Chapter Twenty-Nine

Jay sped through the subway and up the stairs at the other end. He moved onwards through the first tunnel he saw in front of him, and then started zig-zagging to try and lose his pursuers. After ten minutes, he realised he could run no longer, and so he stopped, slipping into the entrance of an alley which was similar to that he had left. His heart was racing, his breath was trying to catch up, and his head had begun to pound with pain again. His fear had forced him to forget about his previous aches and pains, but he found them coming back to him now. And he waited. Waited for the arrival of his potential attackers.

Fortunately, nobody came. He had lost them, although Jay sat down in his alley, and waited, covering himself with his coat as much as he could, and staying completely still, in case Jimbo and the security guard caught him up. It was as his breath started to come back to him that he realised how tired he was. Despite himself, trying to shake himsefl awake a few times, he found he could resist sleep no longer, and his eyes closed and he relaxed into a fitful exhausted trance.

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Chapter Twenty Eight

Jay walked into the darkness that lay behind the doorway. As he moved into the unlit space, a light came on and he saw what looked like a fire exit at the bottom of the illuminated white corridoor. There were also two doors opposite each other half-way along the corridoor. As Jay stepped forward tentatively, he heard the sound of the door closing behind him.

Obviously, Jay wasn’t the first chip-less person to have tried his luck in the bar. What did that mean? For one, it meant that what Aimee had said to him about the ex-insiders was probably true. There were certainly more of them than he’d thought there could be. Enough had tried their luck in this place to warrant the security guards going around checking anyway. As he stood there, he thought of Aimee, and wondered what she would make of his adventure when he eventually got home. He didn’t have much time to think as the door to his left opened and he heard the noise of voices from within what was probably a warehouse or storeroom.

Jay moved forward quickly, anxious to avoid any confrontation, hoping to slip past whoever had opened the door. The last thing he wanted was to have to explain himself to warehouse staff. Although he moved quickly, he was forced to stop just as quick as the body of a man emerged into the corridoor. Surprisingly, it was the same guard he had seen inside the bar. The man smiled knowingly at Jay. Worryingly, Jay saw he had exchanged the remote control for a black plastic stick. He rapped on the door opposite, calling out to whoever was behind it.

‘Got another one here, Jimbo. Two in one night, can you believe it?’

Without thinking twice about it, or waiting for Jimbo to appear, Jay took advantage of the guard’s momentary distraction and launched himself quickly forward. The speed at which he did this took the security guard by surprise, and as Jay barged past the man, he toppled over onto his side. Jay staggered past the man, who was flailing his arms about, trying both to break his fall, and to grab hold of Jay as he moved dforward towards the fire exit.

As Jay recovered himself, he heard the other door open and the sound of shouting behind. Jay didn’t look round, but nonetheless felt he would be followed as he burst through the fire door into an narrow alleyway. He looked both left and right quickly, and then headed right because left looked like it was a dead end. As he ran past boxes piled up next to the wall of the bar, he felt he was being followed, although he couldn’t tell for sure. The alleyway was dark and smelled of urine and fish beer. Jay kept running, and realised he was heading for a side exit towards the front of the bar. A mental map of the area quickly came to mind, and, knowing there were few places he could hide near his flat, he decided to cross the subway again. That’s it, he thought to himself, he’d head for the restaurant where he had originally been heading. Surely I’ll be able to convince them who I am or get some help there, he told himself.

Just before he came out of the alleyway, he stopped himself as he became aware of something lying in front of his way out. At first, he had no idea what it was, but as he approached, he realised it was the twisted body of a man. He was limply sitting, with his back to the wall, his arms bent forward. The man’s head was twisted and Jay guessed the neck was broken. Clotted blood covered the nose, with more lying in a small pool by the side of the head. Jay started running again, and heard the clutter of boxes falling behind him. Jimbo or the security guard, or both of them, were definitely following him now.

Jay vaulted over the body of the man, and as he emerged into the street, it occured to him to knock at the boxes behind him, causing them to fall over onto the body behind him, and blocking the exit temporarily. Hopefully, this would give Jay enough time to escape.

He darted down the tunnel heading for the subway entrance. A bubble car passed him going in the opposite direction, and he could hear the sound of a siren in the distance, and the sound of artifical waves crashing from an electronic billboard on the other side of the street. Jay grabbed the rail of the stairway to the subway, and heaved himself downwards, his hear tpunding in his chest.

‘Do you often dream of paradise?’ asked the billboard, ‘If not, then you need to change your fleece-bedding now. Avalon Fleece, for that deep sleep you’ve always dreamed of.’

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Chapter Twenty-Seven

As the couple moved away from their table, Jay moved over and slid onto the seat of the booth where they had been sitting, watching them walk off. They seemed ill-matched. The woman on the left was much taller than her companion, and she was wearing a shimmering white trouser suit with spangly stars, and matching cowboy hat. She swung as she moved, confidently striding towards the exit. He, on the other hand, was plainly dressed in a grey suit, and moved slightly behind her, nervously, and almost unwillingly. as if being pulled along in her wake. They disppeared from view and Jay wrapped his fingers around the tall glass containing some kind of blueish cocktail. This, Jay reasoned, was what she had been drinking. Or rather had not been drinking, as it lay hardly touched on the table. There were two other glasses on the table, both of which were empty, and which had both probably contained beer. Because he was concentrating too much on the glasses and the couple, he didn’t notice the security guard come up behind him.


‘Why is it that you don’t register?’

Jay looked up to see the imposing figure of a black-suited man in a violet shirt, the right breast pocket of his suit emblazoned with the bar’s logo. His eyes were fixed steadily on Jay’s as if he were about to begin to suck them out of their sockets. Jay didn’t know what to say, and so he said nothing. The two of them stayed their in silent stalemate for what seemed like a long time, atlhough it could not have been more than thirty seconds before the man spoke.

‘I said why don’t you register on my scanner?’ repeated the security guard, and this time he waved what looked like a remote control at Jay. It had been a long time since Jay had seen anything like it. Of course, this machine would tell him who had the right to be in the bar, and who, like Jay, was freeloading.

‘There’s been a lot of scams going on recently,’ continued the man, ‘and it’s my job to see to it that only paying customers get to stay here. How did you get a drink?’

‘It...it was here already.’ answered Jay.

‘I think you should be going then, don’t you?’ The man indicated the island in the corner, ‘See that door? Make your way over there, go through it, and don’t come back again.’

Jay looked back to the island and saw the outline of a previously hidden door appear as it slid open.

‘We don’t want to cause a problem for the other guests, do we?’ said the man, and smiled at him.

Jay smiled back, stood up and walked towards the door. He should have realised it wasn’t going to be so easy.

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Chapter Twenty-Six

Of course, the door to the bar didn’t open when Jay stood in front of it. This was a new experience to Jay, and he just couldn’t get used to it. He couldn’t get into his flat. Not even his building. And now he realised that access to just about every public place would be restricted too. He was standing at the door wondering what his next step might be when it suddenly opened in front of him, and four clubbers stumbled out of the heated room. The four men were all dressed in black, and wore identical shades. Perhaps, Jay found himself thinking, they were a performance art group. The blast of heat and music was enough to convince Jay that he needed to get inside, and he stepped forward without thinking, edging his way around the group coming out of the bar.

Inside, the sound of the bass-heavy music was deafening. The place was dark, and full of dimly lit corners where small groups of people huddled in intimacy. Here and there, relics from an almost forgotten past had been carefully positioned to break up the large room, and create new private spaces near the clear glass tables.To Jay’s left, two youths in blue denims and white t-shirts were lounging around an abandoned Cheverolet motor car, one of them leaning on the bonnet. Their jeans were ragged, and their t-shirts had been purposely slashed to expose the flesh below. This would help him blend in, Jay thought, casting an eye over his own attire.

Nobody took a second look at him as Jay moved past the couple and the car, towards a corner that had been decorated to look like an oasis, with a tall fake silver palm tree standing in the middle of an island. A small trough of water separated the island from the rest of the bar, although access was provided by a narrow gangway. It was difficult to say whether the proprietors of the bar wanted people to go there, but sitting there now was an unhealthily thin man with a large red mohican. He had a tall drink in his hand and was dressed in black trousers, jacket and t-shirt, all of which were made of leather. He looked up and smiled as Jay approached. Jay hadn’t seen him before; he was just looking for a place to sit, where he could be on his own and collect his thoughts. He didn’t return the smile. The last thing he wanted to do in his condition was to attract the unwanted attention of a gay Goth. He changed direction slightly and walked away from the island towards a small red and yellow carousel, finally taking a seat on a bench, equidistant from the island and the carousel. It was a good choice as it meant he was facing the carousel, had his back to the island, and the view from the bar was blocked by a group of tall fake plastic trees.

How long could he stay there? Would anyone approach him and challenge his status or ask him why he wasn’t drinking? Probably not. The bar was a pay-per-use bar, and Jay realised this meant that credit from people’s smart cards was deducted automatically depending on how long they were there. Customers also paid for drinks, but if Jay didn’t approach the bar he would be alright. Jay looked around. There was a risk that someone from the bar would notice him if he stayed too long, or if he didn’t have a drink, but otherwise he would be fine. There were enough people there on their own – it wouldn’t look strange for Jay to be sitting here without anyone for company. He did need a drink though.

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Chapter Twenty-Five

Jay opened his eyes, and then quickly closed them again due to the striking ache in his head. He was lying on his stomach. His head stung and throbbed and his body was racked with pain. How long had he been lying in the subway? He felt cold, and realised that his coat had been torn from him. His shirt too had been ripped from the neck downwards, and, although it was still buttoned around his waist, it no longer covered his arms or chest. He turned over onto his back and looked up at the flickering strip lights of the subway. His skin and shirt was damp from some liquid. Opening his eyes again he realised it was his own blood. He then became aware of another source of pain, coming from his upper right arm. Feeling it gingerly with his left hand, he realised it was where the blood was coming from. He now realised what his attackers had wanted. They had knocked him out and gouged away crudely at his right arm with a knife in order to remove the implanted smart chip that was his identity, that controlled his bank account, and that was necessary for living the life he led.

