I was both amazed and also not surprised to learn that the man who had become Dana had had traits of Dana from the beginning.
“He had a horribly abusive family,” Amelia explained. “His father was a politician, and a mean one at that. He used to parade K around as a prodigy, but whenever K did not obey him, he would beat him. There were days I saw him with bruises all over his face, and even open wounds on his back from where the belt buckle had hit him. He clearly hated his father, and made no attempt to hide it. But I saw the way his entire body changed when he talked to his little brother on the phone. He was such a contradiction in himself. This angry, violent person with hatred that no one could never comprehend, and also a gentle, loving man who wanted to do everything in his power to make the world a better place, not just for him and his family, but for everyone who found themselves subjected to the unfair laws of the Commission.”
“Not long after I joined, we all left the Western Region, and went to Central, hoping to find some way to take down the Commission, not to dissimilar to what you did,” she said. “We didn’t understand the Commission at all. And we found out too late that K had been reported by his own father to the Commission of the People as a criminal. We had to go on the run, taking as many people as we could with us as we try to get to Mexico.”
As she continued to tell the story, I started to feel as though I had heard it once before. Certain memories were beginning to bubble up to the surface, reminding me of details that I had heard previously, but could not place when.
“K began to get desperate. He had been so careful and meticulous through most of our jobs, but when he realize that he had been called in as a Commission criminal, he got…frantic. He began taking us on these insane missions, trying to break into the Commission of the People, trying to plant bugs with in its walls so that we could record the horrors of what was going on within. That was when…”
“…when what?” I asked when she did not continue.
“…when Bryant Morris said his sights on him,” Amelia said, finally meeting our eyes. “Being a politician, K’s father not only reported his son to the Commission, but reported him directly to the leader of the Commission of the People. Bryant Morris made it his job to hunt K down and, finally, they ambushed us. K made a scene, making sure that the rest of us could get away. That was when Val and I made it across to Mexico and decided that we would try at another point to break into the Commission and get K out.”
“But you never did…”
“We tried,” she corrected. “We all tried. Everyone in the Coalition was devastated when K was captured. We managed to successfully corner him once, but…he wasn’t K anymore. He had become this person…this stranger that no one knew. He didn’t even have a name at that point. He had forgotten it. He had forgotten his little brother, his father, his mother, even all of us. He was this maniacal, dangerous man. So we had to leave him. We had no idea that he would eventually become Dana Christenson and that he would take the work of Bryant Morris to entirely more sadistic level. We had no idea the torture Bryant used on him, but we knew it was substantial.”
I cleared my throat.
“Did you know his real name?”
“I didn’t until Bryant Morris began to show such an interest in him,” Amelia answered. “We were all very careful with our real names, being sure that the Commission never heard any of us address each other by name.” She looked me over, clearly seeing something unnerving in my expression. “Why do you ask?”
“Because…because I think…he might be my uncle.”
Both Mark and Amelia seemed horrified at the prospect, their eyes shooting wide and mouths opening. Mark shook his head, as if knowing immediately that there was no way Dana Christenson could have been related to me.
“I’ve never asked for this, because I try not to know,” Amelia said slowly, “but what is your last name?”
“Was Dana’s his real name William Sandover?” I demanded.
Amelia hesitated.
“Yes.”
My legs gave out from under me. I felt myself falling to the floor, but Mark caught me and kept me upright. My world had started to feel narrower ever since I saw the picture, but hearing the reality, understanding that the man I have been fearing ever since coming to Central was also my father’s long-lost brother, the favorite experiment of Bryant Morris, the one experiment who could not be changed and became a legend among the experiments within the Commission of the People, and the figure I had idolized looking at his files that had been hidden under my mattress back home…that was something I could not process.
Mark walked me to the desk where I was able to sit down, my head spinning. Mark crouched next to me, putting his hand on my arm, trying to comfort me, though it was very clear he was also shaken by the information.
“Then you must be…his little brother’s daughter…” Amelia murmured. She backed up, pressing her back against the wall, clearly needing the same support I did. She lifted her hand to her mouth and shook her head. “It really is a small world…”
No tears to came to my eyes, my body and brain too much in shock to even think about reacting. I turned to Mark, my eyes still wide, matching his own expression.
“…I don’t think my father knows…” I whispered.
I was sure at that moment, that it was a blessing my father did not know that his older brother had turned into the figure known as Dana Christenson. All the pieces of my life that had been unsettling suddenly fell into place. It was no wonder that Dana knew about my father’s older brother, and why it seemed like he understood our family so well. It also made sense why Dana suddenly latched onto me after not even knowing me. I was family. I was related to the man I feared most in this world.
We heard the front door open and Val called out.
“I’m back! Amelia? Where are you?”
“In the office,” Amelia called back weekly.
