Remarkably Bright Creatures

Tova gets ready for a cleaning shift when a man stops her in the parking lot. He introduces himself as the attorney for Tova’s brother’s estate and asks her to come pick up Lars’s things at Charter Village, where Lars lived. She agrees, thinking he may not have anyone else. The man tells her he knew where to find her after speaking with Ethan. She goes inside and talks to Marcellus as she cleans, speaking about her brother and retirement homes. She sees a notice about seahorses mating and is reminded of a school project Erik did on the hippocampus. After her shift, she goes to see Ethan and confronts him about the attorney. She asks him to give her a ride to Charter Village.

Marcellus thinks about the seahorse spawning and how newborn seahorses are so unlike newborn humans as well as the reliance human children have on their parents and how little he knows about octopus children. He remembers a game he likes to play with humans, where one will stop at his tank and he’ll stretch himself out and come close—but when the human runs off to bring back their friends, Marcellus runs away. He finds humans predictable, except for Tova.