Echo Chamber by A. C. Fuller

Author:A. C. Fuller [Fuller, A. C.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Vivid Books
Published: 2018-05-30T22:00:00+00:00

After breakfast, I walk my mom to her hotel, then head back to mine.

I check in on Steph, hoping to convince her to come with me to the Avery Axum event this evening, but she's gone. Probably trying to break into the offices of The Washington Post to convince them to send reporters to our debate.

I send her a quick text.

Me: Sorry about yesterday. You should be thankful you didn't attend the Futch rally. It was, well…you probably saw the news. Avery Axum thing at GWU. You coming?

Next, I call Uncle Hippon at the new number. To my surprise, someone picks up after only two rings. The problem is that she's speaking Greek.

After letting her finish what sounds like a memorized spiel, I say, "I'm sorry. Do you speak English?"

Without responding to the question directly, she gives the spiel again, this time in heavily-accented English. "Thank you for calling Athens Senior Living Community, how may I direct your call?"

"Oh, thank you. Is Hippon Dimakos available?"

"Please hold."

After five rings, he answers. "Hello?"

His voice is gravelly, his accent thick, like he's speaking underwater after smoking a pack of cigarettes.

"Uncle, it's Mia."

"Oh, Mia, how are you doing? How is your mother?"

"Fine, I saw her this morning. We're in D.C. I…I need to ask you something important and I only have a minute."

"Is everything alright?"

"Maybe, it's something about the site. Ameritocracy."

"You know, Mia, your ancestors invented democracy. Your grandfather's grandfather's grandfather's—"

"I know, Uncle Hippon. Cleisthenes, right?"

Family lore, which could be true but likely isn't, is that my grandfather was related to Cleisthenes of the Alcmaeonid family, who brought major reforms to Athenian democracy around 500 B.C. He's often called "The Father of Democracy." It's not that I don't appreciate Uncle Hippon's stories, but I really do have to get to Axum's event.

"That's right," Uncle Hippon says. "So it's fitting that—"

"Uncle, I need to ask you something."

"Fine, fine. But you really should study the past more."

"Do you have your computer nearby?"

"Yes, why?"

"Do you still have your profile set up on my site?"

"Yes."

"Can you pull it up and log in?"

"Hold on," he grumbles.

I hear distant banging sounds as he rummages around what I imagine is a small apartment in the assisted living facility.

From the beginning, Ameritocracy allowed international users to register, track candidates, and participate in the forums. To vote, users need to provide proof of U.S. residency, but allowing international users access to the site has raised our profile around the world.

"Ok, found it," he says.

"Click on Peter Colton's candidate profile, scroll down to his positions."

"Okay."

"Do you see a position on gay marriage?"

"I hope not, you know how I feel about that type of behavior."

"I do, and that's something we can argue about next time I'm in Greece, uncle, but can you look?"

I can see him in my mind, frowning at the screen through his black beard, scrolling down slowly.

"Hmmm," he says quietly. "Not bad."

"What?" I ask.

"He's a good Christian. Not Greek Orthodox—he has a kind of Spanish look about him—but I can't hold that against him.

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