Where the Lines Overlap Ch. 02

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Kevin's insecurities start to show.
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Part 2 of the 10 part series

Updated 06/08/2023
Created 05/21/2016
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"Very well, um..." Will looked down at his desk, pulling up his interface on the glass surface. "Kevin?" he asked, looking up to confirm if that was me. I nodded. "Okay great. Anyway, I know I just interviewed your brother, but I'll treat it like I don't know anything about you. Is that okay?"

"Yeah, it's fine."

"Awesome. Well first off, I will brief you a little on the purpose of this interview. Have you heard of the integration initiative?" Will asked, clasping his hands together.

"I know of it, but I don't know much about it. All I know is that it's an initiative to integrate elite and natal life to be more cohesive," I said.

Over the last few years, a new initiative was started to help natals and elites live in a more cohesive environment, trying to mix the social classes to foster understanding between the different groups. It was a good sentiment, but execution was slightly more than a little problematic.

First of all, most natals went about their lives, never meeting an elite, being in jobs where it was unheard of for elites to participate in. Of course, there were jobs like nurses and scientists, where natals and elites worked in a similar environment, but these jobs were few and far between. Secondly, most elites were simply too busy to even attempt to make small talk while at work. Social integration seemed second priority when there were more pressing matters to attend to.

"Yes, and that's basically the essence of the initiative. Today's interview will be covering a little bit of your experiences in your job internships in regards to elite and natal interactions." I nodded to the older elite. "At any point in the interview, should you have a question, feel free to stop me and voice your thoughts. Also, should you feel uncomfortable in answering a question, you can simply voice it and we'll move on."

"Okay."

"Great. So first, I'll like to know a little bit about you. Can you describe to me your family?" Will asked, browsing through his desk interface.

"Okay, well my family consists of my father, Dave and my mom, Justine. You already know my brother Kenneth."

"Any other siblings other than your brother?" Will asked and I shook my head. "And how do you feel about the accommodations your family is currently residing in. Any complaints or issues you want to bring up?"

"It's fine. Serves its purpose and we live comfortably enough."

"And what about school? You're almost done with your education, do you have a job in mind that you would like to get placed in?"

"I'm really good with mechanical stuff, so I'm hoping I'll get placed in something along that line," I said. Will chuckled at my statement, and I got confused for a moment. He may have been a natal before, but I couldn't help but feel like maybe he was judging me. "Is there a problem with that?"

"What? Oh no. It's just funny, how everyone I interviewed today knew what they want to be after they completed school. When I was in your position, I didn't know who I was, let alone know what I wanted to do for the rest of my life," he said.

"If I may ask, how did you even become an elite," I asked, unsure if the question was out of line. Really, everyone knew Will Harrison went from natal to elite, but no one knew how or why, at least in the natal community. Then again, he may have answered the question so many times that it just became a chore to him.

"Long story short, my test results were peculiar, indicative of elite education rather than natal. To this day no one can tell me why," he said, rolling his eyes. "You'd think that the best elite minds would be able to figure it out by now."

"Oh...I'm sorry." I said, suddenly feeling guilty for assuming he was looking down on me for wanting to be a mechanic.

"For?"

"I thought you were looking down on my choice of profession."

Will cocked a side smile. "There are no important or unimportant jobs on Lunaris. Everyone has a role to play, and all of them are equal." I nodded, but blushed and looked down at my hands. I could feel Will's eyes on me, could feel the way he was thinking, analyzing my reaction. It had been done so many times to me by Alena that I could sense it. Whatever he was analyzing, he didn't say though, immediately carrying on with the interview.

The interview went by with him asking questions in relation to natal life, school and anything of the like. Slowly, I felt myself grow more comfortable and I answered the questions, forgetting about how I had embarrassed myself in front of Will.

"Moving on, what are your thoughts of elites. Have you had interactions with any of them?" Will asked.

"My best friend is actually elite," I replied.

"May I ask the name of this elite?"

"Alena Hopper." At the name, Will looked up from his desk in surprise, his eyes wide.

"Alena Hopper? As in platinum hair, silver eyes, piercings on her ear Alena?"

"Yeah why, do you know her?" I asked, seeing Will expression change to a confused one, staring at me intently.

"You're...kidding right?"

"About what?" I asked, myself growing more confused.

