“I’m still in shock over all of this…” Teekay muttered as he scribbled his way through paperwork. “All this hassle, just to get the same job I had last week. Fucking retarded.”
Geekay, Veekay and Enkay, who were busy packing away boxes and moving things around, both rolled their eyes. They’d been listening to Teekay ramble on and on all day and they were pretty sick of it. There were more important things to do, like making sure that the 471st Legion could move in and get to work protecting the High General.
“Seriously, this is so damn stupid… I’ve been doing this stupid job for like 23 years and here I am, filling out forms and thrown to the bottom of the ladder…”
Finally, Enkay snapped, throwing down a large box of paperwork.
“WILL YOU SHUT UP ALREADY?”
Everyone fell silent and stared at Enkay.
“Excuse me?” Teekay hissed.
“I’m telling you, shut the fuck up!” Enkay repeated himself. “You seem to be the only person who’s genuinely angry about all of this!”
Teekay growled. “I’ve lost my job. This job I’ve done for years, that I have done with diligence and dignity. And now I have to start all over just to have the chance to get my job back. What I don’t understand is how the rest of you aren’t annoyed.”
Enkay stamped over to where Teekay was standing. “You don’t understand? You mean you were perfectly fine with being paid a pittance, never having time off, working all the time, not having the same rights as other Rethans and having no life security, with an 80% chance of dying before you’re 50?”
“No, I just-”
“You just what?” Enkay interrupted. “You are completely and utterly brainwashed. We now have the freedom to get whatever job we want! We are now treated the same as everyone else! Yeah it’s a little bit of a pain reapplying for jobs and stuff, but surely you want that? Surely this little bit of trouble is worth it in order to have better safety and live past 50?”
Teekay didn’t say anything. He sighed, then tutted. “You really think this stuff will protect us? It won’t.”
“It’s not guaranteed,” Veekay sighed. “But it’s better than nothing. We get proper healthcare now. And security and access to the Astynom like other Rethans. No one helped us when we were being killed off by that assassin. No one helped us when we fell ill. I… I don’t understand how you want to continue as things were. None of us want to end up like Iodakay. Or Psikay and Arkay. Or Veeyel. Or Aziten. Or even Kayel-En. They’re all dead, and our old rules are part of the reason why they’re no longer among us…”
“But… this job… it meant everything to me…” Teekay muttered.
“More than Eksi means to you?” Enkay growled.
“No… That’s not what I meant!” Teekay shouted. “I… I love him. I love all of you… I… I’ve fucked up so badly…”
Teekay slumped in his chair, knocking his paperwork onto the floor.
“You all managed to work around the mind control… I never worked it out… I pushed Psikay away because the mind control told me not to fall in love. I pushed Arkay away for the same damn reason. I don’t let myself get close to Eksi. I want to have a relationship with him but he’ll die and then all I’ll have is my job again…”
Enkay glanced at his friends, then walked over to Teekay and put his arm around him. “You don’t need to define yourself based on your duties any more. Heck, you don’t even need a job. Not yet, anyway…”
Geekay and Veekay both joined Teekay’s side.
“Teekay, why don’t you take some time off?” Veekay suggested. “Spend some time with Eksi. Enjoy yourself. Take an actual holiday. You’ve worked almost 23 years with only a handful of breaks. You NEED to rest.”
Teekay looked up at Veekay. “You’re right… You guys are always right…”
“We’ll sort this out, mate. You go have fun!” Geekay smiled as he lifted Teekay from his seat and walked him to the door.
“Yeah, have fun!” Enkay grinned.
Teekay sighed, then thanked his friends. “Thank you, guys. I appreciate this…”