Long Division (12 page)

I finally came to what I supposed must have been the sitting room. But again, it was so full of circuits and wires it was difficult to make out what it had at one time looked like.

Fox immediately collapsed back at a glowing screen, hardly casting a glance up to James, who hovered over him, arms crossed. I came to stand next to him, not knowing where to look first.

James grabbed the back of Fox’s chair to spin him round to face us. ‘What do you know about the new version of Godlink?’

Fox laughed sarcastically. ‘It’s the biggest advance in technology since the internet!’

James clenched his teeth. ‘Be serious.’

Fox’s brown eyes widened in mock offense. ‘I assume you’re referring to the “mystery receiver”?’

James snagged a chair stacked with papers and pulled it towards him, sending the tower toppling. Fox shouted in irritation. The chair came to rest facing Fox and James sat down heavily.

‘So you do know.’

Fox gave James an affronted look. ‘Of course I know of it!’

‘What does it mean? I have a head for algorithms, not electronics.’

‘Why should I tell you?’ Fox sneered. ‘I tried to be helpful once and you threw it in my face.’

‘You had me framed!’ James bristled. His voice boomed in a terrifying way I’d never heard before.

Fox waved a hand. ‘I gave you what you deserved. So, what has so humbled you now that you come to seek scum like me out? You really believe I can help you? That I even want to?’

James dug into his rucksack and pulled out the devices, tossing them to a crowded table next to Fox’s four monitors. Fox switched on a dim desk lamp.

‘Haven’t the faintest idea what they do,’ he said, not giving them a glance. He nodded his chin to one of the monitors, scrolling with code. ‘Been worming my way in their systems for over six months and haven’t dug up anything interesting. Just a bunch of garbled meeting notes that make no sense.’

God, this was so illegal.

James swore in impatience. ‘Do you have any copies of those meetings?’

Fox sighed in such a way one would have imagined if James had asked him to build a rocket to the moon. I smiled, feeling incredibly out of place.

‘Of course I’ve bloody got them. You just knocked them to the fucking floor. Always have hard copies of this sort of shite. But you won’t be able to make any sense of them. They’ll just frustrate you more than me. I know how your funny brain works, mate.’

James rolled his eyes and swiped the reams of paper from the dingy carpet. He handed them to me without looking. I struggled with the messy stack. Fox finally reached towards the devices James had dropped onto the table. He ran over them with the meticulous eye of a man well-experienced with circuits and computer chips. James was watching him like a hawk.

‘So, you’re wondering,’ Fox said languidly, ‘if I can give you any information about the receiver they’ve dropped in here.’ He prodded at it with a screwdriver.

‘Can you trace it? Or tell me exactly
what
it is receiving?’

Fox sighed. ‘Well, no, afraid not. What I can tell you, from my own research, because I have been keeping an eye on this, I’ll have you know, is that it is constantly receiving
and
transmitting.’

I blinked. ‘Constantly? You mean that thing is receiving information
and
sending it out all the time? When someone’s not using it to transmit?’

Fox looked at me like one of the dead potted plants in the corner had just spoken up. ‘Yes,’ he said very slowly. ‘It’s not unusual for devices to share information, beam stuff now and then, but that’s not the case with this Godlink. You may have noticed that the first version of the device had a nasty habit of staying on constantly, drawing power from everything around it, including,’ he tapped the side of his head. ‘This is essentially a monstrous expansion of that.’

‘Why?’ James barked.

Fox grinned slyly. ‘Because you can’t stop whatever its little mission is, mate. You can’t turn the bloody thing off. Ever. You can take the batteries out of a mobile and it’ll turn off. Not so with this. No way to power it down or shut it off, disconnect it from the mother source. Nothing short of a good whack from a brick, that is. Even then it might still soldier on. And whatever the hell it’s doing, I can guaran-fucking-tee it has nothing to do with staying fully charged.’

I felt my skin crawl. I stole a covert glance to James to see how he was taking it. His expression was, as usual, a blank mask. Whatever he thought of what Fox was telling him, he wasn’t letting on.

James leant over the desk, shadowing Fox. ‘I want you to focus on this. Forget about everything else. Track that signal. Figure out
what
it is. What it’s,’ he spluttered, ‘reporting on.’

Fox looked up at James with black eyes, not at all intimidated, as I’m sure I would have been. ‘Why should I?’ he drawled.

