Broadcasts from District 12: Threshold

While Ben and Terry were still staring at the doorway where Eli had just been, Maya looked down at the piece of paper in her hand. It was the hastily scribbled note Ben had slipped her. 

Model still live. Set threshold to zero. Deny no one. Don’t tell Terry. Please.

Set the threshold to zero? Deny no one? Ben was asking her to kill the model and allow benefits to all. Since those denied were still in the system, it would effectively give them back pay for the weeks they had lost, too. She looked to Ben for confirmation but he was avoiding eye contact. 

Terry turned on them. She sighed heavily. “Ben, we need to report this. All of it. Especially if some of it has leaked, it’s even more important that we strive for transparency and have faith in the system. We were tasked with figuring out what went wrong, now we know.” 

“Report it? To whom?” 

“The governor, for starters. Then the people.” Terry sat down. She looked self-assured as always, but now there was something else, too. She looked old.

Ben glanced over at Maya, thinking. He spoke to Terry. “It’s been a long day, Maya’s injured. Let her go home first. Get some rest.” 

Terry nodded, and Ben helped Maya up and to the door. “The front desk will call you an Uber. Be safe.”

“Do you still want…” Maya half whispered to Ben. She wondered if he realised it was career suicide to go ahead with the plan to release back benefits to everyone denied. Once the public knew about the wrongdoing in the first place, it would be hard to hide any attempt to right past wrongs. 

Ben gave a tight nod, and Maya’s stomach clenched. He knew, and he wanted to go ahead with it anyway.

She nodded back. 

With Maya out of the room, Terry began interrogating Ben about all the details. Whose idea was it? How had they done it? Why did it go wrong? 

Ben kept to the truth as much as possible without mentioning alien involvement. He and Terry both agreed that was unnecessary and honestly, confusing. 

Terry went over the story in exhaustive detail and when she was done, she started again. “Enough!” Ben snapped. “It’s the middle of the night and I’m exhausted. You already know everything!” 

“Get used to this Morales.” Terry snapped back. “You think this is bad? It’s only going to get worse. I’m trying to protect you by helping you plan.”

Terry lowered her voice and her face softened.

“Look, at first I thought this was something we could spin, if we could only find a bigger story to cover it up. But now we have a bigger story and we can’t use it. Hiding the truth will only delay help for the people harmed in the first place. If we come out now, there will be a hearing, and eventually funds will be released. The people will have closure.”

“Closure?” Ben laughed. “Who cares about closure when they’re living off oatmeal and rice. They don’t need closure, they need justice.” 

Before he said them, Ben thought his words might sound triumphant, like a battle rally. When they came out, they just sounded tired. He was tired. Tired of being careful. He sat down and buried his head in his hands. Terry sat next to him, putting her hand on his shoulder. 

“It’s not enough,” Terry said. “But it’s the best we can do.” 

It’s really not, Ben thought. It’s really not.