Quick setup
Suggested length: 90–120 minutes Spoiler boundary: The warm-up is spoiler-free. Everything after the marked warning assumes everyone has finished the novel. Optional atmosphere: A dot-matrix-style name card, a bowl of 1990s snacks, a beige keyboard, and a playlist from summer 1997. Keep the modem unplugged if anyone needs the phone.
Spoiler-free warm-up
- What first drew you into the book: the friendship, the stolen hardware, the government mystery, or Q?
- Which piece of 1997 technology felt most vivid?
- When did the boys’ adventure first become something more dangerous?
Spoiler section · Reveal when ready
Spoiler alert
The discussion below reveals the full story, including the ending.
Discussion questions
- At what point does Scott’s curiosity stop being admirable and become dangerous?
- Brad initially treats fear as something to outrun. How does his idea of courage change?
- What does Emily contribute that neither technical skill nor official authority can replace?
- Is Mercer protecting the public, protecting the institution, or both?
- Why is Q’s uncertainty more important than its intelligence?
- Does the truth belong to the people who discover it, the people it affects, or no one?
- Was Q right to erase itself? What other choice, if any, could have been responsible?
- How do you interpret “SHALL WE CONTINUE?”
Close the meeting
Ask each reader to name one thing the novel leaves deliberately unresolved—and whether that uncertainty made the book stronger.