Feed

Titus and Violet arrive at the party. Link and Marty are playing a game, intensely focused, and Marty almost accidentally punches Violet. They shout at Titus and Violet to get out of the way. In the living room, everyone is drinking and watching a feedcast called Snowblind, a trite comedy. Shyly, Violet steels herself and goes to say hello to Calista. Titus talks to Quendy, who starts glaring at Calista. She asks Titus if he thinks Calista and Link are having sex, and Titus agrees that they probably are. Quendy reveals she slept with Link previously and calls him a pig, asserting, “I’m tired of just being the friendly one who everyone like steps all over” (68). Quendy asks if Titus and Violet are dating and is glad that they are. Quendy likes Violet, even if Calista thinks she is arrogant. Concerned at this new information, Titus notices that neither Violet nor Calista, who are talking, are smiling. Titus chats Violet, who says Calista is making fun of her for using the word “picayune” (69). Titus watches the people around him chatting and watching their feeds. One person says, “I think the truffle is like completely undervalued” (69). Titus realizes that they are all acting unchanged by the experience they had shared and repeats to himself, “The truffle was completely undervalued” (69).

There is an excerpt from a newscast between the chapters in which the President of the United States denies allegations that the lesions are being caused by any actions of American industries.

Titus is distracted as they watch Snowblind, and he notices Violet isn’t laughing at the comedy. While he is heading to the bathroom, Marty and Link grab Titus and pull him into a bedroom. They try to persuade him to malfunction using a new site Link promises is “just a mild scrambler” (72). Titus declines, mentioning that Violet won’t like it, but they keep pushing. Frustrated, Titus asks, “What did we just go through?” (72). Link and Marty don’t know what he’s talking about. Titus watches them starting to malfunction and then leaves the room. Violet is with Quendy, who wonders where everyone else has gone, but Titus doesn’t want to say they’re malfunctioning upstairs. Violet suggests they go outside, and they do. Violet notices that Titus is quiet, and Titus comments that Violet didn’t like Snowblind. Violet tells him she liked the scenery and wants to go away and see the country.

Violet presses Titus to tell her what’s wrong, but he still doesn’t want to bring up the malfunctioning, so he says it seems like no one else remembers what had just happened to them. Titus tells her about the conversations he heard and the truffle comment. Violet reveals that her feedware is still damaged from the attack. The doctors are still trying to repair it and believe it will go back to normal, but it hasn’t yet. He thinks again about Marty and Link deliberately malfunctioning. Violet asks again what is wrong, but Titus deflects, joking that he is wondering if the person meant truffles as in mushrooms or candy. Violet laughs. They embrace and kiss, and Titus feels like he is protecting her.

At home in bed after the party, Titus dreams that he finds an amazing site full of games he can play for free. As he’s getting ready to play, he feels someone there touching his feed and asks who they are. They claim they’re the police, urging Titus to go back to sleep. Titus is skeptical, and they reassure him they only want to run some tests. They distract Titus in the dream by giving him a lizard he’s always wanted and telling him the games are all for him. Dream-Titus thinks the people are from the Coalition of Pity, the group of hackers who had attacked him and his friends. However, when he wakes up, Titus only remembers the lizard and the games—both of which were gone. He only remembers the people a few weeks later.

Before the next chapter, there are excerpts from a feedcast called “AMURICA: A PORTRAIT IN GEEZERS” (78), in which subjects describe their memories of eagles and forests and life before the global temperature became inhospitably high.

Two days after the party, Violet invites Titus to see a new project she is working on. They flirt, which makes Titus happy, and he agrees to meet her at the mall since she isn’t ready to invite him to her house. It’s sunny in the sky while he flies over, but it’s raining on the ground. The mall is crowded with people who are buying the latest trendy merchandise, such as a mouth insert people use to cover their teeth and give the appearance of one long tooth instead. Violet’s shirt displays her lesion, which has become the fashion since lesions started cropping up on the actors starring in Oh? Wow! Thing!, and she is excited to tell Titus about the project she has planned. Violet tells Titus the feed watches everything they do and look at to calculate what they want, but beyond this, the corporations are streamlining the process by categorizing people into certain basic personality types and then pushing people to conform to those types. Therefore, they’re simplifying people to make it easier to sell them things. Titus, not particularly interested, replies, “Yeah. Okay. That’s the feed. So what?” (81).

