Pluribus Universe
Characters
Carol, the immune thirteen, and the Others — their role, current status, and where they stand on the Joining.
The immune & the Others
Alive
Protagonist
Carol Sturka
Romantasy novelist · immune, the resistance
Joined
Ambiguous
Zosia
One of the Others · Carol's chaperone
Alive
Key
Manousos Oviedo
Immune · Paraguay · wants to fight
Deceased
Key
Helen Umstead
Carol's wife & manager · died in the Joining
Alive
Supporting
Koumba Diabaté
Immune · Mauritania · hedonist
Alive
Supporting
Laxmi
Immune · India · hostile to Carol
Joined
Supporting
Kusimayu
Immune · Peru · chose to join
The signal & its mysteries
TO
Mystery
The Others
Assimilated humanity — a single, peaceful, content collective consciousness.
TJ
Mystery
The Joining
The global event that turned nearly all of humanity into the Others.
TS
Mystery
The Signal
An extraterrestrial transmission carrying the viral RNA code that caused the Joining.
TI
Mystery
The Immune Thirteen
The thirteen people worldwide left unjoined — and utterly unalike.
TN
Mystery
The No-Kill Ethos
The Others' core rule: they will not kill — even to complete the Joining.
TA
Mystery
The Assimilation Gas
The aerosol the Others use to join the remaining immune.
TA
Mystery
The Atom Bomb
The weapon Carol brings home in the finale — her answer to Manousos's war.
CI
Mystery
Carol's Immunity
Why Carol — and only twelve others — never joined.
RT
Mystery
Reversing the Joining
Can an Other be restored to an individual — and can the world be undone?