20.6

“How long is this supposed to go on for?”

“What?”

“This film.”

Shard smiled –

“Just until you say stop.”

“Until I say?”

Max looked into the old man’s eyes and saw beyond the simmering smile, an unmistakable nod of consent.

“That’s right.”

There wasn’t a moment’s hesitation.

“Stop now,” Max said.

He waited for a moment then turned back to the screen.

It was blank.

Seven months mate!

Almost your whole life out there on display!

“Everything?”

“Everything.”

If that film ever became public…

How embarrassing, mate, for everyone.

“Max, don’t worry, you’ll get used to it. There is already a lot of film of you on the internet. You are a famous man in India.”

Get used to it!

That’s easy to say…

But… can you do it?

“Mmm,” Max said doubtfully. “What about this thing in my eye?”

“It’s just a lens – no problem.”

“And the sound, how did you get the sound?”

“Sound came with the beads.  Except… when we spoke last time I took a little sound with me. We couldn’t have missed that.”

It’s all just a game to them…

The whole thing planned down to…

“Tell me,” Max said. “Have you got anyone else out there doing this?”

This was his last hope – that there was some other sucker out there to share this with. Or even better – a team! That he was somehow not alone here… just, another one of many.

Like Dave Brown said…

Hundreds of you.

This was the final, fleeting hope that he was somehow… just one of many. A vain hope that there were other, similar stories out there to… back him up.

“No.”