Jay could not believe his bad luck. Either it was that, or stupidity. He sursed himself for having left his apartment that night. He glanced at his timepiece, but the display was dead. Even his wristwatch didn’t function without a signal from the smartchip. He closed his eyes again, unable to face the reality of the situation.

Twenty minutes or so later, he awoke. Somebody, or something had just scuttled past him. He managed to prop himself up into a sitting position, and looked around him. He was in a state. His shirt was totally ruined, and his trousers were ripped in one leg too. He was cold, and he reached for the rag of his coat that had been cast aside. At least this was still in one piece, and he shifted his aching body into the coat, grimacing as his right arm eased its way into the coat. He searched his pockets for his mobile telephone, but it was not there. He sat another ten minutes or so, wondering what he should do, and decided his best bet was to make his way back home. He didn’t want to try and report the attack that night: didn’t feel he could cope with a police interview. He would wrap a bandage around his wound, and get it looked at in the morning. Then he would report the incident.

Slowly, he made his way back to his apartment block. There was much less traffic on the tunnel streets now, and the advertising screens were mainly neutral, showing fake sea and nature scenes, although they did pop back to life briefly as and when a vehicle passed by. He thought it strange that they didn’t react when he walked by, until he realised that he no longer had a chip in his arm that told his sensor he was there. He was invisible to them, as if he didn’t exist to this advertising society. As far as they were concerned, he was not important, a non-consumer.

He got back to the door to his apartment block without too much trouble, but then he realised how naive he had been. He could not access the building without a signal from his smartchip. The door was locked solid, and it was impossible to open. There wasn’t even a bell or way of contacting anyone insdide from where he was. Not that there was anyone insdie waiting for him to get in touch either.

He looked up at the window high above him, to the corridoor where the entrance to his flat was, and started to realise the predicament he was in. Even if he gained access to the building, he wouldn’t be able to get back into his flat. And, without a smartchip implant, he would probably cause an alarm to go off if he entered the building. He would then be ejected from the place by security bots. Without knowing where he was going, he turned around and headed off down the street again. Before long he came to the entrance to a bar. The sign flashed with a silvery gold logo - ‘Magic’ it said as it ran a sequence of an old-fashioned magician pulling a rabbit from a top hat. That would have to do for now, and he walked up the steps to the entrance of the bar.

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Chapter Twenty-Four

Not wanting to turn around, Jay walked on at the same pace, trying at first to convince himself that the footsteps were imaginary, and when that ceased to work, that they belonged to a couple who were hurrying their way to a prior engagement, afraid of being late. The blow on the back of his head killed this idea, and Jay was forced to face the reality of the attack.

He didn’t have much time to react. The first blow to the back of his head caused Jay to stagger forward. It felt for a moment that his eyes were about to explode from their sockets. A white light invaded his conciousness. This lasted for a split second. No more. Then, before he could do anything else, he fell onto his side, crashing down onto his hip as his heels were swept to one side by someone’s kicking. His face touched the ground, and before he could push himself upwards, he felt a second blow to his head, this time at the base of the skull. His vision blurred and the white light now changed to blackness.

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Chapter Twenty-three

The lobby was quiet when Jay stepped out of the lift. He stepped forward and looked around himself. There wasn’t even a sound coming from the direction of the gym, although Jay knew that it was open twenty-four hours a day. Next to the entrance to the gym were the double doors that led to the small shopping precinct that formed the bottom floor of the building, and then at the opposite end of the lobby were another sent of double doors that led out to a small security space where another set of doors controlled access to the street.

As Jay was staring at these, they suddenly opened, and a couple walked through them, into the lobby. With them, came a short wave of cold from the street. They were holding each other around the waist and laughing. Sharing opinions about something that had happened to them that evening. Jay moved aside and they both smiled at him and headed for the lift. Jay tightened the knot in his scarf and buttoned the last buttons of his coat to protect against the cold, and stepped towards the security space.

Walking outside after so long was quite a shock for Jay. He stepped out into a world full of harsh noises and sensations. The first of these, almost immediate, was the noise. The electric bubble cars themselves that sped past him now were not noisy themselves, but their drivers all seemed to be broadcasting music from inside their carbon fibre shells. The mixture of all different styles of music caused a babble of different codes and signals, instruments and singing voices that seemed to be trying to tell Jay something. Whatever it was, he couldn’t understand it. The other overwhelming sensation was the cold. He had become so used to the regulated temperature of the inside of his flat, that never changed, that the cold seemed to eat away at Jay’s face and penetrate the skin beneath the layers of his coat and clothes. He doubted that it was really cold, as there were people walking around outside without coats on, moving quickly up and down the street, disappearing into doorways of apartment blocks, or the bars with their gary video boards above the entrances advertising special offers and flashing up images of dancing girls and shouting out laughter and hard-to-believe claims.

Jay walked down the steps to the street level of the tunnel. He felt dwarved by the towers that surrounded him on one side, and the video walls that occupied the whole of the other side. He’d never thought about it before, but the fact that there were no buildings on part of the other side of the street meant that beyond the wall was the outside world. He walked down the street, in the direction of the restaurant, which was quite near. He would have to cross the traffic though, and he looked for a subway. He soon saw the entrance to the crossing, and started to descend the winding steps that took him below the surface of the road. At the bottom of the stairs, a door opened to allow him into the underground crossing. He was alone now, and felt slightly uneasy as the roar of the traffic above became gradually muffled. There was a stink of urine, and the walls of the subway crossing were covered with grafitti.

Jay walked for two minutes before he realised he was not alone. As he walked on, he became aware of the increasing pace of footsteps behind him.

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Chapter Twenty-two

As he stepped out of his apartment door into the corridoor for the second time that day, Jay was suddenly struck with fear. Stopping to catch his breath, he closed the door to his apartment and turned his back to it. He stared out and down to the tunnel below. The advertisements on the walls were still going full force. ‘Did they ever stop?’, he wondered. Probably not. They seemed to have changed though. Now they showed different products: cigarettes, bars, restaurants, the latest cinema releases, discos. They were advertisements for a world that was totally alien to Jay, and he stood mesmerised in front of their claims, and the flickering lights on the full length glass plate windows of the passageway.

Jay stepped nearer the window and peered down at the tunnel and the traffic below. There were hust as many bubble cars as earlier. Where were these people going? What were they all doing at this time of night? Going out to meet other people? This concept was also unfamiliar to Jay. Could he ever get used to that? It would take him a long while, he supposed. But despite his underlying fear, he was anxious to reincorporate himself into this life, to find out what he had been missing. To see if it was really worthwhile.

Jay started to move forward, slowly. Did he think he could pull it off? Yes. He felt different that evening to when he had looked out over the same spot earlier that day. Wht had changed? This time, he seemed to feel strength in his solitude. Was it that? Or was it another feeling altogether? He was able to walk calmly down the passageway towards the lift.

Outside, the sound of a siren penetrated the thick glass barrier between him and the rest of the city. He didn’t look for the source of the noise, concentrating instead on the sounds from inside the building: the constant underlying hum of the heating system. Too soft to notice normally, but always there underneath the other sounds. A buzzing of the overhead lights. The constant sounds then punctuated by other sources of noise that changed as he walked further down to the lift. The sound of people talking on the radio from the first neighbour’s door. Mixed in with that, a baby crying, and then the murmur of the baby’s mother comforting it. From the next door, the television was on, and Jay caught excerpts of a game show. He didn’t know what, but he heard figures, drum rolls and an audience appplauding. Then the voice of another slickly stupid presenter no doubt offering someone the chance of his or her lifetime in exchange for some minor humiliation or display of pointless knowledge. The next door? An intense battle was raging no doubt on the video wall as two spaceships fought it out for supremacy. Mingled in with this was the bleeping of the scoring sysatem, chalking up the kills or the mileage. Underneath all this was the sound of heavy metal music, spurring the players of this computer game on.

The sounds of machines, rising beyond their surface role, rising to play a greater part. Keeping the people happy to be inside while simultaneously transporting their minds away from their same apartments.

Jay shook his head and switched his concentration to outside. He looked out the window again, at the scene below, trying to discern the noise of the street. It was difficult. He was about to move on further down the passageway when he caught sight of the space where he had seen the man being attacked earlier that day. There was something down there inbetween the buildings but Jay couldn’t quite work out what it was. His memory brought the image of the beating back to his brain. His imagination pictured a body, lying below. Lifeless, battered. But it was more probably a discarded box. The unwanted packaging of a newly purchased machine. Well, he could find out if he wanted. If he made it down there. That was the plan, wasn’t it?


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= 2942 words to write per day if I want to finish on time

What? Am I kidding myself? Do I really think that I’m going to be swept up by a late wave of inspiration and end up writing this much? Funnily enough, I still think it could be a possibility. Or more likely, that I pull an all-nighter and end up writing 15,000 words to be able to get back on track!

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Chapter Twenty-One

The look on Aimee’s face said it all. Open-mouthed and surprised, she was lost for words for a few seconds.

‘So, how are we going to do this, then?’ asked Aimee. ‘”Your place or mine?” is how the old expression goes, I think’

They smiled at each other, and Aimee waited for a response.


‘I think I’d like to invite you to dinner, perhaps at a restaurant? It’s been so long since I’ve eaten out, I thought it might be a good place to start.’
‘OK, that sounds fine. Did you have one in mind?’
‘There’s a Taiwanese-Spanish place I found some time ago that I thought looked great. It’s called Chaou-Manuel’s. I was going to suggest they deliver to my apartment, but I think I’d like to actually go there and eat. I can give you the referemce if you’d like to take a look.’

