The Last Murder at the End of the World

“Two friends argued on a stairwell in Nairobi about a promotion. In a jealous rage, one shoved the other, who fell down the steps and broke her neck. The killer had just enough time to wonder if he could get away with it before the fog came pouring out of the ground. He died a second later, along with everybody he’d ever known and most of the people he hadn’t. There hasn’t been another murder since. I’ve made sure of it.”

Abi’s description of the last murder alludes to the novel’s title. Since Niema sacrifices herself for the island, the last murder before the end of the world is the encounter between the two people in Nairobi. While this allegory sets up the mystery that ensues, this quote reveals how powerful Abi’s reach has been in controlling people’s morality because she has not allowed another murder to happen.

“The elders are our last link to the old world […] They have knowledge it would take us hundreds of years to reclaim. Without them, we’d be starting again from scratch. Do you really believe any of our lives are equal to theirs?”

Seth’s words highlight the complete trust that the village have in the elders. Seth does not want to question the status quo because he believes that their survival depends on being subservient to the elders. His character arc represents the theme of The Nature of Sacrifice.

“‘Why doesn’t anybody question anything?’ she asks her grandfather, focusing on him once again. ‘They like being happy,’ he says simply. ‘I’m not trying to change that.’ ‘Yet answers nearly always do.’”

Emory’s final conversation with Matis emphasizes the reason why the villagers do not want to question the elders: They fear the truth. In contrast, Emory sees the injustice of the way that the elders treat her, and she wants to push toward the truth, hoping that she will find hope on the other side.

“Yes, we’re risking an innocent life, but think of the rewards if our experiment works. […] Put it on a scale, my darling. Think about how much good we can do with one single act.”

Niema allows her delusions of grandeur to cloud her judgment about her experiments. Rather than facing the fact that she murders people during her experimentations, she creates an imagined utopia in her mind to push her forward. In her mind, the ends justify the means, which is why she tells Hephaestus to weigh the pros and cons.

“‘It’s the lesser of two evils, believe me […]. We’re gambling a solitary life for the chance to make a better world in the long run. I’d give up my own life for that. Wouldn’t you?’ ‘It doesn’t sound like they’re being given that choice.’”

When Emory confronts Niema on the ethics of her experiments, Niema does not deny that it is morally gray. Instead, she says that she would sacrifice herself to protect the island. This is a key moment of foreshadowing: Emory challenges Niema to practice what she preaches, not realizing that Niema plans to finally sacrifice herself for the good of the island.

“Hephaestus has sent word that he’s chosen a candidate for her experiment, which means she’ll be able to put her plan into motion this evening. By tomorrow morning, she will have achieved something nobody ever thought possible […] She will have laid the foundations for a perfect society. An impossible utopian, built atop her patience and guile.”

Niema allows herself to believe in the image of the supposed utopia that she will create. Even though Niema eventually sacrifices herself for the island, this quote shows that Niema loves the idea that she could solve humanity’s problems because then she would get the credit for it.

“‘Sometimes I have no idea whether you’re acting on my wishes or I’m being led to yours,’ she says darkly. ‘I have no wishes,’ I point out. ‘You designed me to see through the clumsiness of words and poorly expressed instructions. I act on the intentions beneath. I know what’s in your heart, Niema. I know what you truly want, and I’m going to give it to you.’ ‘That may be, but I’m not one of the villagers, Abi. You don’t keep things from me.’ Her anger’s perfectly understandable but built atop faulty logic. Of course I keep things from her.”

Niema’s last conversation with Abi shows that she is content to let Abi control the villagers, but she does not want to experience the same control herself. Niema does not believe that she should be kept in the dark, but Abi manipulates events so that humanity will survive. This highlights the theme of The Ethics of Scientific Inquiry.

“Niema doesn’t realize that if her plan is to succeed, I’ll have to treat her like everybody else, concealing information while subtly manipulating her actions. As with every other human, her emotions make her erratic. She can’t be trusted to act logically, even in service of her own goals, which is what I’m for. Sometimes the only way to win a game is to let the pieces think they’re the ones playing it.”

