Lazarus lives in an all but deserted tiny town in Oklahoma with his wife, Mae, in a house bordering a lake and Otto Mountain. After the two got married when he returned from Vietnam, they settled down in Oklahoma and raised three boys, who've gone on to raise families of their own, save for the youngest boy, Pete. Getting into trouble, Pete wound up in prison serving a ten-year sentence, of which seven years have gone by with radio silence—long ago, Mae ended communication with him, saying he'd need to find God before she'd speak to him again, and Lazarus followed suit. Every morning, Lazarus ventures out onto the lake in a small boat to fish, but for these last few days, he hasn't caught a single thing; birds have long since stopped coming to hunt, either. While fishing, suddenly Lazarus feels a deep vibration and witnesses hundreds of fish levitate just above the water for almost a minute. When they drop, he is startled but catches as many of them as he can grab. Returning to the shore, Mae tells him to return them to the lake—these fish are not for eating. Though he doesn't understand her reasoning, he does as she says, trusting her word more than his. Mae has a lazy left eye, and though she was bullied for it, it is the thing Lazarus loves most about her. As she matured, it became clear that her left eye was not lazy so much as it was looking at something else; Mae has an uncanny ability to see the future, predicting twisters, the Vietnam War, and Lazarus' infidelities. So, when Mae tells Lazarus something, she knows more than she says. For a week, Lazarus is obsessed with the vibrating, the flying fish, and Otto Mountain itself; he watches the lake and mountain day and night. One day, Pete calls, letting his father know that he is getting transferred and that he's found God. Before Lazarus can find out anything else, Pete says that he has to go. Calling the prison itself, not even the operator can help Lazarus find Pete, having no record of his son at their facility. Lazarus consistently ventures into the water, catching the floating fish, but is turned away by Mae. Impulsively, Lazarus chooses to get closer to the mountain, exploring a small cave within it, but four men in scuba suits abruptly apprehend him, telling him that this is private property. They bring a handcuffed Lazarus deeper into the mountain to meet with their supervisor, Joe. Joe forces him to sign an NDA and several waivers, suggesting that after doing so, Joe may be able to help him find Pete. Once Lazarus has signed away his rights, Joe reveals that Pete was transferred to their facility in the mountain for a top-secret experiment. Before Pete's participation in the experiment, Joe brings him out, letting the father and son share a few minutes, and Pete informs Lazarus that he's going to be freed from his mental prison; by God's hand, he's been chosen for this mission and he will soon be flying around Mercury. Their interaction is cut short, but Lazarus is allowed to witness the phenomenon Pete is talking about. Deeper in the mountain is a 12-foot diamond and nineteen platforms encircling it, which Pete and the other former inmates step onto. A man in wearing a jumpsuit with the logo from a familiar cola brand steps into a compartment within the diamond, and soon, the platforms are whirring about it, reducing Pete to a blur. A light blinds him, but when Lazarus opens his eyes, Pete is reduced to a pile of ashes. Joe informs a distraught Lazarus that Pete has been an invaluable member of cutting-edge technology, funded by the CEO of the cola company—who also happens to own most of the state's prisons. Because of the years of trouble and pressure Pete experienced, he was transformed, much like a diamond, and this technology has discovered a way to harness his energy, allowing them to send the CEO to Mercury for a few hours. They hand Lazarus a bag of ashes and diamonds—the remainders of Pete—wipe his memory, and send him back to his humdrum life with Mae.