Seneca Rebel
33

IN THE OLDEN days, people came to America to give their kids the chance for a good life they couldn’t have in other parts of the world. Seneca was oozing with the same romanticism, only much more so. I left my lunch with Reba feeling a fire burning inside– a fire for my life at Seneca. I couldn’t let S.O.I.L. extinguish it. I couldn’t let them get away with expelling Dom and silencing me. No way. My new friends and I were on to something beyond major. I wanted to make it here so I could help clean up the planet, bring optimal health and wellness to those in need, extend a greater level of efficiency to the world at large, and open up a whole new approach to education. This was all way overdue, and now we were on track. Reba was absolutely right. These were undeniably terrific goals, and if I had anything to do with it, I was not going to let the manipulations of a few ruin the potential of my future here… or Dom’s future. I had to fight to right the wrong that had been done to him.

It was no wonder they wanted to keep Seneca exclusive. After all, exclusivity is nothing new. But just like the American dream, the Senecan dream could only truly be declared by those who lived it most graciously and with liberty and justice.

Of course, there were minor bumps in the concept. For example, as far as I was concerned, my mom deserved to be here just as much as, if not more than, people like Gregory Zaffron or G.W. Wallingsford. There was no reason that she couldn’t accompany me, if G.W. could be here with his sister and his father, Congressman Wallingsford, and seemed to be able to go back and forth between Seneca and the Aboves whenever he felt like it. I’d never liked the dismissive saying, “Life isn’t fair.” I believed in Seneca, but wasn’t about to accept all of their arbitrary barriers so easily. This society was being developed, not just by the powerful, but equally by great minds of all classes and circumstances. Forward thinking was what really created the true potential of Seneca, not fear and power. No, fear and power just created unjust imaginary boundaries. Boundaries I had every intention of breaking.

That evening, after session, I decided to take a ride to the restaurant sector and pay Ty a visit. It was no different than any evening– his place was packed to the brim with elated patrons. There was just one empty seat at the sushi bar. I bee-lined for it, knowing it would be filled in a matter of seconds.

“Well, well, well. Look who’s returned to the scene of the crime.”

I knew that voice. Ellen Malone. Uh-oh. It was time to face up to the betrayal. “Ellen.”

Ty leaned forward onto the sushi bar. “Hi Doro! You two know each other, yes?”

Ellen nodded as she gracefully nibbled at a piece of salmon wrapped around a melon spear.

“Very nice. Let me make your favorite.”

“Thanks, Ty.”

I didn’t know what to say, but I needed to start somewhere. “You hate me.”

"Hate is a strong word, Doro. I could think of a more apropos term to describe how I feel about what happened.”

“I’m sorry, Ellen, I had to find a way. There are things going on that I had to try and get to the bottom of.”

Ellen calmly sipped some tea. She wasn’t someone I’d ever wanted to hurt and I hoped she would accept my apologies. I just hadn’t been able to think of any other way to get out of S.E.R.C. while it was under lockdown.

“You know what, Doro? Friends don’t take advantage of each other, no matter what the circumstances.”

That stung. She was right. “I’m sorry for the way I went about things. From now on, I won’t drag you into my shenanigans.”

“You shouldn’t even be into shenanigans here.”

“I know. You’re right. I really am sorry. I have so much respect for you and I just want to go back to how things were. Can we do that? How can I make it up to you?”

“Backwards is never an option for me, but going forward, of course I hope we can have a new understanding.”

“We can.” I don’t know if I was more excited about the direction of this conversation or the plate of halibut that had just entered my line of sight. I pulled it from Ty’s magic hands to the counter in front of me. He looked back and forth between Ellen and me, and then proceeded to say exactly what had been on my mind ever since that bogus B3 News report. Sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ (F)indNƟvᴇl.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

“What happened to Dom? I don’t believe he would steal a flighter. Something’s not right. One of you has to know something.”

Ellen and I looked at one another. Who would be the one to speak? Ellen put her tea down and took a deep breath–

“Look, I know you two must be wondering what happened to your friend. I get it. This whole thing is a complete mess. But, as far as I know, Dominic was meddling where he shouldn’t have been, and he defied multiple warnings. I only have a certain level of clearance so I don’t know exactly what he was doing, but I do know it was big enough that S.O.I.L. saw it as an immense security hazard to the society at large.”

Ellen couldn’t have known the truth about why Dom was messing around in the lab, but I couldn’t let this moment go without defending him. “I think S.O.I.L. is the one that creates a flaw in the Seneca Society security, not Dom.”

“Well, unfortunately, Doro, you aren’t the one running things around here.”

“Maybe she should be.” “Thanks, Ty.” I smiled. “Maybe. But she’s not.”

Ty and I both hung our heads. Ellen was coming from a place of logic, and wasn’t trying to convince either of us of anything other than the facts.

"Maybe doesn’t run societies. Maybe doesn’t make things happen.

Ty and I got it. Someone we both respected had given us a reality check.

“Look, I really like both of you. You are two of my favorite recruits of the thousands I’ve been responsible for. I hope you’ll see Dominic as an example and not take the path he did. Seneca is a great chance for anyone to whom it’s granted. Don’t throw it away trying to prove something or uncover some conspiracy. It’s not worth it, you guys. Once they deem you to be a greater threat than an asset, it’s too late to reverse it.” I pondered that deeply.

Ty swallowed his dismay and slid on down the sushi bar to tend to others, as Ellen and I ate our sushi. As I took those last few bites, I was trampled by revelations— but not the ones that Ellen would have been happy about. I needed to get to the Aboves. I needed to get to my mom and Dominic. There was no more time for maybe. It was time for me to drop the maybe and take on the must.

It was time to make myself become the threat. The one they would never see coming.

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