27. Isaiah
Isaiah
January, Cardiff
Aweek later, Isaiah hadn’t returned to Oxford yet. He still hadn’t logged back on to his cam site. He hadn’t done much of anything, but he felt far better—might even go so far as to say he felt good.
Isaiah stretched out on the guest room bed, scrolling on his phone, alone for the first time in days. Chris and Nick had gone out to the rugby club with their dad, probably the man’s last-ditch attempt to get the brothers to reconcile before Nick went back to college.
An email came through, and Isaiah froze when he saw the name on the screen.
Professor Schmidt. It occurred to him that the tactic of avoiding the world since the tape dropped may not have been the best approach at a time when his funding was precarious and there was an active ethics complaint against him.
His need to know overruled the fear building in him, and he opened it.
To: isaiah.owens@
From: s.schmidt@
Subject: DPhil Progress
Owens,
I hope you’re well. I’ve been alerted by Gates that you had a personal emergency following the holidays.
I’ve also seen the news which i assume is what he was alluding to, so I can imagine you have much to deal with.
Please rest assured your place and funding are currently secure and all complaints have been withdrawn.
If there is anything the department can offer to support you at this time I trust you will inform me.
I expect to see you in my office for your progress review January 28th.
Take care of yourself, Isaiah.
Prof. S. Schmidt
Gates? Matthew Gates? Matt had told Schmidt he’d had a personal emergency? And all complaints had been withdrawn? What the fuck kind of alternate reality had he just fallen into?
He scrolled down his old texts to a contact he hadn’t used in over a year. Ollie.
Isaiah
What did Matt say to the department?
His leg shook impatiently as he watched the dots appear and disappear, telling him Ollie was typing.
Ollie
Isaiah! Are you okay? I wanted to reach out but with the way we left things…
Isaiah
I’m fine. Answer the question, what did Matt do?
Ollie
He withdrew his complaint. And when the…you know, he told Schmidt you had a family emergency
Isaiah’s hand stilled as his brain tried to catch up.
Isaiah
Why?
Ollie’s response was nearly instant.
Ollie
Because he realised what informed consent actually means. When we heard about the video, it…well it was different, wasn’t it?
Isaiah baulked at that. Matthew Gates developing a conscience seemed like an unlikely scenario.
Ollie
And I asked him to
That made infinitely more sense. Isaiah let the phone fall from his hands. It felt impossible. Too easy, and he never got easy. It was hard to trust, but maybe he deserved a fucking break. Maybe not everything had to be hard all the time.80