"So that's why he didn't want to tell me," Will muttered under his breath.

"Who didn't tell you what?"

"You're brother. He didn't want to tell me Alena was you guys' best friend."

"Why not?" Will stared at me, his face scrunched in thought as he took in my question.

"Kevin, you do know who my husband is right?"

"Thane Hopper?" I replied, a little unsure myself now. I was definitely missing something here.

"And you know who his father is?" Will probed further. I sensed like he was trying to get me to figure out what he was getting at, but I wasn't grasping any of it.

"President Varek Hopper," I said. Will looked at me, motioning with his hand to carry on, waiting for me to suddenly realize what he was getting at. I tried piecing together what he had just said. All I knew was that it had something to do with Thane and Varek Hopper, but nothing else. It was times like this, that I wished Ken was there to fill in the blank spaces for me. I looked up at Will and saw him raising an eyebrow at me. I suddenly couldn't remember how we even deviated to this subject. We were talking about Alena, so how did it come to this.

Then I had an epiphany. We were talking about Alena. Alena Hopper. Then Thane Hopper and finally Varek Hopper. Did that mean...?

"Alena is related to Thane and Varek Hopper?" I practically shouted.

"I'm surprised you didn't already know that. Hopper isn't a common last name on Lunaris," Will stated.

"But..." I was having real trouble believing it, stuttering as my brain tried to keep up with reality. Alena had never once mentioned that she was part of the presidential family. How was I to know? I wondered if Ken knew about it, and if he did, why didn't he tell me.

"You're brother probably knows, hence why he didn't feel comfortable telling me about Alena," Will said, confirming my preconceptions and further making me wonder why Ken never said anything to me.

"Okay...so...Alena is the president's daughter and apparently, I'm the only one who didn't know that," I said.

"Don't be too hard on yourself."

"So you're her brother-in-law."

"Well I guess so, but listen Kevin—" Will started but was cut off by me.

"Am I really that dumb that I couldn't even figure that out?" I mumbled to myself. I mean, I always knew I wasn't the brightest person, but to miss something like that about my best friend, it made me feel a new sense of stupidity.

"Kevin."

"Some best friend I am. I couldn't even piece together something as significant as my best friend's family. How stupid can I be?"

"Kevin!" Will shouted, finally grabbing my attention. "You're not stupid. It was a simple mistake, and it doesn't make you dumb. No one could have guessed it."

"Ken did."

Will sighed, "Listen Kevin, I may be a little out of line here with this question but, has an elite ever held his social status over you? Made you feel less than you are?" I looked at him but said nothing. He stared at me, as if looking deep into my thoughts, weeding out the truth. "Is it by any chance Taron Wolfrum?"

At that name my eyes went wide. How could he have possibly known that? At my shocked expression however, Will closed his eyes and sighed once again. This time though you could almost hear the exasperation in his voice. "Someone really needs to put that boy in his place," Will muttered. "What's worse is that he's Alena's friend."

This wasn't news to me though. I knew right from the first time I met Taron that he was Alena's friend. "It's really no big deal," I finally manage to say.

"But it is Kevin. It's that damn mentality that's gonna hold back progress on the whole social integration thing," Will sighed. "If you don't mind me asking, what has he ever said to you that has made you feel bad about yourself."

Could I tell him? How the only degrading thing Taron had ever said to me was call me natal, albeit in a very condescending manner. That the only reason I felt bad about what he says is because of my nonsensical crush I had on him. Would I dare tell Will Harrison that?

"Nothing. It's just the feeling I get from him that makes me uneasy," I replied, leaving out the whole truth.

"Please Kevin, if he ever says anything to try and belittle you, don't listen to him. Know that he is a minority and most elites do not share that sentiment. Natals are important too. Maybe even more important than elites. Don't forget that."

"What made you think that an elite has...you know?" I asked. I had not given any indication of experience with elite prejudice. Heck, I wasn't even perturbed enough to let it affect me that much, but the way Will was making it out to be some huge deal, made me really curious.

"From the way you seemed taken aback when I chuckled at your choice of profession. You seemed to immediately think that I was looking down on you. And then again when you were going on about how you were dumb. I sensed some sort of inferiority complex and I had to guess."

"Oh..."