Violet explains her project is to mess up her consumer profile so much she will be unrecognizable and won’t fit into any market category. She adds, “I’m going to become invisible” (81). First, Titus follows Violet into an electronics store and asks for a powerful searchlight, but she doesn’t want it for a vehicle. She wants to strap it to her body. The salesman is perplexed but shows her one he says he has attached to his upcar. He describes shining it down onto one of the suburbs and seeing massive numbers of cockroaches trying to scatter away from the light. Violet pulls Titus along as she shops for odd, mismatched things, soliciting help and explanations from salespeople but never buying anything. Violet points out that the music they’re listening to is also manufactured based on data analysis to determine which chords elicit fan responses. Violet brings Titus into the ruse, picking out dresses for him, and they have fun laughing and browsing merchandise they don’t really want.

Violet tells Titus she has been doing this for two days and bookmarking each random thing she views. Titus asks if Violet’s feedware is working properly again. Exasperated, she insists that it’s fine, but when he presses, she says, “What do you think?” (84). Violet wants to know his thoughts about resisting the feed. Titus quips, “It sounds great, as long as I get to wear the chemise” (85), which refers to some shopping they did previously. They eat dinner, and Titus offers to give her a ride home. Violet refuses, and Titus wants to know why she won’t let him go to her house and why her dad didn’t come to see her on the moon. Violet gives him a strange look and then tells him that her father had saved for a year to pay for her trip to the moon, and it would have cost a month of his salary to visit her. Titus, who hadn’t thought about the cost, is shocked. Violet asks him to take her to the feed technician’s office instead for her appointment. Before he leaves, Titus watches her hesitating at the door for a moment before going inside.

At bedtime, Titus chats Violet to tell her he had a nice time with her today, and he’s surprised to discover that she’s crying. He notices that there’s something strange about the way she’s transmitting through her feed. Violet deflects his questions about what’s wrong and just says she wishes he were there with her. Titus wishes the same. Violet quickly changes the subject, describing how her feed is trying desperately to keep up with their shopping day. She starts to forward the strange, mismatched ads she’s receiving, each one compounding on itself by showering them with related ads, until it becomes overwhelming.

Being with Violet is an entirely new experience. Titus worries at first that she might get bored because she’s smarter than he is, but Titus has had so many experiences that she hasn’t been able to access. As a child, her father hadn’t allowed her to buy a lot of things because they were too expensive. He also hadn’t let her have toy guns because he was against them philosophically. Violet and her other homeschool friends had created substitutes, pretending they were more like Titus and his friends. Violet is excited about every new experience. They people-watch at the mall and laugh at the stories they make up. For Violet, everything that seems old to Titus is new, which makes it feel new to him too.

Sometimes it does bother Titus that Violet is so much smarter. He explains that back when schools were run by the government, they had taught things he thinks are useless, like history and chemistry. The schools had been run down and full of guns and drugs. Now, “School™” (91) is run by corporations and Titus finds it much more interesting and useful. Additionally, he sees it as proof the corporations do care about them as humans and not just profit sources. The corporations had provided free computers and lunches, and school had become focused on learning how to use the feed and essentially consumer behavior. However, when Titus still struggles occasionally, he finds himself thinking about Violet and that she would probably find the conversation stupid. Violet is aware of the environmental issues that are happening around the world because she reads about them. When she says it’s depressing and scares her, Titus suggests she stop reading about it, but Violet insists she wants to remain informed.