While Abi proves to be a benevolent force, the plot does not reveal this until the end of the novel. Abi’s first-person narration in this quote adds suspense because Abi does not say whether she has good or bad intentions in keeping things from Niema.

“I can’t control Adil, as events last night proved. I’m trying to play chess, but Adil’s walking around with a cricket bat. […] I’ll confess: I lied to Thea about my ability to recall events after curfew. The truth would only muddy the waters, and it’s clarity we need now—though not for everybody. It’s important that people see exactly as much as I want them to see.”

This quote foreshadows the ways that Adil has set up Niema’s death to look like a murder so that the villagers blame the elders for her death. Abi’s confession heightens the tension because she knows what happened to Niema, but she refuses to tell anyone about it.

“Their entire lives, I’ve whispered in their minds, guiding them, urging them to kindness and selflessness. […] Suddenly, the certainty they’ve come to depend on has evaporated. It’s like discovering you’ve been living on melting ice. They’re sinking, and I don’t have hands with which to pull them out of the water.”

Abi uses the simile of the villagers slipping into water to emphasize the villagers’ disorientation as well as to remind the reader that she is not human. Despite being AI, Abi has cared for the villagers throughout their lives, and for the first time, they must live with the uncertainty that everything may not be okay.

“You always know what to say […]. Every word is tuned perfectly to elicit the response you want. I don’t trust you, Abi. I never have. I saw how you wormed your way into my mother’s confidence, persuading her to give you more and more autonomy. She forgot that you don’t think the way we do, that you feign emotion rather than feel it.”

Hephaestus’s skepticism about Abi reflects his feelings about the simulacrums. Rather than seeing them as helpers, he believes that they have ulterior motives and will eventually turn on humans. This highlights his role in the theme of Individual Versus Collective Good.

“Emory’s heart feels like a fist has closed around it. Her entire life, she’s hated lies, priding herself on confronting them no matter how awkward it was. Yet she was the biggest lie of all. Everything about her was chosen by somebody else. Even the curiosity she’s so proud of was the result of Niema turning a dial on a machine.”

Emory feels like the personification of a lie when she discovers the truth of her origin. The fact that Niema has programmed her to have certain emotions makes her question whether anything she has ever thought or experienced has been original. This highlights the motif of free will and choice that runs throughout the novel.

“For all her work, you’re still not people. You can’t be creative or original. Everything you are is mimicry. You can’t be anything more than we designed you to be. […] It felt like she’d fallen in love with her dolls. I assumed there was something she wasn’t telling me, some greater purpose to it all, but maybe she was just lonely.’ There’s an inflection in the word: a withering contempt not for the emotion but the people on the end of it […] I’m alive, she thinks. Made or not, I’m alive. I have value. We all have value.”

Thea intends to hurt Emory by comparing the villagers’ relationship to Niema to a child with their dolls. Thea’s words unknowingly foreshadow how Niema did have a greater purpose for the simulacrums, but Thea cannot see it. However, Thea’s words do not destroy Emory because she chooses to believe that she has inherent value, no matter what Thea thinks.

“The crums aren’t supposed to be capable of original thought or creativity, but Hui was playing in a style entirely her own. Thea could hear the village under every note. Each movement was a season, lapped by the tides. She was creating music inspired by this place and time. There was nothing to suggest she was mimicking previous works.”

Thea’s musings about Hui point to the evolution of the simulacrums, which is the key to solving the mystery. Since Hui proves that the villagers can do more than mimic, Niema’s decision to leave them in charge makes sense for the survival of humanity. Yet even faced with the evidence, Thea refuses to acknowledge the signs of evolution.

“After everything she’s learned today, why does she still think the elders are perfect? […] She traces the idea back, finding it wrapped through her thoughts like a shining thread. The Elders are wise and kind and fair and entirely without flaw. Do not question them. It’s scripture […] If she asked anybody in the village to describe an elder, they’d probably recite that line verbatim. The only person who never did was her mum. She can’t imagine how hard that was for her, to be full of doubt in a world of conviction.”

Clara’s realization that her desire to trust the elders stems from indoctrination shakes her. For the first time, she realizes Emory’s strength in standing up against the elders. Clara realizes that a full deconstruction of her beliefs will take time because Niema programmed her to revere the elders no matter what.

