Summary
The Sum of All Things is told from the point of view of Ringer. She and Vosch exchange barbs and then play chess together. Vosch attempts to play on Ringer's weaknesses by saying things that he knows what her father said to her. Vosch is unhappy that Ringer isn't too upset so he threatens to kill Teacup.
He presses the button that he implies will trigger the implant in Teacup to kill her, causing Ringer to attack him. Vosch then pumps Ringer full of drugs, looking to either enhance her or cause her to evolve at a rapid pace.
In this way, Vosch transforms Ringer. She realizes that there never were any Others, only enhanced humans suffering under delusions. As Ringer struggles with the enhancement, which makes her severely ill, she is tended to by a recruit named Razor or Alex. They play chess and chaseball, a game invented by Razor.
Vosch tells Ringer about the children being used as bombs, and Ringer attempts to escape. She and Razor make it out, only to have Razor confess to her that it was all part of Vosch's plan. They only escaped because Vosch let them, and Razor is actually on his side, not Ringer's.
Ringer is stunned by this betrayal. Their plan of escape was very elaborate and involved kidnapping Teacup, captaining a helicopter, and jumping out of it into a lake, while Razor and Teacup parachuted down. Ringer also killed the doctor Claire. Razor went through all of that just to further Vosch's agenda.
Ringer brings Razor to her side but she can't run, like he wants her to, because of her allegiance to Teacup. Razor and Ringer spend the night together before the helicopter returns for them.
Vosch asks Ringer why the Others didn't just throw a rock at the Earth to kill everyone. After thinking for a while, Ringer realizes that some of the people have to live - the enhanced humans. There are no Others. Ringer says that the one flaw in their plan is love, since it is unpredictable. Razor then kills Teacup before being killed himself by Vosch's men so that Ringer can run, unencumbered by any allegiances. Ringer listens and jumps out of a window.
In Dubuque, the squad has made it out of the hotel and is on their way, with Cassie worrying if Evan died in there again. She sees him walking towards her, his ankle broken, and her nose broken, and she is very relieved. Our heroes live to fight another day and their story is continued in the third installment of this trilogy.
Analysis
Although Razor has been ordered not to talk to Ringer, the two become friends and lovers. We see them bond through chess and chaseball, which combines chess and baseball, their two passions.
Ringer develops a rivalry with Claire, one of the recruits, and takes great pleasure in orchestrating her murder. To do so, she places her chip behind Claire's neck. Thus, when Claire pushes the button to kill Ringer, she actually triggers the implant in herself.
Throughout The Sum of All Things, we learn that the greatest threat to humans are other humans, who have simply come to believe that they are better and that they deserve to live as the supreme enhanced beings on the planet.
It is a tale as old as time, and demonstrates the cruel cleverness of the plan. Ringer convinces Razor to ally with her, showing that allegiances are swift and in flux in this cruel world, and that love is the most unpredictable weapon of all.
This point becomes especially poignant when Razor kills Teacup. Razor then allows himself to be killed in order to free Ringer of her obligations so that she can save the rest of humanity.
