The Marriage Act(69)

‘He’s a divisive character,’ one insider told us. ‘But he’s the one the PM listens to. No decisions are made without Hyde’s say-so. He’s the puppet-master in this game of politics.’





51


Anthony




Henry Hyde was waiting for Anthony at the bandstand in New Northampton’s Abington Park by the time he arrived. In the fifteen years since they’d first become acquainted, Anthony couldn’t recall one meeting in which Hyde had appeared after him.

His employer was alone and perched on the third step up of the Victorian installation. Dressed typically in his ill-fitting black suit and white shirt, his skin was so pale that if you held his head up close to a bright light, you would likely see straight through to his skull. As always, Anthony found Hyde’s inky black eyes impossible to read. He also knew nothing about the man who’d recruited him. He didn’t know where he resided, whether he was married or single, had a family or even the true nature of his job or Governmental position. Anthony hadn’t asked and Hyde hadn’t volunteered the information.

‘You look like death,’ Hyde began, casting an eye over his protégé.

‘I don’t sleep much any more,’ Anthony replied, choosing to sit on a step below.

‘You should try magnesium. One teaspoon in a pot of tea every evening . . . my mother swore by it, God rest her soul.’

Anthony didn’t respond.

‘But I assume you haven’t asked me here for advice on thwarting insomnia.’

Anthony shook his head while Hyde sipped from the contents of a disposable cup and scanned his surroundings and a nearby cafe. He wondered if Hyde had someone stationed in the vicinity to watch them.

‘So why have I been summoned to this provincial paradise?’ Hyde asked.

‘This . . . this project . . . these Young Citizen Camps,’ Anthony began cautiously. ‘Sending poorly performing kids away from their families because a machine is categorizing them as troublemakers and underachievers . . . It makes me uneasy.’

‘Firstly, as I made quite clear in our first meeting, nobody is sending anyone away—’

‘Like no one is forced to upgrade to a Smart Marriage?’ Anthony interrupted. ‘Yet those who haven’t face discrimination. Isn’t the same thing going to happen to parents who don’t want to be separated from their kids?’

A vertical crease appeared between Hyde’s brows. ‘This is an uncharacteristically negative interpretation from you, Anthony. You’re usually more . . . complicit. I can assure you our plans are for the greater good.’

‘That’s what you said about the Act.’

‘And I was correct, wasn’t I? Upgrading hasn’t hurt you or your family, has it? Now you pay only five per cent tax on your earnings and you saved twenty-five thousand pounds in stamp duty when you bought a house double the square footage of your last one. Without those savings, could Jada really have established her design business? Your neighbourhood has regular police patrols and Matthew’s school is the best in its area.’

Anthony didn’t know why he was taken aback to hear how much Hyde knew about him; he should have expected it. But he didn’t like that it was being used as ammunition.

‘You’re not old enough to remember how this country’s economy suffered for years after the first waves of Covid pandemics,’ Hyde continued. ‘Trade and investment were disrupted for almost a decade, inflation rocketed, everyone from train drivers to airline staff and even barristers went on strike over pay. Every attempt to reboot the economy or drive growth failed. We wiped through five prime ministers in less than a decade. That was until we realized investing in our people’s happiness was key to our economic comeback. Making people understand that they’re better off emotionally and financially when they’re in a committed relationship made them want to work smarter and harder. I appreciate our Young Citizen Camps may be a tougher sell than the Marriage Act, but the latter changed our country’s direction. Just imagine what else we can do by weeding out the strugglers and giving them purpose?’

‘When driverless cars were becoming popular, your predecessors chose who might die in the event of an accident based on their importance to society. Now you’re deciding upon a person’s relevance while they’re still a child.’

‘Isn’t any career better than no career? Do you know how many prisoners we have in the UK right now?’ Anthony shook his head. ‘There are more than a hundred thousand offenders, including those serving their sentences at home and being re-educated through virtual reality headset training. Do you know how many of them left school with less than three qualifications or were unemployed when they committed a crime?’

‘No.’

‘Eighty-three per cent. There’s a direct correlation between being failed by our education system and criminal behaviour. And we want to redress this. Our camps will help the next generation in subjects and careers the AI believes they’re best suited for. We want to educate, not incarcerate.’

‘And what will be the long-term emotional impact on kids who are told they’re being sent away because they’re second best?’

‘The offer of a better education away from home is hardly a new concept. The first boarding schools date back to medieval times when boys were sent to monasteries to be educated. Our camps are a revised vision of them.’