Claire appeared desperate to be heard, her fists banging against the dashboard and monitor screen, her face animated but her voice silenced. Libby’s first thought was for the well-being of the baby.
‘She needs help,’ said Libby, but no one was listening. She raised her voice. ‘Look at her, she’s hysterical. Whatever she’s done to her husband, she is still carrying a baby.’
‘Then you’re more worried about it than she is,’ said Fiona. ‘If she was that concerned, would she really have killed his father?’
‘You of all people should know there are two sides to every story. And we don’t know if that’s what happened because the Hacker muted her.’
‘Libby, I’ve defended enough clients to know by appearances alone when someone knows more than they are letting on. What on earth could she tell us that would change the fact her husband’s dead body is in her car? That whole interview with Jack was an act. She was pretending to be a victim when she’s anything but. Even Jack fell for it.’
Libby turned to Jack who had returned to his seat behind the table, red-faced and defeated.
‘Yes!’ Cadman interrupted, his face brimming with joy. ‘We’ve done it!’ All heads turned towards him as he high-fived his team members. ‘We’ve spiked. We have actually made history. This is now the most hashtagged global event since social media began. And we are dead centre in the eye of the storm!’ He looked towards each juror in search of someone who shared his enthusiasm. Their faces were deadpan. ‘Tough crowd.’ He shrugged.
His indifference towards the mood of the room riled Libby. ‘Are you actually genuine or is this a character you’re playing?’ she snapped. ‘Because I don’t understand how anyone with an ounce of compassion couldn’t be appalled by what’s happening out there. Dozens of men, women and children are lying dead and injured on our roads and all you care about is how many people are talking about it.’
‘Hey, don’t shoot the messenger because you don’t like what’s in his bag, Miss Buzzkill,’ Cadman replied. ‘What do you want from me? To pretend that I actually care about people I have never met? Because that isn’t going to happen. This is what my team and I are here for, to tell the truth and represent the people, not to hold your hand and tell you everything is going to be alright when, quite clearly, it’s fucked. My job is to bring to you what’s on the news agenda, not to set it. And right now, it’s the pregnant femme fatale who has just broken the internet.’ He swiped his tablet so that its screen contents appeared on another wall. ‘Admit it, you’re dying to know what they’re saying, aren’t you?’
Before Libby could deny it, screengrabs and posts filled every inch of space. She couldn’t help but read some of them.
‘She and that baby are screwed. #votesofia #Hackertellsthetruth.’
‘Blow her up now and stop wasting time or I’m gonna switch off. #voteHeidi.’
‘Let the legend live. #votesofia.’
‘An hour to go. Why can’t it continue? It’s like watching a soap opera. Good work Hacker! #votesofia.’
‘Now do you see what I mean?’ Cadman continued. ‘Like it or not, the Hacker has the world by the balls. What’s not to love about a bit of anarchy?’
Libby closed her eyes and shook her head at Cadman and the people he represented. Taking him on and the virtual world was not a fight she was likely to win. If social media truly reflected society, then she didn’t want to be a part of a world where the Hacker was held in any kind of esteem.
‘A friendly word in your ear, Cadman,’ Matthew said, rising to his feet and moving towards him. His tone was less than friendly.
‘Go ahead,’ Cadman replied, a little apprehensively.
‘Firstly, I’m not asking for your permission, and secondly, I suggest you keep your opinions to yourself.’ He came to a halt, barely two inches from Cadman’s face. ‘The people you claim to represent are as much lacking in decency as you are. If you were out there with my colleagues in the emergency services scraping body parts from roads and dousing the flames of burning children then perhaps that might qualify you to speak your mind. But you’re not. You’re a statistician who doesn’t understand the value of human life because you live in a virtual reality surrounded by other avatars equally as devoid of empathy as you. You are worse than artificial intelligence because at least AI can be programmed to care. So until you learn humility and compassion, from here on in, you only speak when you are spoken to and the rest of the time you keep your mouth shut. Do I make myself clear?’
Cadman’s pale skin reddened as he nodded, then he moved swiftly back towards the refuge of his team. Libby gave Matthew a nod and a smile as he returned to his seat. Then once again, she looked up towards the speakers. ‘Are you still there?’ she asked.
‘I’m always here,’ the Hacker replied.
‘Why did you allow Claire to say all that about her husband when you knew all along he was dead?’
‘Honesty, Libby, I keep repeating myself about what I require from you, but no one appears to be listening. I gave Claire the opportunity to admit the truth of her own volition, but she chose not to. Instead, she made the decision to portray herself in a certain way to win favour in the hope you’d spare her life over another, perhaps more deserving, Passenger.’
‘But you aren’t being honest either, are you? You’ve yet to give us the rest of her story or tell us why you’re doing this. You’re a hypocrite.’
Libby looked to Claire’s screen again. She was sitting with her face to the camera, her eyes locked on to the lens like magnets, listening intently to Libby’s argument.
‘In Claire’s allocated ten minutes, she hoped her omitting a key fact might encourage you to make an uninformed decision in her favour. If the end result is not to Claire’s liking, then she only has herself to blame. I’m happy to argue with you all day, Libby, but if I can draw your attention to the clock, you’ll see that every minute spent bickering with me is a minute closer to the collision. And if we don’t progress to the next Passenger soon, their deaths will be on your conscience.’
‘For once, please just listen to him and shut up,’ said Jack wearily. ‘Or if you want them all to die then be my guest and keep trying to rationalise with a psychopath.’
Jack was giving the impression of a broken man. The world had plundered his finances, the jury he controlled was in disarray and the Road Revolution he had spearheaded to the tune of billions of pounds of investment was lying in ruins alongside his reputation. Now he had backed the wrong Passenger. But instead of arguing with him for the sake of it, Libby stood down. The Hacker was right; time was running out. She had a gut feeling there would be bigger battles to pick.
‘Cadman,’ continued the Hacker, ‘could you please inform us who has captured the social media’s interest at this moment in time?’
‘Sofia Bradbury, and by a reasonable margin,’ he replied, the eagerness in his voice now replaced byreticence. ‘The public are lapping up her naivety, memes of her are going viral and they’re uploading classic clips of her online.’
