Congratulations! You’ve been selected to participate in a free trial of Unison 3.0 (Beta Version). Please attend our launch party at Greymatter!

Ambrose turned to Mistletoe but was struck dumb by sudden, white-hot flares of joy that knifed through his Thoughtstream. In an instant, Unison compressed the distance between his own Thoughtstream and those of his fellow users. Now they all seemed to originate in the same place, deep within his own mind, like a deafening echo chamber.

Lauren Jenkins loves her Friends more than anything else in the whole world! : )

Julia Pittman became a fan of Adam Trevor.

Oscar Ward thinks that life is about relaxing and just ENJOYING everything!

Chris Riley wonders why it took him so long to realize how easy it is to be happy.

Mark Sullivan ; ) ; ) ; ) ; ) ; )

Millions of full, detailed Profiles began to invade his Feed. And they were all inviting him to one Event: Launch Party at Greymatter.

It was going to be so much fun.

Maybe he could even play a few songs for all his new Friends.

He started down the hill. Someone tugged at his sleeve: the girl from the auditorium. She’d interrupted his preshow warm-up, and now she was trying to stop him from attending the Launch Party. He pulled away from her—crazy stalker!—and was about to tell her to leave him alone when her entire body jolted backward, as if she’d accidentally dropped a knife and was trying to keep it from landing on her foot. Her gaze became vacant and detached. Her mouth dropped open. Then she glitched and blinked out of existence.

No great loss. She hadn’t been his Friend, anyway.

He joined the users in the field and made his way toward the estate, whistling happily and enjoying the feel of the sun on his face.

13. Survivors

13

SURVIVORS

SHE WAS FLOATING in darkness. The tube slid open. A light shone down. She squinted. A man’s silhouette leaned in front of the light, blocking the sun-bright center but not the glow. Her eyes adjusted. The crisp angles of a neat suit and tie appeared within the dark space, then the silhouette disappeared. The bright ball of light returned.

Out of sight, men spoke in hushed tones punctuated by an occasional wet thwack. She felt herself tilt forward with a low mechanical whirrrr and gradually became aware that she was in a room filled with long metal tubes. The tube across from her was tilted upright and open. Inside was a tiny squirming baby with long wires protruding from his head. He looked straight at her and froze. She tried to wave, but her arms were strapped down. Instead, she gurgled her best greeting. He blinked and moved his lips.

Once again: thwack.