was quiet, but sharp.
“That’s what always happens!” Devin pointed an accusing finger at his mother. “You vent about how I’m not the son you wanted, and nothing I say matters. Then we all leave a little deafer and more fucked up than before.”
Victor slammed his fist into the table. “What must I do to get through to you?Have you ever listened? Have you ever thought ?”
“Have you ever listened?” Devin clenched his fists. “I’m not a machine, you know! You can’t command me and expect me to do what you programmed me for! I have ideas of my own!”
Victor turned away, resisting the urge to slam the table again.
Elizabeth sighed. “Devin, what do you hope to gain out of all this? How are you planning to live?”
“Maybe I’m not .” Devin stormed out.
That evening, Elizabeth had found him stumbling out of his room, his wrists overflowing with blood. Of all the things his son had failed at, that was the one thing Victor thanked the Absolute for. He had hoped that Devin, after a near-death experience brought on by his own misguided impulsiveness, might finally pull himself together.
But no. The number of disciplinary problems had fallen, but the boy’s attitude had remained the same. Things had grown worse when he left for university. Without his parents’ oversight, Devin’s minor tangles with the law became full-blown criminal activities.
Seven years ago, they got his mother killed.
“Is this what it takes to set you straight?” Victor had stood over his son, who sat with his face in his hands. “Your mother is dead because of what you did!”
Devin hadn’t looked up. “I know. I… I’m sorry.”
“If you’d listened to me and done as I told you, none of this would have happened .”
“I know.”
“I tried so hard ! You can’t say I haven’t been patient, that I haven’t been tolerant beyond reason! I could have had you arrested or committed dozens of times, and if I had, your mother would be alive .”
“I know.”
Looking back from the present, Victor saw how the situation could be interpreted differently. To honor his wife’s memory, he had found it in his heart to forgive Devin, even if Devin never forgave himself.
Victor had sat down beside Devin. “Your mother loved you to a fault. If her death means you’ll live the life she wanted for you, become the person she wanted you to be, then I know she would think it worth the sacrifice. Despite the hell you’ve put me through, I don’t want to give up on you, my son.”
From there, Devin finally made the changes Victor and his wife had always wanted, dutifully following the path laid out for him: graduation with honors, Kydera’s top business school, a job at Quasar. Shades of Devin’s former self sometimes returned, and in those moments, Victor was quick to remind him how much his past recklessness had cost. Elizabeth’s death loomed over the family, but otherwise Devin’s past misadventures became something of a joke Victor enjoyed complaining about.
“He was such a mess before I sorted him out!” he would say with a laugh. “You won’t believe how much melodramatic nonsense he put me through!”
Look what I’ve created , he thought whenever he saw his son doing exactly what he had been intended for. Look what my hard work has achieved.
A ping from the computer woke Victor from his ruminations. Once again, Devin had requested an audience.
“Open new communication,” Victor said. “Send response: affirmative. Time: immediately.”
He pressed an icon on his monitor to disable the security cameras in his office and another to lower the shades on his four glass walls. Family matters did not need to be seen by outsiders. The shades, made of thin, double-sided monitors, were set on a video presentation that occurred two hours ago. Victor pressed a third icon, and the shades flicked to a view of the skyscrapers outside, making it look as though he sat in a glass box above the Silk Sector.
The comm in
“That’s what always happens!” Devin pointed an accusing finger at his mother. “You vent about how I’m not the son you wanted, and nothing I say matters. Then we all leave a little deafer and more fucked up than before.”
Victor slammed his fist into the table. “What must I do to get through to you?Have you ever listened? Have you ever thought ?”
“Have you ever listened?” Devin clenched his fists. “I’m not a machine, you know! You can’t command me and expect me to do what you programmed me for! I have ideas of my own!”
Victor turned away, resisting the urge to slam the table again.
Elizabeth sighed. “Devin, what do you hope to gain out of all this? How are you planning to live?”
“Maybe I’m not .” Devin stormed out.
That evening, Elizabeth had found him stumbling out of his room, his wrists overflowing with blood. Of all the things his son had failed at, that was the one thing Victor thanked the Absolute for. He had hoped that Devin, after a near-death experience brought on by his own misguided impulsiveness, might finally pull himself together.
But no. The number of disciplinary problems had fallen, but the boy’s attitude had remained the same. Things had grown worse when he left for university. Without his parents’ oversight, Devin’s minor tangles with the law became full-blown criminal activities.
Seven years ago, they got his mother killed.
“Is this what it takes to set you straight?” Victor had stood over his son, who sat with his face in his hands. “Your mother is dead because of what you did!”
Devin hadn’t looked up. “I know. I… I’m sorry.”
“If you’d listened to me and done as I told you, none of this would have happened .”
“I know.”
“I tried so hard ! You can’t say I haven’t been patient, that I haven’t been tolerant beyond reason! I could have had you arrested or committed dozens of times, and if I had, your mother would be alive .”
“I know.”
Looking back from the present, Victor saw how the situation could be interpreted differently. To honor his wife’s memory, he had found it in his heart to forgive Devin, even if Devin never forgave himself.
Victor had sat down beside Devin. “Your mother loved you to a fault. If her death means you’ll live the life she wanted for you, become the person she wanted you to be, then I know she would think it worth the sacrifice. Despite the hell you’ve put me through, I don’t want to give up on you, my son.”
From there, Devin finally made the changes Victor and his wife had always wanted, dutifully following the path laid out for him: graduation with honors, Kydera’s top business school, a job at Quasar. Shades of Devin’s former self sometimes returned, and in those moments, Victor was quick to remind him how much his past recklessness had cost. Elizabeth’s death loomed over the family, but otherwise Devin’s past misadventures became something of a joke Victor enjoyed complaining about.
“He was such a mess before I sorted him out!” he would say with a laugh. “You won’t believe how much melodramatic nonsense he put me through!”
Look what I’ve created , he thought whenever he saw his son doing exactly what he had been intended for. Look what my hard work has achieved.
A ping from the computer woke Victor from his ruminations. Once again, Devin had requested an audience.
“Open new communication,” Victor said. “Send response: affirmative. Time: immediately.”
He pressed an icon on his monitor to disable the security cameras in his office and another to lower the shades on his four glass walls. Family matters did not need to be seen by outsiders. The shades, made of thin, double-sided monitors, were set on a video presentation that occurred two hours ago. Victor pressed a third icon, and the shades flicked to a view of the skyscrapers outside, making it look as though he sat in a glass box above the Silk Sector.
The comm in
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