Years later, Elio wishes to be abducted by aliens. Every day, he lies on the beach waiting, but without result. One night, a kid named Bryce and his bully friend Caleb tamper with his ham radio, leading to a fight that injures his left eye. This forces Elio to wear a patch over his eye for two weeks. At Olga's workplace, Elio sneaks into an emergency meeting where conspiracy theorist Gunther Melmac claims to have found evidence of aliens responding to Voyager, suggesting they send a message back, but is dismissed by Olga and her colleagues. Elio uses Melmac's device to send his message, causing a power outage at the military base, nearly costing Olga her job. Angered by Elio's actions, Olga decides to send him to a youth camp, which he dreads, as Bryce and Caleb are also there.