From: Oliver, Victoria | To: Reception | Sent: 06/07/05 15:45 | Subject: [Auto-response] Re: Bristol | I will be out of the office until Friday 8th July. If your enquiry is urgent please phone me on

‘But, Overseer, in our Perfect New World, everyone is supposed to have a job. This is what we are taught, and our teachers were adamant there would be no exceptions.’

Julie hears a sound she cannot name. Not yet. Naming a sound gives it meaning, and so far this sound has none.

I met my friend on the way into class. Are you finally going to join me at chess club tonight? he asked. I said I might, and he said I should. But I can’t play.

I’m waiting for a gap. A silver Picanto goes past, a red Shogun, a navy Golf changing lanes, a silver Prius, a black 9-3, another silver Prius, a blue V90, and a white Transit. Still no gap.

How can you have left us like this? That is the question that keeps going round and round my nucleus. I simply don’t understand.