The Circle

idea real. Mae, I want you to imagine where all this is going.”
    “I know where it’s going.”
    “Mae, close your eyes.”
    “No.”
    “Mae, please. Close your eyes.”
    She closed her eyes.
    “I want you to connect these dots and see if you see what I see. Picture this. The
     Circle has been devouring all competitors for years, correct? It only makes the company
     stronger. Already, 90 percent of the world’s searches go through the Circle. Without
     competitors, this will increase. Soon it’ll be nearly 100 percent. Now, you and I
     both know that if you can control the flow of information, you can control everything.
     You can control most of what anyone sees and knows. If you want to bury some piece
     of information, permanently, that’s two seconds’ work. If you want to ruin anyone,
     that’s five minutes’ work.How can anyone rise up against the Circle if they control all the information and
     accesss to it? They want everyone to have a Circle account, and they’re well on their
     way to making it illegal not to. What happens then? What happens when they control
     all searches, and have full access to all data about every person? When they know
     every move everyone makes? If all monetary transactions, all health and DNA information,
     every piece of one’s life, good or bad, when every word uttered flows through one
     channel?”
    “But there are a thousand protections to prevent all of this. It’s just not possible.
     I mean, governments will make sure—”
    “Governments who are transparent? Legislators who owe their reputations to the Circle?
     Who could be ruined the moment they speak out? What do you think happened to Williamson?
     Remember her? She threatens the Circle monopoly and, surprise, the feds find incriminating
     stuff on her computer. You think that’s a coincidence? That’s about the hundredth
     person Stenton’s done that to. Mae, once the Circle’s complete, that’s it. And you
     helped complete it. This democracy thing, or Demoxie, whatever it is, good god. Under
     the guise of having every voice heard, you create mob rule, a filterless society where
     secrets are crimes. It’s brilliant, Mae. I mean, you are brilliant. You’re what Stenton
     and Bailey have been hoping for from the start.”
    “But Bailey—”
    “Bailey believes that life will be better, will be perfect, when everyone has unfettered
     access to everyone and everything they know. He genuinely believes that the answers
     to every life question can be found among other people. He truly believes that openness,
     that complete and uninterrupted access among all humans will help the world. That
     this is what the world’s been waiting for, the moment whenevery soul is connected. This is his rapture, Mae! Don’t you see how extreme that
     view is? His idea is radical, and in another era would have been a fringe notion espoused
     by an eccentric adjunct professor somewhere: that all information, personal or not,
     should be known by all. Knowledge is property and no one can own it. Infocommunism.
     And he’s entitled to that opinion. But paired with ruthless capitalistic ambition—”
    “So it’s Stenton?”
    “Stenton professionalized our idealism, monetized our utopia. He’s the one who saw
     the connection between our work and politics, and between politics and control. Public-private
     leads to private-private, and soon you have the Circle running most or even all government
     services, with incredible private-sector efficiency and an insatiable appetite. Everyone
     becomes a citizen of the Circle.”
    “And that’s so bad? If everyone has equal access to services, to information, we finally
     have a chance at equality. No information should cost anything. There should be no
     barriers to knowing everything, to accessing all—”
    “And if everyone’s tracked—”
    “Then there’s no crime. No murder, no kidnapping and rape. No kids ever victimized
     again. No more missing persons. I mean, that alone—”
    “But don’t you see what happened to your friend Mercer? He was pursued to the ends
     of the earth and now he’s gone.”
    “But this is just the pivot of history. Have you talked to Bailey about this? I mean,
     during any major human turning point, there’s upheaval. Some get left behind, some
choose
to be left behind.”
    “So you think everyone should be tracked, should be watched.”
    “I think everything and every
one
should be seen. And to be seen, we need to be