I finished reading The Future and for some reason I kept going, even past the second-to-last page at the back describing the book’s fonts … after which was a final page with a cryptic note. I wonder if anyone reading the book on Kindle or audiobook finds it? I was surprised at myself that I’d read the back sections.
The rest of this post contains spoilers for the book.
Here is that final page:
I emailed Marius’s address with an almost-empty message. Nothing. I found someone on Reddit saying they’d gotten an immediate response after sending a more complete email … so I wrote a brief note as if I were Zhen. And I got my response.
For anyone else who has read it, how did you interpret it? Its big reveal is that Albert Dabrowski sent the attacker after Zhen in the mall in Singapore.
I’m mixed-up on the timelines. But I think at that point, Albert and Martha knew each other in real life and were conspiring together. My interpretation is that this confirms Martha and Albert together gave AUGR to Zhen and set up the mall attack, all to get “proof” of AUGR working so that they could convince the billionaires to buy and trust it. “Proof” in quotes because I think they were feeding Zhen content through it during the attack, and it’s not actually that capable to help her defeat the attacker.
That would imply Martha used Zhen this way despite them being lovers. Cold-blooded!
Did she romance Zhen specifically to get her set up with AUGR? I guess that jibes with Martha gently ghosting her after their dalliance.
Zhen receiving this email from Marius now that she is living happily-ever-after with Martha might cause some fireworks…
If anyone has more, different, and/or better analysis of the email from Marius, feel free to comment — I’ll approve promptly.
One reply on “The secret ending of Naomi Alderman’s The Future”
The timeline is also mixed up in my head, but I think Albert and Martha targeted Zhen from the beginning as their guinea pig for AUGR because of Zhen’s background and skills. Martha wasn’t intending to fall in love with her, but did, and then still had to go through with the test case. You don’t always choose who you fall in love with. There was too much at stake (the whole world’s future) for Martha to prioritize love. Martha felt bad about the situation I think. I wouldn’t have wanted to have to make that choice…
What’s unclear to me is whether Zhen was ever really in danger in Singapore. A controlled set up is one thing, knowing AUGR didn’t work and that the foursome was pulling the strings behind the scenes means Zhen in theory was totally safe. However, from the email reveal, the actual attacker seemed a little unhinged so perhaps the scenario wasn’t as controlled as they had all hoped.
All this was exposed to the reader (if subtly) but Zhen never knew about the attacker’s motive in Singapore, which is why the secret ending is necessary. I love that Marius kept digging and found this hidden message to finally let Zhen know the truth. Their friendship is a lovely foil to the rest of the betrayal among other characters.
Not sure what I would do in Zhen’s shoes with this information. Does she forgive Martha because the ends justified the means (and love conquers all!)? Or can she never trust Martha again because she would throw Zhen to the wolves the next time? Guess we’ll never know!