“I knew they were different from us, but I didn’t realize how different. I didn’t understand their relationship with violence. How easy it is for them. How casually they can employ it. I was stupid to go in there like that. Hephaestus has secrets, and he’ll hurt us to keep them, whether the island’s in danger or not. That’s valuable information.”

Emory’s confrontation with Hephaestus shows her the main difference between the villagers and the elders: The elders use violence. Unlike the villagers, Hephaestus cannot control his rage, which suggests that the elders are responsible for Niema’s death.

“She’s always known that Thea saw them as disposable, but it never occurred to her that I would share that view. From Emory’s perspective, I’ve been kind, compassionate, and caring, wishing only the best for her, without ulterior motive […] It’s only natural she would mistake that for love, and naturally, she loved me back.”

Emory questions her relationship with Abi once she realizes that Abi uses the villagers to work at night and wipes their memories afterward. Since Abi has not evolved to feel emotion like the villagers, Abi has simulated emotion. However, Emory takes this as another lie amidst everything that has happened.

“Emory always thought this faith came naturally, but it didn’t. It was hard-won over twenty years, requiring him to swallow his doubts and bite back his questions. That was his sacrifice. He thought turning a blind eye was the best way to serve the village, but the last couple of hours have revealed him for a fool. Thea openly described his people—his friends and family—as ‘disposable.’ It wasn’t just the word that stung. It as the venom in her tone when she said it. The hatred and contempt. The naked attempt to hurt Emory.”

Seth reveals that his faith in the elders comes from his desire to serve the village and sacrifice himself for his family; he did not think that way originally. Yet, when Thea calls them “disposable,” Seth finally realizes that his submission to the elders does not serve him or the village.

“She hates the elders so much that it actually frightens her. It’s a slithering presence in her body, squeezing her heart and pressing against her lungs. It’s whispering in her thoughts as loudly as Abi ever has. It wants them to suffer. It wants them humiliated and hurt, the way Adil was all those years ago.”

The rapid growth of Emory’s anger shows how easy it is for someone to turn to violence. Emory must actively work against her anger to stop herself from hurting the elders, even though she finally understands why Adil attacked Niema.

“‘Thea never saw the fog up close, so she doesn’t understand that it wasn’t the most terrifying thing. It was just a cloud, some insects. There was no malevolence in it. […] The truly terrifying thing about the fog was how quickly it became a license for every vile thing in the human heart. You tell me, Emory. How could anybody, in good conscience, save a race that had witnessed the brutality of the fog and then decided to one-up it?”

Hephaestus reveals that he has never feared the fog but the way that the fog has inspired violence in humanity. Rather than teaming together, humanity resorted to individualism and decided to hurt each other needlessly. Hephaestus believes that humanity does not deserve to be saved unless they can rid it of its propensity for violence.

“‘I’m a villager,’ she exclaims. ‘And after everything I’ve seen from you, I’m proud of that.’”

This moment highlights Emory’s shift toward becoming a leader because she finally stands up to Thea, highlighting the theme of Individual Versus Collective Good. Emory prides herself on being a villager because she does not want to exemplify the selfish traits of the elders. Thea finds this rebuttal terrifying because she interprets Emory’s words as a threat and finally realizes that she is dealing with an individual with free will.

“Of course they lowered their eyes, she thinks. They were designed for deference, to serve and obey humanity. In the end, they’ll always crave her control. Emory is something else. She was born flawed, the genetic leash around her neck frayed from the beginning.”

Thea believes that the villagers’ deference to her shows that they will never be above humanity. She does not consider the fact that Emory has evolved past deference to the elders, which is why the simulacrums will make good leaders for the future of humanity.

“There are one hundred thirty-seven humans left in storage. Through me, they could gain complete control of your people […]. For your people to thrive, the board needed to be swept completely clean. Unfortunately, I’m not allowed to kill humans.”

Abi reveals that her ulterior motive in manipulating everything was never to gain control, but to kill herself so that the simulacrums would never have the threat of humanity ruling over them again. Abi knew that she needed to plan things to happen so that Thea, Hephaestus, and Niema died so that the simulacrums could rebuild the world for the new wave of humans.