Long Division (14 page)

James huffed his breath as he turned down the street. ‘Yes, but my mobile isn’t part of some vast plot to enslave the human race!’ He threw his hands in the air childishly.

I rolled my eyes. ‘Do you even realise what you’re saying, James? Do you realise how that sounds to most people—to me? I think the way you went about it was right. Making people aware of the possibility without calling InVizion out by name was a good call but people will simply look to InVizion to fix the problem. No one is going to take their headsets off or keep from upgrading to the chips for the vague risk of being hacked.’

James glanced over his shoulder to reply and nearly collided with two people who stepped from the side of the building we’d just been inside. He had to pull up short, and then went very straight, hands fluttering up and down before settling at his sides; distressed.

‘James?’ And then I saw who he’d run in to; a sudden fearful dread hit me. I picked up my pace, jogging towards him and the two black suits, whom I had no doubt were from InVizion.

‘Hello, Jimmy,’ one of them purred, staying—thankfully—where he was. ‘What have you been up to? We’ve missed you.’

James shuffled his feet and stammered something I couldn’t understand.

The other man pulled a frown. His eyes flicked over to me and my spine went tight. ‘Playing with new friends, I see.’

James’s head was tilted to one side, as if the two men somehow blinded him, yet managed to look at them sideways. He opened his mouth, but the second man spoke over him.

‘You’ve been doing nasty things lately. Saying nasty things. About your old friends. How could you do that, Jim?’

The way they spoke was so damned irritating it was enough to set my teeth on edge. Like James was some fucking child.

‘Do you know what slander is, Jimmy? Biting the hand that has fed you, hmm? Do you understand that? You’ve been saying untruths; understand what that means?’

I could take it no longer. Something inside of my head snapped. I pushed past my friend, shielding his lanky form as best I could. ‘Leave him alone, why don’t you?’

They both smiled wanly. ‘Ah, Mr Hurt. Jim’s new pal. We’re jealous of you.’

‘Feel we should warn you, though. Jimmy is a bit of a liar. He’s been known to tell a fib now and then, hasn’t he? Bit prone to exaggeration, aren’t you, Jimmy?’

My mouth was dry. ‘Leave James alone. Can’t you see you’re upsetting him? I know you probably don’t give a damn but you’ve followed him long enough, understand
me
?’

They blinked but I went on, stepping closer. ‘James hasn’t said a
damn
thing publicly about your little company. Not a damn thing. This however,’ I nodded to them, ‘could easily be called harassment, and it’s time it stopped. Any more bullying from you lot and I’m calling the police. Want them involved with this?’ Maybe it would be a good thing if they
were.

Neither of them moved but their eyes flickered. ‘We’re just two old friends stopping by for a little chat. That’s all. Two old friends. We’re worried about our mate Jim. We just wanted him to know that he may want to think about his actions. Because actions always have…consequences.’

I was properly scared, and not sure why. I kept my expression as flat as I could. ‘Well your message has been received. Now it’s time for you to go.’ I really did want to take a swing at them.

At first they didn’t move, and I didn’t think they would, but then they did, drifting around James and I and down the way we’d just come.

I swore violently once they were round the corner. ‘What the
hell
, James?’

James hadn’t moved from his spot.

‘You all right?’ It worried me a little, what this…vague threat had been. What it had done to him.

For a second James did nothing, then he shook himself and started walking again. ‘Yes. Fine.’

I hurried after him, swearing still. ‘Should have bloody called the police about this. Consequences, James? What the hell did he mean by that?’

He didn’t answer. He must have been ignoring me, or perhaps he didn’t hear. Hard to tell with him sometimes. He was stressed and upset and I didn’t blame him.

I picked up my pace to keep up with his long stride, with no idea where he was headed. Wasn’t so sure he knew, either.

‘Where are we going?’ I asked, pushing past several people to walk beside him. I couldn’t help but notice they wore Godlink headsets.

