Without hesitation, the teacher explains, “That’s simple enough; Elena Burt married Rodrique Beluu, AKA Hyperdrive. He used to be called MC Blue back when he was a….” She looks at Ally, refusing to use the word.
“Come on, teacher,” SD cheers, “what was he?”
Begrudgingly, she admits, “He was a villain. He was a villain that had learned about the compassionate ways of the System Guards, and even had Arion Jekel Scar, the one most known for being merciful, as the soldier who met him in his beachside lair. Blue was considering giving this life of mercy and grace a chance, but having been molded by the heartless Thanatos, he was bitterly skeptical, so he did everything he could to test A.J.’s patience, using cruel insults and whatever he could during their battle to push his foe beyond the point of merely attempting to detain a bad guy to the dark depths of making the fight about personal vengeance. While A.J. did well for most of that exchange, it was Blue’s evil and personal mocking of A.J.’s dear sister Jaqueline that crossed the line. This rant included the heartless reminder of how it was A.J. that almost got his sister killed when they were brainwashed by the true Arion Jekel, and this rant also included vile threats of what would be done to Jaqui if A.J. didn’t deal with this situation like a man and stop being a compassionate wimp. Well, A.J. had enough and gave into his anger, using his Jekel-like powers to torture this villain, giving him a horrible death.” Catherine sees the connection but tries to ignore it as she’s in lecture mode.
She continues. “A.J. was wrong for what he did, even to a villain, and Blue was wrong for going too far, and, technically, got what he deserved. However, both parties were shown kindness as it became obvious to the others what was happening. The time device was used on Blue to give him a second chance while poor Arion Jekel Scar learned a very valuable lesson that day from which he has never departed, still being the compassionate servant we all know him to be.”
AB adds to this, “Kind of funny, considering I never thought of the aquatic connection between A.J.’s moment of failure and my own as a kid, when my hastiness to be the hero almost killed a villain who was only acting on behalf of her masters who had taken the life of her father. Charon Triton, known as the Neptune Nurse, would have easily joined my side to be free of her captivity and avenge her father, but she was destroyed by a nine-year-old superhero that only saw a ‘blue alien monster’ and acted without thought. I’m so glad she was revived, giving us both a second chance at things, even though it took years of restoration on both parts. That hard lesson I took from that careless decision, along with others I had to learn the hard way, leading up to my ultimate failure against my own sister Cici, having us both exiled for one hundred and forty years, only to wake up and find this endless dream was a punishment for our crimes, all added to the foundation of a philosophy we System Guards have tried to work at, making sure we show everyone, including the villains, as much compassion and understanding as possible. We haven’t always gotten it right, and of course, there have been times when justice had to be served, but overall, if everything you have done today is simply your stubborn way of asking the same question that Master Controller Blue once asked Arion Jekel Scar, the answer is yes.”
That is when the System Director feels compelled to admit a thing. “Ally, you PACs have a luxury that we humans do not. The reason the System Guards are so well equipped for their way of doing things is because they have access to resources in a way that we don’t in the real world. We have the Bible, obviously, as that is what molds their thinking. However, your machine mind is able to research and understand things much more efficiently than we humans could ever dream to do. While not everyone will forgive you for what you’ve done, Allison, I’m encouraging you to take advantage of the rare opportunity that you have that most of us in the real world do not. Like AB, there have been people that I’ve hurt over the years. Sometimes, those relationships were mended, while other times, I lost some very dear friends because of my selfishness. It happens to all of us.
Inner Man Theatre 