I want to ask more questions but Season’s throwing washing- up into the sink. I’m worried the cakes are going to burn because she might have a mega power surge and burn them and we won’t be able to have our party. As I think that, the buzzer goes off to say the cakes are ready and Season puts on the oven gloves and asks for two volunteers to get the cake racks out. Big Ben and Noon put their hands up. I notice Noon’s wearing a pair of jeans which she must have borrowed from Ama because she wouldn’t have jeans in 1924. Maybe Ama would rather be friends with Noon than with me. I’m sad when I think that.

But I don’t think that for long because I’m thinking about Infinity, the person and the symbol . Infinity is the wisest bissextile of them all. And MC2 has an infinity tattoo on his left hand . . .

Chapter 10:00: Game

Chapter 10:00

GAME

We open our birthday presents at 6 p.m. in the Common Room. I’ve never been in there before. There are lots of comfy chocolate-brown chairs and circular rugs with jagged patterns on them in cream, black and gold. I get a book about Bob Beamon. His wife helped him write it. Maybe he’s like Big Ben and needs help with typing. I can’t wait to read it. It’s not really a children’s book. In the future, they don’t believe in separating the two. They think children shouldn’t be sheltered from bad things. GMT gets a new watch. Maybe it’s one MC2 stole from another century. Those two have definitely met before. Big Ben gets a stopwatch that can time nanoseconds. I’ve never heard him whoop so loud. Ama doesn’t get anything because she’s an Annual.

We’re having a barbecue outside instead of the usual evening meal in The Beanstalk. The air’s mild and damp and there’s music to help us relax but it’s a bit loud. There are two separate grills, meat and vegetarian. Le Temps is in charge of the meat, which is why he collected it earlier and made Season cross. And you’ll never guess who’s slapping meat on the barbecue. An eco-bot! The bot looks like someone squashed together old clothes, metal cans and cardboard boxes to make something that LOOKS like a human. Their face is patchworked, and they’re wearing a black beanie. Some of the boys are pointing and laughing.