Tunnel Vision

Chapter 11- The Fallen and The Strong

Gray slammed the door to the principal's office. He was mad, hopping mad.
"I'm warning you about that Earthling," the principal had said. "Don't let her get to your head. The whole idea behind Tunol is to succeed through innovation and progress. Her whole point is to destroy it. My colleagues are coming tonight, so make sure that speech is printed."
The worst part of all this was that the words kept playing over and over again in Gray's head.
He is wrong, oh so wrong!
The words halted from their repetitive loop as Dr. Simon ran towards Gray, fear written all over his face. "Gray! It's Rowan! Hurry! I'm getting my medical team now!" he shouted. Gray had not heard all of the last sentence Dr. Simon had said; he had bolted as soon as he heard Rowan's name.
Gray's heart stopped as he reached the hallway where Rowan lay, blood dripping down her face from a gash that ran from her left temple to the center of her forehead. She was lying on her back, her limbs sprawled about as if she were a rag doll that had been thrown on the floor by a neglectful child. Gray looked up to see a lab robot that had crashed into the wall and had smashed and dented itself. Before he knew it, Dr. Simon and his medical team had rushed in and were taking Rowan out on a stretcher.
"A malfunction," Dr. Simon muttered as he quickly glanced at the robot. "Be sure to clean this mess up!" he called to the members of his team as he rushed out just as quickly as he had rushed in. Gray, hands trembling, walked over to the pile of smoldering metal. He kicked it as hard as he could and the control box flew off of what was the head of the robot. Gray walked over to it and picked it up. He was about to throw it as hard as he possibly could until he realized that there was a small black pin stuck in one of the wires. Clearly this was no accident.
*****
Gray sat in front of the automatic printer in his study and just stared at it. He had to print out the speech for tomorrow, but all he could think about was Rowan. He had wanted to see her so badly, but Dr. Simon had responded, "She is in intensive care. We've found out that she has major head injuries and several broken bones and we are not even done testing for other problems yet. Go back to your room and get some rest."
Gray thought of everything Rowan had put him through during the past week. From the moment he met her, to when he found her crying, to last night in the Confiscation Room... Then some of his own words came back to him. "'I'm gonna fix this world. I'll make all this stuff legal so everyone can see life more like the way you see it.'" He had promised Rowan and himself that he would change everything. Now Rowan was not here for support.
What should I do? Print a speech to maintain my job and keep my boss satisfied and to keep the world the way it is? Or write a speech to change the world because of a strange girl who is lying in intensive care?
Gray stood and paced for a while. Back and forth, back and forth. Not much time left. Finally, Gray went into his bedroom, crawled under the bed, and pulled out the small silver box. He went back into his study, sat down, and began to write...
*****
The next morning, Gray walked up to the podium with his speech held in the palms of his clammy hands. He spotted Principal Brown and his colleagues standing in the back. When he climbed the steps to the microphone, he looked out at the crowd. They looked back up at him, a thousand gray, expressionless faces like those of river stones, worn smooth by years of exposure to water rushing over them, their minds seemingly impervious. He became like a deer in the headlights resulting from the intensity of those blank faces until he thought of the girl still lying in intensive care. He took a deep breath and began to speak. "As you know, I'm Gray Bram and I am supposed to stand up here and tell you about how well Tunol School of Work and Technology is doing and what changes we have made to benefit society. But I tell you, we have done nothing to this beast we call society except feed it more spirits of young people looking to make a life. At this school, we are surrounded by and use so many robots and gadgets so often that most of you have probably forgotten what your last name is. And we test you to see what your purpose in life is. Doesn't this whole testing thing kind of defeat what life is all about? I mean, isn't life about finding yourself and what you're capable of and to learn from your mistakes along the way?" He paused as he realized he had used Rowan's words, but quickly continued. "I have had enough of being told what I'm supposed to do. This is my life, my world, and I'm changing it for the better. I propose to open the Confiscation Room, make the illegal legal. Because if you can open your eyes like I have in the course of the past week, I guarantee we can make this world an amazing place! All I need is the say of the people."
Everyone looked at Gray for a moment, then at each other. Gray could not bring himself to look at the principal. He just stood and waited patiently for his answer, listening to his hammering heartbeat. Then, he heard someone call "I agree," in a loud voice. Everyone turned to Ms. Sloane who was standing, looking at Gray. People began copying her, standing and saying "I agree," just as she had. Soon, the whole audience was cheering for Gray.