It was a second chance for York, a new beginning, an opportunity to become a better person than he had been in his… first life, for want of a better term. It did make Willaway wonder, however, about the age-old question of nature versus nurture. How much of the man York was, the psychotic behavior, the violent temper, the inclination towards murder, was dictated at a genetic level and how much was because of where he’d grown up and the way he’d been raised?

Willaway didn’t like to think of York, or whatever Rayat would name him now, growing up in this place of peace and harmony and still turning out to be a murderer. That he’d already killed Rayat’s biological son was bad enough, but if he grew into the person he’d been before, all of the gentle, kind, trusting people of this zone would be at risk, not to mention everyone in neighbouring zones. It made Willaway wish he and his friends had never seen the spaceship crashing, had never gone to check for survivors, had never met York and agreed to let him and Ty accompany them. At least Ty hadn’t turned out to be such a bad sort, despite his own criminal past.

“Jonathan? Are you alright?” A hand touched his shoulder and Willaway looked up to find Varian walking beside him, realising he had no idea how long the tall man had been there. The last he’d been aware, Varian had been striding along at the head of their small group, but how long ago had that been? How long had he been wallowing in his own troubling thoughts?

“Yes, I’m fine.”

“You’re not usually so quiet.”

“I was just… thinking.”

“I noticed.”

Of course he had. Varian was so attuned to his friends, somehow always so aware of whatever they were feeling, whether they were stressed, tired, worried, afraid, depressed… Willaway wasn’t sure whether it was another of his friend’s curious mental abilities, Varian’s mind was a mystery to all of them, or just a case of him being observant, but… well, it hardly mattered.

“What’s on your mind?” Varian prodded gently.

Willaway sighed. “York, mostly. I know the orb de-aged him, or whatever you want to call that, turned him back into a baby, but… can growing up among Rayat’s people really make him a better person than he was? What if he turns out exactly the same?”

“I’ve been doing some thinking about that myself.”

“I don’t mind admitting York scared me. All the lies and deceits, on top of being a murderer, he just had no conscience. It’s…” Willaway shook his head, unable to put what he was feeling into words.

“Disturbing?” Varian suggested.

Willaway nodded. “Among other things. I don’t understand how people can be like that. And yes, I’m aware that makes me sound like a hypocrite, after what I did to the Arusians, and what I threatened to do to you and the others.”

“The difference being that you were bluffing, and you DO have a conscience.” Varian squeezed Willaway’s shoulder. “You made some mistakes, out of fear and loneliness. We’ve all done things we’re not proud of, Jonathan. It doesn’t necessarily make us bad people.”

“I suppose that’s true.” In a way, Varian and the others had given Willaway a second chance, inviting him to travel with them despite his less than admirable actions. He’d done his best to make sure they had no reason to regret their generosity, but he wasn’t always the ideal travelling companion. He often voiced opinions that he probably should have kept to himself, and he was aware of a tendency towards arrogance, which he was trying to repress. Despite all of that, his friends seemed willing to mostly overlook his faults and failings.

“As for York…” Varian trailed off. The two men walked on in silence for a few moments, and Willaway kept quiet, allowing his friend the space to gather his thoughts. Finally, Varian spoke again. “It occurs to me that if the orb was capable of physically regressing an adult back to infancy, might it not also be capable of removing everything that made York the way he was, making him fit the world he was being reborn into? True innocence, a clean slate, knowing nothing but the peace and harmony of the world he’ll grow up in.”

Willaway slowly nodded. “Yes, that would make sense. The orb is certainly powerful, in ways none of us can hope to understand. Even Rayat doesn’t know how it works, or why. It acted without Rayat’s conscious control, and if it wanted to restore harmony, then it would have to ensure that York, or whatever his name will be now, doesn’t lose that innocence as he grows up.”

“I would think so, yes.”

“That does take a weight off my mind. After all, we were responsible for leading York right into Rayat’s home. I hate to say this, but perhaps we should be a little less trusting of the people we meet. Not everyone is as honest or as harmless as we might like.”

“That is the nature of people, unfortunately.”

“Not the people of your time though.”

Varian laughed quietly. “Of, we aren’t so perfect. We try. We’re peaceful, non-aggressive, but still not always as honest as we might be, with ourselves or with others.”

“Still, I think I should like your time rather more that I like mine, with all its violence, wars, and focus on building bigger, more terrifying, more destructive weapons.”

“But the work you did in your time helped pave the way for the whole of humanity to get a second chance, to become better than we were, to shed the destructive tendencies of the past. The future owes you a great deal, Jonathan. Never forget that. Come on, we seem to be getting left behind.” The others were now quite some distance ahead, and Varian picked up the pace, but not so fast that Willaway couldn’t keep up.

“Thank you.”

“For what?”

“I don’t know. Just… helping me think things through. Thank you.”

Varian smiled. “You’re welcome.”


The End