The Circle

name.
    “Were you here when that burned?” the man asked, pointing to a large uninhabited island
     in the middle of the bay. It rose, mute and black, behind them. Mae shook her head.
    “It burned for two days. We had just gotten here. At night, the heat—you could feel
     it even here. We swam every night in this godforsaken water, just to stay cool. We
     thought the world was ending.”
    Now the woman’s eyes opened and she focused on Mae. “Have you swum in this bay?”
    “A few times,” Mae said. “It’s brutal. But I used to swim in Lake Tahoe growing up.
     That’s at least as cold as this.”
    Mae finished her wine, and felt briefly aglow. She squinted into the sun, turned away,
     and saw a man in the distance, on a silver sailboat, raising a tricolored flag.
    “How old are you?” the woman asked. “You look about eleven.”
    “Twenty-four,” Mae said.
    “My god. You don’t have a mark on you. Were we ever twenty-four, my love?” She turned
     to the man, who was using a ballpoint pen to scratch the arch of his foot. He shrugged,
     and the woman let the matter drop.
    “Beautiful out here,” Mae said.
    “We agree,” the woman said. “The beauty is loud and constant. The sunrise this morning,
     it was so good. And tonight’s a full moon. It’s been rising full orange, turning silver
     as it climbs. The water will be soaked in gold, then platinum. You should stay.”
    “I have to return that,” Mae said, indicating the kayak. She looked at her phone.
     “In about eight minutes.”
    She stood up, and the man stood and took her cup, setting his own cup inside hers.
     “You think you can get back across the bay in eight minutes?”
    “I’ll try,” Mae said, and stood.
    The woman let out a loud tsk. “I can’t believe she’s leaving already. I liked her.”
    “She’s not dead, dear. She’s still with us,” the man said. He helped Mae into the
     kayak and untied it. “Be polite.”
    Mae dipped her hand into the bay and wet the back of her neck.
    “Fly away, traitor,” the woman said.
    The man rolled his eyes. “Sorry.”
    “It’s okay. Thanks for the wine,” Mae said. “I’ll come back again.”
    “That’d be swell,” the woman said, though she seemed finished with Mae. It was as
     if, for a moment, she thought Mae was one kind of person, but now, knowing she was
     another, she could part with her, she could give her back to the world.
    Mae paddled toward the shore, her head feeling very light, thewine putting a crooked smile on her face. And only then did she realize how long she’d
     been free of thoughts of her parents, of Mercer, of the pressures at work. The wind
     picked up, now heading west, and she paddled with it recklessly, spray everywhere,
     soaking her legs and face and shoulders. She felt so strong, her muscles growing bolder
     with every splash of cold water. She loved it all, seeing the free-range boats get
     closer, the caged yachts appear and take on names, and, finally, the beach take shape
     with Walt waiting at the waterline.
    On Monday, when she got to work and logged on, there were a hundred or so second-screen
     messages.
    From Annie:
We missed you Friday night!
    Jared:
You missed a great bash
.
    Dan:
Bummed you weren’t at the Sunday Celebr!
    Mae searched her calendar and realized there had been a party on Friday, open to everyone
     in the Renaissance. Sunday had been a barbecue for newbies—the newbies that had arrived
     in the two weeks she’d been at the Circle.
    Busy day
, Dan wrote.
See me asap
.
    He was standing in the corner of his office, facing the wall. She knocked lightly
     and, without turning, he raised his index finger, asking for a moment. Mae watched
     him, assuming he was on a call, and stood patiently, silently, until she realized
     he was using his retinals and wanted a blank background. She’d been seeing Circlers
     occasionally doing this—facing walls, so the images on their retinal displays could
     be seen more clearly. Now finished, he swirled to Mae, flashing a friendly and quick-dissolving
     smile.
    “You weren’t able to come yesterday?”
    “Sorry. I was with my folks. My dad—”
    “Great event. I think you were the only newb absent. But we can talk about it later.
     For now I need to ask you a favor. We’ve had to bring on a lot of new help, given
     how fast things are expanding now, so I wondered if you could help me with some of
     the new arrivals.”
    “Of course.”
    “I think it’ll be a cinch for