Violet tries to explain to Titus that the two-party governmental system makes it impossible to implement real change, especially since the corporations are running everything. Titus argues that America is a democracy, and therefore people can make change, and he becomes annoyed and defensive when Violet says America isn’t a democracy. He assumes she is going to call the country fascist, but Violet explains kindly that she means America is a republic because the people elect representatives to vote for them. In a democracy, the people would vote for themselves. Titus considers this and realizes that if the government set up voting through their feeds, everyone could vote for everything. Violet reminds him that only 73% of Americans have feeds, which surprises Titus. Violet tells him that she didn’t get a feed until she was seven years old because it was too expensive, and her parents didn’t want her to get one. Titus is shocked, and he apologizes for being so unaware. Violet replies that those who have the feed for their entire lives aren’t taught to think about living without one.

Getting angry, Violet exclaims that it's the reason people don’t know so many things, adding, “Because of the feed, we’re raising a nation of idiots. Ignorant, self-centered idiots” (93). Immediately, Violet realizes she just insulted Titus and starts to stammer and apologize, but it doesn’t make Titus feel better. Later, his mother asks him what’s wrong, and Titus asks if he’s stupid. His mom asks if this is about Violet, and Titus claims it isn’t because he doesn’t want his mother to dislike her. His mom praises him and calls him wonderful, insisting that Violet should be proud of him. His dad asks where Violet lives, and Titus says he doesn’t know exactly. None of it helps. The next day, Titus fails a test. Violet says she can’t talk, which Titus assumes is because she’s busy being a genius. His parents find him moping, and his mom hugs him, but Titus can tell they had deliberately come looking for him to make him feel better.

His mom asserts that Titus is exactly the son that they had wanted and that no girl should think he isn’t good enough. She tells him she and his father had gone to the “conceptionarium” (95) and asked for a specific combination of their features with the looks of an actor named DelGlacey Murdoch mixed in. Titus’s dad is a little embarrassed by the conversation, noting that Murdoch didn’t get as famous as they thought he would, but his mother insists he is an extremely attractive actor. Then they tell him they’re buying him an upcar to cheer him up after everything he’s been through recently. Titus is ecstatic and finally feels better about himself.

In between the chapters, a section from a newscast says that in a chat that was intercepted, the President of the United States called the Prime Minister of the Global Alliance “a big shithead” (98), and he is furiously trying to backpedal to avoid a diplomatic nightmare.

Violet accompanies Titus and his father to shop for a car. Titus is excited and debates whether to get a larger car that fits his friends or something small and sporty. His feed blares in his head and shows him images of himself partying in one car and then on a date with Violet (with enhanced features) in another. Whenever Titus’s dad asks what Violet thinks, she suggests a more primitive mode of transportation, such as an oxcart or an elephant, which his dad does not find amusing. Violet comments that Titus is getting a gift just for being in the hospital, and Titus argues that he’s going to have to give evidence and testify in court. With an odd look, Violet tells Titus there is no court case because the man who attacked them was dead. The police had beaten him to death in front of them at the club. Violet had assumed that Titus knew. Titus is shocked. When his father returns, Titus ends up buying the larger car.

That night, Violet eats dinner with Titus’s family. Smell Factor is entirely focused on something he is watching on his feed. Titus’s dad is proud his son has his own upcar. Titus and Violet have plans to drive out into the countryside to either beef country or a forest called Jefferson Park. Titus’s dad informs them the forest has been cut down to make space for an air factory. Violet is horrified and exclaims trees make air , and his dad counters that they’re much less efficient than a factory. Condescendingly, Titus’s father says he used to have the same ideals, and he suggests Violet should be a clean air worker when she grows up. In an attempt to undermine his father’s arrogance toward Violet, Titus brings up the trial. His parents are confused for a moment, and then his father says there won’t be a trial because the man is dead, though they are considering filing a lawsuit against the club or the police. Smell Factor starts to sing loudly with his feed. Titus is angry no one told him, and his parents reply that they didn’t want to upset him.

