People in Season Read Free Page B

something desirable, they will take full advantage with no doubt, no qualms, and no mercy. You may think I’m being unduly malicious,’ Francis pauses and coughs to hide a nervous smirk. ‘You may even enjoy an occasional glass of wine with one of them. After all, the qualities you admire and want to cultivate in yourself are often those they choose to dress themselves in. It’s fair to say some untouched you’ve known may actually have been the most charming individuals you’ve met. Well, I’m sure I don’t have to tell a room full of journalists what the dark subtext to the word charm is in this instance.’
    That’s a joke.
    Francis was chuffed when he pencilled it in and imagined a round of friendly chuckles from his audience. He would even have settled for a sympathetic smile. Instead, the quip goes unappreciated and he wipes his forehead while searching for an absent bottle of water.
    ‘This personality that you might have met is a fictional construction written by two people. The UPD and its interaction with you. If you see one, if you’re friends with one – remember – in the case of the untouched, the person you think you know is only a fantasy, and whatever benefits you gain from allowing them their disguise is a detriment to somebody else. For years those who held power were encouraged to act untouched, with UPD employees not only surviving within the folds, but thriving in the mix. Any attempts to regulate behaviour were simply cases of plugging a finger in the hole of a leaky dam. Today I’m here to say the dam has burst, folks. Acknowledging the problem isn’t pessimistic. It’s an opportunity to make things better. We should not consider present social organisation natural just because it’s what we’ve arrived at thus far. The UPD reforms are a declaration that we want to live in a world where people consider each other’s interests, not just their own.’
    ‘Pish-posh,’ the editor takes a drag on her e-smoke.
    So far as Francis can tell, the woman hasn’t let her lips go without the plastic tube since he arrived. Something about the situation must be bothering her, but then, in the way she’s glancing around the room it’s more like she’s searching for a missing piece of furniture. Whatever it is that has her nervous, the nicotine seems to offer her little relief. Francis can sympathise. Stood quietly at the top of the office, he’s dismally aware that the busy journalists are still ignoring him as he’s telling them that they care. In an effort to regroup, he makes a show of going through his ragged notes and manages to convince himself that he’s flopping on stage because of the wine he had last night, a choice he momentarily blames his landlord for, but after a beat he’s back to chiding himself for letting the time go by.
    ‘Listen!’ Discarding his script, he elicits the rise of a few more heads. ‘We’ve all had to take car keys off a drunk friend. They’re not inhuman. Even within the untouched scale it’s a narrow margin of people that are of concern. Remember, it isn’t a crime to be who they are. We can’t and shouldn’t punish them because they’re able to pass as functional members of society. In a phrase, just because with their disability they might do us harm, it does not mean that we should do intentional harm onto them. And it is a disability. Not just a pattern of behaviour we’ve imagined and labelled for bureaucratic purposes. It is a physical problem within the brain. The image you see behind me highlights at least seven regions that can lead to problems when damaged. If you got a bonk on the head with a mallet and suffered long term consequences, god forbid, you’d want your disability recognised. The standard UPD is no different, except that the development of their problem stems from birth, the conditions of which are made better or worse by the life they’re thrust. This term we categorise them with, UPD, it’s an unfortunate necessity to