James’s fingers clamped round the arms of Fox’s chair, turning his knuckles white. ‘You will do it because you know as well as I how dangerous this technology is. And you are the only person capable of deciphering it. It’s what your father would have wanted!’

Fox’s expression went flat. ‘Fuck you!’

James squared his jaw. ‘Fox,
please
, I need you!’

Fox rolled his eyes, losing whatever had upset him. ‘Oh, you are too flattering. Shouldn’t you at least buy me a drink first?’

I looked between the two of them nervously. My mind constantly willed for Fox to give in to James’s domineering will. I wasn’t sure how James would take it if Fox said no.

Fox finally shrugged, seeming, if I wasn’t mistaken, a little unnerved by James’s stare. ‘Oh, all right. I’ll have a look into it.’

James straightened, a triumphant smile cracking across his stoic face.

‘If I’ve got time!’ Fox said, half-standing.

James was already swiping up his Godlink devices and stuffing them back into his rucksack. Without a word, he spun on his heel. I was quick to follow, not sure if I should bid Fox farewell. I weaved my way back through the piles of technology and made it out to the sunny street. Only to blink back against the sun.

‘Well,’ I said, glancing up to him as I followed him down the few short steps to the pavement, ‘my head is certainly spinning now.’

James wasn’t looking to me. He was scanning the street. There was some careful urgency to his gaze. I automatically followed his sweeping eyes, unsure of what he was looking for. Was he concerned we’d been followed? Any of his “friends” from InVizion parked outside? I saw nothing. Still, James did not seem happy.

‘Something the matter?’ I asked quietly.

James reluctantly tore his gaze from the streets and looked down to me. A half-hearted smile pulled at his lips, which made him look a bit ill. ‘Fine, of course. Chinese?’

He was never hungry. But I wasn’t about to pass up that. And so I followed him, baffled, down the street and off to one of the lighter moments that we’d have in our short time together.

8:Influencing Updates

What InVizion’s little additions to Godlink were became apparent to us on one day that would, more or less, change the world for ever. It did, certainly, change my life with James Nightgood.

It was two months later. Two months since we’d visited Fox and had learnt of the disturbing information that Godlink constantly transmitted and received information from some mysterious source.

The morning was still early and I was in bed; it was my day off and I wasn’t too keen on doing anything with myself. What had awoken me, as what usually did these days, was my mobile making noise. I rolled over with a groan, unwilling to open the new messages. They were, of course, from James. He had a habit of being a tad obsessive, and at times it was a little frustrating. Not that I blamed him, InVizion was potentially a real threat. I didn’t doubt the danger, but he never gave it a rest. Thanks to texting I was with James twenty-four seven with little rest from his all-consuming life, constantly hearing about Godlink and I was wearing thin of it all.

I finally pulled the mobile to me and opened the message. They were all vaguely the same.

DID YOU SEE INVIZION HAD A NEW UPDATE YESTERDAY?

I sighed irritably and typed back with more irritation than he’d ever catch on to.

SO?

I waited for his response, not moving from the sheets.

DID YOU BUY A LOTTO TICKET YESTERDAY?

The question caught me off-guard. I had, in fact, and it was odd. I never bought tickets. Never had cared for it.

YES. WHY?

An almost dramatic pause.

SO DID EVERYONE ELSE IN ENGLAND.

I blinked. What? So what?

I DON’T UNDERSTAND.

A pause. I’M COMING OVER.

And that was it. No request. No question to ask if I was busy. Nothing. Simply that. He was coming over because he wanted to talk to me. Tell me what he knew. Why? Because he had no one else? Probably. James just couldn’t turn his mind from it.

I didn’t bother changing out of my pyjama bottoms, but did grab a dressing gown. I’d gotten much slacker with him lately. It was easy to be that way; he wouldn’t notice if I was in pyjamas or a suit and tie. And thanks to that I just felt too comfortable round him. Too at home. I didn’t bother wondering if that should worry me or not.

James buzzed at the door not long after. He’d only been to my flat a handful of times and though I was incredibly relaxed with him, I still felt a bit awkward when he saw how small it was compared to his vast space. But it was too early and I was too annoyed to consider that for very long as I unlocked the door and swung it open to let him inside. He looked terrible. Dark rings under his eyes, auburn hair a mess, clothing rumpled. Not unusual from how he’d been these past few weeks.

‘Late night?’ I asked, stepping aside as he strode in.

‘Yes,’ he said flatly, never one for sarcasm.

