Story so far
McLain has led Supply since at least Jahns’s first term, controlling spare parts and fabrication. Initially resistant to Deagan Knox’s delegation, she insists Juliette died for breaking the law and says she has punished workers who helped Walker. Nevertheless, she asks her workers to respond to Knox’s appeal and joins the planning.
She urges the rebels to assume IT knows they are coming, warns that the struggle may last weeks, and asks them to consider life after the violence. She agrees to a power outage as cover and plans to lead a squad with candles and flashlights as an apparent relief mission. Determined to accompany her people, she rejects Knox’s efforts to keep her in the rear, pockets a bomb, and orders weapons concealed in canvas.
McLain dies when her bomb explodes. News of her death unsettles Supply. As fighting continues, Shirly thinks of her as an absent leader whose presence might have changed its course.
Appearance
McLain was a small elderly woman with thin white hair.
Role
She was the head of Supply and a leader of the armed expedition against IT. She is dead, and her leadership is now missed.
Relationships
Supply — She led Supply and controlled its spare parts and fabrication.
Deagan Knox — She planned the expedition with Deagan Knox while resisting his attempts to protect her by keeping her back.
Shirly — Shirly wonders whether her presence could have changed the fighting.
Sources — 29 recorded facts, by chapter
Chapter 15
- McLain was already head of Supply during Jahns’s first term.
- McLain personally delivered a replacement for Jahns’s flickering bulb.
- McLain told Jahns that other people would finish breaking a defective bulb to obtain a replacement.
Chapter 40
- McLain is the elderly head of Supply.
- McLain initially opposes Knox’s delegation bringing trouble onto her level.
- McLain says she has punished Supply workers involved in helping Walker.
- McLain insists Juliette died because she broke the laws.
- McLain asks Supply’s workers to respond to Knox’s appeal.
Chapter 43
- McLain controls the silo’s spare parts and fabrication.
- McLain is a small elderly woman with thin white hair.
- McLain spent her childhood in the mids.
- McLain advises assuming that IT knows an attack is coming.
- McLain thinks the upper residents offer more hope of support than the mids.
- McLain insists on accompanying her people on the climb.
- McLain warns that the struggle could last weeks.
- McLain wants the attackers to consider how their violence will affect life afterward.
- McLain agrees to use a power outage as a diversion that night.
- McLain plans to lead a squad carrying candles and flashlights as an apparent Supply goodwill mission.
- McLain expects Knox to follow her squad a few hours later.
Chapter 45
- McLain takes a bomb and puts it in a chest pocket.
- McLain orders the armed participants to conceal their weapons in canvas.
- McLain schedules her group’s departure in five minutes and directs the second wave to wait out of sight.
- McLain rejects Knox’s attempt to keep her at the rear during the fighting.
Chapter 49
- Knox imagines entering IT’s forbidden levels with McLain after a successful overthrow.
Chapter 51
- Knox believes McLain’s group is waiting several levels above his own.
Chapter 53
- McLain dies when her bomb goes off.
- McLain is a small white-haired woman from Supply.
Chapter 54
- News of McLain’s death unsettles Supply.
Chapter 68
- Shirly thinks of McLain as an absent leader whose presence might have changed the fighting.