Titus asserts he doesn’t want to be protected when there are things he should know about. Smell Factor sings even more loudly, repeatedly screaming along with the song on his feed. Titus’s father accuses him of acting like a brat when he just bought him an upcar. Over chat, Violet reassures Titus he isn’t being a brat, and his dad furiously tells them to stop chatting. His mom tries to calm him down. Abruptly, Violet goes pale. She freezes. Irritably, his dad reiterates that they’ll probably sue the club, then he tells Titus to take his girlfriend home in the upcar they bought him. Titus asks if Violet is all right, and she says that her foot fell asleep. Over chat, she admits that her foot has stopped functioning, which has happened a few times since they were hacked. Titus is worried, but she promises it will be better in a minute. After a moment, she moves her foot. Titus helps her up, which his mom thinks is sweet but makes his dad roll his eyes. Titus drives her to the mall and asks her again if she’s all right. She says she is. They chat about the car and then kiss. Titus promises he’ll see her in the morning and watches her walk away, stopping periodically to turn back and wave at him.

In between the chapters, there are song lyrics about love.

Titus follows his feed’s navigation and drives to Violet’s house. He winds up in an old neighborhood and notices the entire suburb shares its artificial sun and fabricated seasons, unlike his neighborhood in which each house has its own private sun and weather. Violet and Titus greet each other happily, and she introduces him to her father. Titus is struck by how many things covered in written words are all over the house. Violet’s father has an old version of the feed, which requires users to wear the machinery in a backpack and use special glasses. He welcomes Titus warmly but speaks in an overly formal way. Violet and her father tease each other, and Titus promises to keep her safe. They leave, and Titus admits he didn’t understand anything her father said. Violet explains that her father insists on using full words because he believes language is dying. Titus wonders about her mother, and Violet says that she’s probably in South America where it’s warm. Titus asks if her parents are divorced and is surprised when Violet tells him they never married. He says, “Your life…It must be kind of strange” (113). Violet asks what he means, and he clarifies that it’s just different from most other people. Violet agrees but clearly doesn’t want to talk about it.

It takes about an hour to get to the country, and Violet tells Titus about her family. Her parents had met in graduate school and “decided to live together as an experiment in lifestyle” (114). By the time Violet was around six years old, her parents started fighting a lot, and her mother left. Titus wonders if this is when her father became so odd, but Violet says that he has always been strange and difficult to comprehend, but her mother’s leaving amplified his quirks. Violet plays clips that she has saved on her feed of her father lecturing, and although Titus can’t understand what he’s talking about, he notices how certain and authoritative he seems and that he sounds smart and powerful. Violet tells Titus he rarely speaks like a regular person except sometimes while they’re eating dinner and he’s exhausted.

Titus tells his own family story, although he thinks it’s much less interesting. His parents had met through friends and then moved in together. While having dinner on Venus—when it was still known as the love planet—his father had shown Titus’s mother a lump on his finger that looked concerning. She became worried, but he pulled a tab on the lump and revealed an engagement ring. When he put the ring on her finger, it tightened, but it tightened too much, and they had to rush to a jeweler to have it adjusted. Titus’s mom likes to joke, “Yup, married, and with the scars to prove it” (116). Titus is glad they’ve shared their stories, and notes that Violet is proud of her father and his career. Although Titus secretly thinks her father seems like “an insane psychopath” (115). As they drive, an ad hits their feed for a farm that is open to visitors. Titus immediately turns and takes them there. It’s quiet with very few visitors. They walk around and hold hands. It’s a filet mignon farm—not a cattle farm but a farm where large slabs of disembodied meat are grown for consumption. There’s a “steak maze, for tourists” (116), and Titus and Violet race, laughing to find the center.

They get cider and donuts, and Violet explains her specific system of delayed gratification. When she sees something she wants to buy, such as a skirt, she waits a long time before allowing herself to order it. Then she waits until it’s on backorder to buy it and chooses the slowest shipping method. When it finally arrives, she waits to open the box, and then finally lets herself touch it, only putting the skirt on when she can’t wait any longer. This makes Titus aroused, and he wants more donuts but has to sit there for a moment. They watch the sunset from a tower that overlooks the farm. Amid the slabs of genetically modified meat, there are occasional mistakes, such as an eye or a heart. On the ride home, Violet asks Titus how he would choose to die if he had a choice, a question that has been on her mind lately. Titus wants to die with his senses overloaded with pleasure, adding that he plans to follow through with that when he gets “real old and boring” (118).

