Klara and the Sun

by Kazuo Ishiguro

  ‘Hello, nice to meet you,’ he said to the Mother. Then to Miss Helen: ‘So what’s happening here? Is everyone going to this show?’

  ‘Rick and I were waiting here for you, Vance. Exactly as you told us to. How wonderful to see you again! You’ve hardly changed.’

  ‘You’re looking very good too, Helen. But what’s going on here? Where’s your son?’

  ‘Ricky! Over here!’

  I could now see Rick, standing a little way away, his hand raised in response. Then he started to move through the fragments towards us. I couldn’t tell if Mr Vance, who was looking in the correct direction, had identified Rick or not. In any case, at that moment, one of the theater’s waistcoat officials came and stood between Mr Vance and the approaching Rick.

  ‘Do you already have a ticket for this show?’ the waistcoat official asked. ‘Or maybe you do, but you’d be interested in an upgrade?’

  Mr Vance stared at him, saying nothing. Then Rick came past the waistcoat official and Mr Vance said: ‘Hey! This is your boy? He looks terrific.’

  ‘Thank you, Vance,’ Miss Helen said quietly.

  ‘Hello, sir,’ Rick said, and his smile was like the one he’d had when first greeting the adults at Josie’s interaction meeting.

  ‘Hi, Rick. So I’m Vance. Old, old friend of your mother. Heard a lot about you.’

  ‘It’s kind of you to meet with us, sir.’

  ‘So here you are!’ Josie suddenly filled the space before me. Beside her was a girl of eighteen who I realized was Cindy, the waitress, far less simplified now than when I’d last seen her.

  ‘Yeah, I don’t think your store actually moved,’ Cindy said. ‘But there’s a new store opened inside Delancey’s and maybe some of the AFs from your old store would have relocated there.’

  ‘Excuse me.’ A lady in a high-rank blue dress, who I estimated as forty-six years old, came in front of me, but facing Josie and Cindy. ‘We were just wondering if you were intending to bring this machine into the theater.’

  ‘Hey, what’s it to do with you if we were?’ Cindy said.

  ‘These are sought-after seats,’ the lady said. ‘They shouldn’t be taken by machines. If you take this machine into the theater, we’ll have to raise an objection.’

  ‘I don’t see why it’s any business of yours…’

  ‘It’s okay,’ Josie said. ‘Klara isn’t going into the show and neither am I…’

  ‘That’s beside the point,’ Cindy said. ‘I’m angry about this.’ Then to the lady she said: ‘I don’t know you! Who are you? Just coming up and speaking to us that way…’

  ‘So this is your machine?’ the lady asked Josie.

  ‘Klara’s my AF, if that’s what you’re asking.’

  ‘First they take the jobs. Then they take the seats at the theater?’

  ‘Klara?’ The Father had brought his face close up to mine. ‘Are you still feeling okay?’

  ‘Yes, I’m fine.’

  ‘Are you sure?’

  ‘Perhaps I was a little disoriented earlier. But now I’m fine.’

  ‘Good. Look, I have to be on my way very soon. So I’m wondering if you’d tell me now. Exactly what did we do back there? And what can we hope will happen as a result?’

  ‘Mr Paul trusted me and that was wonderful. Unfortunately, as I said before, I can’t tell you anything more without jeopardizing the very thing we achieved. But I believe there’s real hope now. Please be patient and wait for good news.’

  ‘As you please. I’ll call in at the apartment in the morning to say goodbye to Josie. So I may see you then.’

  The Mother’s voice said somewhere behind me: ‘We’ll talk about this back at the apartment. We can’t talk here.’

  ‘But that’s all I wanted to say,’ Josie’s voice said. ‘I definitely don’t want you sealing it up, the way you did with Sal’s. I want it so Klara gets sole use of my room and she gets to come and go as she pleases.’

  ‘But why are we even talking about this? You’re going to get well, honey. We don’t have to think about any of this…’

  ‘Oh, Klara, here you are.’ Miss Helen had appeared beside me. ‘Klara, look, I’ve just been speaking with Chrissie. You’re to come with us for now.’

