Birnam Wood

When Mira comes home, she thinks that Shelley has finally left, revealing that she knows Shelley wants to leave. She thinks of using the tracking app but feels bad invading Shelley’s privacy. She admits to herself that she’s never had a best friend and always liked being the center of men’s attention. This makes her feel guilty that she got along with Shelley so well because Shelley wasn’t competition. She wishes she could go back, treat Shelley with respect, and admit that she loves and needs her. She begins to pack for Thorndike.

Mira is excited by Thorndike because it could provide produce on a large scale. Mira has been frustrated with their limited resources in the past. She imagines the benefits of being caught trespassing on the Darvishes’ land and explaining their mission to the world. Mira wants to do this trip alone. She leaves and texts Shelley to say where she is going. She arrives and spends the night in a campground, where ignores the honesty box for camp fees and makes sure to wear a broken analog camera so that people think she is a hiker. She finds a back entrance to the land, explores, and concludes that no one is around, though she’s surprised to see a plane parked on an airstrip that wasn’t in the internet photos.