A young man so obviously on his way to crew a yacht, dressed in a rugby shirt and shorts, was sauntering along the waterfront, trying not to be too obvious as he glanced at her. She pushed her hair back lightly, and gave him a sunburst smile. The answering smile he gave was so full of puppy dog hope and longing it was all she could do not to laugh outright. God, men are so easy. Not that it had to be men, especially given her current mood. A girl would be so much kinder in bed, more attentive, more receptive.
It would be nice to be taken care of, to be pampered and adored. But weak. I’m not going to be weak any more. The tears threatened to burst out again. There had been so much of that since the trial. She made fists of her hands, forcing her nails into her palms until she winced at the pain. I will not cry again.
There was only one option left now. She hadn’t wanted to try it before because it was such a long shot. A fantasy, really. The psychological safety net you never want to use.
She pulled out the little array she’d brought with her from the penthouse. The one with the ridiculously expensive black foxory casing – not that dear Hoshe had recognized that. ‘I want a link to the SI,’ she told her e-butler. Her new OCtattoos were all for sensory reception; Jaycee hadn’t paid for virtual interface functions.
‘For what reason?’ the e-butler asked. The SI was notoriously reluctant to accept calls from human individuals. Apart from its comprehensive banking service, official government requests and emergencies were about the only contact it had with the Commonwealth.
She brought the little array up close to her face. ‘Just tell it who’s calling,’ she whispered. ‘And ask it if . . . If Grandpa remembers me.’
The little screen on the front of the hand-held array immediately came on, showing tangerine and turquoise sinewaves retreating back to their joint vanishing point. ‘Hello, baby Mel.’
‘Grandpa?’ The word was very hard to get out through her tightened-up throat. Once again, the wretched tears threatened to burst loose. She really had not expected this to work.
‘He is with us, yes.’
Mellanie remembered that last achingly long day in the hospice, waiting by his bed for him to die. She was only nine at the time, and never did understand why he didn’t rejuvenate like everybody else. Her parents hadn’t wanted her there, but she’d insisted – stubborn even back then. Grandpa (actually, her great-great-grandfather) was always the nicest relative she had, always found time for his baby Mel despite his status as one of the planet’s most distinguished residents. All the history files at school mentioned him as one of the programmers who had helped Sheldon and Isaac write the governing software for their original wormhole. ‘Are you still you, Grandpa?’
‘That’s a difficult question to answer, Mellanie. We are the memories of your grandfather, but at the same time we are more, a universe more, which makes us less than the individual you want.’
‘You always listened to me, Grandpa. You always said you’d help me if you could. And I really, really, need your help now.’
‘We are not physical, Mellanie, we can only help with words.’
‘That’s what I need: advice. I need to know what to do, Grandpa. I’ve made a bit of a mess of my life.’
‘You are only twenty, Mellanie. You are a child. You haven’t begun your life yet.’
‘Then why do I feel like it’s almost over?’
‘Because you are young, of course. Everything that happens to you is epic at your age.’
‘I guess. So you will help me, then, Grandpa?’
‘What would you like to know?’
‘I don’t have any money right now.’
‘So we see. The Darklake National Bank is being its usual efficient self, and quantifying your ex-lover’s assets for redistribution. The funds will be split between Tara Jennifer Shaheef and Wyobie Cotal, once various exorbitant fees have been claimed by officials, lawyers, and institutions. We do not believe you would be successful if you applied for a percentage of them. Legally, you have very little standing.’
‘I don’t want any,’ she said forcefully. ‘I’ve decided I’m not going to be dependent on anyone again. I’m going to make my life my own from now on.’
‘That is the baby Mel we remember. We were always proud of you.’
‘I tried to sell the story of what happened with me and Morton, but it hasn’t worked out very well. I was naive and stupid, I guess. I trusted a reporter. It didn’t work out too good. I might get arrested. There was this terrible man, a pornographer. I kind of assaulted him.’
‘Fancy trusting a reporter. That was stupid. But the situation can probably be resolved. And pornographers are not notorious for running to the police.’