  ‘With you?’

  ‘Chrissie wants to take Josie back to the apartment and have a quiet word with her, just the two of them. So you stay with us for now. Chrissie will come and collect you in half an hour.’ Then leaning forward, she spoke quietly into my ear: ‘Can you see? Rick and Vance are really hitting it off! All the same, dear, Rick will really appreciate having you beside him as he goes through this. It could still be something of an ordeal.’

  ‘Yes, of course. But the Mother…’

  ‘She’ll come and collect you in very good time, don’t worry. She just needs a few minutes alone with Josie.’

  ‘What I want more than anything else,’ Mr Vance said with a laugh, coming towards us, ‘is for us to get out of this crush. Over there, that diner. That looks fine. Just somewhere we can sit down, look at one another and talk.’

  There were arms encircling me, and I realized Josie was holding me in an embrace, not unlike the one she’d held me in that day at the store following the great decision. But this time, she spoke into my ear, so only I could hear:

  ‘Don’t worry. I’ll never let anything bad happen to you. I’ll talk to Mom. You go with Rick for now. Trust me.’

  Then she released me, and Miss Helen was pulling me gently away.

  ‘Come along, Klara, dear.’

  We emerged from the theater crowd, Mr Vance leading the way towards the diner, Miss Helen hurrying to walk alongside him. Rick and I followed the adults a few steps behind, and as the emptiness and cool air moved in around us, I felt my orientation returning. When I looked back, I was surprised to see how dark and quiet the street actually was, aside from the single dense cluster of people around the streetlight. In fact, as we moved ever further away, this crowd – of which I’d so recently been a part – appeared like one of those insect clouds I’d seen in the evening field, hovering against the sky, each creature within it busily changing position, anxious to find a better one, but never straying beyond the boundary of the shape they made together. I saw Josie, waving with a puzzled expression from the crowd’s edge, and the Mother, standing behind her, a hand on each of Josie’s shoulders, watching us with empty eyes.

  * * *

  —

  The darkness grew, and the noises of the theater crowd became more faint, but I knew my observational abilities hadn’t been too badly impaired because I continued to see clearly before me the illuminated diner towards which we were walking. I could see how it was shaped like a pie segment, the sharp end pointed towards us; and how the street forked on either side of it, and how the diner’s windows ran alongside both the diverging sidewalks, so that no matter which way passers-by went, they’d be able to look into its lit interior – at the shiny leather seats, the polished tabletops, and the bright see-through counter behind which the diner manager was waiting for customers in his white apron and white cap.

  With no vehicles approaching and the surrounding buildings so dark, the diner was this area’s only light source, throwing slanted shapes onto the paving stones. I wondered which side of the fork Mr Vance would choose, but as we came closer, I noticed a door just at the pointed corner itself. The only reason I hadn’t spotted it earlier, I supposed, was because the door so resembled the diner’s windows – it was made mostly of glass and had painted writing going across it. Mr Vance opened the door, then stood aside to allow Miss Helen to go in first.

  When I came in behind Rick a moment later, I found the lighting so strong and yellow I couldn’t immediately adjust to it. Only gradually did I make out the slices of fruit pie, each one shaped like the diner itself, displayed inside the see-through
counter, and the Diner Manager – a large black-skinned man – standing very still behind it, his face fixed away from me. I then realized he was watching Mr Vance and Miss Helen as they chose their booth and settled themselves into it, facing one another.

  I saw Rick’s figure cross the shiny floor and sit down beside his mother. As I did so, Josie’s parting words to me returned to my mind, and I wondered what important matter the Mother wished to discuss with her at the Friend’s Apartment, and why my absence was necessary.

  Miss Helen and Mr Vance continued to gaze at each other silently for the entire time it took me to go over to them. I didn’t feel I knew Mr Vance well enough to sit beside him. Also, he was sitting midway across the seat intended for two, and I could see I wouldn’t be able to take my seat without disturbing his comfort. So instead I sat down alone in the neighboring booth across the aisle.

