Page 36 of The Seducer
They cheered me on when I gave them a show designed for one thing only: getting their reaction when my shirt fell down and revealed my tattoo. I was a sucker for the shock effect it had on people and this group was my best audience yet.
“Oh Mother Nature, he’s a cyborg,” one cried out and others got up from their chairs to see better.
“What?” I asked when I got up on my feet again. “You don’t have cyborgs here?”
“Not real cyborgs. We only replace limbs and eyes, not internal organs. Is that legal in the Northlands?” Tristan asked, his eyes dropping to my shirt, which was now hiding the tattoo.
Hans and Athena were clearing their throats and I knew I only had a few seconds before they would reveal the truth.
“So what about brains, Tristan? You don’t have cyborgs with computers for brains either?”
“No,” he exclaimed with his big expressive eyes focused on me. “Only implants, but even that is restricted because of what happened during the Toxic War. I wanted an implant for my birthday really badly, but my mother wouldn’t let me have one.”
It was amazing how gullible the students were, and I had too much fun messing with them to reveal that brain implants were prohibited in the Northlands – and for good reason. Back in the middle of the twenty-first century when implants were first introduced it became a must-have operation in no time. Millions of people jumped at the chance to master unlimited languages and have instant access to all information from the Internet. But once the Toxic War broke out, the hacking began and viruses were planted in people’s minds resulting in violent rampages of murder, and an explosion in tragic suicides. When it was clear what was happening, people became frantic to get rid of the implants, but only a few succeeded.
“I can’t believe you’re a real cyborg. Are there many of your kind in the Northlands?” Tristan asked with awe in his voice.
Again, Athena cleared her throat behind me and I knew my fun was over.
Placing my hand on Tristan’s shoulder, I smiled. “I’m sorry, champ, but I’m not really a cyborg. I’m just having some fun with you all.”
“But…” His eyes fell to my shirt again.
Pulling it up, I gave them all a better look. “It’s just a tattoo, see?” I smacked my abs.
Tristan reached out and poked my skin. “I thought it was the real thing,” he said with disappointment.
“I know, everybody falls for it,” I said and laughed. “But you know whatisreal?”
“No.”
“My special talent of juggling with five balls.”
This time Tristan narrowed his eyes in suspicion. “How do I know you’re not lying this time too?”
“Because I would never lie about something as serious as juggling.”
“Prove it,” a boy from the third row called out to me, and the kids scrambled to come up with three apples and two oranges for me to juggle with, and applauded when I took a bow after my juggling act.
The principal allowed the children a chance to get a photo with me, and I noticed how many of them surrounded Athena and hugged her. While goofing around and shooting funny pictures with the kids, I overheard her talk to them about their families and it surprised me how they hugged her and shared details about their lives. I’d thought of Athena as a bit stiff with all her talk of proper communication and spirituality, but seeing her smile and laugh with the children was an extension of that sunny side that I’d experienced briefly after we meditated earlier today. She was so relaxed and free that it made me wonder what else I had misjudged about her.
After the photos were taken there was time for a few more questions, and a boy asked me to tell them what it was like to grow up in the Northlands.
“Well, we live in learning facilities from the time we’re three years old until we graduate school at the age of eighteen,” I said and bit my lip at the wave of memories that was pushing from the inside.
“We call our teachers mentors and they’re very different from yours.”
“In what way?” the boy asked.
“Do your teachers punish you?” I asked and the question seemed to confuse the students.
“In the Northlands,” I said and tensed up. “Students are disciplined using physical punishments if we don’t follow the rules or learn fast enough.”
“What kind of punishments?” Tristan asked.
Memories flashed in my mind but I couldn’t tell them what I’d gone through, and it wouldn’t be a true representation of the Northlands anyway. My childhood hadn’t been typical.
“Mostly spankings,” I said. “But we had fun too and we were always surrounded by our friends.”
