrissy’s “kindness sweeping through [her]” (211). Chrissy drives to the diner where Paul and Josie are waiting and goes inside. Paul comes out, gets in the car, and they go for another drive. Paul opens up a bit, telling Klara he’s “never been good at, well, relating to your kind” (213). Paul says that Josie was asking about the portrait, and that she may suspect the secret they’re keeping from her. Klara tells Paul that she now knows about the plan for her to inhabit the new Josie, and Paul asks, “Do you believe in the human heart?” (214). Klara believes she could learn Josie’s heart, despite its complexity.

Klara asks Paul to help her find and destroy the Cootings Machine, in the hope that it will heal Josie. Paul doesn’t understand but goes along with the idea. They drive to an industrial zone and eventually find one of the machines near a warehouse. They talk more about Mr. Capaldi and Chrissy; Paul believes that even if Mr. Capaldi is right, Chrissy will never accept a new Josie. Klara doesn’t know how to disable the Cootings Machine and asks Paul for help, as he used to be an engineer. Paul suggests they introduce “P-E-G Nine solution” to the machine’s “Sylvester broad generation unit” (222). He tells Klara that a small amount of P-E-G Nine can be found inside her head. There is a risk that Klara will lose some perceptive function, but Klara asks Paul to extract the solution, and they sabotage the machine together.

Paul and Klara meet Chrissy, Josie, Rick, and Helen at a sushi bar. Rick and Helen are preparing for their meeting with Vance, Helen’s ex-boyfriend. Helen tells Paul that he might like Vance, who also has “fascistic leanings” (228), and Paul is offended by her characterization of his politics. They reference Paul’s “community,” which Paul previously described to Helen as “white people […] from the ranks of the former professional elites” who are arming themselves “against other types” (229).

They walk together to a theater, where Rick and Helen had arranged to meet Vance. Klara tells Rick that she has completed the task assigned to her at Mr. McBain’s barn. Josie introduces Klara to Cindy, a waitress who knows about the old AF store. Klara’s perception is hazier than normal, and she is slower to process and recognize the people around her. She hears snippets of conversations; Helen and Chrissy talk about Paul and Vance, and Chrissy asks Helen, “Do you regret it? Not going ahead with Rick” (235), and Helen responds that she does. A man with “a white-painted face and black hair” (236) approaches Chrissy and asks her to sign a petition protesting a government plan to relocate citizens. Chrissy tells Paul that she told Josie the truth about the portrait.

Vance arrives, and Helen introduces him to Rick. Klara’s disorientation begins to wear off. Josie and Cindy come to Klara again and are interrupted by a “lady in a high-rank blue dress” (238), who asks if Klara has a ticket for the show at the theater. The woman tells them that “sought-after seats […] shouldn’t be taken by machines” (238). Josie says they aren’t going to the show anyway, but Cindy is offended by the woman’s rudeness. Paul leaves. Because Chrissy and Josie have more to discuss in private, Klara goes with Helen, Rick, and Vance to another diner. Josie hugs Klara, now aware of the plan for her to inhabit her portrait, and says “don’t worry. I’ll never let anything bad happen to you” (240).

Helen, Rick, and Vance sit down, and Klara sits alone at an opposite booth. Vance compliments Helen and asks Rick what their meeting is about. Rick explains his work on drone bird technology and shows Vance his diagrams. Vance is the chair of the Atlas Brookings Founders Committee, “the body that controls the scholarships” (242). Rick tells Vance he isn’t asking for “favoritism” but for advice on applying to Atlas Brookings. They talk for a moment about the ethical implications of surveillance drones.

Vance asks Rick what he wants if he doesn’t want favoritism, suddenly changing the mood. Helen interjects, saying that they are asking for favoritism, for her sake. In an emotional exchange, Vance reminds Helen that she has ignored him for years, bringing up specific examples of times she humiliated or hurt him. Helen pleads with Vance, apologizing for her past carelessness. Rick tries to stop his mother’s groveling, and Vance leaves.

Klara joins Helen and Rick in their booth, and Helen wonders “if that was enough […] if that will satisfy him” (251). Rick is upset and doesn’t want help from Vance. Klara is struck by Helen and Vance’s complicated history, and remembering her conversation with Paul about the intricacy of the human heart. Still, she tells Helen that she thinks “Mr. Vance is still very fond of Miss Helen and will decide to help Rick” (252).

Chrissy picks them up from the diner, and they return to the Friend’s Apartment. Klara assures Chrissy “it’s possible now we can hope” (253). Klara enters Josie’s bedroom, and Josie tells Klara that Chrissy offered to quit her job to spend more time at home with her. They drive home the next morning, and Klara worries that the sun will not help Josie. They pass the RPO building and the old AF store, and Klara is disappointed and upset when she sees a new Cootings Machine has taken the place of the one she sabotaged.