Tired of Living in Your Car? (Situational Irony)
Early in the novel, Charmaine is working at PixelDust when a television advertisement grabs her attention. A serious-looking pitchman asks, "Tired of living in your car? ... Of course you are! You didn’t sign up for this. You had other dreams. You deserve better." In an instance of situational irony, the man describes Charmaine's current life. Although she understands that the man has no knowledge of her life, Charmaine feels that he is appealing directly to her personal crisis. In reality, the pitchman is exploiting anyone who lost everything after the financial crash.
The Mystery of Jasmine (Dramatic Irony)
After getting settled in Consilience, Stan discovers a note under his fridge. Ostensibly a note between the other couple that shares their home on alternate months, the passionate message from Jasmine to Max inspires Stan to fantasize about Jasmine and her overt sexuality. In an instance of dramatic irony, the reader knows something Stan doesn't: Jasmine is a code name Charmaine uses for herself while carrying out an affair with Stan's alternate. While "Jasmine" goes about her affair, Stan imagines ways he can "ambush" her and tap into the sexual potency his wife appears to lack.
Forced to Euthanize Her Husband (Dramatic Irony)
As part of Jocelyn's elaborate plan to smuggle Stan out of Positron/Consilience with a flash drive full of scandalous information about the project, Jocelyn arranges for Charmaine to euthanize Stan. Wanting Charmaine's sorrow to appear genuine to anyone watching the killing, Jocelyn intimates that Charmaine herself will be killed if she doesn't go through with it. In an instance of dramatic irony, Charmaine regretfully injects her husband with poison while the reader knows she is actually administering a sedative.
Charmaine's Brain Was Never Adjusted (Situational Irony)
One year after Charmaine and Stan renew their wedding vows, Jocelyn visits the couple to inform Charmaine that, contrary to what she's been told, Charmaine never underwent the brain adjustment surgery that supposedly made her "imprint" on Stan. In an instance of situational irony, Charmaine is shattered to learn that her renewed affection for and devotion to her husband is genuine and hasn't been forced. With this unsettling information, Charmaine is left to wonder whether another man like Max might test her fidelity one day.