With a small house, it did not take long for Val to find her way to the office. When she saw everyone’s startled expressions, I could see her own expression become very worried.
“What happened?”
Amelia motioned to the picture that had started our conversation. Val looked at it and sighed heavily, her expression becoming pained.
“Every experiment recognizes him,” Val murmured.
“Well,” Amelia said, reaching over and taking her wife’s hand, “Lily is William Sandover’s niece.”
It took Val a few moments to put the pieces together, but when she did, she turned immediately to me, her expression mirroring everyone else’s.
“You’re kidding…” She shook her head slowly, staring at me. “You’re Tommy’s daughter?”
“…my father hated being called Tommy…” I said, my brain unable to focus on any other detail in her question.
“He did?” Val asked, confused. “That’s what K always called his little brother.”
I closed my eyes and leaned forward, taking slow, deep breaths as I tried to wrap my head around the information. I wondered if my father hated being called Tommy because it reminded him of his older brother, the older brother that had suddenly disappeared after his father had called him into the Commission of the People.
“Fuck…” Val murmured. “We never bothered to look up what happened to Thomas after K became Dana.”
“…I have to tell him,” I whispered. “I have to find a way to tell my father that Dana is his older brother. He has to know. Perhaps, when he sees that—”
“No, no, Lily, that is a bad idea,” Val said, stepping forward, holding her hand out to me as if to appease me. I stared at her, unsure why she thought it was a bad to inform my father of the fate of his older brother.
“No, we have to tell him,” I insisted. “And not just him. We should tell everyone. If we tell everyone that Dana was originally part of a domestic terrorist group, and that he killed Bryant Morris and took over his position, the entire Commission will crumble. It will fall apart, we can dismantle it
!”
“It’s impossible to do that,” Val said, crouching in front of me and shaking her head. “We have no way to prove it other than through these pictures, a lot of which are over thirty years old. It’s true that Dana was William Sandover, but he doesn’t look his age. Whatever testing they did to him seemed to halt the aging process, at least for now. He’s actually one year younger than I am.”
I looked over Val’s graying hair and the wrinkles that were etched into her skin. The fading color of her tattoos also showed the passage of time. It was hard to believe that Dana was around the same age.
Amelia also stepped forward, standing next to me and putting her hand around my shoulders
“Besides,” she said, “Dana is only a small part of the problem. Everything that the Commission stands for is rooted in the Second Revolution, which caused the entire world to also reform their countries. This kind of hatred…it runs deep. Even if we remove Dana, even if we reveal to the public, or to your father, who he really is, or was, it would just mean that another person would replace him. The Commission likely would not change at all. As a matter of public relations, they’ll cover it up and removed Dana quietly. But as we all know,” she said, raising her eyebrows, “Dana would not go quietly.”
I closed my eyes and hung my head. My mind was filled with static, unable to process just how profound a realization it was that I was biologically related to my tormentor.
“There has to be some way that we can use this information. There has to be something—”
Mark’s hand tightened on my arm, surprising me and causing me to turn to him. It was difficult to read his expression, but I could almost hear him telling me, “Lily, let it go.”
I fell silent, staring at his expression, wondering why he seemed so willing to disregard the sudden realization of Dana’s true identity.
In front of me, Val took my hands and smiled gently.
“You’re young, Lily,” she said gently, “and you’ve already done so much in an attempt to change the world. What you should focus on now is enjoying your own life. It’s better to go out and experience what you can. You’re free of America. You’re free of the Commission of the People. You should do everything you can to see the world beyond what is constructed by the Commission. You should talk to anyone you can, learn about people, learn about the world. You may never understand why the world is the way it is, but the more you experience it, and the people who live on this little marble, the more you can understand your own role in this world.”
Amelia also tightened her hand on my shoulder.
“Val’s right,” she agreed. “The world is too big to rest on the shoulders of one person. And no one person is going to be able to change the wrongs of this world in their lifetime. And the more time you spend worrying about everything that’s wrong with the world, the more you blind yourself to what is right with it.”
Both of them were smiling gently at me, their years of experience showing in their faces and easing my own worries and fears.
“But…shouldn’t I try to make the world a better place?” I murmured.
“Of course,” Val agreed. “But, you’re thinking too big. We make the world a better place, but the only way we do that is by helping one individual at a time, or maybe two.” She looked over at Mark. “It may not change the world, but it changes the world for that one person. And that’s what matters.”
“Once we get you your papers, we’ll have changed your world as well,” Amelia added. “Doesn’t that make a world a better place for you?”
My eyes went to each face in the room, and I started to realize that it was selfish of me to think that I could create such an impact and change the entire world. The world was bigger than just my country. The world was bigger than just my interactions with Dana Christenson. But at the same time, my world was much smaller, focused only on the people in my life that I could directly interact with and talk to.
My eyes finally rested on Mark, and he smiled.
