The Kaiju Preservation Society

Seven months later, in October 2020, Jamie is still working as a deliverator for füdmüd. During one delivery, Jamie discusses their dissatisfaction with their deliverator job and their dissertation on futuristic literature. After this, the man recognizes Jamie and introduces himself as Tom Stevens, a former business student and acquaintance of Jamie’s. During the next delivery, Jamie tells Tom that Sanders stole many of their ideas and how they became a deliverator and are working at füdmüd. Tom offers them a job with an animal-rights organization called KPS, giving Jamie his business card. He tells Jamie that they can work lifting items and that it pays well. He gives Jamie an appointment at KPS’s office in Midtown at 2:30 the next afternoon.

At the KPS offices, Jamie meets Gracia Avella for an interview. Avella informs them that the animals KPS cares for are large and dangerous. Jamie must follow directions completely, and they and the rest of the team will live simply and collectively with their team, away from the outside world. When Jamie agrees, Avella states that Jamie cannot tell anyone about KPS, and Jamie accepts this as well. Avella confirms that Jamie has no disabilities, can tolerate hot, humid weather, and is comfortable with the science fiction genre, which confuses Jamie.

Jamie needs vaccinations before traveling with KPS, including boosters and an experimental COVID-19 vaccine. The doctor states that the vaccines both protect crew from diseases carried by the animals and the animals from diseases the crew might carry. She warns that some of the vaccines can have strange but temporary and harmless side effects, such as agitation, lethargy, and bowel incontinence. After receiving the vaccines, Avella gives them paperwork and confirms that KPS will cover Jamie’s rent and student loans. Avella tells Jamie they will leave in two days.

Two days later, Jamie meets Tom at the station with their luggage. Tom gives Jamie their ticket to Thule Air Base in Greenland. Jamie meets their new teammates: biologist Dr. Aparna Chowdhury, geologist and organic chemist Dr. Kahurangi Lautagata, and astrophysicist Dr. Niamh Healy. Jamie and the others get acquainted, expressing their scientific interests and confusion about working in Greenland. Soon after, Brynn MacDonald, the KPS Tanaka Base Gold Team leader, updates the travelers, reminding veteran members to keep everything a surprise for the new members and not discuss KPS on the plane. The four new members wonder about Tanaka Base and discuss their reasons for coming. Everyone enters a charter plane to a base in Greenland, where the KPS uses a nuclear reactor to transport Jamie and the others to a jungle with much more oxygen. Tom tells them this is Greenland—in an alternate Earth. Jamie and the others see an astounding, giant flying creature. Tom explains that the creature is a kaiju, that “KPS” stands for the “Kaiju Preservation Society.”

Tom tells Jamie and the others that they are at Honda Base, named for Ishiro Honda, who directed the original Godzilla film. The other bases are named for other people who worked on the film. The KPS embraces kaiju fiction and its elements in their work. He leads the newcomers to the commissary and shows them the food they produce, including an unappealing-looking fruit called “poopfruit” by KPS (38). Tom explains that on this Earth, kaiju are not so much animals as moving ecosystems. The kaiju feed on nuclear energy and were discovered after one was attracted to atomic bombs on the main Earth in 1951. The US Navy chased it until it died, inspiring the film Godzilla. After several more run-ins, the KPS’s predecessor began working to keep more kaiju from entering their Earth. Niamh comments that governments willing to destroy cities with nuclear bombs are hypocritical to take issue with kaiju. Tom says that governments fund KPS’s work; as the secrecy lessens, KPS must protect humans and kaiju from each other. Jamie guesses that they must watch for monsters, and Tom asks who the true monsters are.

Tom directs Gold Team to the Shobijin airship. Niamh argues that the ship looks makeshift and dangerous, but Tom assures them that it runs well, constructed with durable kaiju skins and plants from Kaiju Earth. The passenger cabin looks more modern, and the pilots greet the team over the speakers. A crew member named Roderigo gives the newcomers a flyover tour as they travel to Tanaka Base, mentioning a local kaiju named Betsy. Tom points out kaiju trails, which are like the roads on original Earth.

As they approach Tanaka Base, Roderigo alerts the team to two kaiju out of their areas. The ship flies upward as the kaiju scream and crash into each other below it. Jamie realizes they are trying to kill each other. Niamh angrily confronts Tom, who says that KPS must have lost the kaiju’s tracker signals. One of the kaiju, Kevin, seems to be fighting a kaiju that entered his territory. A piece of the kaiju Kevin attacked falls from the sky, and the injured kaiju retreats. They soon arrive at Tanaka Base, and Jamie notices a roar of pain in the distance.

Inside Tanaka Base, Gold Team meets Red Team, whom they are replacing for the next six months. Brynn MacDonald invites Gold Team to participate in the team tradition of watching the 1954 Godzilla film. She dismisses the team, and Jamie and the others enter their cottage and rooms. In their room, Jamie reads a letter from their Red Team counterpart, Sylvia Braithwhite, who left Kaiju Earth for the last time to continue her life on the main Earth. She left a plant for Jamie, her replacement, to care for. Niamh complains that their own counterpart left poopfruit on their desk.