The Circle

site sometime soon?
     She’s a bit upset now. Just any wordof encouragement would be helpful. I know you’re a good person and wouldn’t intentionally
     mess with her head, you know, promising to help and then ignoring her. Cheers! Edward
. Mae went to Helena’s site, read one of the essays, congratulated her, told her it
     was brilliant, and sent out a zing telling everyone that Helena from Melbourne/New
     Mexico was a voice to be reckoned with, and that they should support her work in any
     way they could. But the rip was still open inside Mae, and she needed to close it.
     Not knowing what elese to do, she activated CircleSurveys, and nodded to begin.
    “Are you a regular user of conditioner?”
    “Yes,” she said.
    “Thank you. What do you think about organic hair products?” Already she felt calmer.
    “Smile.”
    “Thank you. What do you think about nonorganic hair products?”
    “Frown,” Mae said. The rhythm felt right.
    “Thank you. If your favored haircare product isn’t available at your usual store or
     online site, would you substitute it for a similar brand?”
    “No.”
    “Thank you.”
    The steady completion of tasks felt right. Mae checked her bracelet, which showed
     hundreds of new smiles. There was something refreshing, the comments were asserting,
     about seeing a Circle semi-celebrity like herself contributing to the data pool like
     this. She was hearing, also, from customers she’d helped in her CE days. Customers
     from Columbus, Johannesburg and Brisbane all said hello and congratulations. The owner
     of a marketing firm in Ontario thankedher, via zing, for her good example, for her goodwill, and Mae briefly corresponded,
     asking how business was up and over there.
    She answered three more queries, and was able to get all three customers to fill out
     extended surveys. The pod rating was 95, which she hoped she could personally help
     bring up. She was feeling very good, and needed.
    “Mae.”
    The sound of her name, spoken by her processed voice, was jarring. She felt like she
     hadn’t heard this voice in months, but it hadn’t lost its power. She knew she should
     nod, but she wanted to hear it again, so she waited.
    “Mae.”
    It felt like home.
    Mae knew, intellectually, that the only reason she was in Francis’s room was that
     everyone else in her life had, for the time being, abandoned her. After ninety minutes
     at CE, she checked the CircleSearch to see where Francis was, and saw he was in one
     of the dorms. Then she saw he was awake and online. Minutes later he’d invited her
     over, so grateful and so happy, he said, to be hearing from her.
I’m sorry
, he wrote,
and I’ll say that again when you get to my door
. She turned off her camera and went to him.
    The door opened.
    “I’m so sorry,” he said.
    “Stop,” Mae said. She stepped in and closed the door.
    “You want anything?” he asked. “Water? There’s this new vodka, too, that was here
     when I got back tonight. We can try it.”
    “No thanks,” she said, and sat on a credenza against the wall. Francis had set up
     his portables there.
    “Oh wait. Don’t sit there,” he said.
    She stood up. “I didn’t sit on your devices.”
    “No, it’s not that,” he said. “It’s the credenza. They told me it’s fragile,” he said,
     smiling. “Sure you don’t want a drink or anything?”
    “No. I’m really tired. I just didn’t want to be alone.”
    “Listen,” he said. “I know I should have asked your permission first. I know this.
     But I hope you can understand where I was coming from. I couldn’t believe I was with
     you. And there was some part of me that assumed it would be the only time. I wanted
     to remember it.”
    Mae knew the power she had over him, and that power gave her a distinct thrill. She
     sat on the bed. “So did you find them?” she asked.
    “How do you mean?”
    “Last I saw you, you were planning to scan those photos, the ones from your album.”
    “Oh yeah. I guess I haven’t talked to you since then. I did scan them. The whole thing
     was easy.”
    “So you found who they were?”
    “Most of them had Circle accounts so I could just face-rec them. I mean, it took about
     seven minutes. There were a few I had to use the feds’ database for. We don’t have
     total access yet, but we can see DMV photos. That’s most of the adults in the country.”
    “And did you contact them?”
    “Not yet.”
    “But you know where they’re all