Jay started to key in the City reference finder and the lower left-hand portion of the vidphone screen showed a map. As they continued talking, the restaurant’s location was shown, and then images of the restaurant were displayed to the right of the map.

‘No, that’s alright. I trust your judgement. But give me the reference anyway so I know where it is. Hey1 The place looks good. Are you sure you want to do this? I mean, are you ready for this? I don’t want you to push yourself into doing something you really don’t want to do. Besides, I wouldn’t mind getting to know your apartment if you’d prefer to eat there.’
‘No. I’d really like to do this. It’s a ridiculous notion of mine, being cooped up in here all the time. I think I need to start getting to know the world I live in a little bit more.’
‘Wow.’ Aimee said. ‘I’m starting to be impressed by you Mister Gee.’I see the place is only a couple of blocks away from you. Shall I come over there and we can go together?’
‘OK.’ Jay said, that would be great, I’ll reserve a table. How about for eight o’clock?’
‘That sounds great.’

After Aimee had gone, Jay decided he’d better book the table. He was about to call up the connection to Chaou-Manuel’s when he had a better idea. He would go there in person and book the table.

What had happened to him all of a sudden? He was feeling rather brave. He also thought it would be better if he’s had a trial run, so he could concentrate on Aimee instead of on the route and his feelings towards walking there. The last thing he wanted to happen was to have second thoughts and cause a scene in his flat when she arrived.

Without thinking any further, Jay selected a coat and headed for his apartment door. It was 12.30am on a Wednesday night.

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Chapter Twenty

Two days later, when Aimee rang, she was standing in front of Jay with her flute in her lap.

‘It’s funny’, she said, ‘it reminds me a lot of you.
‘I feel the same way when I look at my flute.’ Said Jay.
‘Well, now you’re going to have to tell me what to do with the thing. It has been a hell of a long time Mister Gee.’

She could actually still play reasonably well. Although, she lost her place several times, and her technique would need a lot of work, Jay thought she played a lot better than he expected her to do after so long away from the instrument.

‘Are you sure you haven’t been practising on the sly?’ he siad to her after they’d finihed playing a warm-up piece.
‘You are kidding, aren’t you?’ she said.

They played over the video phone for a few hours that night, hardly talking to each other except about music, and about playing technique. It had been therapeutic, Aimee had said, at the end of it, and she had been able to forget about Cliff Brooks’ disppearance. It had caused her some problems at work, she later explained, and it was also something that was keeping her from sleeping well at night. She held herself personally responsible, she told Jay.

‘But, that’s not fair,’ he said. ‘He might have decided to go off and do whatever he’s done without any encouragement from you anyway. As he told you, he had unfinished business.’
‘Yes, OK. I understand, but I’m supposed to calm patients down, to keep them stable. And that’s not what I did with Cliff. I stirred him up, encouraged him to get up and go. It was something completely new to me. I feel I’ve betrayed myself professionally. And why? All because I wanted to know something? And now, we have no idea what’s happened to him.’

Aimee was taking the Cliff Brooks episode too personally, but there was nothing Jay could think of that would take her mind off him. Or was there?

‘Aimee, I was wondering if we could meet up tomorrow night.’ Jay said.

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Chapter Nineteen

‘If you had been tracking me today, you would have seen me leave my apartment.’ Jay said suddenly, unprompted.

Aimee stared at him over the vidscreen, and her face broke up into a grin.

‘What, exactly does that mean, Mr.Gee?’
‘It means that I went swimming today for the first time in three years, I suppose.’
‘I think it means more than that...’

Jay told Aimee what he had done, and he felt that she was warming to him. She liked what she was seeing. Jay was awakening.

‘Aimee,’ Jay said suddenly, ‘I’d like to be able to play the flute with you some day.’
‘You would, would you?’ asked Aimee, unsure of what to say.
‘Yes, I would. And soon, I think. You do still have your flute, don’t you?’
‘You know, I think it must be at my parent’s place. I told you I hadn’t touched it in years.’
‘Would you start playing again? For me?’

Aimee looked intensely at Jay, unsure of what to say.

‘It would mean so much to me, Aimee, if we could play together.’
‘Well,’ said Aimee, ‘now there’s an offer I can’t refuse.’

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Chapter Eighteen

Jay waited without doing much that night. He tried playing his flute, but he couldn’t concentrate on music. He wanted to know what had happened to take Aimee away so suddenly. Obviously, the alarm explained why she had still been wearing her uniform. She must have still been on duty when she rang Jay, and she probably expected something to happen as she didn’t seem that surprised when it did.

He had almost given up on Aimee, and was planning on going to bed when she called. He had set the vidphone for automatic answer when she rang, and so, the image flickered on as Jay was undressing.

‘Hello? Jay?’ He heard Aimee’s voice and came through from his bedroom to the lounge where the vidphone was, pulling on the sweatshirt he had a few seconds ago taken off, as he entered.

‘I’m sorry. It’s late. I shouldn’t have rung you.’
‘No, really, that’s OK. I’m glad you did. I wouldn’t have been able to sleep well if you hadn’t. I guess you had quite an emergency tonight.’
‘Yes, it’s been quite a day all-in-all, and I’m afraid I’m partly to blame for what’s now happened.’
‘You are? How come?’
‘Well, you remember my patient, Cliff Brooks? The one who said he’d been outside the city?’
‘Of course. We were just talking about him when you were called away.’
‘Well, that’s the reason why I had to go. I didn’t have time to explain it to you before I left, but I suppose it wasn’t such a good idea talking to him about his experience earlier today.’
‘Why not? I mean...’
‘Well, it seems as if it stirred up some old feelings, and he’s gone.’
‘Gone? What do you mean, gone?’
‘Gone. Disappeared. He’s left the clinic where he was checked in.’
‘I thought there was a control? Some kind of system...’
‘Well, yes, of course there is, but he’s got round it somehow. We can’t even track him using the chip locator. He must have done something to block it. It’s the first time I’ve seen anything like it.’
‘Chip locator? You have access to a smart chip tracking device? And he’s been able to block it?’
‘Yes, that’s right. Jay, I can’t begin to tell you some of the equipment we have access to. A smart chip locator is just one of the devices that we need to use in our work, but it’s not issued very frequently I can tell you. And they’re controlled, as you can imagine. That’s why I’m so worried aboutproject...blackberry, remember? I’m sure that there are others out there who abuse the use these machines. And now I’m sure that Cliff Brooks has some kind of jamming device. He just doesn’t show up on our equipment.’
‘But where could he have gone?’
‘Well, my guess is that he’s heading out of the city. That’s where he said he’d like to go.’
‘He told you that?’
‘Yes, that’s right. After talking about his experiences today, he told me he felt he had “unfinished business” out there, and that he would probably return some time. Of course, when he told me that, the alarm bells rang and I put his name down as an “alert”. That means that I had to stay on call and our tracking devices were told to monitor him especially. At seven O’clock tonight, he disappeared from our monitors, and that’s when I was called.’
‘But surely, someone must have seen him go?’
‘apparently not. It’s a complete mystery. We have no idea how he got out of the building even, as we even have security guards posted on the doors. I am sure, however, that it’s not the first time he’s done it. I think it’s happened before, but as we haven’t been monitoring him particularly, we never picked up on it.’
‘Well, so he’ll probably reappear then? If he’s done it before.’
‘He could. But something inside tells me that he won’t. Call it instinct, whatever. But I think Cliff is gone for good.’

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Chapter Seventeen

He didn’t see it at first, but something flashed as he stared down between the bubble cars and plasma screen advertisements. In between two buildings, in what looked like an access road, a vaguely outlined figure of a man was thrashing his arms up and down. At first, although later he didn’t know why he had thought it, Jay thought he was beating out a tune perhaps, on a drum, but as Jay continued staring, although it was difficult to pick out details from where he was, Jay began to notice that the man was standing above another figure, and the other person was desperately trying to defend himself or herself. He or she was obviously in a lot of pain.

Jay pulled himself away from the window and retreated to the safety of his apartment. Once inside, he switched on the video wall and flicked through several TV channels. Why, he wondered, didn’t anyone show that kind of thing on TV? Why was the news restricted to local politics and information about new products. Nothing bad ever happened on TV, apart from in the violent films they showed.

Now Jay knew he wouldn’t be able to bring himself to suggest meeting Aimee that night. What he had seen from the window of his building had shocked him, and he would need more than a few trips to the swimming pool in the basement before he would be able to even think about venturing out further.

That evening, aimee phoned him after he had finished eating one of the pre-packaged meals he usually ended up buying. Before she phoned, while he had been eating, he had been wighing up whether to tell her about his excursion that day. As it happened, later that evening, when she rang for the second time and they started talking, it came up naturally in the conversation. But the first time that evening they talked about something else.

‘I saw Cliff at work today, and asked him about his experience outside.’ Aimee said.
‘Cliff? Who’s Cliff? I don’t remember him.’
‘Oh, perhaps I didn’t tell you his name. He’s called Cliff Brooks. You remember I told you that one of my patients was fond of telling stories about life outside, and that he claimed he actually lived there for a while?’
‘OK. Now I remember. Yes, the storyteller. What did he have to say?’
‘Well, it was very interesting. He actually told me that he still goes outside from time to time. Can you believe that? He wouldn’t tell me how he manages to get in and out of the city, or where the exit/entrance is, but he was full of stories about the outsiders, and he managed to convinve me that there exists, or at least existed a community out there.’
‘But, how is it possible? Are you sure he isn’t making it all up?’
‘Well, I don’t think so. I think he used to work for the City Guards, and he said that one of the roles of a certain branch of the City Guards is to regularly go outside, at least just outside of the city.’
‘Why would they have to do that? And why would your patient continue to go out?’
‘çI can’t answer that last question, but the first...? Well, it’s obvious really. I just didn’t think it through before. The ex-insiders, who are evicted , well...they can’t just be left there in the tunnels or outside their buildings. That’s where the City Guard comes in. They pick them up, and take them away in theri vans. That much I knew already.’
‘Ah, yes, you told me how many of the ex-insiders are given a home and food in return for taking part in science experiments.’
‘That’s right. New drug trials, or whatever. Well, that’s just a small part of them. The lucky few, I guess. My patient, Cliff, well he told me that all the ex-insiders are given a medical check when they’re picked up, and only the ones that are considered healthy or interesting specimens are given the opportunity to take part in the scientific trials.’

