(eng) Nicola Griffith by Slow River

Author:Slow River [River, Slow]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

* * *

Lore and Spanner came back from the Polar Bear and the windows of the shop under their flat were bright behind the shutters.

“What do they sell there?” Lore asked, remembering the people coming and going that first night she had spent in Spanner’s flat.

“Tired old porn. Want to see?”

They went inside. The lighting was bright and cheerful, as were shelf after shelf of plastic products: purple silicon dildos, bright pink things that looked like modern abstract art and took Lore a moment to recognize as artificial vaginas. Several screens were running two-minute demo loops. Lore watched one. Spanner was right. The porn was old and tired, almost laughable. The characters moved jerkily and in several frames the skin color of the man’s body did not match his head. “I can do better than that.”

“Yeah. Anyone who isn’t blind could probably do better than that.”

“Does this stuff actually sell?”

“I suppose.”

“I want to see some more.”

A woman with huge, meaty arms and several chins came out from behind the counter. “Then you have to pay for it.”

“You’re kidding,” said Spanner. “No one would pay for this garbage.”

“Lots of people do. You want it or not?”

Spanner looked at Lore. “No.” The woman shook her head in disgust and lumbered back behind the counter.

“Look at this one,” Lore said. Spanner glanced at it cursorily. “The sea in the bottom of the frame is a different color to that at the top. That’s just sloppiness.”

“The people who watch these things aren’t looking at the sea.”

“Maybe not, but it only takes a couple of minutes of programming to get the whole picture to mesh. I could do better than this with one hand tied behind my back.”

Spanner peered at the screen. “He seems to be doing pretty well with both arms tied behind his back.”

“And see that shadow on his thigh? Looks like it’s noon. But the sun’s setting.”

Spanner looked. “I always wondered why these tapes seemed so odd.”

“I was doing better work than this three years ago.”

“You’re serious, aren’t you?”

“Of course I’m serious. Let’s get out of here.”

Later, in bed, Lore was just drifting off to sleep when Spanner spoke into the darkness. “What would you need to make those porn pictures?”

“More equipment than we could afford.” Lore turned over, feeling sleep curling up along her backbone like a warm cat.

“Tell me anyway.”

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