Ubik

A man offers to fly Joe to Des Moines in exchange for the bottle of “Ubique,” which is an antique. When Joe arrives in Des Moines, he calls the mortuary and is told that “Mr. Runciter will be lying in state for the balance of today and tomorrow morning” (145). The mortuary sends a car and a man named Mr. Bliss to pick up Joe and bring him to the funeral home. Every person and object Joe sees now appears to be from the 1930s. Mr. Bliss’ racism reminds Joe how far people have come since that time, and why it might not be a good thing to remain stuck in this time.

Joe reunites with the inertials after the funeral and discusses the situation with them. It appears they’re all stuck in the 1930s, just like Chip. Joe explains, “We haven’t gone anywhere. We’re where we’ve always been. But for some reason…reality has receded; it’s lost its underlying support and it’s ebbed back to previous forms” (153).

Joe goes inside to view Runciter’s body, which appears shriveled and burnt like Wendy’s. This frightens Joe who returns to the group outside. The inertials tell him that Edie Dorn left the group to go back to the hotel.