“You’re right,” I murmured. “You’re absolutely right…” I reached back and took Amelia’s hand, as well as Val’s, and looked at Mark with a broad smile. “I wish I had seen that earlier…”
“There’s still time,” Val said. “You’re young. Now is the time to take in the world and all of its beauty, so that when you see the uglier parts, you have more understanding of the good, and you can find a way to add to it. So when we get your papers, I need you to promise me something.”
I waited patiently for her to say what it was I needed to promise.
“Live the best life that you can, and help anyone that you can along the way. Because if we all live like that, we will all make the world a much better place.”
Epilogue
I fiddled with the laminated card in my hands, staring at it, knowing I should put it in my new purse and wallet, but in able to let it go just yet.
My paperwork had gone through and I now had a very official-looking fake citizenship card for Mexico. My new name, according to the card was Lydia Martinez and the picture on the card showed my new haircut, which I had finally gotten used to.
Amelia had given me a book that she said would help me learn Spanish, but then also encouraged me to learn any other language that I found interesting, as it would allow me to travel to many other places in the world. She also gave me the information of a man in a local resort town who was in need of some new workers. He would pay in cash, and mostly under the table, which would allow both Mark and I to secure some funds that would allow us to travel if we wanted—or needed.
Once we had the cards, it became very clear to us that we had to figure out what we were going to do. We had to leave the safe house and make room for anyone else trying to escape the Commission of the People. But the road was unclear for both of us. There was no telling what was in our future.
Both Mark and I were struggling to figure out what to do with our new found freedom. We talked briefly before we got the cards about working, finding a place out in the country, and finding a way to lay low and survive. But it seemed like another form of hiding. The talk of traveling and experiencing the world had shaken up something inside me that was demanding to be acknowledged.
Mark and I decided that we would take a week or so and travel to the nearby places where other members of our revolution had settled for the time being while they, too, decided their futures. Amelia had given us a list of places to go, as well as the information on where to find Mark’s sister. We knew that we had to at least check on her and let everyone know that we had miraculously made it. I was eager to see Griffin and Tori again, as well as other members of the group, and the familiar faces of those who had once shared the bunker.
I gathered my things into a new backpack, one that looked more like a backpackers travel pack, and put my purse in the top, finally releasing my laminated card and stowing it safely in the confines of my wallet. As I was zipping up the top of the pack, a gentle knock sounded at the door. I turned to see Mark with his own pack leaning against the doorframe, smiling gently.
I nodded, silently telling him that I was ready to go.
We both stopped at the entryway of the house and thanked Amelia and Val profusely for everything that they have done for us and the other members of the Central Angels.
“You always have allies here,” Val said strongly.
“And you are always welcome if you need to see a friendly face,” Amelia added.
We hugged the two older women and then turned to the door with a new sense of anticipation and anxiety sitting in our chests as we exited the house. As we walk toward the sidewalk of the small, crowded street, we turned to wave at the two older women who had allowed us a second chance at life. But once the front gate was closed, and they closed the door, Mark and I were left in a confused stupor on the sidewalk, not sure which way to go.
Mark motion one direction with a noncommittal shrug and we both started walking.
I looked around the street. I saw the rams
hackle houses, the piles of trash along the sidewalk, the short trees that tried to bring beauty to the neighborhood, even though the small cramped houses, rundown cars, trash, and graffiti all gave more character to the neighborhood then the splashes of green the trees provided.
It really was a very different world from America. It was unclear to me if the obvious poverty and crime rate in the city of Mexico we had found ourselves in made the system in America makes sense. After all, the crime rate in America was low, the streets were very clean, everything appeared to be just so, even if there were some nefarious dealings underneath the façade.
But perhaps the balance in Mexico made more sense than the system in America. All types of people were welcome in the southern country. Perhaps there was crime, perhaps it was poverty, but that allowed people to focus on the things that really mattered, such is keeping people safe from those who intended to do wrong or harm to them, and trying to come up with a way to be sure that everybody, no matter what they looked like, who they loved, or what they believed in, was cared for.
I knew that no matter where I went, there would be no perfect system. There would always be something wrong, because humans were flawed. It was just a matter of finding a way to except those flaws as one of the beautiful things about humanity, rather than think of it as a blemish.
“Mark?” I asked. He turned his head to me, though we continued walking down the sidewalk. “I have an idea.” He cocked his head, telling me he was interested in hearing what I had to say. “Let’s go check on your sister and the others that are in the city, and then let’s go to that resort and work for a few months. And when we have enough money…” I could feel the smile getting wider on my face, “… let’s just go see the world. We can work our way around, earning money when we need to, But let’s make good on our promise to Val and Amelia. Let’s see the world. Let’s experience what people have to offer, what see the good in the world. God knows we’ve seen the worst.”
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