Don't Tell Me Who I Am

Dorian stepped out into the chilly night air to see Ben standing next to his father red faced and pathetic.

He had only brought his mum and Mr Midorikawa with him. That stone faced boot licker would love to make a show of enacting whatever Mayor Neeves decided amounted to justice today. He was in every way the least approachable of the three, but before he could even navigate his way through whatever punishment he was going to be given, he needed to ask the only question on his mind.

“Mr Midorikawa. Is Avery -”

“He's at home, safe and away from you,” Satoshi said flatly. His stare was intense, as if he was just waiting for the smallest excuse to whip out a baton. Dorian supposed he was the other side of the Machiavellian coin. Greenhaven was boring, sanitised, and safe. Dorian knew that most of this was down to Mr. Neeves’ ability to convince anyone of almost anything,

It was Satoshi's job to shield him. A job he did extremely well.

“Now Satoshi,” Therion said with a wide grin that showed a set of pearly white teeth. He dismissed the Captain with a flamboyant wave of the hand. “Let's not be too hard on the boy. He did, after all, just save my children from burning themselves alive.”

All three of them raised their eyebrows and Rowan even managed a quiet and sarcastic “What?” Dorian knew she was trying to defuse the tension that they both knew he had knotted in his stomach. Satoshi glared at her, but Dorian knew his mum wasn’t going to back down.

“So, I guess I’m going to be punished?” Dorian asked, as he regained a small piece of his confidence. Therion detected a hint of nervousness, though. He thought for a moment, resting his chin in one hand.

“Oh, almost certainly. You did, after all, break into an off-limits building with dangerous equipment in the dead of night. I can't really overlook the propaganda you've been spreading, either.”

Dorian scoffed. “Propaganda? So I'm not allowed to have an opinion now? Everyone's got to tiptoe through the tulips, have they? Gross.”

“Dorian…” Rowan warned. He realised then he’d overstepped the bounds of the situation.

“Sorry.” He said.

“That's quite alright. You should know by now that I'm not an unreasonable man. My issue with you having… Certain views about the Union isn’t with you thinking them. I'm not so authoritarian as to control what goes on behind closed doors.”

“You just have people do it for you.”

“Well, that's the job of a leader, isn't it? To delegate to the people below them? I'm a capable man, Mr. Pepper, but I couldn't do all of this on my own. No, my issue is that people are listening. Not the adults, they're still old enough to remember the tyranny, but whether you mean for this to happen, the younger ones are listening to you.”

“I guess. It’s not like I’m trying to become Mayor or anything…I just -”

Therion let out a hearty laugh. “I’m sorry, it's just the mere thought of that idea sounded preposterous. I wasn't laughing at you. You may continue speaking.”

The interruption had disarmed Dorian. He tried to put his thoughts back together, but they were a jumble. As articulate as he considered himself, he was still a teenager compared to the experience and eloquence of the Mayor.

“If you will permit me, young man, let me try to figure out what you're thinking. You're bored. You think that this place is too sterile, that it's full of old people and it's boring. I can tell by the way you speak that you want excitement, adventure. Am I right?”

The boy’s silence gave away his answer. He said nothing, but he looked at the Mayor in a way that showed that he understood. “Walk with me,” Therion said.

“Mr Neeves’. I don't think it's safe for you to go walking off with my Son at this hour. It is almost midnight. He needs to go to sleep. Can we get this done?”

“We will remain in the sight of the two of you. I give you my word that no harm will come to Dorian. We're just going to have a little chat. You're not going to try to hurt me, are you Dorian?”

“No.”

“Well, there you go, then we won't be long. Come on.”

Going with him was the simple choice. Dorian knew there was going to be some kind of motive behind it. There always was with him. Whatever the reason was, Dorian figured that time in the community is better than time outside of it for the moment.

He might even get the opportunity to say goodbye to Avery.

They approached the mound of grass that made up Dorian's back garden. Therion pat the mound. “Sit.” the tone of his voice suggested there wasn't a choice in the matter. Dorian did so. Before sitting down. The Mayor made a show of pulling up his shirt and removing his spinal assistant. He collapsed, but used a hand to catch himself and get himself into a sitting position. Dorian was shocked. “You can’t walk?”

“Nope.” Therion played with the box, moving it backwards and forwards between each hand. “This is a Union Asclepius Corporation Spinal Assistant. I plug it in whenever I need to do important business. Makes me look more official that way.”

Once again, Dorian was confused. He wasn't a fool. He knew the world was complex. Yet, a man who clearly doesn't like him just revealed a potential personal secret. His expectations were shattered, and he was thrown back by the revelation.

“I don't understand why you needed to keep it a secret, though. We would've accepted you no matter what. You're the one who always says that everyone can be themselves in Greenhaven.” A thought suddenly occurred to him and he returned to regarding the Mayor coldly. “Wait a minute, If you have something that can improve people’s lives like that, why aren't there more of them to give? Surely you've got some stashed away somewhere?”

