Page 16 of Unruly
“My phone?”
“A telephone? In your hand?”
“Uh yeah, it’s a cell phone. Um, mobile phone?”
He looks around for a moment. “I know what a telephone is. Why is it not connected to anything? How do you use it?”
“It’s…” I pause, thinking about how to explain cell phone technology to him. “It connects to waves in the air.”
“Waves in the air? You don’t have to patronize me.”
“I’m not. That’s how it works. Look.” I grab his arm and pull him to the side, holding my phone up for him to see it. “It’s also a computer. We can look stuff up.”
“Like a library?”
“Sure, yeah, a digital library, except way bigger and constantly updated.”
“Mm.” He leans closer. “How do you use it to look things up?”
I swipe the screen to open up a browser and then I type Professor W. Carole into the search bar. Several results pop up and none of them are Harvard. Instead, it’s a small private university I’ve never heard of.
“Looks like she works here.” I show Farnsworth the screen. “It’s in Quincy.”
“Your phone told you that?”
“Well, the internet, yeah. Don’t you use a tablet for your work?”
“Yes.”
“I assumed you’d be familiar with modern technology then.”
“We moved to using it about twenty years ago, but it only gives me information on the next incoming potential Chaser.”
“Where did it come from?”
He shrugs. “It was on my desk one morning with instructions on how to turn it on. I don’t question how the underworld works.”
“Fair.” I gesture towards the T station. “Ready to take the fast machine to Quincy?”
Farnsworth smiles, just slightly. “Lead the way.”
As we navigate the crowded sidewalk, I’m filled with a ton of questions about how Farnsworth lives, for lack of a better word.
“You don’t eat?”
“No.”
“Do you sleep?”
“I rest, yes. It’s not sleep the way you understand it, but it is restorative.”
“Do you live in the Revival House?”
“I have an apartment on the upper floor.”
“What do you do for fun?”
His brow creases as he stares ahead. “Fun?”
