Long Division (15 page)

Fox adopted an exaggerated accent. ‘Oh, yes, because I’ve just gone along with all of their transmissions for a lark. Of course I have. Why not just sit down and make yourself a fucking aluminium hat to wear! That’s the best protection, don’t you know?’

I ran a hand through my hair, letting out a string of profanity.

James still hadn’t moved, hadn’t stirred, was still staring at the wavelengths.

Fox’s eyes flashed dangerously. ‘Don’t get your knickers in such a twist! The sequences they’re using are incredibly complicated, not to mention different each time. Bit hard to work out a counter signal under the circumstances, don’t you think? If I’d figured that out, why the hell would you even be here?’

I swore. ‘But you know what happens when that transmission starts!’

Fox raised his eyebrows. ‘Oh, we’ll forget his little speech will we? Well, I’m certainly disappointed I’ll miss those ten minutes of my life!’

I crossed my arms tighter and looked to James. ‘Surely you knew this would happen; knew we wouldn’t remember your speech, or think it’s all lies or whatever they’re planning.’

He didn’t respond.

‘James?’

Slowly his head turned towards me. I was taken aback. His expression was not what I had expected. It was blank, pale, not exactly slack, but…something about James wasn’t…
there.
His soft mouth was parted in a slight heart, either a gasp or confusion. What disturbed me most were his eyes. His bright green eyes that were so intelligent and sharp no longer seemed to see me, or his surroundings. I’d never seen eyes that were directed inwards, but his were. Focused on something internal, spinning in his brain.

‘James…can you hear me?’

I put a hand on his shoulder tentatively and gave it a little squeeze.

He blinked very slowly. ‘Hmm?’ His head gave a little twitch. ‘Mark? What?’

I frowned at him. ‘Are you all right?’ I realised my hand was still on his shoulder and I pulled it quickly away, only gathering then that perhaps I’d pulled it away too quickly. The smirk I caught out of the corner of my eye from Fox was enough to tell me that. ‘You just spaced out there for a second.’

‘Hmm?’ James’s eyes slid to his shoulder and his brows dropped a fraction.

I had no idea what was going on in that head of his but whatever was happening things seemed to be running a bit slow.

‘Are you,’ I asked very slowly. I cleared my throat. ‘All right?’ I looked him in the eyes. ‘Are you all right?’

James blinked several times. ‘Yes. Yes, of course I am.’

I blew out a frustrated breath through my lips noisily. This was going to be a long wait if this was any indication. James and Fox were not exactly the most exciting of companions. ‘So,’ I said, looking up at James, trying to get those eyes to focus on me. Not that he ever looked at me directly. ‘Are we going to forget? Or not believe you?’

‘I…I don’t know. Probably.’

His eyes shifted back to the dazed smack-head expression he’d had before.

I groaned. This was wrong. Just sitting around,
waiting
for that company to just…twist our brains. It was better before when I hadn’t known. When I’d just gone about my life like nothing had ever happened, unaware of the fact I was being controlled. Now I knew and I was bloody terrified for it to happen again. We were all going to be altered and there was nothing we could do about it.

‘Well!’ I cried. ‘This is just brilliant, isn’t it?’ I spun round and paced the narrow area Fox’s crowded room had to offer. ‘We’ll just all sit back and wait for this and we’ll be back to square one or whatever the bloody hell InVizion wants us to be!’ I wanted to kick something, but nothing really looked firm enough.

The minutes passed, eventually turned into hours. We watched the screens, we waited; InVizion ramped up their activity. Fox’s monitoring, though not something I understood on a technical level, did tell me that much. The bars of code and numbers that went racing across those screens were faster now, more compact. I glanced, for the thousandth time, towards the Godlink headsets that were strewn round the room. This place had to be bloody ground zero when a transmission went off. There was no way to escape it here. I might as well have placed one on my head for all the good it would do me.

‘Well,’ Fox drawled after about an hour of silence. ‘Looks like we’re getting close.’

‘Mm,’ James grunted.

I gently dipped my elbow into his side. ‘I’d say you win that bet.’

He didn’t acknowledge me and I stepped back to my bit of carpet. I did wish he’d respond, if only to tear my mind away from the situation.

‘Are we going to feel it?’ I asked.

