“Yeah, I walked past his room and saw him wanking,” let’s not make this too weird, I won’t mention getting myself off watching him for 5 minut...s, “and like I noticed he had your pictures on his phone.”‘Okayyyy, well that’s a bit weird, so I guess he’s gay then.”“Yes, we had a chat, and he is.”“I did wonder.”“Hang on, aren’t you supposed to like, blow your top and be outraged at a boy wanking over your photos?”“I find it flattering, you know, that a boy thinks I’m good enough to wank over.”So,. ” “Ok love.” I take another sip of wine, let it warm, as it does I try to sort out the spicy range of smells, I think I have sorted one out, it makes me think of Darcy Spice, a very old variety of apple, best eaten two or three months after picking and as they start to shrivel, I recall that it was named from where it was found, Tolleshunt D’arcy in Essex. I tell Jenny,“I think I am picking up spice apples, in this.” She smiles at me, and passes the bottle, “read the tasting notes on the label”. He did say no more on the subject at that time, and our conversation drifted to other subjects.After Ooru went to bed, I asked AI if he could talk directly to Ooru the way he could talk to us. His answer surprised me. "I think that I could if he wanted me to. I have detected a strange electromagnetic source inside all of their heads. It is much stronger in Ooru than in the others of the village, but it might be possible to talk to any of them if they invited me to do so." I will ask Ooru about. Her hands seem to fidget as she moves behind the large desk nervously, fingers tracing from one corner to the next on the polished and contoured wood, her eyes playing across the bookshelves as she slowly relaxes, finding comfort in familiarity. Her eyes drift in the dim light until they land on the only new looking, green bound book, ‘The great war- A lesson in compliance.’ It looked new because it was never actually read, the authorities version of the Bible, the only one that was allowed.