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Miranda Carroll, like Arthur Leander, moves from Delano Island to Toronto, Canada, in her young adulthood. Arthur, already a celebrity, connects with her over their shared birthplace, and they strike up a complex relationship that spans both of their lives. In her young womanhood, Miranda struggles in relationships with men. Initially, she’s in a serious relationship with an abusive boyfriend named Pablo, who expects Miranda to pay their rent so that he can focus on his own art while showing little interest in hers. Later, Miranda finds herself in a better and more loving relationship with Arthur, whom she marries, but their marriage still has shadows of the same problems. Miranda is expected to mold herself to Arthur’s life, and it’s obvious that Arthur’s acting career takes precedence over Miranda’s pursuits and interests. Still, Miranda feels close to Arthur, and the two share a creative connection. When Arthur has an affair with a coworker, the two separate. As Miranda grows older, she goes on to become a secure woman at peace with herself and with her life. She often repeats the phrase “I repent nothing,” showing that she has no regrets and will not apologize for her choices.
Miranda is a central figure of wisdom and a voice for the pain and beauty of the shared human experience. During her tumultuous relationships with Pablo and Arthur, she works on a series of comic books, titled “Dr. Eleven” and “Station Eleven,” which help her express the loneliness that she feels, especially during her marriage to Arthur, and her appreciation of the beauty of Earth and human society. Unlike Arthur, Miranda was never interested in fame—the comics are created entirely for herself, and very few copies exist. These comics follow an astronaut named Dr. Eleven who lives a mainly solitary life in a space station since Earth has been damaged beyond repair. The comics are a metaphor for the post-apocalyptic life that the flu survivors lead. Just as Dr. Eleven struggles to survive in the lonely world of space and misses life on Earth, the survivors must fight for their lives in the new world and are homesick for the societies and people that have been lost to the pandemic. While Miranda dies early in the pandemic, her work lives on in Kirsten and Tyler, who both have copies of the obscure comics due to their connection to Arthur. Although Tyler ultimately becomes a villain, both he and Kirsten find comfort in the comics, because Miranda so aptly expresses both the beauty of life on Earth and the deep loneliness that comes with it.