Neither of them answered me. They had their eyes glued to the screen, clearly more interested in whatever process was happening than my frets over whether it would hurt or not.

‘Here we go,’ Fox said.

I felt my spine go tight. Like I was bracing myself for a blow.

‘Ten,’ Fox began to count.

My pulse quickened. God.

‘One.’

I closed my eyes.

The Godlinks around me began to wake from their electronic slumber.

James groaned. I opened my eyes, not sure why, but that sound alarmed me. I saw him, ridged and dazed and my worry over the transmission failed to register.

‘You all right?’

James ignored me. His head tilted to one side.

‘James?’

And then there was a blip. A blip in my head. That’s the only way I can explain it. A tiny little portion of my mind that was…
plucked
at.

Fox pushed away from his screen with a whoop and clapped his hands together. ‘Well! Wasn’t that fun?’

James casually straightened his sleeves, expression one of blank disinterest. Like nothing had happened. Perhaps nothing had.

‘James?’ I asked, turning to him, searching that damnably expressionless face for any clue as to what he was thinking.

‘Mark,’ James said in a low growl finally, after several long moments of keeping me waiting. ‘What did we do today before coming here?’

I frowned at him. Surely he couldn’t have forgotten! ‘We were at the television station…you were being interviewed, remember?’

‘Yes, I remember. What did I say?’

I swallowed and thought. And…I remembered. I remembered all of it. Every word—or as well as I could. There was no change—and then it hit, flashing through my mind like a strobe.

LIAR.

JAMES NIGHTGOOD.

LIAR.

JAMES NIGHTGOOD IS A LIAR.

‘Liar!’ I blurted, unable to control myself. I stared up at him, dumbfounded, embarrassed, flushing.

James was grinning, a sly, almost darkly amused, smile. ‘Ah, and that is how it’s done. They don’t need to change the message. They just need to, what is that phrase? Shoot the messenger.’

Fox shrugged, taking a deep swig from some foul looking energy drink. ‘Well, no new news there. I’ve always known you were an arrogant, lying bastard, now I have proof.’

James actually looked a little hurt. As hard as it was to tell with Fox, I still found myself nudging James slightly and shaking my head “no”. Fox seemed to enjoy taking advantage of the fact James didn’t catch on to sarcasm so quickly.

‘So…they didn’t erase what you said. They just are trying to convince all of us that you’re a liar.’

‘It would seem so. Constructing a complicated transmission that would delete memories would take much longer than a couple of hours. Much easier to simply brand the entire thing as false and have people believe they’re clever, having reached that opinion themselves.’

I frowned. ‘But I don’t believe that you lied. If I think about it, I mean. I will admit: I’m finding it a bit more…difficult to accept what you’ve said, but I still…understand, I think. And I still believe.’

James smiled to himself. ‘Because you have faith.’

Wasn’t sure I liked that. ‘In you?’

He shrugged. ‘No. In the cause.’

Our eyes locked.

I thought I caught a brief flash of emotion go across his face. It looked much too similar to disappointment for my taste. Was he disappointed in me? Disappointed that I didn’t have total faith in him? Was that what he wanted? I felt my stomach squirm uncomfortably at the idea. James had a way of drawing those around him in, inescapable, crushing, like a black hole. Perhaps not the kindest way to describe him, but true nonetheless. And I knew I’d fallen under his spell. And I think James knew it too. Or was at least suspicious of it. James didn’t notice much of others. What they thought, what they felt or understood, it was all an enigma to him. So the idea that James was at all concerned with what
I
thought
about him was completely baffling.

‘Both,’ I found myself saying before I could stop myself. Because, if I wasn’t sure I liked the idea of James thinking I had faith in him, the idea that he
didn’t
think that was much, much worse.

A small smile tugged at his mouth.

Fox let out a disgusted groan. ‘Right, both of you, out of my flat. I’ve got better things to do than swoon over what InVizion’s latest transmissions are.’

James and I were ushered out unceremoniously and deposited back in the waning light of the city. I glanced up to James, who didn’t seem the slightest bit ruffled over all that had transpired. He stuffed his hands into his pockets as he stopped to gaze down the street in thought. Perhaps staring at several parked cars, holding unmoving occupants. InVizion spies? I had no way of knowing.