I closed the door and went to my small kitchen, keeping an eye on him as he turned round in a circle uncomfortably, not sure of what to do with himself. ‘Want a coffee? Tea?’

‘No,’ James said laconically, still standing.

In frustration I put down the mug I’d been holding. All right, then. ‘So, what’s all this about? Care to explain? About the lotto?’

James still seemed distracted, lost in his own thoughts. He finally pulled himself free and looked back to me. ‘Oh, InVizion is using mind control to influence large groups of people to do what they want in planned experiments.’

‘What?’

James’s delivery of this revelation was in such a nonchalant, bored tone, I would have thought him speaking about the weather. And what he said! I hardly could process it. Mostly because it was simply too fantastic to believe. InVizion was…
experimenting
on people? On people’s
minds
? He expected me to believe they were using mind control to make large groups of people do something…like sheep. Yet…he knew I’d bought a ticket. How? Because I had been a part of it. God…

I took a steadying breath and glanced up at my friend. ‘You mean to tell me that InVizion somehow managed to tell all of England to buy tickets to the lottery without anyone knowing?’

‘Precisely.’

Horror snaked through me, my reluctance to believe was starting to dissolve and that only led to worse thoughts dawning. ‘B—but, James…I don’t have a Godlink device…’ I looked him in the eyes.

James’s expression was not encouraging.

I swallowed. ‘H—how is that possible?’

His mouth finally twitched. He strode past me and tapped on the wall. ‘You may not have a Godlink device, my dear friend, but what about the people in the flat next to you? Or above you?’

I swore. ‘But that means the signal can pass through walls! That means that even people who aren’t using the device can still be affected by it!’

‘Precisely.’

I heard myself babbling. ‘It’s like second hand smoke! It means that I can never get away from it! Even if I’m completely innocent! You mean to say they’re turning people into lab rats and what can I do about it? I’ll become mindless just like everyone else in this—God—’

James’s eyes had widened in surprise at my outburst. I jerked as he suddenly lurched forward and grabbed me, clapping his hands on either side of my face.

‘Mark, I need you to stay calm. You cannot do this. I need you here with me. I—I don’t have anyone else!’

I stared up at him, and suddenly, I was calm. His words washed over me with their smooth warmth like rays of sunlight. All of my fear was torn away as I looked into those eyes now. He was staring at me in nervous confusion. Unable to read my emotions. He was uncomfortable with his failure to understand.

‘All right,’ I lifted my hand, gave his wrist a squeeze. ‘All right, I promise. James, I’m calm, I promise.’

His eyes softened and it wasn’t until then that we both seemed to realise our state. I released his wrist and looked at him imploringly. James’s hands slackened from my face and dropped back to his sides.

He cleared his throat and nodded stiffly. ‘Right.’

I felt a bit awkward now, after that. ‘Okay,’ I said slowly, ‘how did you figure this out? How did you know InVizion was behind this?’

It was as if I’d set off a spark in James’s mind. He spun round and much to my surprise, immediately went tearing through my things. I watched him in utter bafflement.

‘James…what the hell?’

He threw open my few cupboards, peering inside and grabbing whatever he could find to read over the labels before tossing the items to the floor. Then he was on to the rest of my place. And he certainly did not listen to me as I protested. If he didn’t stop soon he would turn my flat into an absolute wreck.

‘James!’

He finally presented me, from my small wardrobe in my bedroom, a shoebox. I looked down at it, and then raised my brows at him. I’d bought the shoes several weeks ago and had yet to find the motivation to wear them. To be honest, they were the ugliest damn shoes I’d ever seen. Certainly not
my
type and I found it hard to believe they were anyone’s.

‘Care to explain?’

He held up the box, as if it were obvious. ‘You have Star Trotters.’

I shrugged. ‘Yeah, so?’

James beamed. ‘So do I.’

I couldn’t say much for James’s taste in fashion, his clothing was often odd and not well thought out; he’d always had the senior, professor look to him. Star Trotters were not what I would have considered when I pictured James’s wardrobe.

I gave him a dubious look. ‘Come on, you’ve got a hideous pair of trainers like these?’

James dropped the box to the table. ‘If they are so hideous then why do you have a pair?’

‘I don’t know. I just…saw them and…’ I stopped myself, suddenly realising. ‘Oh, God!’

James nodded, for once seeming to understand that I’d caught on. ‘Yes. And I believe you’ll find a good many other souls shamefully hiding pairs of Star Trotters under their beds as well.’

My mouth went dry.

