Rusty
a short story
Found this little vignette in my drafts and can’t remember why I didn’t hit “publish” at the time I drafted it? I’m busy puttering away at Ravenswing, but for now, here’s a quick visit to the McNeill Institute around the time the Rehabilitation Research Project was started.
Jude cracked the door and the radio got briefly louder—this brokenness inside me might start healing—before Arthur turned the volume down.
“Good afternoon, Arthur. I was hoping to discuss something with you. It is a matter of some importance.”
Arthur waved him in, gesturing to the chair in front of his desk. His eyes were haggard, and a scattering of gray hairs littered his desk. The thick scar across Arthur’s left palm drew his attention. For a moment, Jude was taken back to time when the wound was fresh and inflamed, a grieving Arthur refusing to see a doctor for his obviously-infected hand.
“What is it, Jude? Is it urgent? I’m in the middle of reviewing the Children’s Ward budget for next year.”
“What a coincidence. That is the topic I wanted to discuss.”
“Not this again, Jude!” Arthur slammed a fist on his desk. “We’re not cutting the youth program in favor of one of your hare-brained schemes!”
“Hear me out, Arthur. This isn’t a hare-brained scheme, as you so uncharitably put it. This is a viable path forward for a dying organization.”
“We’re not dying, Jude, and I resent the fact that you continue to use that term to describe this thing we built. Everyone is still suffering after the few years we’ve had, but we’re on the mend.”
Jude said nothing, holding eye contact with Arthur. The latter broke first, his resolve crumbling. “Fine, Jude, go ahead. Tell me what you’ve got.”
“A new use case for the MentaLink technology. Recent patient experience suggests that it may be possible for us to partially suppress memories during simulat—”
“Absolutely not.” Arthur whispered, running his thumb along the scar on his hand. “Jude, how many times do I have to tell you that I cannot condone off-label uses for the simulator? There’s still so much that we can’t predict.”
Jude felt his temper rising. Steady, Jude. Steady. He slid the folder across the desk to Arthur. “Kiera’s been dead almost two decades. When are you going to stop letting her accident hold us back? You keep that rusty old blade on your desk like a talisman, but I’ve yet to see any good luck come from it.”
Arthur’s shoulders slumped. He opened the folder and stared at its contents with glazed-over eyes. He didn’t speak for a long moment, and when he did, his voice was flat. “Tell me what you have in mind.”
“I propose installing a MentaLink console and simulator in a local detention or correctional facility. Our initial trial runs of partial memory suppression have yielded promising results, and I hypothesize that we could rehabilitate…”
He paused, waiting for a response from Arthur, any sign to prove that he was paying attention. They sat in absolute silence for a long two minutes before Arthur visibly shook his head and looked up at Jude.
“I’m sorry, where were we?”
Jude didn’t miss a beat. “I was explaining that the project I’ve proposed would be a stronger strategy in this troubling economy. Rather than heckling our pediatric clients to schedule appointments they can’t afford, we work with the prison system directly to offer rehabilitation treatments for inmates in long-term incarceration facilities. They save money in the long run, and we can build up our public image while also generating income. And perhaps in the future, when money is less tight for families, we consider bringing the Children’s Ward back online.”
Arthur sighed. He picked up a pen and signed the paper in front of him. Wordlessly, he slid it back across the desk to Jude. He turned the radio back up, catching the beginning of a new song.
—all I do is win, win, win, no matter what—
As Jude walked out of the door, he called the warden at the prison where the MentaLink technology had been installed weeks ago in anticipation of the approval. “We got the green light.”
If you enjoyed this and would like to find more stories set in this universe, you can click here, or you can read my novel Remembrance. And of course, subscribe to get new stories directly.
PROMPT:
Peep that date of fully last summer to get a sense of how long I’ve been sitting on this one!
Ooooooh Jude! Not cool! But this was so good.