‘I wanted to give myself a profile, Grandpa. I had this idea that I could become like a celebrity, a media personality. I’ve got the looks, and I’m sure I have the determination to make it. I just need some guidance, that’s all. My story was just going to be the start. Once it’s released, people will know my name. That can be used. If I can keep myself on the unisphere then who knows, one day I could be as big as Alessandra Baron.’
‘You could indeed. You have the potential. Where exactly do you see us fitting into this scheme?’
‘I want you to be my agent, Grandpa. I need to get my story back from Rishon and sell it again, to a respectable producer this time. I’ll need to pay off Wayside Productions for my OCtattoos, as well. You can strike the best deal for me; you’re honest, you won’t rip me off. And you’re a bank, too. My money will be safe with you.’
‘We see. Very well, we will do that for you. There is, however, the question of our fee.’
‘I know. It’s ten per cent isn’t it? Or do you charge more?’
‘We were not thinking in terms of a financial percentage.’
‘Oh.’ She frowned at the little array’s screen with its random pattern. ‘What do you want?’
‘If you are serious in your intention of a media career, then no matter what form it takes you will need a broadcast-quality sensorium interface.’
‘A pro neural feed, yes, I know. What I’ve got already is a reasonable start. I was hoping my advance would pay for enhancements, and there’s some inserts I’d like as well. I want to go virtual.’
‘We will pay for the enhancements. But there will be occasions when we will want to ride along on them.’
‘I don’t understand.’
‘Many people believe our presence within the Commonwealth is total, delivered to us through the unisphere. However, even we have limits. There are many places we cannot reach, some are deliberately blocked, while others are simply lacking any electronic infrastructure. You could provide us access to these areas on special occasions.’
‘You mean you watch us? I always thought that was just a silly conspiracy theory.’
‘We do not watch everyone. However, our interests are combined with yours, and you are a part of us through innumerable memory downloads. To use an old phrase: our fates are entwined. The only way to un-entwine them would be to remove ourselves from the sphere of all human activity. We choose not to do so.’
‘Why not? I bet your life would be simpler.’
‘And you believe that to be a good thing? No entity can enrich itself in isolation.’
‘So you do watch us. Do you manipulate us as well?’
‘By acting as your agent we control the flow of your life. Is that manipulation? We are data. It is our nature to acquire more, to continually add to our knowledge, and to use it. It is both our language and our currency. Human current events form a very small part of the information we absorb.’
‘It’s more like you’re studying us, then?’
‘Not as individuals. It is your society and the way in which its currents flow which is obviously of interest to us. What affects you affects us.’
‘And you don’t want any surprises.’
‘Do you?’
‘I guess not.’
‘Then we understand each o
ther. So do you still wish us to act as your representative and adviser, baby Mel?’
‘I’d be like your secret agent, wouldn’t I?’
‘The role has parallels. But there are no dangers involved, you are simply our eyes and ears in secluded places. Don’t expect to be issued with exotic gadgets and cars that fly.’
She laughed – for the first time in a long while. Shame about the flying cars, though, that would be fun. ‘Let’s do it.’ Because if Grandpa was serious, the SI would have to make sure she was a success.
*
The last sections of copper tubing in the espresso machine clipped back neatly into place, and Mark Vernon used a set of electromuscle pliers to tighten the seals. He screwed the chrome cover back on, and flicked the power switch. Three green lights came on.
‘There you go. All working again.’
Mandy clapped her hands together in jubilation. ‘Oh thanks, Mark. I kept telling Dil it was buggered, but he didn’t do anything about it, just left us stewing in poo. You’re my hero.’
He smiled at the young waitress who was beaming up at him. She’d been setting fresh breakfast panini out under the glass counter ready for the early morning customers; huge halves of the crusty Italian bread clamped around entire meals such as fried egg, sausages, kyias, and tomatoes, or ham, cheese, and pineapple, or vegetarian omelettes. Her shift partner, Julie, was rattling pans and crockery around in the kitchen at the rear. The smell of honey-cured bacon being grilled was drifting in through the hatch.
‘Pretty simple, really,’ he said modestly. The small area behind the serving counter meant Mandy was standing slightly too close, and slightly too admiringly as well. ‘I’ll, er, get on then.’ He was slotting his tools back into the small case he always carried with him. His other hand held it between them like a defensive shield.
