A woman, Lacie, is jogging down a suburban street and looks through the ratings of her friends and photos on her iTouch. Back at home, Lacie looks at herself in the mirror and laughs, while ratings for her come in. Out in the living room, she tells her brother husband Ryan that the landlord is coming over that night. He says that he has a place he's moving to and Lacie leaves.
As Lacie waits for coffee, she continues rating people. The barista, Jack, offers her a free coffee and Lacie tweaks his rating up. When she laughs and thanks him, he rates her up. As she passes a man, Keith, she congratulates him on his son's video, and they rate each other up. Lacie sits and drinks, seeing the ratings of the customers on her eye implants. She uploads a photo of her coffee and more ratings come in for her.
Lacie takes the elevator up to work and runs into a co-worker, Bets. They check each other's online videos and ratings, and tell each other that their jobs are great. At her desk, Lacie checks the incoming ratings on her cup of coffee and then checks the ratings of one of her raters, Naomi. Chester brings over some smoothies and offers Lacie one, and Lacie confirms that he's only a 3.1. She takes one and sips it as everyone stares at her, and Chester sighs in relief as she thanks him. Once Chester leaves, Lacie's coworker Ted says that Chester and Gordon broke up, and they're all on Gordon's side. Ted says that if Chester drops below 2.5 then it's good bye, and rates him down. When Chester sees the new rating and turns around, Ted and Lacie quickly drop back into their cubicles. Lacie's rating drops a little and she looks around nervously.
When an Uber driver drops Lacie off at the house she's looking at in the Pelican Cove community, Ryan calls and says that the couple the landlord brought over is buying their house. The landlady, Carol, shows off the house, complete with holographic projections, and Lacie assures Carol that she's interested. She tells Lacie that there are payment options and talks about they need her around a 4.5 for their best rate.
As she has dinner, Lacie looks at her friends' videos and rates them higher. Ryan comes in and looks at the Pelican Cove literature, and Lacie notes that he's a 3.7. He says that his sister wouldn't even qualify and walks off.
The next day, Lacie meets with a Reputelligent agent, Hansen Davis, who assures her that she has a strong popularity but her ratings are mostly from friends and strangers. The agent tells her that a 4.5 is achievable in 18 months, and if she wants something sooner, she'll need a boost. He suggests up-votes from quality people
As she jogs, Lacie up-votes everyone she can. At the coffee shop, she runs into Chester who says that the he's been demoted. He begs her for stars but Lacie ignores him and goes into work. In the elevator, Lacie runs into Bets again and Lacie offers her a croissant. Bets refuses and as Lacie leaves, they vote on each other. When Lacie discovers that Bets lowered her rating, she calls Hansen and he advises her not to try so hard because it turns people off. He tells her to just be herself and signs off, and Lacie checks on Naomi's site and her boyfriend Paul Mathesen's. She then takes a photo of the old doll Mr. Rags on her desk and uploads it. Naomi rates it five stars and Lacie sighs in relief.
Later at home, Lacie is making Naomi's recipe and spills olive juice on her shirt. Ryan comes in and wonders what the heck his sister is doing. Naomi calls and Lacie quickly covers over her shirt and tells Ryan to get off-camera. She takes her friend's call and they both talk about happy they are to see each other. Naomi says that Paul proposed to her and they're getting married in a month, and shows her the private island where the wedding will occur. Lacie assures her that she'll be there and Naomi asks her to be her maid of honor. Shocked, Lacie wonders if she's sure and Naomi reminds her of when they used to plan weddings when they were children. Seeing Mr. Rags reminded Naomi of their times together and wants Lacie at her side. Lacie agrees and Naomi says that all of Paul's invitees are 4.7s and above. They rate each other 5.0s and sign off. Ryan comes over and reminds Lacie that Naomi was always mean to her when they were children. Lacie insists that Naomi wasn't, and Ryan gives it up.
Once Naomi sends Lacie the wedding guest list, she shows it to Hansen. He assures her that their ratings will do it. Lacie calls Carol and tells her that she wants to take the place, She assures Carol that she won't be a 4.2 for long and transfers the deposit.
Later, Lacie practices her maid of honor speech for Ryan. He calls her a sociopath and insists that Pelican Grove is phony. While they argue, Lacie's cab cancels and the driver marks her down. Ryan complains about how everyone pretends to be happy to get higher rankings. Lacie finally snaps at him that she never brought guys back to the house because she didn't want them to know she lived with a 3 rank, and leaves, down-voting him as she goes. Ryan down-votes her as she well, and she bumps into a neighbor woman who spills her coffee on herself. She down-votes Lacie and goes on her way.
As the driver takes Lacie to the airport, Naomi calls and suggests that she don't talk about her overeating problem. Lacie immediately agrees and they sign off. At the airport, the cab driver down-votes Lacie, and she goes to the ticket desk. The stewardess tells her that flight was canceled because of a customer incident at the other end, and finds her one standby flight... but it's only for 4.2s or higher. Lacie is now a 4.18, and the stewardess insists that there's nothing she can do about it. She refuses to call her supervisor and when Lacie swears at her, warns her that they don’t tolerate profanity. When Lacie swears again, the other people in line down-vote her and the stewardess calls security. He docks her one full point as a punitive measure and assures her it will revert to normal in 24 hours, and all down-votes will get a x2 multiplier. Smiling, he tells Lacie to leave immediately and Lacie has no choice but to go. As she does, someone else down-votes her.
