The Heart Goes Last

The show Stan and Lucinda go to see is the Green Man Group—an eco-themed spinoff of the Blue Man Group. During the show, they do a rendition of “Tiptoe Through the Tulips,” which catches Stan’s attention because that was the password for his contact in the possibilibots facility. However, he brushes it off as a coincidence. After the show, while Lucinda is in the bathroom, Veronica shows up dressed as Marilyn Monroe. She takes him backstage to the Green Man Group dressing room and tells him to wait there for the contact and handover.

After a few minutes, there is a knock at the door, and Lucinda walks in. She demands his belt buckle and tells Stan that breaking this story is going to be her big comeback. She quickly leaves and Stan is left wondering what he is supposed to do next when four green bald men file in. They reveal themselves as Conor and Budge and explain that they went looking for him earlier to save some time. Conor has been working with Jocelyn since before Stan signed up at Consilience—she even saw Stan at Conor’s trailer and knew the two were related. Conor explains that Stan is to join them on a job the next day: They are going into Ruby Slippers Retirement Home with the Green Man Group as their cover, and while they put on a fake show, they are going to snatch somebody.

Charmaine is relieved she is not asked to fly in Business beside Ed. She does not feel like she could hide her anger and disgust at him anymore, knowing his plan. Jocelyn is beside her and works for most of the flight. When they are nearly in Las Vegas, Charmaine asks for the details of Ed’s plan. Jocelyn orders them food and drinks before explaining everything: Jocelyn would slip a sedative into Charmaine’s drink, and then tell the flight attendant to call an ambulance claiming she had fainted. The ambulance would then take her to the clinic at Ruby Slippers, where they would perform the neurosurgery on her. Ed would be there when she wakes up so that she imprints on him. Charmaine begins to feel woozy during the explanation and realizes that she has been drugged.

Conor’s Green Man Group have the necessary passes to get into the Ruby Slippers Retirement Home. They start a rambunctious show in the atrium and wait for the moment to act. When they hear an ambulance coming up the driveway, Budge and Conor’s henchmen sneak off while Stan hits the gong. A few moments later, Conor and Stan bow and leave the atrium. They make their way to the ambulance, which is parked near the clinic, passing several incapacitated security guards and employees. Jocelyn, Phil, and Aurora are in the ambulance, along with Ed, who is slumped on the ground. Stan finally notices that Charmaine is there too, unconscious on a stretcher.

While this is happening, Lucinda breaks the story on the six o’ clock news. She has extensive evidence and expertly lays out what is happening inside the Positron Project. Social media is set ablaze, and every news and talk show on TV discusses the leak, with people arguing for both sides.

Stan waits for Charmaine to wake from the anesthesia. She has had the neurosurgical procedure done, so that when she wakes, she and Stan can have a fresh start. Jocelyn explains that it is her gift to the two of them for all the help they provided in leaking the story. Phil also undergoes the procedure, as he and Jocelyn are getting a divorce. He imprints on Aurora, who is thrilled.

With the story out, some of the culprits start getting rounded up. Ed’s arrest is imminent, but the media is told that Ed has had a stroke and is undergoing emergency brain surgery. In reality, Ed is undergoing the neurosurgical procedure, with Lucinda ready to pounce when he wakes up. Jocelyn explains that she cannot afford to have him arrested, because that would bring her and a number of prominent political figures down, too. Instead, she is sending him to Dubai, where he cannot be extradited. Lucinda, who worries her cancer could come back any day, just wants to live whatever time she has left to the fullest and can do this with Ed as her devoted boy toy.

The UR-ELF Elvises host a double wedding for Aurora and Max, and Stan and Charmaine (to renew their vows). Charmaine cannot believe her luck and is incredibly happy to have Stan back. However, she does have some doubts: She questions if it is right that her happiness comes from a medical procedure she did not agree to have, and if her love counts if she cannot help it. Jocelyn does not attend the wedding, but she shows up to the reception with Conor. She tells Charmaine she has a wedding gift for her, but that it will not be ready for another year, so she will drop by again at that point to give it to her. Charmaine wonders whether Jocelyn and Conor are an item, but Stan is sure that they must be.

Stan has a new job working at a possibilibots production facility in Las Vegas. His current task is to perfect the grin on the line of Elvis bots. He and Charmaine have a three-month-old baby named Winnie, after Charmaine’s Grandma Win. They are happily married, and Stan has never been more satisfied with his sex life.

A year after the wedding, Jocelyn shows up to deliver her promised gift. She tells Charmaine the gift is a piece of information about her, but that she can choose not to hear it if she does not want to, as hearing it will make her freer, but less secure. She decides she wants to hear it, and Jocelyn reveals that she never had the procedure done to her, and that she is not compelled to love Stan. The revelation upsets Charmaine, as it upsets the life she has settled into. For a moment, she considers finding a Max-like person in the future, but quickly brushes the thought aside.