"Listen, if you need anything at all, you call me okay? I'll tell Alena to transfer you my contact," Will said.

"I appreciate it, but really I'm fine," I said, and it was true. No, I didn't think I had an inferiority complex, especially not to Taron.

"Just in case, okay?" Will said, and I nodded to him. "Good. So I think that's enough for our interview. It was nice meeting you Kevin, and I hope to see more of you in the future."

Will got out of his chair and walked over to me, putting a hand on my shoulder as I too got to my feet. "Thank you Will," I said as I walked over to the door.

"Remember, anything at all, you call me okay?" Will reminded as the door opened. I nodded my response before exiting into the corridor, where I saw Ken leaning against the wall a few feet away.

"Hey," I called out, catching his attention. He moved swiftly, taking long strides towards me.

"Please tell me you didn't tell him Alena's name?" he said.

"Yes I did," I replied, seeing the look on his face. "What's the big deal anyway?"

"It's just...he's her brother-in-law. I didn't want him to know we knew her," he said. So, he did know that Alena was part of the presidential family.

"Speaking of not knowing, you knew she was the president's daughter and you didn't tell me?" I scolded.

With brows furrowed, he asked, "You mean you didn't know?"

"How could I know when no one's ever mentioned it?"

"Wait wait, if you didn't know, why do you think I can't ask Alena out?"

"Because she's elite, duh."

"Dude, seriously? All this time I've been thinking you understood why. It's not because she's elite, but because she's the president's daughter. You know what kind of pressure that is?"

"Great, just add it to the list of reasons why I'm an idiot. Next you'll tell me that Mom and Dad know too," I said, feeling my foolishness growing again at the thought of my ignorance. I pushed past Ken as we made our way to the exit.

"They do. I assumed everyone knew. I mean, her name is Hopper. It's not very difficult to piece together."

"Thanks Ken, I totally don't feel stupid enough right now," I deadpanned, rolling my eyes.

"Okay okay sorry. So how did he take the news of Alena being our friend?" he asked, coming up to my side as we walked out of the learning centre.

"It seemed small news next to me not knowing about her relation to his husband," I grumbled. "Went on about how I have some inferiority complex to elites."

"Do you?"

"Do I what?"

"Have an inferiority complex?"

"What? No! Of course not. I do not think that I'm any less than Taron."

"Taron? I wasn't even...You have an inferiority complex towards Taron!?" Ken's eyes bulged.

"No! I don't have an inferiority complex period," I argued.

"You specifically mentioned Taron, Kev," he said, poking a finger into my chest.

"Shut up. I don't have a problem Ken," I said, pushing Ken a step back. Just at that moment, a black hovercar pulled up beside us. The door slid open and I took a step in without hesitation, Ken following behind. I slumped into the chair, not at all hiding the indignant look on my face.

"Whoa, who got your knickers in a twist?" Alena quipped when I entered, noticing my less than happy face.

"Your brother-in-law," Ken replied on my behalf as he stepped in after me.

"Will? What's he got anything to with you?" she asked, looking at me.

"He came to interview us today," Ken once again answering on my behalf.

"Wait, he came—" she started but I cut her off.

"Why didn't you tell me you're related to Thane Hopper?" I asked, a little sharper than I had intended.

"I...well...I just thought everyone knew," she said.

"Will everyone stop saying that? No, not everyone knows, because last I checked, I was part of everyone and I was absolutely clueless," I said, throwing my head back against the seat.

"Dude, calm down. So what if you didn't know? It's no big deal," Ken said, trying to get my anger back in control.

"No big deal? Yeah, of course. I'm just the idiot whose too stupid to get anything. No big deal right?" I quipped back, glaring at my younger brother.

"Kev—" Alena tried before I rudely interjected.

"What?!" I shouted, the volume of my voice surprising even me, but I was too furious to even care. I didn't even know why I was so angry. I was just fuming.

"Don't shout at her!" Ken retaliated, himself getting angry, but Alena put a calm hand on his shoulder, making him simmer down. Alena continued to look at me, allowing me the time to cool down. There was no judgement in her eyes, just concern.

Finally, I took a deep breath, closing my eyes and leaning back into the seat, forcing my tense shoulders to relax. "I'm sorry," I apologized.