Aimee sighed, and leaned back in her chair and paused a while, staring into Jay’s eyes. She was still dressed in her work clothes. A dark green suit. An identifying badge was pinned to her left breast. She obviously had wanted to talk to Jay as soon as possible, and didn’t wait to get changed.

‘Go on’ Jay urged her.
‘Well, it seems that the others are all transported outside, and unceremoniously dumped in various places. They’re left to get on with it, to survive however they can. It’s almost like the City saying, “we’re giving you a chance. Now get on with it.”’
‘How generous of them.’
‘Yes, I agree. Anyway, it seems as if the City Guard became curious about whether many of these “outsiders” actually managed to survive for long, and so, according to Cliff, they started up a special observation unit, Cliff said he ended up being part of this.’
‘It doesn’t sound very coherent to me. Why would the City be so interested?’
‘Well, they didn’t like the idea of large groups of outsiders forming a community that could later rival the City. Imagine if they managed to survive and formed a group large enough to mount an attack on us? You can see what danger that would result in?’
‘OK, you’ve convinced me. So, what did your patient actually get to see?’
‘Well, Cliff said that he did indeed find some communities. It appears that the brighter of those who were released outside had made their way to the remains of the old cities that used to exist, before the Age of the Problems.’
‘You mean when the plants and animals all started dying, and the people in these places started dying off?’
‘That’s right. The City has renamed this “The Age of the Problems” just in case you didn’t know.’
‘I didn’t, actually.’
‘Well now you do.’
‘So, what else did Cliff have to say?’
‘Well, it seems that a lot of these people had managed to build themselves shelter in the old cities, and could live there, although it wasn’t clear what they were actually surviving on. Cliff said that it was obvious that there were still some species of animals left that they were able to feed on.’
‘Interesting, but I don’t see how...’

Jay was cut off abruptly by an alarm coming from Aimee’s apartment. Aimee then suddenly said:

‘I’m sorry, Jay. I have to go. It’s work. I’ll try to ring you later.’

The connection was broken and Jay was left staring into the dull violet screen of the vidphone.

1,119 words this chapter
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Chapter Sixteen

The water felt good as he immersed his body into the cool depths of the pool. The swimming pool was empty except for a couple of old women, who were propped up at one end, and talking to each other. Jay started swimming, and soon found himself forgetting about the difficulty he had in persuading himself to leave his apartment and come down here. This is something he should have done years ago. He could only remember coming here a few times since he moved in.

He told himself that he would start coming once a day. Apart from the exercise, which was surely beneficial to him, it would be a gentle way for him to start connecting with other people. He could do so at his own pace. The next day, he told himself he should try to have a short conversation with someone. Just a few minutes would be enough, and he thought of the receptionist he had noticed as he had come in. Yes, that would be a good place to start, and he started to picture himself in front of her, talking.

What would he say? How would he begin? He had it – he would ask about the sauna, which he knew had to be booked. Then he thought, why wait until tomorrow? He could do it today. He toyed with this idea as he swam up and down, but by the time he was ready to leave the pool he had forgotten about the idea and his mind was on Aimee once again.

What was stopping him from meeting her tonight? Should he not suggest meeting? Did dhe still play the flute? She had told him she had stopped taking lessons when they had been separated, but didn’t she still play from time to time? If she didn’t, he felt it was only right for him to encourge her to start up again. He felt as if it was almost his fault that she had not continued playing music and taking lessons. Would her life be any different if she had continued playing? And what about if they had continued seeing each other through their teens?

He was sure that they would have ended up having a relationship. That was the way it had been going. Perhaps they would have ended up living together, even having a child? Suppose things went well now? Would it not be possible to make up for all the time they had lost? Was that not the idea she had? He was certain that Aimee and himself were destined to be together. It seemed so obvious, and filled himself with excitment that he hardly noticed the other people as he dressed and headed back to his apartment. Past the other gym users who had started to arrive in greater numbers now that some of them had finished work. Past the blank receptionist who did not even notice him leave, so engrossed was she with something on her monitor. Past the people dressed up to go out. Jay even stepped into the lift and ascended to the third floor with a neighbour. They didn’t register each other, however. But this didn’t feel strange. His neighbour, a smartly dressed man in a grey suit, white shirt and red tie turned right and stepped into the opposite section of the building to where Jay lived, without saying a word. Jay didn’t notice, however, as he was engrossed in his own personla fantasy.

As he got to his door, he stopped, and stared out of the windwo again. What he saw disturbed his train of thought, and brought back the anxiety.


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Chapter Fifteen

Jay rubbed his plams together as the lift descended the three floors to the basement floor. The doors opened and he caught the distinctive smell he had remembered from his last visit here, almost three years previously. Well, somethings didn’t change, he thought. It was a mixture of chlorine from the pool, stale sweat from the people who used the gym, and a strong musky perfume that the management of the building’s gymnasium facilities had introduced to make up for the ventilation problems, with the hope it would drown out the other two smells.

He turned left towards the gymnasium facilities and walked through the automatic doors. He knew that a signal giving him access had been sent from the smart chip in his upper arm. He had never really thought about it before, but since his conversation with Aimee about the subject, he was trying to understand when and how and what the chip controlled in his life. He didn’t know why it hadn’t mattered to him before, or why it mattered to him now. He just knew that it was something he needed to understand, and store away. Just in case he needed it in the future.

There were only a few people in the entrance hall, and he walked past them as they chatted. They did not look at him as if he was strange, which was a good sign he thought. A good sign, because Jay did feel as if he was the odd one out. Obviously, it didn’t show; it was only a feeling that Jay himself felt, and he showed no outward appearance of oddness. This, he felt, would help him overcome the feeling.

Access to the gym needed no human contact, although there was a receptionist on hand if anyone did have any questions to ask. Jay smiled at her as he walked towards the access door, and was almost pleased that she seemed not to see him. Her face showed no change in expression as Jay walked by, although he did catch her eyes checking him over. She, he realised, would know who was a regular here, and who wasn’t. He didn’t know why he felt it, but he was sure that she would stop him on his way out to ask him something.

Walking into the male changing rooms, he was struck by a stronger smell of sweat, mixed with other varieties of odours, probably coming froim the combination of perfumed shampoos and soaps that people used. There were a few people rubbing themselves dry with towels, and others undressing. A man was fixing his tie whilst looking into a half-length mirror, and another man at his side, naked from the waist upwards and with a towel wrapped around him, was shaving. Most of the people there at the moment were older than Jay. Probably mostly retired, he thought.

The changing room had changed little from what Jay remembered of it. A new lick of paint, perhaps a few different fixtures, and the lighting was certinly fifferent, but the seup was the same. There were a lot of individual lockers, and benches nearby them where people could get changed. There was also a section at the bottom of the area, near the pool, where it was possible to use a private changing room, and this is where Jay headed for.

He chose one of the rooms near the corner, where he thought there were no people, went inside and locked the door. He sat down on the bench and took a deep breath. He had done it. So far so good. He felt incredibly tense, but the swim ahead of him should help him to relax. He only hoped the pool was not too crowded.


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Chapter Fourteen

It was three in the afternoon and there was a lot of activity. People were driving around on their electric trikes and bubble cars, and there were even people walking in the covered street below. It hadn’t ever struck him before, but now he had spoken to Aimee about the subject, it did strike him strange that there were no signs of what it was like outside the City’s walls. The interors were covered with video screens showing images of products, of stocks and shares values, and of information about resolutions passed by the City Council. From time to time, these would fade into artificial scenes of natural landscapes that were computer generated. Based on memories of a reality now lost, they showed the same green hills and blue skies, birds, and other animals that Jay could find on his HCS system. Was it true that all this was now lost to humankind? Jay didn’t doubt it, but he did find it strange, as Aimee had said, that neither of them, along with the great majority of the City’s population, had no inkling of what actually lay outside.

He stared at the walls, and wondered if there were actually any outside viewpoints available in the city now. When he had asked Aimee about these, she had said that they had all been closed, but surely there were some, even if access to them was restricted. Somebody needed to keep an eye on what was happening to the atmosphere outside the City surely. If only to monitor the weather conditions for the flights that undoubtedly still took place between cities, although Aimee was of the opinion that few people actually travelled between cities nowadays, and most of those who did felt it was safer to travel in the high speed underground trains that linked the cities. Certainly, it was true that there was little promotion of travel between cities on TV, and no suggestion of air travel between cities. No advertisements. No programmes. No mention of it. For all Jay knew, they might be at war with one of the other cities. Although there was never any mention of conflict. Conflict seemed to have disappeared from view. Surely it still existed?

After another five minutes of staring outside, Jay decided it was time to venture further away from his apartment. He couldn’t limit himself to the corridoor, or he would never make sufficient progress to be able to meet up with Aimee. He would continue with his original plan. To make sure he hadn’t tried to subconsciously sabotage his trip, he checked the contents of his shoulder bag. Towel, goggles, shorts, and rubber soled slippers. To give himself a reason for leaving, Jay had decided to go for a swim.