‘So,’ I said, ‘you won the bet.’

James blinked at me in confusion, finally tearing his attention away from the street. ‘What?’

‘You won the bet. About how long it would take for the transmission. Any ideas about what you’d like to do?’

James scowled for a moment, the look on his face so lost I wondered if he’d completely forgotten the conversation we’d had. Finally, when I was about to try and prompt some sentence out of him, he spoke. ‘Oh, yes,’ again, a pause, ‘I don’t know. What were you planning on?’

I shrugged. ‘Nothing too terrible. Maybe just out for a couple pints.’

‘Drinking?’

I nodded. ‘Yeah.’

‘There would be people, wouldn’t there?’

‘Probably.’

James mulled over that for a moment, then shrugged. ‘Excellent. Right, then. We shall do that. Where?’ He gave me a hard look.

I smiled to myself and stepped to the kerb to hail a cab. ‘I’m sure we can find a decent place close by.’

10:Aftermath

I set two pints between James and I before giving him a gentle nudge to wake him out of his thoughts. He nodded and took a sip, wincing unhappily at the taste. I told myself I’d wean him to it yet, but it wasn’t looking too promising.

Around us, I couldn’t help but notice the few covert glances people were shooting us. I did my best to shake it off. Nothing wrong with two mates going out for a pint. Wasn’t like we were a couple or anything of that sort.

‘So, why did you want to come here?’ I asked over my glass.

James tilted his head to look at me, his glass practically full. ‘What?’

I gestured round us. ‘You wanted to come once you realised that people would be here. Why?’

Clarity came over his features. For someone as brilliant as James, he did seem to go about most of his life baffled by others. ‘Oh. An experiment, I suppose,’ his voice dropped to low, thoughtful. ‘I thought, perhaps, after the transmission today, people might…react upon seeing me. I don’t know, act differently, perhaps notice me, become confrontational; difficult to guess.’

I blinked. ‘You think that’s actually a possibility?’ I found myself sitting a little straighter; alert, ready for…whatever. Suddenly the furtive gazes of those around us seemed a bit more hostile.

James didn’t seem concerned. But, then again, he didn’t take cues from others so well. ‘I suppose it is a possibility. I didn’t really know what to expect. It was worth a try.’ A tinge of disappointment coloured his voice. Did he want something to happen?

I flashed him a smile to try and ease his fretting. ‘Oi, I don’t want it to become a habit of you getting into a fight every time we try and go out. We’ll be barred from every pub in the city if you keep it up.’

James scowled. ‘Of course I don’t plan on—’ He grinned. ‘I will try and contain myself.’

I returned the grin. He rarely made jokes; he didn’t usually seem to grasp the concept. His green eyes flashed in the dim light, mirroring his mood, nearly locking with mine and I watched those almost feminine lips part to give me a rare glimpse of his teeth; it took me too long to tear my gaze away from that pink curve.

I was a little unnerved by my transfixion and desperately sought some other distraction round the pub that wouldn’t involve me fixating over the fullness of James’s mouth. I wasn’t drunk enough for those thoughts.

A distraction did present itself in a very relieving form for me. A woman, all lipstick and curly hair to match, marched rather brazenly to our table. She fixed James with a burning stare—ignoring me, much to my disappointment—completely.

‘You’re that bloke on the telly this afternoon, aren’t you?’

A rather smug look of triumph settled over James’s features which was almost too confident for my taste. Had a good mind to give his foot a kick under the table.

‘Yes,’ he growled. ‘James Nightgood. I was speaking—’

‘Out about InVizion and their Godlink product, I heard you.’ She leant against the table, eyes taking on a gleam. ‘Everyone heard you.’

The angle she’d taken caused her low cut blouse to fall all the lower my direction and I had a brief, violent struggle with where to place my eyes.

James’s smile grew a little smugger, if that were possible. Any larger and he’d look like a Cheshire cat. ‘Did they really? And what did you think of it?’

One could have almost sworn he was being…
charming.

She grinned and moved in a little closer, in his personal space now. Normally James would have been backing up like mad to maintain it, and I saw the uncomfortable twitch in his arm, but he stayed where he was.

‘I think you’re full of shit, Mr Nightgood.’