"It's okay Kev. Truth be told, it's refreshing to see you lose your cool like that. I've never seen you even get angry before, let alone full on Hulk mode," Alena said, cocking a small smile at me. "I don't know what Will said to you, but I know he triggered something. I know you probably don't want to talk about it now and I will not push you, but I think it would do you a lot of good to let it out."

I chuckled cynically, "Please don't psychoanalyze me, Al. I got enough of that for the day from you're brother-in-law."

"Pfft, like I consider him a psychologist by any standards. He specializes in natal-elite communication, not psychology. All he knows is what he picks up from Thane," Alena said, rolling her eyes.

"So that's his specialization? Natal-elite communication?" Ken asked.

"Yep. The only one in that field. Seemed only fitting seeing he used to be natal. Dad was disappointed he didn't choose electrical engineering though, but we all know this is what he'll excel at most."

"Well, psychologist or not, he thought I had some underlying issues," I grumbled.

"We all do Kev, you're not the only one," Alena said.

"You seemed to forget to mention to him that you had natal friends too," I said, remembering Will's shocked expression when I mentioned Alena's name.

"Can you blame me? He's so focused on natal and elites forming any kind of bond, he would have questioned me non stop, and I would rather not have to go through a questionnaire regarding my choice of best friends," Alena said.

"Well he knows now, thanks to you," Ken poked, throwing shade in my direction, which I ignored.

"It doesn't matter, he would have found out sooner or later anyway," Alena said. "Can we talk about something else? This conversation has taken a turn for the depressing."

The conversation ended there, at least it did for me. Instead, I trained my attention to the street zooming by, while Ken and Alena talked. I thought about what Will had said. I didn't think I had an inferiority complex, but I did feel like I wasn't smart enough at times. Couple that with the fact that I was always surrounded by insanely smart people, made me feel like the odd one in the group. Did I think I was weaker than them? No, because I had other strengths that they didn't possess. So why did Will's words affect me the way it did?

Eventually, the hovercar coasted to a stop in front of the building in which the gym was located. "So who am I following today?" Alena asked, looking between the both of us. I could tell from the way her eyes lingered a second too long on me, that she wasn't quite done with her assessment of me yet. I glanced sideways to Ken and saw him looking at me, waiting for me to decide. I remembered his little date plan he wanted with Alena, and it seemed like a whole lot of a better idea to me now, knowing that Alena could not follow and further interrogate me.

"I need some alone time today. You guys go ahead, I'll head home on my own after I'm done," I said.

"Oh c'mon Kev, we can always pick you up after," Alena reasoned.

"No, it's fine. The tram isn't too far from here. You guys enjoy yourself," I said, getting out of the vehicle. I turned back briefly to see the look Ken shot my way. Yeah, he better be thankful.

"Well, if you're sure," Alena said.

"I am. See you guys." With that I turned from them and headed into the glass building. Once past the glass double doors, I turned briefly to see the hovercar head off down the street. I sighed, walking over to the elevator.

I wanted nothing more than to spend a couple of hours working out. It was something I knew, and something that I could get lost in. I needed to get out of my thoughts, everything that had me feeling all sorts of emotions. See what I meant when I say my thoughts give me nothing but headaches.

I tried to put everything that had happened earlier in the day in the back of my head, trying to forget everything. Forget about Will, Alena and Ken. Forget about any misconceptions other people had about me. Forget about everything other than working up a sweat.

I walked past Kelly, the droid receptionist located behind her desk. "Alone today?" She asked in her soft electronic voice.

"Yeah, I could use some quiet time myself," I replied, giving a small smile to the petite robot. Kelly was one of the droids with a slightly more sophisticated AI. Much like humans, droids came in all sorts of personalities. Some, like Kelly, had more comprehensive AIs, with the ability for self thought. Simpler droids, like drivers were less equipped to process small talk. All in all, it comes down to the ability of the elite that programmed the machine. The level of sophistication of your AI was a direct indication of your prowess as a programmer.

"Well enjoy yourself Sir," she responded as I walked into the elevator. I gave a polite nod in her direction, before the metal doors closed, leaving me alone in the elevator. I punched the button and immediately the elevator shot up, passing levels at breakneck speed, ascending so fast I could feel the pressure in my ears. The speed was normal though, with elites always so strapped for time, even a few seconds in an elevator was precious time not afforded.