There was a swimming pool in the basement of Jay’s building. It was part of the gymnasium and small shopping complex that was provided for residents only. This was the second layer of protection that lay between Jay and the outside world. Thinking about this now, as he slowly made his way down the corridoor, past the doors of his facelesss, unknown neighbours, he compared the design of his environment to that of an onion. The first layer was his flat, then the floor his apartment was on. Access to and from each of these required a signal from his smart chip, an instruction issued by his voice. Next came the building he lived in. Then, the next layer would be Ribtown. Each area of the City was separated from the other and required the passing of a controlled gate. If Aimee wanted to come and visit him, she would have to pass through three of these controls. What about the outside? How did anyone get outside the City? Was it even possible nowadays? And from where would there be access? He told himself to remember to ask Aimee, to see if she knew anything. Meanwhile, he had things to do. He was going swimming. His heart was pounding as he waited for the lift to ascend to his floor. He laughed to himself at the absurdity of his feelings. A trip to the basement floor was now causing him so much disturbance anyone might have thought he was planning a trip to Mars.

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Chapter Thirteen

A few more days passed. Jay and aimee continued talking on a daily basis. Aimee hadn’t broached the subject of Jay and she getting together. Jay had been waiting for it to be mentioned again, and had convinced himself that he wanted to meet up with her, but now it seemed as if she was not going to mention it. Was it too much for Jay to suggest it himself? Wasn’t that what she was waiting for now?

Jay was thinking about this now instead of working. He had spent most of the afternoon mulling this over instead of working. Since Aimee had started discussing what was really going on outside his apartment, in the city, just outside of his shelter, Jay had found it difficult to concentrate on his work. At first, he found it hard to believe. He had built his life around a series of values that he now found himself questioning. Was he being exploited by the corporation he worked for? Was he being manipulated by the city? How long would it be before he would be selected for the implant Aimee mentioned? And did it even matter?

On a personal level, Jay realised that he had immersed himself so much in his work with machines that he had no idea what it was he was aiming for. He had always concentrated on a life that had been full of his major interests – his work, his music. He had stopped making friends, and after the few disasterous episodes with women in his teens, he had taken his mother’s advice and turned his back on the idea of forming a relationship.

‘It only leads to problems, and complications’ his mother would say, ‘and you won’t have time for what really matter to you.’ At the time, these words made a lot of sense to Jay, and he realised he had suppressed feelings and desires that he found were being reawakened now. Now that Aimee had reentered his life.

Standing up, he realised he could work no more that day. He thought about trying to contact Aimee on the vidphone, but she would be working and it wasn’t fair for him to interrupt her. Jay thought that she would probably find time to talk to him anyway, but he didn’t want to intrude into her work time. She always waited until after she knew Jay had finisehd his work before ringing him, so Jay should respect her and do the same.

He went over to the draw where he kept his flute, opened it, and took the instrument out of its case. He looked at the thing, and suddenly wanted to ask Aimee to start playing again. He thought he would like very much if they could play together again. It was then that he knew this was how he was going to suggest meeting. He was filled with a sense of anxiety, and felt a knot forming in his stomach. Why was it such an unpleasant idea? Why couldn’t he feel excited about meeting her instead of dread?

And what, he wondered, could he do to make the dread go away? Perhaps, he thought, if he could get used to the idea of other people, of being with them, of leaving his coccoon, then he could start to look forward to a first meeting with Aimee?

He wondered if he could teach himself to do this, and he decided that he would start with a trip outside his apartment. It had been so long since he had left that Jay could hardly remember what to expect.

The building where Jay lived contained perhaps four hundred apartments. There were approximately fifty apartments on each of the eight floors. Jay’s apartment was situated on the third floor. There were no windows from Jay’s apartment apart from one that looked out into the internal corridoor, which Jay had covered up. He prefered it that way, and had deliberately selected an apartment that did not have a view of the central offshoot of the Ribtown section of the Great Tunnel. He had no desire to see what other people were doing outside, and wanted to prevent the spying eyes of neighbours with thier telescopes and thier binoculars. He had been sick of the attention of neighbours at his mother’s apartment, which was a block away from his, and which looked out over the Great Tunnel itself.. One side of his mother’s apartment had consisted of windows, but he and his mother had spent most of the time with the blinds closed after they had become sick of spotting prying neighbours with nothing better to do than sit and spy on each other. The blinds had served their purpose, but it had become a purposeless wall as there was no way they could use the space for video. They had bought a machine that projected images onto the white surface of the blinds, but the quality was so inferior to the actual video walls that they stopped using it. For this reason, Jay had taken his time before buying his own apartment to ensure there were no windows.

So, it was a shock when Jay opened the door that led to the third floor corridoor and could see the view out of the window to the street below.


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Chapter Twelve

Jay and Aimee had been talking for hourse, much longer than they usually did. Jay felt that there was a special bond being created between him and Aimee as they sat there talking. Something that he hadn’t experienced with anyone else before. And it was something he just knew was important for him to follow. Something had changed recently, something vital. And he didn’t want to go back to his old self. And although he was tired, he wanted to continue talking. Aimee felt the same way.


‘So, tell me about the “ex-insiders”. You told me that you knew that some of them live on the streets?’ asked Jay
‘Not for long, but it is true.’
‘Well, how come the City Guard doesn’t pick them up, using the signal from their smart chip?’
‘They do, Jay. That’s usually what happens, but it takes them time, especially now. I don’t know why, but there seems to be more and more ex-insiders. I suppose there arn’t enough City Guard to act quickly enough. In the past, I know that the City Guard would arrive almost immediately after someone had been evicted from their flat, and take that person away.’
‘So, what would happen then?’
‘Well, they’d be given an option. Some of them would be offered a place in the favours project. I don’t want to talk about that, but it’s basically a programme where people are offered accommodation and food in return for taking part in scientific research. They act as human guinea pigs really.’
‘Well, now that there are no guinea pigs left...’
‘Yes, but one thing is to be a volunteer for these projects, and another is to be almost forced into them.’
‘I see your point.’
‘Well, there’s that, or the other option is that...if they refuse the favours project, then their chip is removed and they become an “outsider”’
‘An “outsider”? You mean they’re forced out of the city?’
‘That’s right. They are taken to the gates of the city and thrown outside.’
‘And what happens to them, do you think? I suppose they could go to another city.’
‘They wouldn’t get in without a smartchip Jay. No, they probably die after a short while, although I have heard rumours of some outsider colonies existing. In fact, I’ve heard a rumour that it’s not so bad out there as we’ve been told, but I can’t tell you my source is one hundred per cent reliable.’
‘Who’s your source?’
‘It’s one of my patients. He’s quite old, and he tells the most wonderul stories. He even claims that he lived in one of the colonies for a time. He told me he loved it there.’
‘Why did he come back then, if it was so good?’
‘I must admit, I didn’t pay much attention to him at the time, because I thought he was making it up. The next time I see him, I’ll ask him.’

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Chapter Eleven

‘Blackberry’ is the idea of the chip taken a step further’ Aimee said.
‘A step further?’ What do you mean?’

‘Well, as it stands, the smart chip, as far as I understand, allows us to access our homes, gives us control of machines, makes it easy for us to handle our finances and transactions, and a host of other things. In return, we’re being tracked. And I mean they track everything. The corporation knows what you buy, what channel you watch, what you eat, and a load of othet things to boot. And if they want to, they can find out who you’re talking to, and listen in. The thing even tells the Corporation exactly where you are in the City. They know who’s where and what they are doing.Everything’s inter-connected., so it’s easy for them to do this, but things aren’t working out as planned.'
‘Why not?’

‘Well, people are dropping out of the system. Either they stop working well enough and lose their job. Or they simply try to walk away from the system. There seems to be a small rebellion problem going on in the City. And lately it’s got out of hand.’
‘But why? Why would people want to leave their cushy lives? What is there to gain?’
‘Well, I think that’d be too difficult to explain right now, to someone who’s been...sorry, I’ll correct that, who is still happy to spend all of his day inside, working away for the Corporation’s benefit.’

Jay raised his arms upwards.and scratched his head nervously with his left arm.

‘And mine. I get paid well for what I do. And I like it...’
‘Don’t fool yourself Jay, you’re being exploited by the Corporation. They only let you go on like you do becasue you work hard and it’s in their interests to do so. If you got sick, you’d soon find your credits gone. You don’t earn enough to be off for, let me guess, more than a month, do you? Then you’d find yourself on the path to becoming an ex-insider.’
‘That’s scary. But I can see your point. I never do manage to get enough credits together to feel comfortable,’
‘OK, now you’re beginning to see my point. Well, the Sini...I mean blackberry thing takes the smartchip a stage further because it’s not implanted in your arm .’
‘Where do they put the thing then?’
‘The idea, as far as I’m told, is to implant the chip in the back of your head. That way, of course, they can work on what they really want to do next.’
‘Which is?
‘Control people’s actions of course. They want to be able to get you to work for them whenever they want you.’
‘Well, they’ve got me working for them already. I don’t see the point.’

Aimee stretched her legs a little and Jay was suddenly aware that he was talking to an attractive woman. It was the first time in months that he had felt this stimulus. He suddenly thought, why is that? And, frighteningly, does it have anything to do with the thing in his arm? His hand moved involuntarily to the place where his chip had been implanted. He could feel it there, under the skin, not exactly throbbing with life, but surely, it could be working away, doing something he didn’t know anything about even as he spoke. He suddenly felt frightened.
‘The point Mister Gee,’ said Aimee, almost condescendingly, ‘is that. They’ll use you for all the little jobs they need doing, apart from your normal job. Imagine your neighbour hasn’t credits left. They want someone to go and evict him. Who better to use than you? Then after you finish, they’d just wipe that memory, and you’d be oblivious of it.’
‘I’m sorry, but that doesn’t make sense Aimee.’ Said Jay.
‘Oh no? I think it does.’
‘No, think about it. If the neighbour also has the implant, then he wouldn’t need to be evicted.. He wouldn’t even get to that point anyway, would he? The Corporation would just control his spending habits or behaviour.’
‘OK, Jay, you’re right. I’m tired and I’m joining the dots here, This is a mixture of speculation and my own and others fears of what could happen. What is tru, however, is the whole blackberry thing itself. I know for certain that they are going to start to implement it early next year. I don’t know who they’ll pick to trial the thing on, but it could be you. Or it could be me.’