His smile didn’t drop. I supposed that was just about all we could expect from people after the damage InVizion had caused. Still seemed a rude thing to say, though, not that I was exactly a rude person.

‘Didn’t believe a word of it?’ he asked slowly.

She shook her head, not taking her eyes from his face. ‘Not a word.’

He twitched his head, attempting to avoid her gaze. ‘Well, that’s a pity.’

Those red lips twisted up into a grin. ‘But you know what, Mr Nightgood?’

James’s eyes reluctantly swivelled back to hers, but again failed to meet. ‘What?’

She touched her tongue to her upper lip and looked him over. ‘I think it’s bloody brilliant what you’re doing. InVizion has risen to be the most profitable company in less than a month’s time. And even if their product is brilliant, their practises aren’t. I’m sick and tired of the way these companies run over all the little people to get what they want, and if someone like you helps to take them down by spreading a few lies here and there, well then, I’m going to support you one-hundred per cent.’

James stared at her. ‘You don’t believe me, but you still…appreciate what I said?’

She nodded her head slowly. ‘Mmmhmm. And I’m not alone. People are getting pissed off by what these greedy companies do the rest of us and it’s about time someone put them in their proper place. By
whatever means necessary.
’

James frowned. ‘Well, I can assure you, whatever I do, I do in good conscious.’

She laughed. ‘Well, I don’t give a damn what you do it for. But taking on a big company like that? It’s a bit sexy.’

I raised my eyebrows, fascinated by the exchange. I’d never seen James interact with another human besides Fox and here, in a pub, with this rather attractive woman, well, it was not something one saw every day.

‘So,’ James said hesitantly, ‘you support me, even though you think I’m a liar?’

She smirked. ‘That’s one way to look at it. Everyone loves a rebel.’

James nodded slowly, growing introspective once again. ‘Fascinating.’

She still gave me not a glance, but folded both of her arms and leant heavier against our table, crossing one stilettoed ankle over the other. ‘I’d love to hear more about the evils of InVizion, if you have the time.’

James blinked at her for a moment and I watched in trepidation as that scowl of his began to drop lower over his eyes. He was not happy. Nor was he open to this rather blatant flirtation, to which I found completely gobsmacking. How could he
not?

‘I’m afraid I’m rather busy,’ he said, expression closing off with the finality of a slamming door.

Our visitor took a step back with a huff, clearly not used to, or much liking, the rejection. She finally glanced my way and looked me up and down with tight lips. ‘I see,’ came her reply in a clipped voice, ‘well, why didn’t you just say so?’

With that she flounced off, much to my disappointment and I slumped against my arms with a groan. ‘I could have talked to her about it,’ I grumbled.

James looked up at me in confusion. ‘Why on earth would you do that? You know next to nothing about it, save for what I’ve told you. And I have a feeling you haven’t comprehended half of that.’

I gave James a tiresome look. ‘Because,’ I said tightly, ‘she was flirting. She was obviously keen, and if she wasn’t interested in you, then perhaps she would have been in me.’

James sucked in his lips for a moment, chewing over my words. ‘Why would you want that?’

I swore. ‘Really, James? Really? Because she was attractive and clearly keen on something and I’m…’ I closed my eyes, frustrated, ‘I’ve gone a bit too long without it.’

He drummed his long fingers on the table, brushed aside some crumbs, and then resumed his tattoo. ‘Gone a bit too long without what?’

I tried to keep my frustration in check, but failed, for my voice was louder than it should have been. ‘Getting off, James!’

He tilted his head to one side, almost as if he hadn’t heard me. I felt my impatience boil dangerously.

‘God! Fine. I haven’t had
sex
in a long time.’ I lowered my voice to a tight hiss.

My words had a peculiar effect on James. He leant back in his chair, expression one of controlled confusion and discomfort. ‘Oh. And she…?’

I rolled my eyes and took a long pull at my beer. ‘I don’t know. Probably not. She didn’t look my way. But it would have been nice you know, James. It would have been nice.’

We sat in a tense silence for several moments before I turned to him. ‘You mean to tell me you didn’t consider that when she approached you? You weren’t interested at all?’

