Shift

Donald Keene, a new congressperson from Georgia, waits with a group of other new congresspeople outside Senator Paul Thurman’s office. Thurman is a friend of Donald’s family, and Donald once dated Thurman’s daughter, Anna. However, Donald is now married to a woman named Helen. Thurman advises Donald to spin truth and lies equally, allowing the public to figure things out for themselves. He hands Donald a folder containing an architectural illustration Donald once drew for a senior class on biotecture. Thurman tells him that as part of an energy bill Thurman recently got approved, Donald must design a bunker to house the employees of a nuclear waste storage facility, the Containment and Disposal Facility (CAD-FAC), should an accident happen. Thurman wants Donald to design it as an underground structure.

After leaving the medical suite, Troy is supposed to go to his office but instead takes the elevator to the highest level and stands just inside the cafeteria. A massive screen shows the desolate landscape outside the silo. The debris and scorched hills awaken vague memories and a rush of emotion in Troy.

Donald arrives back at his office and discovers Anna Thurman setting up a new monitor for his computer. She and Donald engage in small talk as he contemplates the sexual tension between them. Anna tells Donald that they’ll need to meet once a week while working on the project together. Donald worries that his attraction to Anna will cause trouble in his marriage, so he insists that they meet over email and video-chat.

Troy is late for his first workday. He arrives to find the man he’s replacing, Merriman, anxious to be put to sleep again. Merriman gives Troy such a rushed explanation of his duties that Troy follows him down to the medical suite to ask questions. Troy nervously remembers that he was originally meant to head only one silo, not the silo that governs all the others. Merriman encourages Troy to accept help from the head of the psych department, Victor. As Troy leaves the medical floor, he thinks about the women and children frozen in one of the storage rooms and considers peeking in on them but doesn’t.

A week later, Donald calls his wife later than planned because he’s so focused on the architectural details of his new project. They speak for a few minutes, and Helen becomes upset when he tells her that Anna is working on the project with him. After Donald hangs up, Mick Webb, Donald’s friend from college and now a congressperson, enters the office and invites Donald to get a drink. At first, Donald refuses. Mick moves around the desk to peek at what has Donald so busy that he can’t go and is annoyed when Donald refuses to share with him. Finally, Donald agrees to go, but the phone rings as they’re leaving. It’s Thurman, who seems to know what just happened in Donald’s office and reminds Donald that he can’t share information with anyone, not even Mick.

Troy goes to the cafeteria for a meal and his pills. He observes the others around him, noting that most of them lack interest in much of anything. One man, Hal, joins him at his table and comments on how some men stare at the screen and others refuse to look at it. Hal adds that what they forget are bad things, but everything else sticks with them.

Donald meets with Thurman at a bookshop. They discuss Donald’s sister, Charlotte, a drone pilot in the current war in Iraq. Thurman worries about Charlotte’s inability to adjust to civilian life and expresses his desire to help encourage her to see a doctor upon her next return. Thurman tells Donald that he and Mick must fly to Atlanta to check on the progress at the CAD-FAC. Donald is surprised to learn that the crew is already digging the foundation for his bunker even though he won’t finish the architectural plans for months. Thurman tells Donald that he’s to meet with Charlie Rhodes, Oklahoma’s governor, because Rhodes is providing the supplies for the project.

Troy studies The Order before going to the communication (comm) room to interview a new candidate for a silo leadership role. The young man, Marcus Dent, says all the right things when Troy questions him. At the end of the interview, Marcus asks whether the stories in The Legacy are true. While assuring Marcus that they’re true, Troy reflects silently that The Legacy is heavily edited and omits some truths.

Donald and Mick are in Fulton County, Georgia at the CAD-FAC site. They learn that the project is two months behind after only six months because of a lack of communication between the crews. Mick and Donald encounter Charlie Rhodes, who has paperwork for them to sign. Mick hands Donald the paperwork, and he sees that they’ve ordered way too many spools of fiber optic. Charlie writes a new figure on the page and assures Donald that everything will even out.

Troy is playing a homemade solitaire game on his computer when Randall from psych comes in to discuss issues with a few silos. One issue is particularly worrisome: overcrowding in Silo 32. Investigation into this has revealed that the leader’s excuses for the situation are implausible. Troy orders that the leader be replaced, aware that this means certain death for the man. As they talk, the head of communications rushes into the room and announces that Silo 12 is collapsing.

Donald meets his wife, Helen, for dinner on their anniversary. They discuss the project, and Helen expresses her unhappiness with it, telling Donald that he could have stayed home and become an architect. However, Helen’s real issue with the project is that Donald is working on it with Anna even though he assures her that he doesn’t meet with Anna in person.