24

Mimi was standing outside the footnoterphone tube entrance to Text Grand Central and looking at her watch. The words sped backwards and forwards, darting inside the tunnel, which had a sturdy grate across it streaked with rust. Every now and then messages were deflected off. It was a textual sieve — used here for deleting unwanted junk footnoterphone messages.

She gestured to the man accompanying her and stepped back.

Quasimodo—who had found sanctuary, finally—grunted in reply and gently placed a copy of Das Kapital next to Mein Kampf, separating them with only a thin metal sheet. The 'book sandwich' was held together by rubber bands and a string was attached to the metal sheet. Quasimodo tied the books to the grate and then retired down the conduit, paying out the string as he went. He joined Mimi at a little-used sub-genre pipe entitled 'Squid Action/Adventure' and waited for Thursday's signal.

25

Mimi nodded to Quasimodo, who pulled the string. The steel plate shot out and Das Kapital and Mein Kampf came together, their conflicting ideologies starting to generate heat. The books turned brown, smouldered for a moment and then, as Mimi and Quasimodo scurried away, the two volumes reached critical mass, turned white hot, and exploded. The detonation echoed down the footnoterphone pipes, followed by a deathly silence. They had done it. The footnoterphone conduit was destroyed — Libris and Tweed were cut off from Text Grand Central.

26

'Thursday! It's Mimi, are you there?'

27

'They are rerouting messages through the auxiliary ducts past Spy Thrillers and through Horror. If you haven't got a vote, get one now!'