As the second episode of Pluribus unfolds in the vibrant landscapes of Morocco, we witness a poignant montage of the relentless cleanup efforts taking place. A woman, an integral part of the collective known as "Joined," emerges from the chaos, assists a fellow being in extracting themselves from a vehicle, and then mounts a moped, zooming towards the airport like a gust of wind, eventually piloting a plane with ease. Upon landing in Albuquerque, she sheds her outer layers, rushing into the shower as other members of the Collective attend to her with tender care.
We've now passed 11 hours and 26 minutes since the world became a harmonious collective. Carol wakes from a hangover-induced stupor, gradually grappling with this new reality. She grieves for Helen, wrapping her in an old blanket and laboriously digging up the ground to give her a proper burial. The arduous task is further complicated by the hard rock littering the ground.
Carol's efforts are watched from an Air Force drone hovering 40,000 feet above, and as she digs relentlessly for two hours straight, on the brink of heat exhaustion, a neighbor appears with a bottle of water. In a telling gesture, Carol pours the water onto the lawn to make a point, only to realize that the woman sent to check on her—who we later learn is named Zosia—is an uncanny double for her character Raban, albeit in a gender-swapped form. Apparently, this was the original conception for the character, but due to Helen's integration into the collective before her passing, all of her unique memories now belong to the Joined.
As Carol loses her temper and shouts at Zosia on the street, she suddenly collapses to the ground, causing a momentary stillness in the collective. It seems that Carol's negative emotions have an impact on them, as it's difficult for them to process her outburst. However, this temporary freeze has unintended consequences—millions across the globe succumb to its effects.
This realization weighs heavily on Carol's already fragile state, who is teetering on the edge of collapse after vomiting. But she finds strength in an unexpected turn of events—a mini digger drops from a helicopter to assist in excavating the volcanic rock in her garden.
Zosia confirms that there is yet another person awake in the Collective's awareness—a man in Paraguay who has woken up too.
With a heart yearning for camaraderie among the few who share her thoughts, Carol boards an empty flight to Bilbao, where a gathering of like-minded souls is slated to take place. Oddly, she chooses to sit in the far reaches of the Economy section, seemingly the most miserable soul on board. Two days and two hours into the Collective's takeover, Carol meets five others who can converse in English amidst the airport's uneasy buzz: Xiu Mei, Kusimayu, Laxmi, Otgonbayar, and a man from Mauritania, Koumba Diabate, who arrives in the President's plane, indulging in the luxury suite and even bringing a troop of women along.
Carol, the lone dissenter among them, convenes a meeting for those not in the Collective's fold, determined to right the world and save it from its fate. But Laxmi's grandfather's demise during Carol's outburst of anger puts a damper on the mood. Laxmi urges Carol to educate herself on the Collective's nature, while Koumba, with his charismatic charm, boasts of a world free from racism, where animals roam free from zoos, and crime is non-existent. The Collective, he says, does not kill and is strictly vegetarian.
Fed up with her attempts to reason with the Collective falling on deaf ears, Carol unleashes a screech that enchants them once more. Two days and sixteen hours later, Carol awakens, pondering her outburst. Zosia and the Collective have no means to curb her fury now that they've witnessed their own family members succumbing to Carol's influence. Everyone has left... except one. Guess who? Yep, it's Koumba, still there, seemingly entranced by Carol's magnetism.