Violet states that knowing that something good will end makes it better, and they both agree that today was an amazing day. Titus asks if Violet will be there to oversee his final pleasure overload that kills him. Violet is perplexed for a second, and then she laughs and kisses him, promising that she will. Titus drops her off and goes home. He can sense his family’s feeds all around him. Smell Factor is asleep, interacting in his dreams with a children’s program on his feed. His parents are in mal, although he knows they wouldn’t want him to know that, but they’re using a flashy, high-priced site. Titus’s feed whispers to him about the latest trends and how lesions have gotten even cooler. He sees images of ads, beautiful people, and the President of the United States asserting a positive outlook for the future. As he falls asleep, the feed whispers over and over, “All shall be well…” (120).

In between chapters, there is a lecture on the feed that seems academic. The lecturer states that humanity has progressed through oral cultures and written cultures and is now entering a culture of dreams. It is an age in which someone need only dream of something to have it, adding, “And we, America, we are the nation of dreams” (121).

Titus has strange, violent dreams of riots or warfare in another country. There are guns and factories, and people are burning American flags. A kid with bruises all over his face looks at him, but then someone hits the kid with the butt of a gun. Suddenly Violet intrudes in his dream and wakes him up. She felt an interloper digging around in her feed, looking at her specs and sending her images. Titus is still too disoriented from sleep to be useful. Violet contacts FeedTech but can only connect with an AI bot named Nina. Nina comments on Violet’s strange shopping habits lately and offers to help Violet figure out who she is and what she wants. Violet gets annoyed, but the system won’t connect her to a live person. Violet, drained, says good night to Titus, who goes back to sleep. His dreams are more pleasant this time.

In between the chapters, an ad from the feed promises they have figured out a way a person can take the car the ad is selling with them into heaven.

The riot that was in Titus’s (and apparently everyone else’s) feed was actually a riot on a newscast. A few days later, Coca-Cola is holding a promotion offering a free six-pack of Coke to anyone who talks about how great it tastes a thousand times. The group decides to get together, seeing it as a chance to “rip off the corporations” (127) for some free soda. Titus picks up Violet and brings her to Marty’s house, and they are immediately shocked and concerned to see Loga and Calista, whose clothes are torn and burned. The girls give Titus and Violet a condescending look before explaining that it’s Riot Gear, which is the newest fashion craze. Calista compliments Quendy’s culottes from “the Kent State collection” (128), and Loga is wearing “Stonewall Clogs” (130). Then Marty gathers them in the living room, and they all start talking about why they love Coke. Violet speaks up and says, “It’s like sweet gravel. It’s like a bunch of itsy-bitsy commuters running for a shuttle in my windpipe” (129).

Everyone looks at Violet strangely as she talks about how it hurts to drink, and that it’s strange to give one to a small kid. After a pause, Marty redirects the conversation. Finally, they’re all thirsty and really want some Coke. As they all stand up to head to the store, Loga and Calista walk ahead of Violet, whispering. Calista shows off her “Watts Riot top” (131), and Violet asks, “Which one was the Watts riot?” (131). Of course, Calista has no idea, and they mock Violet for being pretentious and talking about things that no one understands. Violet chats Titus, furious and wanting to leave. Titus attempts to placate her, but Violet insists the girls hate her, and she doesn’t want to stick around with people who insult her and treat her like she’s stupid. They argue for a moment, and then Titus tells the others that Violet needs to go so he has to take her home. They say goodbye to everyone, and then the fight starts in the car.