James swept the shoes from the table. ‘I could give you a dozen other examples of products or…or actions that people have purchased or participated in, that you and I, have been a part of.’

I ran that over in my head. ‘Hang on, if everyone is being influenced to purchase these things—massive amounts of people to do things—wouldn’t someone catch on? Wouldn’t someone notice and eventually piece it together? I know you said once that it could be possible to create ignorance to what InVizion is doing…but there are people who track trends for a living, computer programmes that monitor this stuff. It’s impossible—even if Godlink blinds people—to not notice eventually!’

‘Eventually, yes, if not for the safeties they put in to ensure that would not happen.’

I had really hoped that James’s suggestion of Godlink misdirecting people had been false. ‘The safeties?’

James nodded. ‘Yes. Creating a way for people to
not
piece it all together.’

I pressed my mouth flat. ‘Deleting people’s memories, you mean. Blocking their…observances like some sort of virus shield.’

He grinned and began talking fast, stammering over his words in his excitement. I patiently tried to decipher. ‘Exactly like that. I told you before, didn’t I? This is the proof of it! Godlink is a device that connects to the brain! If they can influence people to do things, don’t you think they can influence people to forget? To not pay attention? To not notice what they otherwise would notice?’

I groaned. ‘You said you were aware of Godlink’s potential danger because you’d worked on it. You were already aware of the problem. But this is different, you bought the same shit we all did. So, how have you noticed? And how come I’m able to comprehend what you’re saying?’

James sighed. ‘The notes that Fox gave me, I began to look them over, and as Fox said, they made absolutely no sense. Random words, places, things. I couldn’t make heads or tails of it. For the longest time I supposed they were code, but I was wrong. Some of the words, they triggered things in my head; I began to pay attention to what others, and myself, did. It didn’t take long for me to spot. By the time the lotto hit, I was ready for it.’

‘But you still bought a ticket.’

‘I didn’t say I was immune.’

‘But you’re aware that it’s happening.’

James nodded slowly. ‘Not as it’s happening, usually. Sometimes I can remember words or phrases and it sparks in my head and I can be conscious of what I’m doing.’

‘But you can’t stop yourself?’ I was aware of the tinge of worry in my voice.

He went very quiet, lost perhaps, in debating that.

All of this, what he was implying…It turned my stomach. I tried to think logically, calmly about it. ‘Sounds like a hell of a good deal for companies wanting to push their products.’

It was James’s turn to look confused. ‘What?’

I shrugged. ‘Well, I mean, if people can be influenced so greatly to buy something then that’s surely something that companies would pay for. It’s completely illegal, not to mention unethical. But what does that matter if no one catches on?’

‘No, Mark, you’re thinking too small.’ He leant in towards me, green eyes sparking with keen light. He was close. My personal space evaporated in an instant. For someone who was so paranoid about the exposure of the proximity of others to himself, he seemed to have no problem with it now.

‘Right,’ I said, reluctantly, ‘because they want to enslave the human race…or something.’

James grinned, not catching my sarcasm. ‘Precisely.’

I couldn’t move. That was what he thought all of this was about? This mind control all came down to…to actual control? That was a
real
possibility he considered? ‘Okay, so, what are you going to do about it?’ I’d asked him once before, when I’d thought it was nothing but dangerous toy; God, that felt ages ago now. He’d not answered me then. I wouldn’t let him avoid it again.

James straightened, pulling away from me. ‘Me?’

I gave him a pointed look. ‘Yes, you. You’re the only one who knows anything about this. You’re the one with the answers, and you’re the one who’s respected in the scientific community; it has to be you!’

James’s head went back and forth, a mistrustful look coming to his already wild eyes. ‘And what exactly do you expect me to do, Mark? Stand atop Tower Bridge and shout it to the world? Hmm? Perhaps I should write letters to the editors of all the papers in London? Would that work?’

My, and I’d thought sarcasm was lost on him. I pressed my hands against the table. ‘No, of course that’s not what I’m saying, James. But you are in a position of power. I saw you not a year ago talking on some chat show about it. You get out there and say you’ve got something you want to talk about, those morning programmes will be fighting to have you on.’

He looked at me dubiously. ‘And you believe InVizion would actually allow me to step up and speak out against them?’

My mouth went a little dry. ‘But surely they couldn’t stop you. It would be criminal to do that.’ It wasn’t till I’d said it that I realised how stupid I sounded. Hadn’t everything InVizion done, assuming it was all true, been illegal?