“That’s how things went for years. Would you like to know how many years? She was that bitter for over half her sentence. Yes, it took over thirty-five years of listening to her bitter rants before she finally got the message that they weren’t doing this to fulfil some job requirement. They should have left her alone from the moment she got there, and yet they put up her stinging words for half a lifetime. So, the monstrous creature she had allowed to live in her heart was finally put to death. Ina finally allowed people to love her. Now, having done this, the second half of that sentence was described as so much fun between the three that Cici, as I would be, was very jealous and joked about stealing leaves off a tree just to get arrested and enjoy all the laughter and goofing off Ina described once she got out. And we all know what she found when her sentence ended. She was returned to the moment she left, having the joy of her friends eagerly taking her back, so that she never missed a moment with them. And that is her story of love. My story is of grace and hers is of love.”
“Where’s Ina?!” Gigi demands. “After all that, she doesn’t get to tell her own story?!! How are we supposed to hug her and all that good stuff if she’s not even here?!”
“Seems to be a thing to leave Ina out, doesn’t it?” Abbie hisses.
“Ha ha ha! Who do you think is SO shy when it comes to the thought of being on national television with your System show that she specifically ordered me to tell her story on her behalf while she hides in her office at Grace School of Recovery, ‘doing paperwork’ to avoid the attention?” Ti Chi laughs hysterically, recalling that comical encounter.
“Man, you’re desperate when you use paperwork as an excuse for something,” Mercy comments with her hands up.
“Ina LVI’s a teacher at GSR?” Grace wonders in awe.
“Yes, she is! She is one of Charis Scott’s favorite teachers as she’s still got her creepy persona, but now she’s loving enough to have fun teasing the newcomers with her odd sense of humor.”
Faye compares the two, saying, “So, Ina XI had personality issues because of her cybernetic enhancements so that she was quiet and couldn’t express herself properly, while Ina LVI never had her emotions tampered with, resulting in her not being able to handle the emotional strain of her moral dilemma.”
Ent responds to this, “I hope you’re not deducing that emotions are bad. Ina XI will tell you in a heartbeat that she regrets not being able to express herself. You saw the joy in everyone’s eyes when she finally opened up on her own. That’s a treasure. Ina LVI’s problem wasn’t emotions, but the lack of love. I don’t mean the emotional kind either. She and her friends were puppets to a bunch of heartless politicians, and their AB, who I imagine would have shown them that kind of love, was taken out of the picture before he could. That’s probably why he wasn’t even chosen to help Ina. She had never known him, and he died young anyway, so he might not have learned all those principles to share them properly. The point is that the difference maker in both settings is Jesus Christ. It’s because of His truth and virtue that we know what is right and wrong. It’s because of His power that we can endure to finish well. It’s because of His love, grace and mercy that we can help others leave the pain in the past and move forward.”
Faye claps ecstatically, swaying back and forth, saying, “That’s my man, that’s my man!”
With the lesson taught, Ti Chi and Ket both say they need to get going so they can prepare for the party. Abbie “bids them farewell” as she waits to see if someone else will steal her show. The teacher of the group looks at his watch and decides to give his own mini-lesson from the things he has learned today. I wonder what this is going to be.
Inner Man Theatre 