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Chapter Ten

‘As I was saying,’ Aimee said, ‘The place has got worse recently. For example, where do you live exactly? Still the same neighbourhood?’
‘ Yes, Ribtown. My apartment’s new, but I’ve never moved from the area.’
‘Well, Ribtown’s particularly bad. You should watch yourself.’
‘Bad? In what sense is it bad?’
‘You really have a lot of catching up to do Jay.’

Aimee shook her head and looked at Jay as if he was a misbehaving child.

‘I don’t understand.’ Jay said ‘Are you saying the area where I live is dangerous?’
‘Well, dangerous is perhaps an overstatement. But, the last time I passed through there, I didn’t see much City Guard presence, and there were a few ex-insiders scrabbling about at the side of the electric tramway.’
‘What do you mean “ex-insiders”?’
‘It’s just a term that some people use. You’re an insider if you live in the city and have a job, an apartment, and a regular life. If you run out of credits on your smartcard, for example, then you’ll get a few warnings before become an “ex-insider” ‘
‘a few warnings?’

By now Jay was feeling as if he was being briefed about a new language that he had been totally unaware of before, and that he had just realised that everyone was suddenly speaking.

‘Yes, and then everything stops working. And you have to leave your apartment.’
‘Leave? But, why?’
‘Well, that’s the way it goes for those who can’t pay. Suddenly, the smartchip, yes the one that both you and I have implanted in our forearms, stops giving us access to all those gadgets that we cannot live without. You find that you can’t turn on the News Channel. The vid phone doesn’t work. You don’t even have access to your fridge or microwave, so you can’t even eat. And the heating and air con system switches off. It all just gets too much and people end up leaving their apartment. Of course, once outside, the chip being blocked, you can’t get back in. That’s when you become an ex-insider.’
‘You know a hell of a lot about this, Aimee.’
‘Well, I get to hear some horror stories becasue of my job, of course. Working with old people, talking to them all day, you find a lot out. Plus, some of them end up in the residence becasue this has happened to them.’
‘So they’re not homeless then?’
‘No, the Corporation offers them a residence place in return for favours. But I can’t talk about that.’
‘Favours? What do you mean you can’t talk about that?’
‘Well, listen Jay. I’ve already talked too much about all this, but I think you need to know. Fortunately, the Sini-Programme hasn’t come into operation yet, but it could be that your vid-phone, or mine of course, is being monitored.’

Jay suddenly felt he was gaping into a void, and he felt he was being sucked into something that might be difficult to find his way out.

‘I’m sorry, Aimee, but I’m just trying to understand. I don’t know anything about a “Sini programme” or any Corporation monitoring.’
‘Well, it’s something you have to be careful about, although, I doubt very much that anyone would be monitoring your vid-phone. You’re so clueless about anything. You wouldn’t be on their list. And as far as I know, as far as my anti-spyware tells me, I’m clean too. But you can’t be 100% certain. That’s why we should meet. Then I’d be able to talk more freely.’

Jay looked at Aimee. He hadn’t had time to think about this yet.

‘And what about this “Sini Programme”? Isn’t Sini the name of a politician?’
‘Yes, but don’t say that too often. That’s just the thing their search bots would pick up if they are monitoring your phone. Let’s call it “Project Blackberry” or something.’
‘OK, I like it. What about this blackberry then?’

Aimee looked at Jay and they both cracked up, laughing. It was the first time she had seen Jay smile or laugh since getting back in touch with him.’

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Chapter Nine

Jay decided not to call Aimee the day after her phone was unavailable. He would let it go. Immerse himself in his work. His usual routines. Get up, play flute, work, have lunch, work some more, play some more flute, listen to music, do his household chores, play some more flute, and then go to bed.
That was the plan, but she called him that night...


‘Hi’
‘Hello Aimee. I missed you.’
‘Me too. I’m sorry I didn’t ring you yesterday. Every Thursday I go and visit my parents in their residence. It’s on the other side of the city, so I didn’t get back until late. I would’ve rung you on my mobile vid-phone, but I didn’t like the idea of phoning you with other people around.’
‘I understand. I suppose you don’t want to hang around either. I mean, when you go out...’
‘Of course, you wouldn’t know...You really don’t know what it’s like, do you?’
‘Know what it’s like? What do you mean?’
‘I mean to leave. If it’s true that you haven’t been outside for five years, then you wouldn’t recognise the city anymore.’
‘I never did identify with it. Anyway, I can see what it’s like from the News Channel. It doesn’t seem like a place I need to know.’
‘Hah! There you have it! You don’t really believe those lies you see displayed on your TV channels, do you? You must know it’s all propoganda.’
‘Well, there must be some truth in it. I mean, those people and places exist.’

Aimee was staring at him now with an incredulous look.

‘I mean,’ Jay started, ‘of course, the Corporation has got it all tied up. That’s why I don’t watch TV that much. There’s so much self-promotion going on.’
‘It’s all lies Jay. You’d understand that if you stepped outside. There isn’t anything you’d see on the TV that shows you what’s really out there. And I’m not talking about outside the city. I’m just talking about inside our so-called “well-run machine of a city.” that the Corporation boasts about. Even I don’t know what goes on outside.’
‘I don’t know what you mean Aimee.’
‘I know you don’t. That’s what I find so incredible. You don’t know anything about the crime, the city guards’ brutality, or the people who disappear...’
‘Disappear? What do you mean?’
‘Yes, disappear. Haven’t you ever wondered what happens to the people whose credit runs out becasue they lose their job, so they can’t pay the rent or their vid screen bills, or even buy food to eat? Where do they end up?’
‘What do you mean? People lose their jobs? I’ve never heard of that happening. Credit running out? I thought the Corporation ran programmes to help the sick, for example.’
‘Yes, well that’s what they want you to believe, don’t they. They’re very good at eleaborating their lies. So many people like you accept them at face value. That’s how they can keep going. But I’m not sure it can go on like this for much longer.’

Now Jay didn’t know what to ask. There were lines of thought opening up here that were entirely new to him. And he wasn’t sure if he liked the place they would take them. Or if he even wanted to know the truth. Still, curiosity got the better of him.

‘What do you mean exactly, go on for much longer.’

Aimee sat back in her black plastic chair and kicked off her shoes. She yawned, and rubbed her eyes.

‘I’m sorry’ she said, ‘it’s been a long day.’
‘I should let you go. We’ve been talking a long while already. You...’
‘No,’ Aimee interrupted, ‘you should know about this, if of course, you want to.’
‘Go ahead’ Jay said, ‘Tell me all you know.’

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Chapter Eight

The evening after the funeral was the first time that Aimee hadn’t rung Jay since she had got back in touch. Of course, they had spoken a lot during the day, but that night Jay realised he missed her and knew it was his own fault.


The day after, he awoke earlier than usual, skipped his flute practice and started work. He worked hard through the day, hardly stopping for a break, and trying to catch up with what he’d planned to do yesterday. This he was able to do, but when he finally picked up his flute to practice it was quite late.

He was interrrupted by his weekly groceries delivery, and he spoke the command that brought the small goods lift up to his flat. He spent the next twenty minutes as he was unpacking and storing the packaged food daring himself to propose to Aimee to meet at his flat. He could always invite her to dinner, ring a reaturant and get some food delivered. As it wasn’t something that Jay did often, he switched on the information channel and started looking for restaurants that would deliver. He quickly found a Taiwanese-Spanish fusion place that looked interesting, and decided to test himself. Instead of anonymously asking about the food to the restaurant’s vid-bot information service, he selected ‘Personal Service’ and switched on the two-way camera function.

‘Hi This is Chaou-Manuel Restaurant here. How may I help you?’

Jay asked about menus and if it would be possible to get food delivered that night. He also asked how much notice he would give. After receiving an answer, he thanked the man and said he would ring back if he still wanted to order food.

There. That wasn’t so bad. Jay noted, however, that he was slightly unnerved. It was just a question of practice. If he started to try communicating to more people, controlling the time and nature of the interaction, he would ge used to it in no time.

Preparing himself mentally, he asked Aimee the voice on HCS (who he had turned on again) to put him through to Aimee the person he rather liked. After several tries, HCS Aimee reported back to Jay that the number was on disconnect, and would be unavailable tonight.

Disappointed, more with himself than with anything else, Jay went back to his kitchenette, took out a freshly delivered pack of sushi and stuck the box in the food preparation machine. He would be eating alone again that night.

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Chapter Seven

‘OK.’ Is what Jay wanted to say. And that would have been that. Instead, he said:


‘It isn’t as easy as you make it out to be. I...I...’
‘Why not Jay? I would really like to see you. I mean, see you really. Flesh and blood. Speaking with you like this is one thing, but I’d like something more. However, if you’re not ready for that, then I’ll understand. It just seems such a shame. Especially after today. I’m sure I could help you with that neck pain.’