When Lacie tries to get a rental car, she discovers that the express lane requires a 4.0 and higher. She then talks to the other clerk, Chuck, and compliments him. Lacie is restricted to their super-saver fleet because of her current rating, and gives her an older car. The instructions are in a foreign language, and Lacie finally manages to get the car going.
As she drives to the wedding, Lacie practices her speech. Naomi calls and Lacie admits that she missed her flight and won't make the rehearsal diner. Her friend offers to find a replacement, and Lacie insists that everything is fine. Once Naomi hangs up, Lacie checks her rating and confirms that Naomi up-voted her.
Lacie starts to doze off and the car's computer warns that the electric battery is low. She pulls over to get a charge but the charge cord won't fit. He confirms that the rental company didn't give her an adapter, and tells her to look around for an adapter. When the attendant only gives her two stars, Lacie complains and he says that it wasn't a meaningful encounter. She then goes around and asks the other customers for an adapter, but none of them have one.
Out of options, Lacie starts walking along the highway and tries to hitch a ride. People ignore her when they see her 2.8 rating, and some of them down-vote her. A truck driver, Susan, finally stops and offers Lacie a ride. Because of her 1.4 rating, Lacie says that she doesn't need it, but Susan refuses to take no for an answer.
As she drives, Susan notices Lacie checking her feed and asks what happened to her. Lacie insists that she's going to turn her 2.8 around and Susan asks her how it felt when she yelled. When Lacie starts talking about how the wedding will boost her rating, Susan says that Lacie reminds her of herself years ago. She explains that she was 4.6 once and put a lot of work into it, Her husband Tom got pancreatic cancer and five-starred every doctor and nurse that they had. It didn't help the cancer, and they chose a 4.4 over Tom's 4.3. After that, Susan said what she really felt and quickly slipped off the ladder. She suggests that Lacie try the same, and Lacie says that she can't because she's still fighting to have something to lose. Susan asks her what it is she's fighting for, and Lacie says that she just wants to be able to relax. When she apologizes for saying it, Susan assures her that she isn't voting her down.
The next morning, Lacie dozes off in the back of the cab. Susan pulls over and wakes her up, and says that she's heading east and they're 30 miles from Port Mary. Lacie thanks her for the ride and Susan says that she put something in her suitcase in case of emergencies: a thermos of coffee. At the nearby bus station, Lacie goes into the restroom and rehearses her speech in a stall. Two girls come in, talking about nearby Tranquility Con. Lacie looks it up and then goes out and claims that she's into the show, Sea of Tranquility, and was going to go to the ride. They offer her a ride in their RV with other fans, and Lacie doesn't do a very good job of fitting in. Naomi calls and tells her not to come. She refuses to have a 2.6 at her wedding, and doesn't want the kind of damage that having a 2.6 at her wedding will cause among all of the 4.5+ers. She admits that she only invited having a 4.2 there to give the wedding speech went great in all the simulations they ran, but now Lacie is a sub 3. Lacie is shocked that it was just about the numbers, and Naomi points out that Lacie was playing her numbers the same way by agreeing. She insists on doing her speech and they'll vote her through the roof, and Naomi tells her to go home. She hangs up and tells the fans that she's never seen their show.
The fans pull over and kick Lacie out, and she tries to hitch a ride while screaming at the drivers. As they down-vote her, she sees some quad bikers below the nearby bridge and goes down. She convinces them loan her their bike.
At Naomi's wedding, everyone is taking photos and rating the happy couple.
Lacie drives the quad bike through traffic. She pulls up to the gate and sees the 3.8+ sign on the gate. Undeterred, she drives through the forest but falls off the bike and lands in a creek. Covered in mud, Lacie continues on and gets to the wall around the community. She sneaks over and puts on her dress, and gets to the reception dinner. Everyone is applauding and voting, and Lacie walks in and waves to everyone, trying to get their attention. She goes to the mike and gives a speech, going off-script and avoiding Paul as he tries to escort her off. As everyone votes her down. Lacie finally says that Naomi was there for her when she was sick, holding her. She then turns on Paul, figuring that Naomi got someone else to replace her as maid of honor, and grabs a knife to hold off Paul and his best man Greg. More security guards arrive and Lacie says that they have to remember that happiness matters, and says that Naomi screwed Greg. Lacie trips over someone's leg and falls, and tries to recite her speech as the guards drag her off.
After she is booked, Lacie's eye implants are moved and she's led to a cell. She takes off the wedding dress and looks at the dust falling down from the lights, smiling. Lacie then looks over at the man in the next cell and tries to vote at him with a non-existent iTouch. She tells him to stop looking at him, and they start insulting each other. They end up screaming at each other, smiling.
Written by Gadfly on Oct 23, 2016