James’s green eyes were illuminated by the screen he was staring at, not minding his surroundings. ‘We’re meeting up with Fox,’ he said.

I frowned. I hadn’t been too impressed last time. ‘You don’t mean to tell me he’s made any progress since we last saw him? He couldn’t have hacked into their systems in so short a time as that!’

James grumbled before stepping to the edge of the pavement to hail a cab. He held open the door for me before sliding in as well and telling the cabbie the address. ‘I just made a widely publicised, and not to mention detrimental speech about InVizion and their new product. How many people who watched that or saw the news feed own Godlink devices? Wouldn’t you like to know what those devices are saying now?’

I shuddered. ‘You mean InVizion might start broadcasting something to everyone who owns one…doing what, exactly? Telling them not to listen to you?’

That almost childish smile snaked across his face. ‘I am looking forward to seeing exactly what they come up with.’

I stuffed my hands into my lap. ‘And how long do you think that would take, exactly?’

James shrugged his thin shoulders good-humouredly. ‘I don’t know! That’s what we’re going to find out!’

I wrinkled my nose. To be honest, one of the last things I wanted to do was spend my day trapped in the dark little rat hole Fox called a flat. But, what choice did I have, really? I wasn’t too keen on leaving James—much to my chagrin—and if that meant lurking in the fox den, then I’d do it.

For a moment, I questioned my sanity—and my motives. Why? Was it curiosity? It most definitely was. What James Nightgood had drawn me into was addicting and exciting. He’d opened up a whole new world to me and pulled me out of the hell I’d been living in.

But there was something, beneath it all, that drew me to James in a way I wasn’t sure I was willing to face. Something that had absolutely nothing to do with my concern over InVizion’s doings. And that was what bothered me the most. That I was willing to just follow him off God knew where, simply because he said so. Nothing about that was rational and yet I still was willing to do it. And couldn’t bloody explain
why.

Something about James, perhaps the way he looked at me, or spoke, or acted, had a way of stripping away all of my barriers, my mistrust, my…depression, and making it better. He was the only thing that I’d found that distracted me from my pain, made it go away, gave me something to think about, something to do that didn’t involve me wallowing in my past. I suppose that was why I was so desperate to be near him. It was the only explanations I was willing to accept at the moment.

And so here I was off to Fox’s. Yet I was not exactly
thrilled
as James pressed a long, pale finger to the door buzzer. He waited impatiently, hands stuffed in his pockets, for Fox to answer.

My attention was torn from the door as he swung to me, eyes shining. ‘Two hours,’ he said.

I blinked. ‘Sorry?’

He shrugged. ‘That’s how long I’m betting. Two hours.’ He took a breath. ‘They’ll have to frame their message, decide what sort of propaganda they want to spread. Then write the code for it, change it to wavelengths, transmit it and then wait for the results.’

I nodded slowly, trying to process that. ‘So…two hours…you think they can accomplish all of that in two hours?’

James pulled his lips down thoughtfully. ‘Just a guess. I am under the impression that they have their system of messaging down to an art by now. If you care to take a stab at it?’

I crossed my arms. What was taking Fox so long? ‘You want me to guess what time InVizion is going to send out their transmission against you? Fairly morbid…Well, won’t it be two hours, like you said?’

James grinned. ‘Haven’t the foggiest.’

I hid my smile. ‘What happens if my guess is closer than your guess?’

James gave me a confused frown. ‘What happens? What do you mean “what happens”? You’d be right and I’d be wrong.’

I drummed my fingers on my arm, not sure what the hell I was doing, or why I was even making something out of this, but…it was worth a try, wasn’t it?

‘How about…if I
do
win
,
you buy the drinks tonight.’

James was scowling now. ‘Drinks? When did I ever say anything about drinking?’

I looked up at him. ‘You didn’t.’

His brow went down in rapid thought. ‘Uhhh…’

The door swung open, just enough till the chain went taut and we were faced with those wide black eyes of Fox’s. ‘Well, if it is Mr Famous. What can I do for you?’

