"How are you holding up?" Alicia asked her brother-in-law the moment their plane took off. Declan saw this coming. He just expected his brother to ask him this question. Alicia usually knew his response.
"Do you really have to ask?" he whispered. "I mean, they're family, right? I should be excited –" it came out more as a question than anything else. It had been 7 years since he last saw his family in the same physical space as him. Their weekly calls mostly consisted of him trying to memorize his parents faces as they talked to his niece. His mother had standard questions every time, 'How have you been?', 'Are you happy?', 'Do you miss home?', 'How is school going?', and 'Do you plans for the weekend?'. Sometimes, she would throw in, 'You're being good to your brother, right?' Declan's interaction with his father had mostly been limited to head nods and grunts of acknowledgement.
His own responses had predominantly been monosyllabic. His parents had long given up on hoping for details from him. He hadn't made the effort to say more either. Rather, he had been content to let Aria chatter on about her life and fill her grandparents in on what her uncle was up to. They knew just as much about his life as she understood. He didn't think there was more to add either.
Then again, to Declan, his own life was pretty boring. All he did was eat, sleep, go to school, do his homework, and fiddle around on his laptop. Declan liked creating 3D models on his laptop. He was also a curious kid, but not in the way that most children are. At the age of 13, he gave life to one of his 3D models, creating a working prototype of a machine that could articulate thoughts without a person having to communicate them through words. He had created this prototype for his own benefit, since he considered himself an awkward kid, always shying away from sharing his thoughts and opinions, and tired of people constantly asking him to speak up.
When his teachers at school started to doubt that he wasn't putting enough effort into his school work, he was forced to show them his prototype and put an end to this injustice shown to him. Since he never spoke up in class, Declan's teachers variedly believed that he was dumb, did not apply himself, was disinterested, and was disruptive. Yet, his school work always produced the most articulate and thought-provoking material. So, he was left with no choice but to reveal to his teachers the machine he used to create his work. He needed them to realise that he wasn't cheating or taking shortcuts in life. He had just found a better way to articulate himself without pressuring himself into trying to decipher his thoughts. That's what the machine did for him.
Declan's prototype quickly garnered a lot of attention around the country, and after a few tweaks and half a dozen conversations, his patented model was released to science. Four years later, Thought Receptor Application System, more popularly know as TRAS has found commonplace in the military, among trauma victims, and those with the inability to speak. He was clear that this invention was not to be used by the lazy and disinterested. It wasn't a shortcut to life. He was careful in his vetting process, and never sold the TRAS model to anyone with malicious intent. There was a high premium on the model to ensure this. Of course, there were other measures in place as well.
While the world considered this invention a breakthrough in neuroscience, to Declan, it was just a device that came from the labor of solitude. It helped that other than his brother's family, and the clients that he had amassed, no one in the world knew of this invention or the genius behind it; and Declan was thankful for this anonymity. He preferred that his creations serve their purpose without the pomp and show that social media brings to people for the lamest of reasons.
However, for fear that the system would be misused in the wrong hands, Declan never gave up the rights to develop and manage this system to anyone. As a result, he was the sole proprietor of this invention, and several others that have been created by his now well-established technology firm – DEBTech. Essentially, Declan Blake was the world's youngest billionaire that no one knew about.
To his family, his brother Derek was the star, with a cool 7-figure salary, a palatial house and luxury cars. As much as the guilt of this lie ate away at Derek, Declan believed that his brother earned the salary he paid him to be the face of his company and maintain his anonymity. Not that he had a choice; none of them did. If anything, Declan Blake was clever. He had the best lawyers in the world draw up such an iron-clad confidentially document that breaking it would lead to more dire consequences than anyone could imagine. Declan never meant to be harsh, but it was the price he had to pay for his peace of mind. Over the years, he had become accustomed to doing it, although he did carry the burden of the guilt his brother felt. Therefore, he tried to make life as easy as possible for his brother's family. It was the least he could do, he believed. He owed them a lot, although neither Derek nor Alicia would agree with him. They owed their lifestyle to him.
Now all Declan had to do was survive his family for the week, without their secret spilling out. This was the only way for the 17-year old Billionaire to live in peace and enjoy a normal teenaged-life; however normal a teenager Declan Blake was. It was precisely for this reason that Declan had avoided going home to his parents and sisters. Not that he wanted to burden his brother, he even insisted on moving out. But questions would arise about a teenager living on his own, in luxury and without a job. To the world, Derek Blake was a standup guy that took care of his parents and siblings; only the two brothers knew the truth, and they were going to make damn well sure that no one else did.
Just as Declan's anxiety rose, he felt his sister-in-law squeeze his hand. She always knew what he was feeling, although he rarely expressed it. He was thankful to have her in his life. If anyone could get him through this week, unharmed and untainted, it was Alicia, especially since Clarisa wasn't around...
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Surviving Home | Completed
General Fiction"There is great power in being the calm at the centre of a storm." These were words that Declan Blake lived by, when he was bullied as a child and when he was shipped off to live with his brother on the other side of the country. Now, seven years l...
