Page 22 of The Ruler
I read a lot, meditated, and worked on my plans for the inclusion project that Khan and I discussed on a daily basis.
We didn’t agree on the curriculum – and how could we when he insisted that all Nboys needed to learn how to hunt? In frustration with my wall of refusal, Khan informed me that he wouldn’t waste his time fighting over it. Instead the two teachers would have to create the new curriculum together. After all, they were the ones who had to implement it. We would let them battle it out and then we could make adjustments if needed.
Restless and bored, I would sometimes sneak off when Khan was lost in his own thoughts, and a few times I managed to return without his noticing that I’d been gone for five or ten minutes. Still, my rush of freedom wasn’t enough to entertain me for long, and I shamefully took up the guilty pleasure of books and movies that were forbidden in the Motherlands because of the violent and passionate content.
Khan was only too happy when I disappeared into my own bubble, and it became almost addictive to see movies from before the great war when men and women lived in a completely different time.
The violent scenes made me squeeze my eyes shut. The erotic scenes too, but lately I’d been sneaking a few peeks and understood why these movies were forbidden in the Motherlands. They made you feel things you shouldn’t and the more I saw, the more questions I had.
“Christina, have you ever heard about something called ‘the walk of shame?’ I asked late one night when we stood by ourselves in the corner of the living room.
She was arranging the brown curls that always escaped her braid. “The walk of shame?”
“Yes, I came across that expression in a book and I’m not sure what it means.”
Christina furrowed her brow. “I could find out.”
“How?”
“Boulder made sure I have access to their Internet. You know they built on top of the old one from before the war. That means that some things are still there.”
“But you can’t trust the old Internet. Most of the content was deleted or falsified during the war,” I argued.
“I know, but for archeological research it’s great, and I’ll bet we can find a definition for the walk of shame.”
“Huh!” I smiled. “It’s worth a try, but I can’t believe they would still use it.”
Christina flushed red and looked down.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
Looking over her shoulder, she pulled me closer. “They mostly use it to see forbidden movies from the past.”
“Okay.” I nodded. I could hardly judge them, as I did too.
“No,” she said. “You don’t understand. I’m talking about pornography.”
“Pornography.”
“Yes. Have you heard about porn?”
I nodded. “Yes, it’s a concept from before the big enlightenment.” Christina was an innocent, and I didn’t want her to know that we council members were aware of certain groups of deviants within our society who were drawn to sexual activities that she would find disturbing.
“Yes, it’s people having sex on film and according to Boulder, men here still enjoy it,” Christina confided in me.
Suspicion hit me. “Have you seen this with your own eyes?”
Her eyes flickered around the room. “Once in the forbidden section of the University library. Strictly research-related, of course.”
“Of course,” I said with my brows arched.
“Come on.” Christina took my hand and pulled me quietly along, out of the dining room and up the stairs to her and Boulder’s suite.
Feeling like a rebel for escaping my prison guard, or “protector” as Khan liked to call himself, I sprinted up the stairs with her.
The men had their backs to us and were discussing something business-related.
“Hurry,” Christina whispered and took the last ten steps two at a time, ushering me inside her room.