James wrinkled his nose unhappily. ‘You saw the broadcast.’

There was a flash of white as Fox grinned. ‘I certainly did. Time to watch them dance.’

Again, James frowned. Fox rolled his eyes and unchained the door. ‘Come in you thick git. People are staring.’

I stepped inside behind James, reminding myself to watch for the stacks of magazines and piles of technology and kept close as we wove our way through the labyrinth back to Fox’s work area. James stood still and tall, arms hanging at his sides as he watched Fox slide into his tattered office chair and glue himself to a screen of black and scrolling green code.

‘Five hours,’ I muttered to James, elbowing him covertly. I hoped I was wrong. Staying here for that long would be a certain personal hell.

His eyes slid down to me and a ghost of a smile pulled across those full lips. His head nodded once in agreement. Let the betting begin. I realised that we hadn’t established what would happen if
I
lost
.
I had no idea what James would come up with for me. Or if he was even thinking about it.

I glanced up at him, but he was no longer looking at me, his eyes fixed on the screen. Surely, whatever James would think of would be less than creative. He didn’t really focus on the abstract. Didn’t concern himself with little games like that.

I was left not knowing. And, as smart as James Nightgood was, I was definitely going to lose.

‘Well,’ Fox drawled, leaning back in his chair. ‘They’re certainly doing
some
thing.’

James’s head tilted to one side. ‘And what, exactly, would that be?’

Fox made a face. ‘Too soon to tell, but their systems are gearing up. I’ve seen this pattern before. Normal broadcast signal increasing power.’ He turned his head back to look at both of us. ‘Who knows, James, perhaps in a couple of hours we’ll all be thinking you’re completely mental.’

James scrunched his nose.

I frowned and crossed my arms, the meaning of Fox’s words suddenly occurring to me. Would I, would
James—
considering our exposure to Godlink—no longer believe all this? I swallowed, my throat tightening. Was that possible? Was it possible that I would doubt James after this broadcast? That Fox would? Could James himself forget all that he knew? I had a sudden mad urge to grab his hand. Hold this version of him to me so I wouldn’t forget. I slipped my hands into my pockets instead.

‘James…’ I said shakily. ‘What…happens…to us when this…broadcast happens?’

James didn’t seem to hear me. His head gave the smallest of twitches. Had he thought of that? And if he had, why hadn’t he mentioned it? It would have to be plaguing his mind.

I looked to Fox. ‘Is there any way we can stop ourselves from the effects?’ I was slightly embarrassed by the tremble in my voice. ‘We all bought lotto tickets, we all bought those ridiculous trainers, but…is there any way to stop it? Fox! We need to stop it!’

I realised I sounded a little desperate, yet forgetting the genius of James, what he was fighting for, was much too terrible to consider. God, no, James always had to be James. InVizion couldn’t change that.

Fox glanced up at me, blinking. James hadn’t moved, hadn’t shown any sign that he’d heard or understood a word.

I was beginning to dread our bet. Dread when those two hours would soon be up and this would all be a dream. I’d be standing here, wondering why I was stuck in some dirty flat; who these men were.

No, of course not. InVizion couldn’t do all that. InVizion didn’t know me. They didn’t know my…attachment to James. That wouldn’t happen. Worst case scenario? I’d forget his little speech on television. Or think he was insane for it.

I’d still rather not let that happen. My foot connected with the back wheel of his chair.

‘FOX!’

He let out a confused noise and rubbed the bridge of his nose. ‘I don’t know.’

He didn’t know. Of course he didn’t. Otherwise he wouldn’t have a lotto ticket, or those fucking trainers. I still found myself growing angry. ‘You’re supposed to be clever when it comes to this sort of thing. You’re supposed to understand signals and transmissions and how all of this bloody stuff works, right? So why haven’t you found a way to counteract it yet?’