"It has twenty different kind of tone, some of them music! And--what it is called?--GPS feature!" he said, thinking that last would be certain to impress her. "Get lost anyplace, anyplace in whole world, you send message to UpLink operator. He send message back, tell you where you are! Do you know?"

Alyssa ran her tongue around the inside of her lips, trying to curb her annoyance. If Enzio's rambling about the watch didn't drive her bonkers, his verbal tics absolutely would. And those giggly kids, Jesus.

"Uh-huh," she said, beginning to regret that she hadn't sat across the aisle with Thandie, one of the other models ... although all she ever talked about was how she could eat as much rich, high-calorie food as she wanted and stay thin, let's not mention the diet pills and the fingers down her throat as her meals went straight into the toilet.

Beside Alyssa, Enzio decided to make a last-ditch attempt at awing her with his expensive new toy. He thrust his wrist out in front of her, the watch's dial so close to her face it almost clipped the tip of her nose.

"You enter names, phone numbers, addresses! Up to one thousand people! Mark appointments on calendar! Download informacion to PC! Do you--?"

The fluorescents above them suddenly blinked on. Alyssa had no idea why--maybe one of the pint-sized monsters behind her had gotten up and fiddled with the switch. In which case, she was thinking she really ought to be grateful, since it had at least shut Enzio up for the moment.

The thing she didn't get, though, was why the lights were so bright. And what was that weird humming noise they were making?

She glanced over her shoulder and saw that the three girls were all in their seats, looking this way and that in surprise along with the rest of the car's passengers.

Well, almost all of us, she thought, noticing that Enzio was still staring adoringly at his goddamned cook-your-dinner-screw-your-significant-other-for-you Dick Tracy Superwatch, seemingly oblivious to everything around him.

"Enzio," she said. "Do you know what's going on--"

"Shhh!" he said. "Not now!"

Surprised by his unusual curtness--Enzio might be a royal pain in the ass, but he was always a polite one--Alyssa looked at him and realized that he was no longer admiring the watch, but frowning at it. Whatever he saw on its face was making him upset. Very upset actually.

She leaned over to check it out for herself, then raised her eyebrows, the reason for his distress becoming evident.

The display no longer showed the time, but was covered with rows of tiny, blinking ones and zeroes. Also, the watch's alert tones all seemed to be sounding at once. Chirps, beeps, blips, trilly fragments of simple melody. She supposed she might have noticed it right away if her attention hadn't been diverted by the buzzing lights and the confused, edgy vibe running through the car.