Day 16: 32,068 words and the plot thickens

I wasted plenty more words today, but I'm pleased that the plot actually moved forward. 

“Are you here because of the Fitbits?” Scottie asked.

“Fitbits? What Fitbits?” Gordon may not have been good at very many things, but he was incredibly good at being annoying and evading questions. 

“I’ve been reading the memos, Mr. Toodie,” Scottie chided.

“Well if you have been reading the memos, then you would know that it’s Dr. Toodie.”

“I will be the judge of that,” Scottie said tartly. 

“So you’re going to read my dissertation?” Gordon said excitedly.

“We aren’t here to read your dissertation!” Jackie said with exasperation. Then, seeming to catch himself, he visibly calmed. It looked like he had a moment of clarity. 

“I have a feeling that nobody sent you,” Jackie said slowly.

“Sent me? Who would have sent me?” Gordon looked genuinely confused. 

Jake was still frustrated. “Did you not see that we are all worried about why you are here? Why you are following us? Do you think that people like to be followed?”

“I’m an expert in experimental Foucauldery. Of course I don’t think that people want to be followed. But, I feel I would be remiss not to point out that much of the ‘art’ of government,” Gordon clearly could not help himself from pointing didactically, “does not usually involve such obvious forms of repression and control by the state. Surveillance is—”

“That is more than enough. We get the picture,” Jackie said brusquely. 

“Well for $19.99, you could get an even fuller picture,” Gordon offered. “And for a limited time, you can purchase a paper copy as well as the audiobook, narrated by me, as a bundle! For only $45.99! I’m practically paying you to read my dissertation at this point!”

“You would have to pay me a lot more than $45.99 to listen to your dissertation,” Scottie said tartly.

Jake and Scottie watched as Jackie walked up to Gordon and began to speak to him in a low voice. They could not hear what he was saying. They watched Gordon’s face and the journey that it went on as he took in whatever Jackie was saying to him. He started out smug, which then switched to concerned. For a moment a flicker of fear passed over this face, but was quickly replaced by resolve. 

After what feels to have been at least three hours of hard running uphill, Gordon finally looks Jackie in the eye and nods. Jackie nods back. No one, except the pair of them, would ever know what transpired in that conversation.

Scottie checked the time on her Fitbit watch. Unbelievably, only 20 seconds has passed.

Jackie gave Gordon a curt nod. Finally, Gordon started talking about something other than his dissertation.

“I’ll tell you why I’m here today,” Gordon said coolly. 

“Enlighten us,” Jake said equally coolly. Scottie turned and grinned at him a little bit. She enjoyed this side of him.

“Don’t even get me started on Age of Enlightenment narratives,” Gordon said, exasperated.

“No one is trying to get you started on Age of Enlightenment narratives. Please, I am begging you, try to focus,” Scottie urged.

“Okay. I will soldier on,” Gordon said bravely.

You could feel everyone else in the room suppressing an eye roll. 

“I came here today because I noticed irregularities in your Fitbit data,” Gordon stated.

Scottie sighed. “I am sure that I do not need to explain to a Foucauldian scholar what a violation that is.”

“You do not,” Gordon said proudly. He was clearly taking the wrong message from what Scottie had said. 

“Tell me about the irregularities,” Scottie exhaled. 

“Well, clearly you have not been participating in the compulsory lunchtime runs,” Gordon accused.

“I don’t know what you mean,” Scottie said defensively. “That isn’t ‘clear’ to me at all.”

“You may know that Fitbits track steps. I saw that you were racking up quite a few steps between 12 to 12:30 pm. I’m sure that you also know that Fitbits track location. It makes them the ultimate technology of government,” Gordon said with a flourish. Instead of being horrified by this, as most Foucauldian scholars were, he said it with admiration. Scottie was chilled to the bone.

Jackie gave Gordon a look. A look that would make the soul of anyone on the receiving end leave their body. It clearly had that effect on Gordon, too. The self-satisfied smirk that was plastered over his face vanished, and was replaced with something much more chastened. 

