Page 63 of The Genius
“Why not? I would think I’m doing a sad person a favor by not sharing in their misery. I’m almost forcing them to move on, am I not?”
“It’s not always about moving on so much as it is about venting.”
I picked up a robotic hand that was lying on my desk and played with it. “By venting you mean complaining about what is wrong?”
“More like reflecting on it. It’s a helpful exercise to feel relief. People often feel lighter after discussing what burdens them. It you try to suppress bad experiences, they’ll only come back as memories or bad dreams, and if you have enough unresolved issues in your system, it can cause depression. That’s why it’s better to discuss it with someone who cares enough to show sympathy.”
I tilted my head and gave him a thoughtful expression. “But who has time for all that venting?”
“Peopletakethe time.”
I scoffed. “Some people have too much time then. Not me, though. I’m much too busy working on solutions.”
“Yes, that you are.” Charlie smiled. “So give me an update on the work you’ve done.”
Charlie and I discussed the research program, the data, and my improvements on Mindy before he changed the subject again. “That’s all very impressive, but how come you’re not telling me about the mail that you’ve been receiving?”
My hands rearranged a few things on my desk. “Why would I?”
“I wish you’d told me about it. I had to find out via personnel.”
“It’s nothing.”
“It’s not nothing. Internal systems alerted the personnel department. They told me that you’ve been on the receiving end of some vicious hate mail with strong wording that is unacceptable and mean in nature.”
“It’s not that bad.”
Charlie looked upset. “How can you say that, Shelly? I was deeply shocked when I read some of these harsh and cruel letters. Like this one.” He began reading aloud. “What a waste to give a genius brain to a traitor and Nman lover. I dislike you, Shelly Summers, and I wish that you’ll trip and get hurt.” Charlie’s expression when he looked up was stern and severe. “To think that someone here in the Motherlands would use such explicit language and wish harm on you.”
I shrugged. “I have spent too much time in the Northlands to be offended by that.”
“But why haven’t you told me about these harsh attacks on your person?” Charlie asked.
I shook my head, not having a satisfying answer for him.
“Shelly. I want to help you, but I’m not sure how.”
“Don’t. They’re not saying anything I haven’t heard before. People are just angry at me living and working here when they think I should be performing miracles in the Motherlands.”
“One of them called you abig-brainedromantic. That must have hurt.” Charlie looked like it pained him to say it. “I suppose it’s a reaction from people who have seen you on the news. You are aware that the media has mentioned that you’re working in the Northlands, right?”
I sighed. “People need to leave me alone.”
“Shelly, you’re the daughter of a prominent councilwoman and the biggest genius we have. If you didn’t want people to care about you, you shouldn’t have said yes to all the articles or that documentary they did last year. You’re a celebrity now and that means people have high hopes for you.”
I scratched my arm, looking away.
“I’m your boss, and even I have a hard time understanding why this area has your interest. Why sex-bots for Nmen? It makes no sense. You’re not going to win any design awards for your work here; I hope you understand that.
“I’m not in it to win awards and it doesn’t have to make sense. It was something I was interested in and that’s why I’m here. When I’m done, I’ll move on and work on something else. I have a project in mind.”
Charlie lit up. “Interesting. Tell me.”
“I want to reinvent pregnancy prevention and the technology to keep women from getting their period.”
Charlie looked like I’d just told him I wanted to go to Saturn. “We already produce pregnancy prevention. There’s a sperm-killing spray on the market but it’s not selling well.”
“I know. I had some of it shipped here, and did you know that it’s only ninety percent effective? It says so on the spray.”