To my surprise, James became flustered. He lowered his eyes, shifting, flicking more non-existent crumbs and his stammer became something remarkable. ‘I—I didn’t. I—It never…never c—crossed my…my mind.’

I searched his face, once again completely baffled by him. ‘Okay, sorry.’

We sat in silence again; James seemed to be fighting for something to say, before finally giving up and fretting to himself. I watched him as covertly as I could; wondering what was going on in that head of his. I cleared my throat, gaining his attention once again. I just
couldn’t. Let. It. Go.
‘You…mean to tell me…that you’ve never…I mean…’

James was shaking his head. ‘What?’

I sighed. ‘I mean, you didn’t think anything of her. Was she not attractive to you or have I missed something?’

‘Missed something?’ James was looking at me like I looked at him when he explained one of his formulas. 

I came to the conclusion much too late that I was stepping into territory I really had no right—or desire—to enter into. As I thought on it, I was surprised to find that I knew nothing about James’s likes and dislikes outside of maths. What he was attracted to, what he found interesting or…yes, even things that turned him on, were a complete enigma to me. And perhaps it should stay that way. Some things were just too personal to pry into and whatever James’s sexuality was was really none of my business. So, why then did I have such a burning desire to know? What did it matter to me what James was attracted to? It had no bearing on my life whatsoever.

And yet I was still bursting to know.

‘Do you…find women attractive?’ I asked carefully, knowing I was on very dangerous ground.

James was silent for too long, and I wasn’t sure if he’d even heard me. ‘Attractive?’

I nodded. ‘Yeah, are you…have you, had a girlfriend?’

‘No.’

Well, that was intriguing, though, considering James’s habits, not entirely surprising. It would take a patient woman, indeed, to put up with some of James’s quirks. But, did he mean that he didn’t find women attractive or no, he hadn’t had a girlfriend?

‘So, you don’t find women attractive.’ Probably the wrong way to phrase that. I kicked myself mentally and took a desperate pull at my beer to hide my face.

James wrinkled his nose. I couldn’t tell how this conversation was making him feel. James didn’t seem to take much of an interest in anything unless it was a line of numbers. ‘I’ve…never felt anything towards them. Or anyone. Nothing. I don’t feel anything.’ He spat it out a little crossly. I worried that I’d perhaps crossed some line. Broached a subject I wasn’t supposed to touch. I hadn’t thought James concerned with anything, and his sexuality only made sense if it fit that same box. Apparently, and I was finding a little disappointingly, that seemed the case.

‘So you don’t feel any…desires at all?’

‘No.’ James shook his head, mouth pulled down into an innocent, unconcerned frown.

I stared at him. ‘You mean you’ve never…’ I struggled for words, ‘experimented at all?’ My questions were already more personal than I would have liked, but I couldn’t stop myself. My curiosity was raging, pulling the words out of me against my will, feeding some hungry desire inside of me to know it all.

His mouth went up in amusement. ‘I suppose I’ve never really…’ he pulled a face and shrugged, ‘felt the urge.’

I studied his expression for a moment, trying to decide if he was jesting or not. He didn’t seem to be. I could hardly believe him. After the accident, I had to admit romance more or less ceased to exist for me. And by that: ceased to exist. I hadn’t had a girlfriend since then and you could forget any type of hook-up. My social life hadn’t extended beyond my work, and I’d be damned if I got into any situation with the likes of them. So for the past few years, my sex life had been a rather boring mix of wanking in the shower and the occasional porn site.

‘Well,’ I said, at a loss. ‘That must…certainly free up a lot of your concentration to devote to your work.’

James nodded, looking down at the table. ‘Yes, I suppose it does.’

We didn’t talk much after that. I drank a few rounds over small talk that steered well clear of any uncomfortable topics and finally left the pub, me a bit lightheaded, James practically normal. He’d not had much to drink.

‘Well,’ I said, looking down the busy street. He wasn’t showing any inclination of parting ways. ‘Where to now? Should we meet up again tomorrow or…?’

James was already walking, leaving me behind. ‘I think my place. It’s rather far from here but I find the exercise relaxing,’ he spoke over his shoulder. ‘As much as I detest the streets of London, it does certainly help to once and awhile get out and breathe the air.’

I trotted after him to keep up. ‘If one likes smoggy city air, then I suppose so.’