The Space Between Worlds

Feeling guilty over Jean’s death, Cara isolates herself for two weeks, ignoring all calls from Esther. Desperate for some form of solace, she finally visits Exlee at the House in Ashtown, and Exlee comforts her with deep compassion. Later, at Jean’s funeral, the mayor uses the tragedy to deliver a highly politicized message, openly condemning Ashtown, where Jean’s murder was falsely reported to have occurred.

Adam Bosch confronts Cara and reveals that he had Jean killed as a lesson to her—to ensure her obedience. He also admits that he orchestrated the original Caramenta’s death to bring this Cara—whom he openly calls by her birth name of Caralee—to this world.

Deeply shaken but resolved to get the better of Adam, Cara returns to her apartment and lights Nelline’s mourning candle in a solemn, personal ritual, vowing revenge on the Eldridge CEO. She drives into Ashtown to find the runner and information broker, Mr. Cheeks, but she encounters a different runner, Mr. Scales, who agrees to arrange a meeting for the following day.

Cara returns to work to find that Dell is back from desk duty. When Dell asks, Cara reveals that her real name is Caralee, and as the two have a frank conversation, Cara finally reveals her Ashtown origins. Rather than rejecting Cara for her lowly social origins, Dell comments that it is nice to see Cara no longer pretending that she is “from nowhere.”

That evening, Esther arrives, angry that Cara has been shutting her out. Cara confesses everything: Adam’s murders, Jean’s sacrifice and death for her sake, and her developing plans for revenge. Esther pledges her support just as Mr. Cheeks arrives.

Cara explains Adam’s plot to frame Ashtown runners for his crimes, and both Mr. Cheeks and Esther recognize that such a move would lead to war. They also agree that killing Adam is too risky, as he is the only one who truly knows how to repair the traversing technology, which is essential to Earth Zero’s economy. Instead of killing Adam, Cara proposes destroying the traversing hatch that allows people to traverse, while leaving the industrial hatch intact. Mr. Cheeks agrees but explains that the plan will require approval from the emperor, Nik Nik, as well as a substantial payment. To obtain an appropriately unique payment for Nik Nik, Cara convinces Dell to authorize an unscheduled traverse to Earth 175.

On Earth 175, Cara meets with that world’s Nik Nik, who gives her a rare, untraceable pistol: something that does not exist on Earth Zero at all. She also obtains a holographic recording of his brother, Adranik (this world’s Adam Bosch) when the man ruled as an emperor. Back on Earth Zero, Cara meets the Earth Zero Nik Nik in a warehouse. When she offers the gun as payment, he deeply desires it. However, when she mentions that there are only six bullets and that he would only need to use the gun once to establish his reputation, he becomes enraged, perceiving her comment as a suggestion that he cannot maintain his reign without this rare weapon. He reaches out and chokes her.

While gasping for air, Cara pulls up an image of Adam Bosch (Nik Nik’s brother, whom he believed to be dead). She shows him the hologram of Adranik, and Nik Nik is stunned when Cara reveals that his brother, whom he believed dead, is the head of Eldridge and has ignored him for years, even going so far as to pin Jean’s murder on Nik Nik’s runners, thereby delivering a profound insult. Cara delivers this information to give Nik Nik a reason to condone her plans to utterly ruin Adam, who is, despite all his flaws, Nik Nik’s “blood.” The evidence of Adam’s indifference and treachery persuades Nik Nik to agree to help with the sabotage of the traversing hatches. Later, Dell sees the bruises that Nik Nik left on Cara’s neck. Fearing for Cara’s safety, she cancels all of her future traverses, leading to a tense argument.

Nik Nik and his runners gather at Cara’s apartment to plan their infiltration of Adam Bosch’s mansion during a party. Cara insists on joining; she wears a runner’s bandana to conceal her identity, and just before they go, she dons gloves and retrieves an unnamed object from her room. Mr. Scales then uses her technical skills to help the group gain entry. While Nik Nik and the runners sabotage Adam’s prototype of the traversing hatch, Cara breaks into Adam’s study and finds a digital file under her birth name, Caralee; the file contains years of medical data that Adam has secretly compiled on her. Cara also infiltrates Adam’s personal quarters and his bathroom.

As she heads back into the hall, Dell, who is a guest at the party, spots her. Before they can speak, Mr. Cheeks pulls Cara away. During the reconnaissance, Nik Nik deliberately allows Adam to see his face, and Cara privately curses the emperor’s pride. Upon rejoining the runners, she empties her pockets and throws the contents and her gloves into an incinerator.

Back at Cara’s apartment building, Dell ambushes Mr. Cheeks, acting under the assumption that he has been forcing Cara to smuggle guns and invade Adam’s mansion. However, Cara intervenes and clarifies that she hired the runners to raid Adam’s mansion. She confesses the sabotage plan to Dell, who admits that she has also been investigating Adam. They both realize that he has been using an experimental serum on Cara for years. Cara warns Dell to stay away from the Eldridge building on Friday.

Cara enters void of traversing for the last time and bids a farewell to the interdimensional presence she thinks of as Nyame. Later, Dell confesses her love to Cara, and the two women finally spend the night together. In the morning, Cara prepares for the final part of her plan. She goes to Eldridge for her “analyst interview” and is taken straight to Adam, who rubs his eye and moves to administer more eye drops on himself before realizing that he has already emptied the bottle. Adam reveals that he made what he believes to be an “irresistible” financial offer to Nik Nik, not realizing that by sending cash and by failing to go to Nik Nik in person, he instead delivered a deadly insult. Cara realizes that Adam is fully ignorant of Ashtown’s culture. At that moment, explosions rock the building as Nik Nik’s runners destroy the traversing hatch and Adam’s mansion.

Cara reveals that she has condemned Adam to a long, painful death by replacing his eyedrops with a solution containing the Lot’s Wife parasite from another Earth. Before his security team can harm her, Dell arrives with immigration enforcement. To save Cara, Dell has revoked her visa, ensuring that she will be deported from Wiley City rather than killed.

Exiled to Ashtown, Cara builds a new life for herself as a writer, helping Ashtown residents to write messages that will be considered more proper by the children who have since moved into Wiley City. Months later, Dell, who has quit her job, finds Cara and gives her a necklace made from the jade earring that belonged to the original Caramenta. The two women reunite, ready to begin a new life together.