‘No you won’t. You sit yourself down there and I’ll get you a decent breakfast. It’s the least you deserve. And make sure you put a huge call-out fee on your bill for Dil. Bloody skinflint.’
‘Right-o,’ Mark nodded in defeat. Actually he was hungry. It was a fifteen-minute drive to Randtown from Ulon valley where the Vernons had their vineyard homestead. Mandy’s frantic early morning call hadn’t given him time for a bite before he left. Hadn’t even used his toothgel yet.
He sat at a big marble-top table in one of the café Two For Tea’s big curving windows. A couple had already claimed the window table on the other side of the door. They were dressed in skiing clothes, and talking happily with their heads tilted lovingly together, oblivious to the rest of the world.
Bright sunlight was creeping over the Dau’sing Mountains that surrounded Randtown to the north. Mark put his sunglasses on against the light streaming in through the window as he unrolled a paperscreen – he never had liked reading directly out of his virtual vision, the print superimposed over his field of view always gave him a headache. A dozen headlines scrolled down the left-hand side, with local items opposite them, loaded into the cybersphere by the Randtown Chronicle, the only media company on this half of the continent. With all the goodwill and loyalty in the world, Mark really couldn’t haul up enough enthusiasm to read about the new loop road around the town’s western precincts, or the proposed foresting project along the Oyster valley. So he told his e-butler to access yesterday’s pan-Commonwealth news, and followed the start of the Presidential campaign. Reading between the lines on Doi’s funding efforts, she hadn’t got the Sheldons, the Halgarths, nor the Singhs to back her yet.
‘Here you go,’ Mandy said brightly as she put a plate down in front of him. It was piled high with pancakes and bacon that had maple syrup oozing out of every layer; the strawberries and lolabeans on top were arranged in a smiley face. A tall glass of apple and mango in crushed ice was placed next to it. ‘I’ll bring your toast and coffee when it’s ready.’ She winked saucily and skipped off to take the ski couple’s order. Behind the serving counter the espresso machine had started to gurgle and steam comfortingly.
As if realizing they’d started the day, Julie switched on the sound system to play some obscure acoustic Hindi band’s album. That was the thing about Randtown, every café and bar played music so trendy that by the time Mark got to know and appreciate it the band had either broken up or sold out. He looked at the gigantic pyramid of calories in front of him. Sighed. Picked up his fork. Liz had been making some rather sharp comments about his waistline recently. But the food here was dangerously splendid. Nothing was ever cooked singularly; if you wanted a lamb chop, you had to have the six alien vegetables, three sauces, and a weird chutney that it came with. And if your meal order didn’t include a starter and a dessert you were just plain peculiar.
The smell of food was obviously spreading down the street. People started coming in to the café as Mark was eating. Some of them were tourist types, seeking a good meal before the day’s hectic activities; looking around in appreciation at the mock Roman décor before finding a free table. Locals stood at the counter to collect their microwaved panini and hot drinks to go. Mandy barely had time to bring him his four thick slices of toast and butter with the vanilla rhubarb jam he was especially fond of. A pain au chocolat was perched on the edge of his plate, just in case.
He eventually managed to leave Tea For Two and walk away at half-past eight – waddle, as Liz claimed. Outside, it was exactly the sort of morning he had travelled three hundred light-years to immerse himself in every day. He breathed down air which had that distinct crisp chill that was only ever found at the foot of snow-capped mountains. The taller peaks and plateaus of the Dau’sings were still heavily snow-covered, including both ski fields. Mark looked up at them, his sunglasses darkening against the light from Elan’s brilliant G-9 star flooding down out of the cloudless sky. They dominated the land behind the town, forming an impressive barrier of rumpled cones and peaks. Now that Elan’s southern hemisphere was coming into springtime, meltwater was starting to run down out of the snowline, filling every crevice with gushing white rivulets. Pine-variants from across the Commonwealth had colonized the lower slopes, bringing a much needed cascade of verdure foliage. Above them, the native boltgrass still flourished, a characterless yellow-green plant with ratty strands. Away from the little oasis of foreign vegetation which humans had brought to the area, it was boltgrass which carpeted every mountain in the range, covering almost a quarter of the continent.