“Sadly no. You've seen that box. It is an old model. Even I can't get new equipment for my treatments because of the embargo.”

“There's an embargo?”

Unfortunately, yes. But you need to keep quiet about it. It is only me and Mr Midorikawa that know.”

“Then why are you telling me?”

“Because Dorian, I need you to understand that not everything is as simple as fairness and unfairness. The universe comprises many moving parts that most people don't get to see. I understand you think I'm some kind of monster, but I'm not.”

“It's a little difficult for me to not view you as a monster when you want people to have a smile and wave attitude to everything. It's a little weird, just saying,”

Therion shrugged. “You would have a nonchalant attitude too, if you appreciated the beautiful natural world you are surrounded by. Why wouldn't you want to explore it? That's the reason I have my legs."

“That still doesn't explain why you needed to use all this tech while also preaching how bad it was to the rest of us. That's hypocritical.”

“Oh, It very much is. I can tell you the reason, but you're definitely not going to like it.”

“What do you mean?”

“The Union made me do it.”

Dorian lept to his feet incredulously. “What do you mean? They made you do it? The Union wouldn't make you do anything. There’s the Fitzpatrick law against bio-technological coercion.”

Therion whistled. “You know your stuff. I'm impressed. To their credit, the Union is very good at civil liberties. If you're an average person.” Dorian raised an eyebrow to show his confusion. Therion continued. “The videos you've seen of the Union. I bet all the soldiers in them look photogenic and muscular.”

“Mostly. But it's just for recruitment, right?”

“Hardly. They're very real. You didn't just have to look the part, you had to be the part. The ideal soldier, both on the camera and off.”

“Are you seriously trying to tell me that the Union wouldn't let you join if you were ugly?”

“You had to fit a certain image, yes, but it wasn't appearance based. Did you ever see anyone in a wheelchair in these videos? Blind?”

"No."

“Let me ask you something Dorian. Say you've got your way, and you managed to fly off into the stars. I'm presuming you'd want to take Avery with you.”

“I would.” Therion expected Dorian to be embarrassed at the question. He was not.

"I understand I like Avery too. He’s a good-”

“No, you don’t! You guys don't pay any attention to him at all! You just leave him to wallow in himself in the factory, you've got no kind of ambition for him. Don't pretend you do, I've seen it.”

“Therion shrugged. “We have as much ambition for Avery as Avery has for himself. Dorian, have you ever considered asking him what he wants?”

“Don’t be ridiculous, of course I have!”

“When you ask the questions, are you usually excited?”

“Obviously, he gets excited with me, too!”

“But does he get excited because he wants to do the things you do, or does he get excited because you're there? Have you actually asked him what he enjoys?"

“Of course, he likes machines and…”

“And?”

“And…”

“You see Dorian, this is where you've gone wrong. You've spent so much time railing against authority for supposedly controlling people. Yet, the one friend you have you dictate to because you're worried things might be too much for him, he might get nervous or scared. Aren't you doing the same thing you accuse me of?"

The more Dorian thought about it, the more he realised that yes, he overtook conversations, as obvious as that sounds now. He needed to.

Didn't he?

“I guess… I can be a little overbearing sometimes.”

Therion got up and he and Dorian began walking around the neighbourhoods. “if I thought Avery could do more, he would do more. Everyone is here because they want to be, Dorian. Understand?”

“Am I going to leave?" Dorian asked?

Therion inwardly smiled. He couldn't believe he actually did it. He actually wore down Dorian Pepper. He always knew that he was an emotional boy, but he didn't think it would be this easy to pull on his heartstrings.

He smiled. “I think we've had a good chat and you've learned from your mistakes, dear boy. Maybe now we can put all this behind us and we can use those smarts of yours to help people instead of make my life miserable.”

“Maybe,” Dorian said thoughtfully.

“And look at that! We're just about to pass Avery's house. This would be a great time to make up with him, I think.”

As they approached Avery’s, they both could see him standing on the porch, holding something. As they got closer, Dorian could see that it was round, and then it had lights, and then that it was projecting something. When Dorian finally reached Avery, the Mayor was as white as a sheet.

Resting in Avery’s arms was an honest to goodness Droid head. Dorian took one last look back at the Mayor and all pretense of civility had gone. His face was sweaty, his eyes were bulging, and his teeth were grinding.

Neeves looked like he had just gone through a marathon. Sweat trickled done his forehead and he was struggling for air. He seemed to be steady enough, once Dorian had comfirmed this, his attention was drawn back to the Droid head.

Wait...

He realised what the robot was projecting. It was projecting them. Avery had watched the entire conversation. The Mayor was almost demonic. It looked as if the whites of his eyes were missing. He grabbed Avery by the arm. “What. The hell. Is that doing here!!!” He was apoplectic, as if he was about to vomit. Avery stared intently at Dorian and then directed his gaze to the Mayor.

“Don’t fucking tell me who I am.”