Not this time, though.
In no time Jake had carefully removed the letter from its wrapper. Like the Circuit logo on the envelope, the letter was in gold and black print. The paper had been scented with something pleasant yet indescribable. Jake checked his cloud feed for the smell, but it came up blank. Whatever the scent was it was new and would be logged forever, along with the memory of this day. The memory might be replayed frequently if he got what he hoped for today. The fragrant aroma that danced off the page had the unusual effect of lowering his pulse rate and shrouding his senses with a beautiful sense of tranquillity. Whatever was coming next, he no longer had reason to fear it.
Jake read the contents of the letter a couple of times. Most of it would need further explanation but, on this occasion, there were no more codes to help him out of his confusion. Perhaps that was the purpose of the two guides currently pressing their faces up against the windowless windows. The information did somersaults around his mind desperate to fix the landing and avoid falling flat on its arse. He’d need more practice.
“Tell us, then,” burst out Deborah, unable to suppress her nervous excitement.
“I don’t really understand what it all means.”
“I remember that feeling,” said Kyle. “Take us through it one line at a time. Who have they paired you with?”
“It just says, Sam Ragnara Goldberg, importance factor – necessary.”
Almost immediately, and unnoticed by those around them, everyone other than Paddy scanned their Memory Clouds to get a first glimpse of Jake’s future bride. It wasn’t difficult to find her with such a unique middle name. Anyone’s details and biography could be found on the cloud even if you weren’t connected directly to them. If you wanted a more intimate interaction, however, you’d have to formally request access to their feed.
“Oh well done, my son,” boasted Kyle, clapping his hands together gleefully. “You’ve done well.”
“She’s alright, I suppose,” added Tyra. “Shame for you that she’s not more important than necessary, though. Life’s going to be a struggle, that’s for sure.”
“Do any of you remember Christie?” said Jake sternly. “You know, the girl who’s been coming to this house for the past six years. The one you all get on with. The one I’m actually in love with.”
“Yes, of course,” said Paddy. “She’s cross-eyed?”
“No, that’s Tyra’s friend Evie and don’t mock, there’s no surgery allowed on eyes, remember.”
“I’ll actually miss Christie,” said Tyra. “She made you more bearable.”
“Well, I shouldn’t worry because in twenty-four hours I won’t be here to annoy you. I’ll be in Sweden, wherever the hell that is!”
Again, everyone mined their virtual platforms to check for themselves. The ‘Great Segregation’ may have ended two decades ago, but most adults had very little experience of travelling outside of their own borders. If practical, most couples were still selected locally, and the cost of travel by any means other than tram was exclusive to those with vital or essential importance factors or very rare exceptions.
“Holy moly,” said Tyra. “It’s on the other side of the Atlantic in the United States of Europe.”
“Is it?” gulped Jake. “I thought most of Europe was in the sunken lands.”
“Jake, connect your feed to mine for a moment,” said Kyle.
As they coupled their cloud feeds, Kyle pointed out the regions of the U.S.E. that were still inhabitable after the catastrophic sea surge of the late twenty-thirties. He pointed out the location of the Low Countries before they were submerged, and then traced his finger across the virtual map to point out what remained of the Scandinavian region.
“Everything to the south of here,” he said authoritatively with his finger pointing at somewhere called Turkey, a place Jake had never heard of, “all of this is uninhabitable until you get as far down as Tanzania. Although you can live there, no one wants to.”
Jake quickly forgot about the calming influence of the scent in the letter and decided instead to engage full throttle hyperventilate. He’d never even left the country, let alone travelled across the sea. The ocean had always been a great comfort in his life. It was less than ten minutes’ walk away and he and Christie went most days. They’d sit on the beach, relax, chat and watch while the waves half-heartedly broke on the sand, knackered from their extensive journey from a place thousands of miles away that he was viewing now on a fake map. When you lived your whole life by the sea you learnt how to respect it, whether you were swimming, sailing or diving. It had never held any fear for him until today.
“Oh God! I don’t want to move to Sweden. I thought if I had to marry someone I’d never met before it might at least be somewhere nearby, then at least I might still see Christie…as a friend obviously,” he added just in case the Circuit was listening and took offence.
They always were.
“I think that’s why they do it,” said Deborah whose face had gone pale with shock. “Take away the temptation. They must know how you feel about her.”
“If they know that I love Christie, why are they doing this? They’re supposed to be making the decisions for me based on my innermost desires and emotions. At what point did I beg to live in Sweden and have a job as an Archivist?”
“Is that the job they’ve given you?” said Deborah.
He nodded reluctantly.
“I hear it’s a good one,” added Kyle. “Lots of travel, exciting missions, and they have an important role in upholding the integrity of the Circuit.”
“Huh,” gurgled Paddy. “Welcome to the Gestapo, boy.”
“The what?”
“Look it up on your fancy cloud.”
He did.
He didn’t like the comparison.
“Oh, that’s perfect,” he replied falsely. “I wanted to design boats, a fun form of transport that the Circuit haven’t abolished yet. Where the hell is that on here?” he said, shaking the letter. “Nowhere! Instead I have to spend the next forty years chasing after speccies and enforcing the Circuit’s laws. It’ll probably be dangerous, dirty and demoralising. No one likes Archivists, do they?”
“You never were very popular,” sniped Tyra.
“People like them more than speccies. They’re the true enemy,” added Kyle sternly. “Most are criminals. We can’t track where they go and what they’re thinking. It’s totally irresponsible of them. Why would people do that unless they had something to hide? I think they’re plotting against the rest of society. I bet they’re already planning to invade so they can kill our children and steal our homes.”
“Rubbish!” said Paddy. “You’re being poisoned by your own mind. The Circuit wants you to be scared. That’s why they broadcast the ‘Proclamation of Distrust’ every other day and fill your feed with mistruths. The Spectrum just refuse to live under an oppressive regime. They just want to be free, that’s all.”
Midway through Paddy’s rant his metal hip box vibrated, and a light flashed like it was signalling a late wake-up call or urgent notification. He knew what it was but ignored it as usual. Even when he wasn’t wearing the device, the Circuit tracked him through his connection with the other clouds associated to him.