Small elongated triangles of golden fabric were already drifting idly across the sky as the first of the day’s fliers flapped their way upwards in search of the thermals. They normally launched themselves off the ridges on Blackwater Crag, which rose up from the back of the town’s eastern quarter. A cable car run sliced through the forest which covered the crag, leading from its ground base behind the high school’s playing fields up to the semi-circular Orbit building which protruded from the top of the broad cliff six hundred metres above the town, looking as if a flying saucer was sticking out over the edge. The restaurant it housed was an over-priced tourist-trap, although the view it provided across the town and lake was unbeatable.
Every day the little chrome-blue cable cars would carry tourists and flight professionals and extreme sports addicts up to the Orbit. From there they’d make their way through the forest paths to a ridge which had the wind blowing in the right direction, seal themselves into a Vinci suit, and take flight. The real professionals would spend all day soaring and spiralling in the thermals, only coming back down as darkness fell. A Vinci suit was easy enough to use: basically a tapered slimline sleeping bag with bird wings that had a span up to eight metres. You stood up inside it on the crest of the ridge, arms outstretched in a cruciform position, and dived forwards into the chasm below. Electromuscle bands in the wings mimicked and amplified your arm and wrist motions, allowing the wings to flap and bank and roll. It was the closest humans had ever got to pure bird flight.
Mark had been up a couple of times, sharing an instructor suit with a friend who lived in town. The sensati
on was truly amazing, but he wasn’t about to switch jobs to do it full time.
He walked down the sloping Main Mall towards the water-front. The stores on either side of the walkway were a collection of Commonwealth-wide retail franchises like the Bean Here and an inevitable Bab’s Kebabs fast food, interspaced with local craftshops and the bars and cafés to provide an eclectic shopping mix. Nearly all of the buildings were one storey, with steep solar panel roofs. Those with a second floor tended to be restaurants or bars with a balcony where the clientele could sit in the sun and watch the pedestrians below. Most of the Main Mall was made up from prefab modules, giving it a somewhat impermanent appearance, although several fronts were now clad in walls of the tough blue and purple stone available from the scree falls all over the Dau’sings; or wood from the pines. Little side alleys led to smaller stores and one-bedroom studio flats, where neatly pruned trailing plants scaled the walls and battered old chairs were laid out on the paving slabs. Bottles and glasses lay around them, evidence of the parties that thronged the little enclaves on a nightly basis.
Doors all the way along the Main Mall were being opened for business. Lights going on inside. Employees and janitorbots cleaning the floors. Mark said hello to a lot of the staff, waving to even more. They were all young people, and strangely uniform in appearance; if it wasn’t for their varied skin colours they could all have been cousins. The boys had stiff hair cut short, maybe a few days’ stubble, bodies that were genuinely fit, not simply over-aerobicized in a gym; they wore baggy sweaters or even baggier waterproof coats, with knee-length shorts, and trainer sandals. While the girls were easy to look at in their short skirts or tight trousers, with T-shirts all showing off firm midriffs no matter how cold the day was. All of them were just filling in with these jobs: serving in the stores, waitressing, working bar, portering at the hotels, stewarding on the dive boats, hostessing the scenic tours, doing childcare for the permanent residents. They did it for one thing, to raise enough money for the next extreme experience. Randtown’s biggest industry was tourism, and what set it apart from countless other holiday destinations in the Commonwealth were the sports that were practised in the rugged countryside surrounding it. They attracted the first-lifers, the ones moderately disaffected with the mainstream of Commonwealth life; not rebels, just thrill-junkies hell-bent on finding a quicker way down a mountain, or a rougher way to raft over rapids, or turn tighter corners on jetskis, or go ever higher for heliski drops. Older, more conservative multi-life types visited as well. Staying in the fancy hotels, and getting bussed out to their scheduled activity each day in air-conditioned coaches. They were the ones that generated the service economy which provided hundreds of low-paying jobs for the likes of Mandy and Julie.
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