At first Titus speeds with anger but then decides it would be more maddening to fly with perfect control. They’re too angry to speak out loud, so they’re fighting over chat. Violet didn’t want to stay with people who were mocking her, and Titus tells her that she shouldn’t show off so much. This makes Violet furious, and Titus tries to explain, “It feels…It sometimes feels like you’re watching us, instead of being us” (134). Violet gets defensive, and they are quiet for a moment, listening to a feedcast. Titus puts up his feedwall, and Violet pushes hard to break through. Finally, he drops the wall and asks for the real reason she’s so upset. Violet confesses that her feed is malfunctioning badly, and the technicians don’t know what to do about it. Because she didn’t get her feed at birth like most people, it has never fit quite perfectly, which means that it’s more vulnerable to malfunction. The feed is entwined with multiple systems in the brain and involved in motor function, memory, and thought. There have been cases in which people have died from feed errors. Violet’s feed is degrading more and more, and she might lose her ability to move or think, or it might simply stop her heart. As Titus struggles to understand, Violet asks him to make the upcar fall from the sky and then catch them so she can feel something. He does. Violet asks to go to Marty’s, but Titus is embarrassed to go back. They decide to go to Titus’s house.

At Titus’s house, they watch a show on the feed. Violet becomes restless, thinking about all the things she wants to do when she might only have a little time. They talk about things like vacations and underwater exploration, and Violet starts to stroke his face. Titus wonders if Violet is thinking about sex but doesn’t want to insult her by bringing it up if she means something else. Violet apologizes for her behavior at Marty’s, but Titus tells her not to be sorry. Violet admits she’s known about her degrading feed for a few weeks, but she didn’t want to burden Titus. They sit and hold each other, staring at the walls for a moment, and then Titus’s mom comes home with Smell Factor. They break the spell and the brief quiet. Violet stays for dinner, but Titus’s father isn’t there, so it’s much friendlier than the last meal. His mom calls Violet a “great girl” (140). On the way home, Titus asks if Violet knows how long she has. Violet says they had originally said that it might take years, but that it seems to be progressing much faster. Dropping her off, Titus notes, “We didn’t make any plans. There weren’t any plans” (141). At a loss as to what to do, Titus goes home and does homework.

In between the chapters is a snippet from a kids’ feedcast in which a kid is lamenting his missing dog, whom he is certain is not coming back.

Titus and Violet go to the beach and look at the ocean, which is “dead, but colorful” (141). They’re wearing orange protective suits, and they make sand angels and play in the sand. Titus comments that there are constant advancements in science, and Violet will probably be fine. Violet points out the irony of this comment while sitting on a dead beach, and Titus says, “You’ve been reading more of that depressing shit” (143). Titus starts to get annoyed, pointing out the irony that the hacker had done the most damage to Violet, even though Violet is the one whose beliefs are most similar to his. Titus chastises Violet for her negativity, and Violet argues that she has a right to be negative while her body and feed are failing. Titus doesn’t want to hear about it, asserting that her feed can be fixed. Their argument dies down, and after a moment he looks at her, admiring that she still looks pretty even in her suit and mask. Titus says, “I really like you” (144), and Violet smacks him, quipping, “That’ll do” (144).

Between the chapters, there is a dialogue from a feedcast called Crackdown Alley, in which one person keeps asking if the other has “given it to her” (145) without specifying what “it” is.

At school, Titus is aghast when Calista shows up with an enormous lesion on the back of her neck. Quendy, who is still bitter that Link is dating Calista, tells Titus that the lesion is artificial. It’s a real incision, but the weeping effect that real lesions have is created by latex. Titus and Quendy watch, appalled, as Link comes in, kisses Calista, and tickles the lesion. Titus is excited to tell Violet, although Quendy isn’t very enthusiastic at the mention of Violet’s name and comments that Violet is always looking for signs of the destruction of civilization. However, Quendy concedes that Violet is nice, and she likes her. Titus chats Violet, who is equally horrified. Violet comments that when she had first met the group, she had been attracted to Link, mostly because the others are all good-looking, and Link is ugly. Violet had thought he might have more depth but discovered otherwise when he started talking. They laugh, and Violet asks about Link’s name and makes some guesses as to what it might mean.

