The Marriage Act(10)

‘Some problems are too big for love to overcome without help,’ continued Jem. ‘So what does it matter if you get it through artificial or human intelligence? If anything, AI is probably better at digging deeper than people are and using our data to understand what we’re not saying to one another. AI is responsible for half of all medical diagnoses these days. We trust it with our lives so why not our hearts? A Smart Marriage makes sense, doesn’t it?’

Then, as a general election approached, Jem became the face of a nationwide advertising campaign promoting Smart Marriages. She appeared in their TV, radio, social media and virtual assistant campaigns. And when the Government won its fourth consecutive term and the Act sailed through parliament and the House of Lords, she even became the voice used by Audites. But overnight, Roxi noted, she had been replaced by a male voice.

Three years of living with the Act had resulted in a national groundswell of those opposed to it. Single people, widows, divorcees and couples who flatly refused to upgrade accused it of discrimination. Much of their vitriol was directed towards Jem, the public face of the Act, and not the people they couldn’t see behind the scenes. Organized groups began trolling her, they posted her address and phone number online and made death threats. The sparkle that had charmed millions gradually vacated Jem’s eyes following months of abuse. In later posts, she’d admitted her mental health was waning and she’d talked of how the pressure she was under had caused the end of a recent romantic relationship. In her penultimate post, she’d wept uncontrollably and screamed at the camera when she’d recalled finding her two pet dogs poisoned in the garden. Enough was enough, she’d said, quitting social media.

Jem’s final Vlog was the only video Roxi couldn’t watch until the end. She pressed stop the moment Jem picked up the gun.

‘Nine hours and forty-seven minutes,’ began Owen, making his way into the bedroom. ‘That’s how long you have been in here and online.’

‘Really?’ Roxi replied, herself a little surprised. She rubbed at her tired eyes and Owen glanced at the empty packets of snacks and soda cans on the bedside tables.

‘The family screen time and the Track My Movements Apps say you haven’t been anywhere but here and the bathroom all day,’ he continued as he changed out of his work shirt. ‘It’s now almost 6.30 p.m.’

‘Are you checking up on me?’

‘And I assume by the food delivery bag on the kitchen island that Darcy and Josh had takeout again for tea?’ he continued.

Roxi had forgotten about her children. She’d heard them around the house when they’d returned from school but was too immersed in Jem’s world to return to her own. She removed the tie from her long blonde bob and scrunched her hair.

‘I’m worried about you, Rox,’ Owen continued. ‘It’s not normal to spend this much time online.’

‘I’ve got something important to tell you,’ she announced. ‘I know how to take my Vlog to the next level and make my mark as an Influencer.’

‘Of course,’ he said with a smile that failed to reach his eyes. ‘What else would this be about?’

‘I’m going to be the new Jem Jones. There’s a gap in the market and if I’m quick and I’m clever, then I can fill it.’

‘And how will you do that, exactly?’

‘By being the voice of the modern woman. By representing people like me. I’ll talk about issues that affect us all. Jem’s legacy is that Influencers are now seen as more than clothes horses, canvases for make-up or chefs. But she was too weak for the world we live in. I’m much stronger than her. I won’t obsess on the negativity.’

‘But these lives you want to emulate, like Jem’s and Autumn Taylor’s, they aren’t real, Rox,’ Owen continued as he slipped on a t-shirt. ‘They’re only showing you their best bits. Vlogging and Influencing is all smoke and mirrors.’

‘Thanks a lot for your support,’ Roxi huffed.

‘I’d support you one hundred per cent if I thought it was good for you or our family. But it’s a pipe dream. You gave up work to raise a family and, if you think they’re at an age where they don’t need you like they used to, perhaps it’s time to get back out into the working world and find a real job?’

‘Vlogging and Influencing are real jobs.’

Owen grimaced as he took a deep breath and shook his head. ‘They are when you’re a teenager and, at a push, in your twenties, but not when you’re a woman approaching her forties.’

Roxi wanted to tell him that she was worth more than she had become, but held her tongue. She looked to the Audite atop of a chest of drawers and spotted a faint red light circling the rim, just the once. She knew that, as well as their words, it also picked up on what they weren’t saying through the volume of their voices and their tone. ‘I think it’s listening to you,’ she mouthed.

‘At least somebody is,’ he mouthed back.

Their visibly distraught daughter Darcy appeared suddenly at the doorway.

‘TikTok, Insta and Snapchat, they’ve cancelled my accounts!’ she sobbed. ‘They say I’m too young.’

‘What’s the minimum age?’ asked Owen.

‘Thirteen. So now I’ve lost every photo and every video I’ve ever posted.’