  Mr Vance finally stopped gazing at Miss Helen and, turning in his seat, called out instructions to the Diner Manager. Only then did it occur to me that though there were no customers but us, all the tables and seats had been carefully made ready in case others came in. I thought then that this Diner Manager might be lonely, or at least that he was lonely while he was in his diner, illuminated on both sides to anyone passing by in the night.

  ‘Sir?’ Rick said. ‘I’m very grateful you’re giving up time for me. And that you’re even considering helping me.’

  ‘You know, Rick,’ Mr Vance said dreamily, ‘I haven’t seen this mother of yours for quite some time.’

  ‘I appreciate that, sir. And you’ve never even met me before, except once fleetingly when I was two or something. So that makes this all the more generous of you, agreeing to see me like this. But then Mum’s always saying how generous a person you are.’

  ‘I’m relieved your mother’s been speaking well of me. Maybe she’s told you one or two negative things also?’

  ‘Oh no. My mother’s only ever spoken of you positively.’

  ‘Is that so? And all these years I’ve thought…Well, never mind. Helen, I’m already impressed by this boy of yours.’

  Miss Helen had been watching Mr Vance carefully. ‘I need hardly tell you, Vance, how grateful I am also. I’d thank you at greater length, but this is Rick’s chance and I’m not wishing to speak on his behalf.’

  ‘That’s well said, Helen. So Rick. Why don’t you tell me what this is about?’

  ‘Well, I’m not sure where to start, but here goes. I have a keen interest in drone technology. You could say it’s a passion. I’ve been developing my own system, and I now have my own team of drone birds…’

  ‘One second. When you say “own system”, Rick, are you saying you’ve gone beyond what anyone else has done?’

  Panic crossed Rick’s face, and he glanced towards me. I smiled at him, trying to convey as I did so that the smile wasn’t just mine, but on behalf of Josie. Whether he understood this or not, he appeared to take encouragement.

  ‘No, sir, hardly,’ he said with a quick laugh. ‘I’m not claiming I’m a genius. But I’ll say that my drone system is one I’ve worked out for myself, without help from any tutors. I’ve used various information sources that I found online. And my mother’s been very supportive, ordering in some expensive books. Actually, I’ve brought with me some drawings, just in case you wanted a vague idea. Here they are. But no, I don’t believe I’m doing anything so groundbreaking, and I know I’m not likely to without expert guidance.’

  ‘I follow you. So now you aim to get to a good college. In order to do justice to your talent.’

  ‘Well, something like that. My mother and I both thought that maybe Atlas Brookings, being a generous and liberal college…’

  ‘Sufficiently generous and liberal to be open to all students of high caliber, even some who haven’t benefited from genetic editing.’

  ‘Exactly, sir.’

  ‘And no doubt, Rick, you understand, because your mother will have told you, that I currently chair the college’s Founders’ Committee. That’s to say, the body that controls the scholarships.’

  ‘Yes, sir. That’s what she told me.’

  ‘Now, Rick. I’m hoping your mother hasn’t been implying that the selection procedure at Atlas Brookings is subject to any favoritism.’

  ‘Neither my mother nor I would ask you to help me out of favoritism, sir. I’m only asking you to help if you think I’m worth a place at Atlas Brookings.’

  ‘That’s well said. Okay, let’s take a look at what you have here.’

  Rick had already placed his notebook on the table, and Mr Vance now opened it. He stared at the diagram at which the notebook had fallen open, then, as he turned over the page and found another, he appeared to become absorbed. He continued to leaf slowly through the notebook, sometimes returning to an earlier page. At one point he murmured without looking up:

  ‘These all refer to what you plan to create in the future?’

  ‘Mostly, yes. Though some designs I’ve already realized. Like that one on the next page.’

  Miss Helen was watching silently, a gentle smile on her face, her glance moving from Mr Vance to Rick’s notebook. At that moment, I felt once more, fleetingly but vividly, the Father’s hand holding my head at the required angle, and heard the trickling noise as the fluid entered the plastic bottle he was holding up close to my face with his other hand.

  ‘Now, Rick,’ Mr Vance said, ‘I’m very ignorant about these matters. Even so, I’m getting the impression your drones have high surveillance capabilities.’

