The Compound

Eli, Lexie, Terese, and their mother play a Beethoven song together. Eli plays trumpet. In the middle of the piece, Lexie accuses Eli of messing up, but they keep playing. Playing music with his family is one of the only times Eli feels as if they belong together.

Rex asks Eli to help him take inventory of their food stores and households products. He finds a plastic tub that says Eddy on it. It’s full of jerky, Eddy’s favorite food. Eli shares it with the family.

Terese tells Eli she read a book on picking locks, which is how she got into his room. Eli’s mother tells him that Terese has moved into the yellow room, which has improved her attitude.

When they are alone, Eli’s mother tells him that she has never been so miserable. She is no longer sharing a room with Rex. Eli wants to hug her, but can’t make himself touch her. She tells him that Gram didn’t want her to marry Rex, and that she had thought he was arrogant and controlling.

Rex takes Eli to a laboratory that he has never seen. He proposes that they clone a human.