Pluribus isn’t manipulating Carol…not in the way a human would manipulate another human. They didn’t intentionally isolate Carol…you know this. Carol repeatedly hurt them.

We now know that Pluribus doesn’t wish to “propagate”. Pluribus will starve to death and isn’t reproducing. You’re just making up that Pluribus is building satellite dishes? I admit that would be an interesting future plot point…but there’s no evidence for it.

Don’t be confused by the editing…the show isn’t presented in real time. It takes as long as it’s reasonable for Pluribus to deliver items to Carol.