Chapter Eight

Jule's avoidance of Ember continued throughout the next week, and the next. The small filing room became a damp, stuffy sort of haven; the one place in which he could think…the one place he could chat Violet with Coalition news.

He'd heard a loud and almost violent argument, walking past Jared Wiles' office room one afternoon. The voices he recognised were those of Jared and Kiaran, the old, harsh-voiced man whom Jared so often disagreed with.

"-A million times!" Jule heard Jared's fragmented shout.

"But if you'd just take the time t read the plans I left you, you'd see how perfect it is" the voice insisted.

"The answer still remains no, Kiaran." And if you mention it on more time I'll have you out of the Coalition! You're more of a risk to us than a help!"

"I will not take no for an answer, Jared! I will not waste an opportunity like this-"

"Do what you like under your own ID…but I will not have the Coalition's name associated with such a criminal scheme as broadcasting!

In other news, Jared's 'harmless experiments' continued – if the grapevine of Marton-originated gossip was to be believed - but to little effect. The Corporations soon tracked down the worst of the edited feed banners, and those that were not deleted were dismissed as small faults in an unimportant computer mainframe in some far-off, less-civilised part of the world. Nothing to bother about.

Jule also found himself avoiding Marton – and any of his enlisted gossipers – as much as possible. As a result, his filing room haven was a necessity.

However, there were days when there were no documents to sort through. At these times, he went as far from the Coalition as he could to visit Violet. He began to understand why she had chosen to disassociate herself; the Coalition was stifling and – as she often attempted to convince Jule – the feed wasn't entirely bad.

There was feed-messaging, and the ability to cache messages of value for later playback. Banners and other ads could be overlooked, but how would merchandise get to the consumer if it weren't for high-speed feed-transportation?

His exchanges with Violet always ended with a kiss – or a few- which he convinced himself were all part of a reminiscence on the past, nothing more.

In fact, the state of Jule's life became so dream-like that his awakening into reality one day shook Jule more than his worst nightmares ever had.

Ember was waiting for him outside his haven after lunch, the look on her face impossible to read.

"So, you're back."

It was an odd statement, so Jule opted for a co-operative but wary approach.

"Yes…"

"Must have been a pretty bad virus."

"Oh, it was. Don't remind me." He wondered what virus he was supposed to have had.

"Marton said it was some sort of cache overload."

Right.

"Oh, yeah. Must've forgotten to delete one too many banners, you know? I mean, I always said-"

"-But I didn't believe him." Ember interrupted.

"You…ah, didn't?"

"Nope. Because I know your cache has been just fine these past two weeks."

"How would you know that?"

"Because," she began in a falsely amiable voice, "I asked FeedTech to check your cache."

She saw the questioning look on Jule's face and obligingly elaborated.

"I told them I had a friend who thought he'd been the victim of dangerous junk messages. And that he couldn't contact FeedTech just now because the massages had blocked his system.
So, I suggested they check all incoming feed-messages, because my friend told me the sender seemed to be using an ordinary name. And I gave them your ID."

Jule had such a sense of foreboding at what he knew must be to come that he couldn't bring himself to be impressed by this impressive scheme.

"And then they told me just what they'd found in your cache. A couple of banners. No messages from a certain Ember Wood – I suppose they must have been deleted accidentally. And finally, about fifteen or twenty from a Violet Durn."

By this time, Ember's voice had reached a pitch so high that Jule could barely make out Violet's name. When he did, he supposed he should have felt trapped like a bird in an upcar's headlights; guilty, maybe. Perhaps he should have apologised, or even begged and grovelled at her feet. Perhaps it was the absence of this, above all else, which caused Ember to say what she did next.

"Now Jule, I really don't want to know what you and her have been doing together, but e both know you've broken a Coalition rule. You've associated with a disassociate. And probably worse."
Jule was wondering just what he and Violet were supposed to have done together when Ember dealt him the greatest blow of them all.

"-But that's all going to stop now, isn't it, Jule? Because if it doesn't, Marton's gossipers are gonna have something to gossip about until their mouths shrivel up!"

"…Or until Jared catches the grapevine…" Jule finally voiced his chief far. Ember nodded at him, triumphantly.

"So, I want you to stop seeing Violet. I mean, she used you back before…back then. I never did. Think about it. I'll give you a day."

"…I wonder why it's called a grapevine?" It was the shock that had made him say it, but he figured ember would take it as defiance.

"Piss off and do what you have to do, Jule," she hissed as she walked away.

Deleted message search completed.
Search keywords: Violet Durn, sorry, forgive.
Target: Minus 7 months.
Results: Sorry I couldn't get that shirt you wanted; it only came in pink, love Violet Sorry about my dad. He'd taken his feedpack off and couldn't remember where he'd put it; he was convinced it was an omen, love Vi Sorry I didn't chat you back yesterday. I had to show a cousin round; she's here for a week, Vi Sorry I haven't chatted you since Saturday, but I've been really busy, Violet Sorry about last week…the trip was unavoidable, Violet Sorry, sorry, sorry for making you think I used you, Jule. I regret that more than everything else and I hope you can maybe understand that the only reason I stayed in the Coalition was because of you. Not that I wanted to piss anyone off or make them jealous; not Ember, not my dad, and definitely not Marton. It was completely because I loved being with you. I mean, still love…Please forgive me and I promise I-
Message was blocked at this point.