The Circle

or execution. But he was thrilled with the result, and dearly wanted the
     artist to come to the campus to talk about the sculpture, but the artist had said
     he was unable to come in person, or even toteleconference. He’d rather let the sculpture speak for itself, he said. Mae turned
     to the woman with him.
    “Who are you?”
    “Rinku. Also from the Machine Age.”
    “Do you agree with Gino?”
    “I do. I mean, this feels very soulful to me. Like, in how we need to find more ways
     to connect. The screen here is a barrier, and the hand is transcending it …”
    Mae was nodding, thinking she needed to wrap this up, when she saw, through the translucent
     wrist of the giant hand, someone who looked like Annie. It was a young woman, blond,
     about Annie’s height and build, and she was walking briskly across the quad. Rinku
     was still talking, having warmed up.
    “I mean, how can the Circle find a way to make the connection between us and our users
     stronger? To me it’s incredible that this artist, so far away and from such a different
     world, expressed what was on the minds of all of us here at the Circle? How to do
     better, do more, reach further, you know? How do we throw our hands through the screen
     to get closer to the world and everyone in it?”
    Mae was watching the Annie-like figure walk into the Industrial Revolution. When the
     door closed, and Annie, or Annie’s twin, disappeared within, Mae smiled at Rinku,
     thanked her and Gino, and checked the time.
    It was 1:49. She had to be with Dr. Villalobos in eleven minutes.
    “Annie!”
    The figure continued to walk. Mae was torn between really yelling, which typically
     upset the viewers, or running after Annie, whichwould cause the camera to shake violently—which also upset the viewers. She settled
     on a kind of speed walking while holding the camera against her chest. Annie turned
     another corner and then was gone. Mae heard the click of a door, the door to a stairway,
     and rushed to it. If she didn’t know better, she would have thought Annie was avoiding
     her.
    When Mae entered the stairway, she looked up, saw Annie’s distinctive hand, and yelled
     up. “Annie!”
    Now the figure stopped. It was Annie. She turned, slowly made her way down the steps,
     and when she saw Mae, she smiled a practiced, exhausted smile. They hugged, Mae knowing
     any embrace always provided for her viewers a semi-comical, and occasionally mildly
     erotic, moment, as the other hugger’s body swooped toward and eventually subsumed
     the camera’s lens.
    Annie pulled back, looked down at the camera, stuck out her tongue and looked up at
     Mae.
    “Everyone,” Mae said, “this is Annie. You’ve heard about her—Gang of 40 member, world-strider,
     beautiful colossus and my close personal friend. Say hi, Annie.”
    “Hi,” Annie said.
    “So how was the trip?” Mae asked.
    Annie smiled, though Mae could tell, through the briefest of grimaces, that Annie
     was not enjoying this. But she conjured a happy mask and put it on. “It was great,”
     she said.
    “Anything you’d like to share? How did things go with everyone in Geneva?”
    Annie’s smile wilted.
    “Oh, you know we shouldn’t talk about much of that stuff, given so much of it is—”
    Mae nodded, assuring Annie she knew. “I’m sorry. I was just talking about Geneva as
     a location. Nice?”
    “Sure,” Annie said. “Just great. I saw the Von Trapps, and they’ve gotten some new
     clothes. Also made of drapes.”
    Mae glanced at her wrist. She had nine minutes until she had to see Dr. Villalobos.
    “Anything else you’d like to talk about?” she asked.
    “What else?” Annie said. “Well let me think …”
    Annie tilted her head, as if surprised, and mildly annoyed, that this faux-visit was
     still continuing. But then something came over her, as if finally settling into what
     was happening—that she was stuck on camera and had to assume her mantle as company
     spokesperson.
    “Okay, there’s another very cool program that we’ve been hinting at for a while, a
     system called PastPerfect. And in Germany I was working out some last hurdles to help
     it happen. We’re currently looking for the right volunteer here within the Circle
     to try it out, but when we find the right person, it’ll mean the start of a very new
     era for the Circle, and, not to be overly dramatic about it, for humankind.”
    “Not dramatic at all!” Mae said. “Can you say anything more