Page 97 of Playing to Win

On TV, news editor Robinson discussed the recent barrage of warnings from British CEOs on how an independent Scotland’s economy would suffer. Andrew rolled his eyes when he realized these “new alarms” had actually been issued last spring. Surely the No campaign could find more damaging ammunition than six-month-old recycled press releases.Incompetent fools.

Then there was footage of the press conference, with Robinson asking the First Minister, “Why should a Scottish voter believe you, a politician, against men who are responsible for billions of pounds of profits?”

Andrew leaned forward, curious to hear Salmond’s weaselly reply. Instead the broadcast cut to a voiceover. “He didn’t answer,” Robinson said.

“WHAT?!?” Colin leapt off the bed. “He did answer! He totally fucking answered! I saw it!” He watched for another few moments, hands curling into fists at his sides. “This is bollocks! They edited it to fit their lies.” Colin found his phone on the desk. “I need to get on Twitter.”

“I suppose I must too.” Andrew opened the app and checked his #Indyref feed. “Good God, the internet just exploded.”

Colin was far from alone. Every Yes activist—along with many neutrals, including fellow journalists—was up in arms over this alleged distortion.

How bad can it be?Andrew wondered. Then he saw a tweet by Colin himself:

Colin MacDuff: Does @BBCNews understand we have this thing called the internet? #indyref

His tweet included a YouTube link, which Andrew quickly tapped. It showed the original footage of this afternoon’s press conference.

“I knew they were biased,” Colin said, “but this is—”

“Shh. I’m seeing it now.” Andrew stepped out onto the porch so he could hear better.

As Andrew watched, a chill snaked over his shoulders and down his spine. Colin was right. Salmondhadanswered—and answered well, much as Andrew hated to admit it.

This wasn’t a case of lazy paraphrasing or a slight slant. One of the world’s most revered news organizations had edited footage, then added narrative to portray an event as the opposite to what had actually happened.

“Impossible,” Andrew whispered. Had the world lost its collective mind? He was far from a paragon of honesty himself, but this deception turned his stomach.

Colin bounced over to the door. “I’ve already got four retweets and five favorites!”

Andrew returned to Colin’s original tweet.My followers should hear the truth.He tapped the chasing-arrows icon. “You’re about to get a lot more.”

= = =

Colin’s phone beeped. He looked down at the screen.

Lord Andrew Sunderland retweeted you.

His breath caught in his throat. “You—you retweeted me? To your million followers?” He staggered back a step. “Does this mean you agree?” Maybe Andrew was coming around after all.

“My bio clearly states that retweets are not endorsements.” Andrew brushed past him through the doorway. “I merely pass on information I find intriguing.”

Colin’s phone beeped again. Someone calling himself “Say No to Yes” had replied,Aww, the cybernats are throwing their toys out of the pram again.There was a .gif of a crying baby attached to the tweet.

Colin thumbed the screen to see other replies in the same vein. His scalp prickled at the words they called him. “Hey, your followers are attacking me!”

“Now you know what I go through every day.” Andrew slipped out of his shirt. “Come, let’s have a swim.”

“Now? Are you mad?” Colin’s hands were trembling with adrenaline. “I need to answer these. I need to defend myself.”

“No, you don’t.” Andrew grabbed Colin’s phone and tossed it onto the bed, where it beeped again. “Also, you should turn off notifications so it stops making that infernal noise.”

“How will I know—”

“Do you ever hear my phone make sounds unless it’s a call or a personal text?” Andrew asked as he swept off his trousers and underwear with one smooth motion.

Colin eyed him, for once too distracted to admire his boyfriend’s naked body. “No, I guess not.”

“That’s because I’m a master of social media. It is not the master of me.” He stepped into one of the swimsuits. “I just made you internet-famous, so start acting it. Never reply to insults. You made your case, it was a good one. Defending it would only make you look, well, defensive.”

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