[A lengthy back and forth that adds nothing of value aside from word count]

“Just get out,” Scottie said dismissively. “I thought that maybe you would be worth talking to if you had some kind of connection to everything that has been going on here. But clearly you aren’t, and you know next to nothing.”

Gordon, upon realizing that his moment in the spotlight was over, seemed deflated. He did not think that he wanted to be in this spotlight, but as it moved away from him, he realized that he missed its warmth.

He started to get up, but then paused. He was clearly considering something.

“Are you interested in hearing more about the irregularities I noticed with your Fitbit data?” Gordon finally said in such a way that it was clear he thought he would have a captive audience.

He did not.

“I would actually prefer that you not tell me,” Scottie dismissed him.

“Are you sure?” Gordon said, looking deflated. 

“Yes.”

“So you wouldn’t be interested to learn that there was another Fitbit from the Toronto Star that was often at the same locations as you?”

Scottie’s mind was whirling. Why would someone else from the Toronto Star have ever been close to her hotel room recently? She certainly did not know every one of the thousands of people who work at the Toronto Star across the country, but it seemed incredibly odd that someone that she did not know had been close to her—or to her Fitbit—several times without her noticing.

“What do you mean? Who has been in the same locations?” Jake finally said, noticing that Scottie seemed shaken by the information. 

He moved towards her, and tentatively put his hand on her shoulder for comfort. She turned to look at him. He was steady and safe and supportive. She realized how much she had come to trust him in such a short period of time. It helped that he smelled amazing, thanks to Irish Spring.

“That, we cannot answer,” Gordon said, with disappointment. “We did not record any serial numbers for the Fitbits before passing them out. We told everyone that they needed to register their Fitbit and create a username that matches with their Toronto Star account information. That’s how we know who’s who. Most people who registered their Fitbits listened. People like you,” Gordon gestured towards Scottie.

Her cheeks turned red as Jackie shook his head with disappointment that she had complied so thoroughly with their ridiculous commands. 

“The Fitbit that has been in the same locations as you is definitely one of ours, but the username is bland. It’s Fitbit23987. It could be any of the hundreds who never activated their Fitbits.”

“What do you mean that they have been in the same location as me?” Scottie asked. 

“You would be alarmed by how much information we have about your precise location at all times when you are wearing your Fitbit,” Gordon said with a little too much glee. It was extremely off putting.

“And?” Scottie huffed impatiently.

“We can tell that they were in the same hotel room as your Fitbit,” Gordon said.

Scottie’s heart stopped. No one said anything. Jake looked at her, wondering if someone else had been in her hotel room since she had gotten to London. Hurt flashed across his face, but he steeled it quickly.

Not a single person, to her knowledge, had been in that hotel room with her since she had checked in. She gave him a look that told him as much. This, however, did not make him relieved. It made him scared.

Scottie would never have admitted it, but this made her feel terrified. Terrified, and violated. She sat down in a chair that Jackie had wordlessly placed behind her. Exactly what she needed, without asking for it. That was always Jackie’s way. 

“Why would someone wear a company sponsored Fitbit to break into a fellow employee’s hotel room?” Jake wondered aloud. There was an edge to his voice.

Gordon clearly had not anticipated that this information would be met with so much concern. His face fell.

“I’m sorry,” he finally said, realizing the gravity of what he had just shared. 

Scottie was too tired and scared to be mad at him.

“Are you sure that you don’t know who it is?” Jake questioned. “Is there some way that you could find out?”

Gordon shook his head. 

“I have to go get my stuff from there,” Scottie said suddenly. “I can’t stay there. I’ll go to my parents’ house. They’re still at the cottage, but I’m sure they won’t mind it.”

“I don’t think you should stay anywhere alone,” Jackie said resolutely. “It isn’t safe. I’ll come with you to get your things. I’ll check everything for bugs. You can stay here.”

Scottie, while incredibly grossed out by the offer, was also incredibly grateful.

“I would normally say that Jackie’s Place is the safest place in the neighbourhood, but it isn’t right now. Not when local businesses are going up in flames. You can stay with me,” Jake said quickly. “Please, let me do this. Please.”