‘I know you are right, and part of me also wants you to come over. But then, I don’t know if you’re going to understand this. I’ve spent so much time alone with myself, I’m not sure you’d like me in the real. I can cope with it online, but I don’t know how I’d react...’
‘Well, how about we meet half way? Or even just go for a drink together near your apartment? Surely you can cope with that. Then when you want to go back home, just say so and we’ll part.’
‘Well, yes, I suppose so, but it’s just that I’ve not really ever left my flat much in these last five years, and I don’t know how...’
‘Then it’s decided then. I’m coming over to see you. Listen. I feel good about this.Just hang up and try not to think about it. I’ll take a cab and come on over. I could be with you in thirty minutes, couldn’t I?’
‘I just don’t know what to say Aimee.’
‘Just say yes, silly. And then don’t even think about it. Leave the rest up to me. Please, Jay. I would really love to see you properly.’
‘I’m sorry Aimee. I don’t want to hurt you, but I just don’t think I’m ready for this.’

Aimee sighed and looked at Jay.

‘OK. I’m sorry for insisting. I know I shouldn’t have tried to barge into your life like this, especially just after your mother’s death. Just forget it. We’ll talk about meeting some other time.’
‘Are you sure you don’t mind?’ Jay asked Aimee, although he wouldn’t have known what else to say if she had answerd that she did. It was obvios she did mind, and yet she played the game and said she didn’t. The two of them continued talking a while longer, but soon afterwards, Aimee made an excuse and took her leave.

‘What have I done, Aimee?’ Jay expected his HCS to answer in that familiar synthesised voice, but a instead a thirty-year-old man’s voice boomed out of the speakers, aware that Jay was addressing him from the signal that had been transmitted from the chip in Jay’s arm. Jay had turned off not one but two Aimees that day.

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At last it’s started to happen!

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Chapter Six

How should he feel? What should he feel? He had been so preoccupied with the organisation of things, settling his work so that he could take time off, making sure that the protocols were set up that he hadn’t time to think about his feelings. This was the last opportunity he would have to say goodbye to his mother, and here he was, a minute to go before the live connection, and he was treating it just like any other live video link. It was too late to think about it. He would just have to work it out as he went along.


‘Engage with Parlour’ Jay said, and the connection was established. Suddenly, Jay was overwhelmed. 240 people online? How come? Were they all there for his mother’s funeral? Surely it was a mistake? Or was there more than one funeral service online at the same time? Keep cool. Stay calm. Orientation. Jay found his way through the lobby to the private room where his mother’s body was, ignoring for a moment the signals flashing up on the bottom right of the screen telling him that others were trying to contact him. Was it rude? He didn’t know what was expected of him. As he tried to work out what action he should do, he saw Aimee’s call come trhough. Her icon had been configured green (as she was known to the system as a friend) and so she was easy to spot among the yellows (people who worked for the funeral parlour) and the reds (unknowns).

‘Hello Jay. I just wanted to pass on my condolences. I won’t take up much of your time, as I’m sure you’ll have your hands full with all these people here. I didn’t know your mother was such a popular woman.’
‘Me neither, Aimee. Listen, I know this is a lot to ask, but could you help me out here? Would you? I don’t know if I’ll be able to cope with so many people, and I’m knew to all this. I just don’t know what to do...’ The tone in Jay’s voice displayed exasperation, panic even. Aimee saw that his face was palid and his pupils dilated.
‘Hey, sure. Of course I would. I’d do anything to help you out Jay. Listen, the first thing you should do is set your vid screen on broadcast and send out a short message to everyone, thanking them for coming.’
‘Right. Of course. You’re so right. I need to do that straightaway.’
‘That’ll take the heat off. Everyone just wants to pay their respects, and they’ll wait their time to do so. Next, send a second message out there asking for the immediate family to come forward, and then give them access to the private room. They can then enter and record their tribute messages. I can’t believe the people at the parlour didn’t brief you on this...’
‘It’s my fault. I kept putting them off, and then told them I’d contact them this morning, but I got too wrapped up in something.. Hey, I really appreciate this, Aimee.’
‘That’s OK. Now, go ahead and start. Meanwhile, I’ll start scanning the guests to see who you should talk to and who can wait. Open up a private virtu-room on your screen and send me the code and I’ll queue them up for you. Oh, and keep me on screen while I do it so I can keep giving you help if ou need it.’
‘Don’t worry, I hadn’t dreamed of shutting your screen down. I need you to hold my hand here.’

Jay had started to calm down now, and things started to flow. The parlour representative flashed online to ask Jay if he needed any help, but Jay felt better with Aimee’s advice and so turned him down. Aimee had been right, and once the private room had been opened, and his announcements made, then people seemed to settle down. There were around ten to twelve who joined the queue for a live linkup with Jay, and the rest decided to leave recorded video condolence messages, knowing that Jay would not have time to speak to everyone that morning.

Of the people that wanted to speak to him live, Jay realised that he knew three of them. They were cousins of his, and although Jay recognised them, it had been so long that neither Jay nor they had much to say to each other. They swapped small talk, and then said their goodbyes. There were others who Jay did not recognsie, but they obviously thought highly of his mother. When the last of them had gone, Jay realised that it would be unlikely that he’d ever be in touch with any of them again.

Just as suddenly as it had begun, it was over. Jay had thought about starting work again, but the experience had drawn a lot of energy. He decided to cancel the work he had planned for the rest of the day. He would take the time off and make up for it tomorow.

‘Are you OK?’ Aimee asked him. Now it was just the two of them online.
‘I think so. Just about. But I’m wrecked. My back aches and my neck is killing me.’
‘Well, how about getting together this afternoon? I have the afternoon off. I ‘m a grade six masseuse now, so I can help you with that back and neck of yours.’
‘I...I...err..don’t know if I can do that, Aimee.’

It had been five years since Jay had seen outside his building, and it was inconceivable for him to think of leaving now. He had hardly even left his own apartment since then. Everything he needed was delivered. He lived his life online. Despite his fear, the idea of that massage appealed like nothing else had in those five years.

‘Or if you prefer, I can come over to you.’

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Chapter Five

Jay woke earlier even though the service wasn’t until eleven. He had taken the morning off work. He could have taken the whole day off. Nobody would have missed him, especially as he mostly worked with machines, not people, and his supervisor usually only checked up on him once-a-month. She knew he was reliable, one of the best they had working for LinguSoft. But Jay had a lot to do, and he didn’t want to lose an entire day.

After breakfast, he spoke the instructions to programme a skyscene into the video wall, complete with gulls and the sound of waves crashing below. He took his flute, closed his eyes, and began to play. He had been improvising passages now for over a year, and had been surprised that the same melodies kept coming back to him. Over and over again, he found himself playing this one piece. It was a haunting, melancholic tune, and at first Jay had thought that it must have been something he had heard and had adapted, or even an obscure piece by a 21st century composer that he had forgotten and now thought was of his own invention. Now he was not so sure. He had started to convince himself that the music came direct from him, that he had found a channel of expression from deep within.

Jay remained like this for over two hours, until he received his alarm call:

“I’m sorry to interrupt Mister Gee, but you now have one hour before the ceremony.” Sounded the woman’s voice from the room speakers. He had programmed the announcer to sound this way when he had first moved into the apartment, and hadn’t ever thought of changing the voice. Now she felt almost real to him. He even used a name when he talked to “her”.

“Thankyou Aimee”

Perhaps he should think about changing it now that the real Aimee had reappeared in his life. Could he remember how to do that?

“Programme centre. Intercom Settings.” He said
“Affirmative. Affirmative. Intercom Settings menu.” said computerised Aimee’s voice.

Jay never ceased to wonder at the HCS, the Home Control System. And it only listened to him. It wasn’t that it recognised his voice. It was all controlled by the smart chip in his arm, and although Jay didn’t notice it, didn’t feel anything, there were identity checks going on, with the HCS sending and verifying information as he spoke. When the system had first appeared, he had tried, like many other children to see if he could change the settings in other people’s apartments, but hadn’t been able to. The HCS didn’t even respond to the smart chips that hadn’t been programmed with permissions.

Of course, guests could be given limited programme access. In fact it was necessary. Jay always remembered the day his mother and he had visited Aunt Dee (she was now dead), and Dee had left them in her apartment while she rushed out to buy some sugar. They had been there for over forty minutes before they started to worry. Try as they might, Jay and his mother could not get anything to work in the flat. They couldn’t make a cup of tea ot coffee, open the fridge, turn on the vid screen to watch TV, or even open the door to leave the apartment. They were prisoners. It was quite a scary situation. Imagine if Dee had been involved in an accident, Jay’s mother wondered. What would happen to them? How would they be able to tell anyone they were trapped inside? Of course, they had mobile telephones, but in some apartments, such as Dee’s (and Jay’s coincidently), the wave defence wall of the HCS had been turned on to stop interference between aprtments. Although it wasn’t normally a problem if you think that the HCS had telephony built in, but someone facing this situation?

So, what had happened? Dee had a reputation for being forgetful at the time, a condition that was later diagnosed as being a severe problem. She had met someone in the shop and had simply forgot that Jay and his mother were waiting in her apartment. After several coffees with her friend, Dee had returned to find Jay and his mother waiting exasperated. Jay’s mother had inisited on Dee giving her permanent access privileges afterwards, which was coincidently to be a great help in the future when Dee’s condition worsened and she forgot how to program the HCS.

Now, this was Jay’s problem. He couldn’t remember exactly how to do it.

‘Erm...voicebox settings’
‘Negative.’
‘Voice control?’
‘Negative. May I suggest the possible menu options?’
‘Go ahead.’

Fortunately, the HCS, like most computers these days, second guessed you. From the options, Jay was able to select a new voice. Male, Thirties. Polite. He baptised him ‘Jeeves’.

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Chapter Four

It was the day before Jay’s mother’s funeral. Aimee had asked Jay where the service was to be held, and had been surprised to learn that it was to be held online...

‘Didn’t you ever think about it?’
‘No. I have to tell you it never really crossed my mind.’
‘Well, if that’s the way your mother would have wanted it...’

