A Rover's Story

Resilience remains blank as Sophie writes several letters that span several years. Her mom is in remission, which has helped her entire outlook. Choosing a college, which seems like choosing the rest of her life, makes Sophie nervous, but when it starts to get overwhelming, she thinks about how much Resilience accomplished. During her second year of college, her mom gets permission to fund a rescue mission for Resilience. This news makes Rania jump up and down; Sophie thinks she should be embarrassed about her mom’s reaction, but when she thinks about Resilience, “[she] remember[s] what it felt like to be twelve” (263).

A year later, Sophie’s mom is sick again. Sophie reads Resilience’s letters to her mom, who seems to really like them when she’s awake enough to listen. Sophie’s second-to-last letter will be her last for a while because thinking of Resilience reminds her of her mom, and “it’s too hard for [her] to write about Mom” (271). The final letter comes 12 years later, telling Resilience he’s coming home and that he’s the first rover ever to return to Earth.

Seventeen years since Resilience went offline, he wakes back on Earth. Xander is looking down at him, smiling, and he says, “Welcome back, buddy, […] you did it” (275).

Information floods Resilience’s systems. He is thrilled to discover he isn’t blank and that “[he] remember[s]. Everything” (276).

Resilience searches for Rania, and even though he can’t find her and the scientists don’t mention her, “[he keeps] searching and scanning for her presence” (277).

Resilience hopes Rania is proud and that she thinks he did well, ending the chapter by asking, “Where are you?” (278).

Resilience doesn’t get answers to his questions about Rania, but he learns that the samples he brought back prove that there was once water on Mars and there may still be some buried beneath the surface. Resilience can tell Xander is excited by the way he talks, and Resilience hopes that “wherever Rania is that she is proud and excited, too” (279).

Resilience is glad to hear about the discoveries his mission helped the scientists make, but it saddens him that the humans don’t understand his questions. He misses Fly and Guardian, wishing they were there to understand when Resilience says, “We did it. I returned to Earth” (281).

Resilience is moved to a different part of the lab, where he is reunited with Journey. She wants to know everything about Mars, pointing out that Resilience has plenty of time to tell her about it. When Resilience says time is a human concept, Journey shrugs this off, saying, “Whatever it is, we have lots of it” (283).

Journey and Resilience are moved to a museum, where Resilience tells Journey everything about Mars—what the planet and stars were like, his mission to the tunnel, and failing to revive Courage. Lastly, he talks about Fly, which is difficult, and while he doesn’t want to, “[he knows he has] to” (285).

Fly did not return to Earth, something that’s been difficult for Resilience to process. Journey says they can keep Fly with them in memory, and watching footage of Fly on Mars fills Resilience with a new emotion. He thinks it’s love, an emotion he never understood, and that “maybe [he] understand[s] it now” (287).

Most of Resilience’s days involve watching human kids explore or be bored by the museum. One day, Xander leads a tour, and a young girl talks to Resilience. She’s amazed at what he did, and she wants to go to Mars someday. The recording of the strange Marshan noise plays, and the girl asks Xander what it is. He doesn’t know, but that’s okay because it means “there is so much potential for new discoveries” (290).

One night, the museum is closed for a party. Rania arrives, and Resilience is overjoyed to see her, especially when she thanks him for what he brought back. Sophie is also there. She’s glad Resilience made it home, and though Resilience doesn’t really understand what home is, he likes it, and he ends the book by stating, “I made it home” (296).