There's two universes, our universe and theĀ Intrepid universe.Ā TheĀ IntrepidĀ universe is created by TV episodes of it being filmed in our world, thereby creating people in theĀ IntrepidĀ that is identical to people in our world.Ā
Samantha Martinez is given a hologram "wedding album" from the Alternate Universe IntrepidĀ that is the main setting of this novel, where the woman she played on the TV set ofĀ IntrepidĀ Margaret Elizabeth JenkinsĀ is married to Officer Jenkins and later died, she is heavily affected by this vision. Referring to her as her sister to strangers and going so far as to spreading the ashes of the hologram when it self destructs.Ā
Samantha Martinez is bonding with her alternate self, she goes to spiritual guidance for it as has a existential dread moment.Ā
The hologram can only last for 30 days outside of theĀ Intrepid universeĀ due to so called "bad writing" from the TV writer. So Martinez is warned and films/takes pictures of the hologram with her own machines so that she has the contents. The hologram leaves behind a pile of ash which is used as ashes by a dead person by Martinez which she eventually spreads on a beach as she comes to term with the alternate universe self that is dead. The hologram is therefore both a window to a alternate universe, and a stand in to human ashes.Ā