Of course, it was becoming popular with a lot of people, but the older generation (especially those Aimee worked with) still wanted (or needed) to be present, for there to be a physical service and meeting. Jay had made all the arrangements without even thinking of not holding the ceremony online. This was how he lived his life, how he dealt with other people. It didn’t even cross his mind that anyone would think it a little odd.

‘I’m actually surprised that you mentioned it, Aimee. I mean who actually goes to these things anyway? It’s far better to be in the privacy of your own home. That way I can control on the vid screen who sees me, and what I see. The other way would mean...’

‘Would mean actually meeting people?’
‘Well, yes. I guess that’s part of it too. I don’t want to have to deal with that.’
‘You don’t want to meet people? Surely you can’t mean that Jay?’

There was a silence on the line and Aimee saw that Jay was lost for words.

‘Look, I’m sorry, Jay. I didn’t mean to put you on the spot.’
‘No, it’s OK. You’re right. I suppose you must think me a little extreme, shutting myself in here all the time. But it’s not that I don’t talk to people. I mean I’m talking to you, aren’t I?’
‘I know, I know. And I’m so happy that we’ve been able to get back in touch again, I really am. You don’t know how much it means to me.’
‘Me too, Aimee. I feel as if I...I can connect with you much better than most other people. I mean, I couldn’t talk about this subject with anyone else.’
‘Well, that’s good. Jay. I’m glad. I wouldn’t like to think that we couldn’t talk about anything at all. There’s something about our relationship, even though we’ve been out of touch for so long. I feel we know each other, that we understand each other so well...’

Aimee had spent the last few days ringing Jay, reestablishing their relationship. Jay was flattered, grateful for the attention. They had started to get up-to-date with what the two of them had been up to in the years since their separation. Aimee had studied Social Care and Psychology at the Online University, and had specialised in caring for the elderly. She had started working for the City Care Service while finishing her studies, and had continued there ever since. It had originally been her attention to take a higher degree and maybe get a job working as a lecturer at one of the universities, but she found herself so strongly attracted to the practical care aspects of her job, she had so far decided to stay put. It was the nature of her job that she had become attached to so many of the older generation, and had accompanied many to funeral services. She had also attended funeral services of some of her patients.

Jay’s professional trajectory could not have been more different. He had immersed himself into the study of languages, specialising in dialects, and learning many of the dead or dying languages, such as Latin, Greek, and French. His work had introduced him to machine translation , and he managed to find employment with LinguSoft, the major manufacturer of software for portable interpretation headsets. He was one of the specialists employed by the company to handle anomlies in the output, and to prepare strategy reports based on ‘expert user’ complaints. This was how he spent so much of his working day connected to the company intranet, analysing the latest user data and preparing tests of texts and speech output for the company. He literally spent most of his day ‘talking’ to machines.

‘How many people will be tuning in to the funeral, do you think?’ asked Aimee.
‘I really don’t know’ Jay said, and he realised it was true. Did his mother have many friends? He knew there wasn’t much family, and that she had lost touch with most of them. But friends? He doubted it. He would find out tomorrow.

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Chapter Three

It was two hours later when Jay hung up the phone. He took a quick shower and then had something to eat. As he sat eating, his mind wandered back to the time when Aimee had been the most important person in his life.

When had they met? How had they met? It had been at the music academy, after school. His mother had taken him there first when he had been seven, and the first day he went was also Aimee’s first day. He remember arriving and being intimidated by the pristine white studio where the classes were held; the tall and gangly bearded music teacher, and the long silver flute that his mother had just given him, in its black silk-lined case. It had not been discussed before – he was to learn how to play the flute. The flute had already been chosen for him by his mother because it had his father’s favourite instrument. In fact, he learned later that the actual flute that Jay now posessed had been bought by his father shortly before he died. He had always wanted to learn how to play the instrument, and had acquired one shortly before his death with the intention of starting once he had recovered from his illness. It had never been played since, and had that strange smell and look of something that has been bought new and never used, or like the item in the shop that has been left unsold and lying on display for several years.

Jay remembered first meeting Aimee. They were put together as they were the newcomers to the class. He recalled that it had been comforting when, during the first recital by the music teacher, he looked sideways and saw that Aimee had been just as nervous, maybe even moreso than he.

Aimee had decided to play the flute herself. When it had been first suggested that she go to music classes, and her parents had asked her which instrument she would like to play, she had surprised them both by having a clear idea of the instrument. Jay had remembered that now and asked her about it, but Aimee didn’t have an answer. In fact, talk of the flute had surprised her. She hadn’t touched the instrument since the day she had been taken out of the academy and separated from Jay. Her parents had suggested another place, nearer her home in fact, but she had frimly toild them that she didn’t want to continue if she couldn’t go to the other music academy. And that had been that.

The separation had had the reverse effect on Jay, and he had plunged himself into his music studies. He had learnt how to play the instrument with grace and flair, and could have become a professional musician if he had wanted. Indeed, the ageing music teacher (now with grey beard and stopping) had suggested it. Of all his pupils he ahd ever taught, he had said, it was Jay who played with most inspiration and talent. He had told Jay how the sound of him playing could stop people in their tracks, and uplift their souls. But Jay had already decided that the insecure life of a concert hall musician was not for him. He couldn’t face the idea of performing in public. The few concerts he had given had been traumatic for him, and he tried to get out of them. Playing the flute for him was a private affair, something he did to relax and to transport himself to another world. It had become a secret language that he spoke when he wanted to touch his own soul, and he had no desire to share it with other people. Jay had already decided that he wanted a job where he could work from home, and which involved little contact with others. He was sixteen. Of course, his music teacher was devastated. The classes, in fact became unbearable, and Jay just stopped going. He continued playing, and extending his repertoire, but he did so in the privacy of his own home.
Jay now went to his flute and remeoved it from the case, took it carefully in his hands and looked at the instrument. It was the same instrument. A physical connection back to his old music teacher, to Aimee, to his father. He put it to his lips and started playing a piece he had recently discovered. It had been written by Georg Phillipp Telemann’s grandson Georg Michael, and Jay had been fascinated by it ever since he had discovered it. For Jay, it seemed to say a lot about the sadness of underachievement, of not taking something to the limit.

Jay continued playing this, and other pieces by Telemann for the rest of the day.

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Chapter Two

‘Jay?’

The voice was familiar, but it seemed to be from another time in his life.

‘Jay? Is that you?’

Jay realised he hadn’t switched on video send or receive. This was usual for him, as he preferred not to broadcast his image to the people he worked with, but today was Sunday, and this was someone different.

‘Vid. On.’ he shouted in the direction of the video screen. The image of a girl flickered to life. Her eyes were pale green and her hair was short and a deep brown colour. Her hands, clasped in front of her, drew attention to them because of the bright orange coloured varnish. She was wearing a short black dress and a string of orange beads around her neck. Her expression changed when she realised that she could see him, and she looked at him with a warmth of gaze that displayed familiarity.

‘Excuse me, but do I know you?’ Jay asked, wondering what had happened to his memory. Work? No. Friend? He didn’t have any. Other? He stretched for an answer but it didn’t come. And yet, there was something there...

‘I’ve just heard the news, Jay. I’m so sorry about your mother.’ She stared at his eyes, waiting.

Jay didn’t know what to say. He shrugged. How had she heard? Who had told her? Then he remembered the signal would have been sent out automatically to all those who his mother had listed as friends, and would also have been received by those who had requested news of his family in their profiles.

The small smart chip in his mother’s arm would have sent out the signal as part of it’s last functioning. This remarkable technology had been around for ten years or so now, and had become so much a part of people’s way of life that most people forgot some of the functions. That it contained your bank details, yes. That it functioned as your identity card, of course. It was also the handy replacement for remote controls and house keys, giving access to your flat and other buildings you were cleared to enter, and without it you wouldn’t be able to control any of the machines in your flat that you relied upon. All-in-all, an invaluable device that had become part of every person in the city.

‘You don’t remember me, do you?’ she asked. ‘Has it been so long? Have I changed that much?’

Then it came to him. Aimee. Could it be her? She looked so different to the girl he had known. And what had brought her to call on him now. Today, of all days? After so long? She was such a distant memory to him that he couldn’t quite retrieve the data that would fix her previous place in his life.

‘I’m Aimee. Aimee Ewan’ There it had been confirmed now. And still he couldn’t quite believe it was her.

‘Aimee. I’m sorry. It’s been so long...’ he started, ‘ And...you’ve changed so...’

‘I know it’s probably not the time, but I’d programmed this in so long ago that I was surprised when I got the call this morning. I rang you without really thinking...Maybe it wasn’t the right thing to do, but I didn’t want to wait until...If you want, if it’s a bad moment, I’ll hang up. I mean, it’s been so long, that maybe you don’t...’

‘No, it’s good to see you again, to speak to you. It’s just that...you’re right. It has been such a long time that I’m surprised. How long has it been? It must be, what? Twelve years or so?’

‘Almost thirteen. Almost half our lives...’ She stopped. ‘You haven’t changed though. At least, I didn’t have any problem recognising you.’

Jay smiled. He suddenly saw in Aimee the best friend he had known when he had been thirteen. The person he had got to know more than any other, apart from his mother. The girl who had been taken away from him so suddenly. What had happened? She had left the city, he remembered, suddenly. It had been shortly after that incident he didn’t want to recall. There hadn’t even been time to say goodbye. Or at least, they hadn’t been able to for some reason. And now here she was in front of him today. It seemed unplausible. Again, she had programmed her chip then, and probably forgot about it. Until today, almost thirteen years later. Suddenly he realised that it had been programmed to tell her the day his mother died. That he could not understand.

‘Well, now I’ve made contact, I don’t know what to say.’ Aimee said. And smiled back at Jay. ‘Although I feel I could,nd I should tell you a million and one things.’

‘I’m listening...’ Jay said, and he sat back into the metal chair was still positioned in front of the video screen.

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