  ‘The birds are data-gathering, that’s right. But that doesn’t necessarily mean they have to be used for privacy-invasive activity. They have many potential applications. Security, even babysitting. Then again, perhaps there are people out there we need to keep an eye on.’

  ‘Like criminals, you mean.’

  ‘Or paramilitaries. Or weird cults.’

  ‘I follow you. Yes, these are all very interesting. You don’t see any real ethical issues here?’

  ‘I’m sure, sir, there are all kinds of ethical issues. But in the end, it’s for legislators to decide how these things get regulated, not people like me. For now, I just want to learn as much as I can, so I can take my understanding to the next level.’

  ‘That’s well said.’ Mr Vance nodded and continued looking through Rick’s notebook.

  The lonely Diner Manager had come over holding his tray, and he began to place drinks on the table in front of Miss Helen, Mr Vance and Rick. They each thanked him in hushed voices, then he walked away again.

  ‘You appreciate, Rick,’ Mr Vance said, ‘I’m not trying to give you a hard time here. I’m merely, well, testing you a little, to see what you’re made of.’ Then to Miss Helen he said: ‘And so far, he’s coming out very impressively.’

  ‘Vance, darling. Would you care for something to go with this coffee? Perhaps one of those donuts I see over there? You were always partial to donuts.’

  ‘Thank you, Helen, but I’m meeting some people for dinner.’ He glanced at his watch, then back at Rick. ‘Now consider this, Rick. Atlas Brookings believes there are many talented kids out there, just like you, who for reasons economic or otherwise never received the benefits of AGE. The college also believes society is currently making a grave error in not allowing those talents to come to full fruition. Unfortunately most other institutions don’t think this way. Which means we receive vastly more applications from people like yourself than we’re able to accommodate. We can weed out no-hopers, but after that, frankly, it becomes a lottery. Now Rick. You said just now you’re not seeking favoritism. Then let me ask you this. If that is really the case, then why am I sitting here in front of you now?’

  With these words Mr Vance changed the mood so suddenly I almost let a surprised sound escape me. Rick too seemed startled. Only Miss Helen appeared not to be surprised, but as
though something she’d feared all along had finally arrived. She smiled and said:

  ‘I’m going to answer this one for him, Vance. Yes, we are asking you for a favor. We know you have it within your gift. So we’re asking you to help us. I’ll rephrase that. I’m asking you. I’m asking you to help my boy have a fighting chance in this world.’

  ‘Mum…’

  ‘No, Ricky darling, that’s right. It’s for me, not you, to ask Vance. And we are asking him to exercise favoritism. Of course we are.’

  I’d been wrong in thinking we were Diner Manager’s only customers. I now realized that in the booth three along from mine, there was a lady of forty-two sitting by herself. I hadn’t seen her before because she was pressing herself right against the window, her forehead actually touching the glass, to gaze out into the darkness. I wondered if perhaps Diner Manager had also failed to notice her, and that she had become even more lonely, believing Diner Manager was deliberately ignoring her.

  ‘You know, Helen,’ Mr Vance said, ‘this is a strange tactic you’re adopting here. Favoritism, like any other form of corruption, works best when it remains unacknowledged. But leaving that to one side.’ Mr Vance leaned forward. ‘When I thought this was Rick asking, that was one thing. He’s an impressive and charming kid. It was going well. But look what you’ve just done. You just told me this is about me doing you – you, Helen – a favor. After all these years. All these years of your not answering my messages. All these minutes and hours and days and months and years of my thinking about you.’

  ‘Must you say this here? In front of Rick?’ Miss Helen was still smiling gently, but her voice wobbled.

  ‘Rick’s an intelligent young man. He’s the one who ultimately wins or loses. So why hide things from him? Let him see the whole picture. Let him see what this is about.’

  Once again, Rick looked across the aisle to me, and once again I tried to send back encouragement with a smile that was from both me and Josie.

  ‘But what is this about, Vance?’ Miss Helen asked. ‘Is it really so complicated? I’m simply asking you to help my son. If you’re not willing to do so, then we can part politely and that will be that.’