Titus explains that Link’s family is extremely wealthy, and Link was created as a part of a government experiment. He was created from the blood that was found on the cloak that Mary Todd Lincoln was wearing when her husband was assassinated. Violet is shocked to learn that Link is a genetic clone of Abraham Lincoln. Titus describes his friends goofing around in class, and Violet tells him she’s currently home alone studying the Mayans. Titus invites Violet to a party on Friday night, and Violet hesitates, certain that his friends hate her. She agrees to go, adding, “I want to live a little” (150). Titus has to stop chatting because it’s time for the announcements. Violet jokes that she just makes announcements herself and calls herself to the office: “Then I pace in circles, waiting for me to show up. […] But me never comes” (150).

The feedcast between the chapters offers “20 Hot Sex Tips for Girls” (151) and then switches to a political argument that the United States is always helping other countries in need.

Titus picks Violet up for the party, and Violet tells him about all the interesting things she’s been learning about nature on her feed, marveling at the adaptability of the natural world—“so adaptable you wonder what’s natural” (152). At the party, Violet and Titus tune into the music someone is broadcasting to their feeds. They dance and have fun, but everyone stops and stares when Quendy arrives. She has cuts all over her body, which she proudly describes as “lenticels” from a body modification called “birching” (153), which she had done yesterday. Quendy insists this is the new trend. Violet is shocked, and Titus comments in chat that Quendy probably did it to catch Link’s attention. Violet wonders at how expensive the procedure must have been, considering that each tiny cut required a plastic cap. Titus agrees that it certainly cost a lot.

Violet says, “It’s the end. It’s the end of the civilization” (154) and expresses hope that her own kids won’t be alive to see the final collapse. Titus sees that she’s serious and legitimately worried. Titus takes her and shows her the attic, where they used to hide as kids, because only Link’s close friends knew about it. Others would wander around, wondering where everyone went and hearing Link and his friends laughing but hidden. When you were the person who didn’t know where everyone was hiding, Titus explains, you felt completely alone even while you knew you weren’t. Violet replies, “That’s exactly it” (155), which Titus finds confusing but nods. They start looking through the old books and paintings in the attic with the names and faces of Link’s long-dead relatives. One woman, named Hope, “was looking off to the side, as if someone she missed was calling her name” (156).

Titus and Violet come downstairs from the attic. The bedrooms they pass are now populated, some with couples kissing and others with kids who are in mal. They find the rest of the party playing spin-the-bottle. Link invites them to play. Calista and Loga complain, though they’re clearly taking part. Quendy and Marty seem to have some sexual tension that suggests they just kissed. Titus knows Violet does not want to play, but they sit in the circle. Titus wills the bottle not to land on Violet, worried that it might make her angry. Quendy spins and gets Link. Pleased, Quendy turns Link’s attempted peck on the cheek into a full kiss that arouses a glare from Calista. In the chat, Marty compliments Quendy’s cuts. Appalled, Titus says, “You can see her like muscles and tendons and ligaments and stuff through the lesions” (159), but Marty thinks that’s sexy.

Marty compliments her lesions out loud. Calista agrees, but with obvious sarcasm, accusing Quendy of being “desperate for someone’s boyfriend” (160). Marty spins and lands on Violet. Violet tells him to stop, but he touches her head and insists that it will be fun. Abruptly, Violet starts shaking and turns pale. She starts screaming in hallucinatory phrases about the destruction of the world while they play games. She turns to Quendy and shouts that she is a monster who has covered herself in cuts. Titus tries to calm her, but Violet screams at him and tries to slap him. Then she starts to collapse and seize, choking and drooling. Over the feed, Titus begs them to call an ambulance. Violet passes out, breathing now, but Quendy is screaming, “Fuck you!” (161) at her unmoving form. Titus stays close to Violet, riding with her in the ambulance, and suddenly thinks, “The party is over” (161).