Chapter XXIV: 'Where do they all come from?'
Both handles of the clock in the living room were pointing upwards, at the 'twelve'. The wolf had no idea about this, until Jennifer came to collect him from the playroom. Upon entering the living room, peering into the kitchen, the wolf noticed a small collection of glass jars on the dining table and concluded that it was lunchtime.
Fortunately, the antidote was still doing its job, so his caregiver was able to lift Aran into the highchair without hurting him. With the tray and bib in place, the wolf braced himself for the inevitable impending doom: mashed peas.
"Let me guess," the collie said somewhat teasingly as she opened the first jar, "you want to exchange vegetables for information again?"
"If that's okay with you."
She grinned.
"I'm afraid I'll have to raise my price, though. It'll cost you two jars of the green mush this time."
"What?" Aran said abashed. He felt swindled - even though he had not paid anything.
"Deal or no deal?"
The wolf contemplated his options. Was he really going to eat twice as much of the disgusting green mush just to winkle some answers out of his caregiver? The collie tried to keep a straight face, but after a few seconds, she started to laugh. The situation then dawned on Aran: he was a twenty-year-old wolf, pondering whether he would eat more baby food in exchange for information. It still sounded preposterous to him.
"I'm just joking, little one. Ask all you want after you eat your veggies," Jennifer stated, then scooped up some of the redoubtable green mush.
Relieved, but also reluctantly, the wolf accepted the spoonful his caregiver offered. Within a few minutes, the jar was empty and she moved on. The second jar appeared to contain sweet potatoes, but Aran could not make out the other ingredients. Its taste was fair, though, so the wolf found no reason to complain.
"Tell me, what do you want to know?" Jennifer asked between two spoonfuls.
"You mentioned that your other charge is currently at a fellow caregiver. That made me wonder if there are a lot of people like you and Kaiser."
"That, of course, depends on what you'd call 'a lot'. To be honest, I don't know our exact numbers. There are several cities in which our company operates. Furthermore, caregivers and henchmen aren't the only roles we have. We have office workers as well, for the logistic and organizational matters. There are also handlers, who keep contact with doctors, psychiatrists and social workers."
"Are they like scouts? You know, looking for people that need help?"
"That's a part of what they do, yush. Actually, there are two types of handlers. We caregivers have our own superiors too. They inform us about possible charges we could accept and help us pick, and they provide moral and pedagogical support. Some of them are psychiatrists themselves as well, since most charges require specific professional help at some point during their treatment."
"How can they support you when you are the one that has to treat the charges?" Aran asked, slightly confused.
"Those that have no relevant education have been a caregiver themselves. Almost all of them are significantly older than me and have either quit being a caregiver because they wanted to do something else, or because their age physically hinders them to properly do their job."
"That sounds like this whole treatment thing wasn't exactly invented yesterday," the wolf concluded.
"Oh goodness, no. It has been around for a few decades, actually. Our current program started with another agency called Restart Incorporated, an adoption agency that specialized in helping children that had never had a real home life get used to one before they were adopted. They had several programs, of which the Restart program is their most special and unconventional."
"What changed?"
"I honestly don't know. All my superiors have told me is that there was a certain incident at Restart Incorporated, which forced them to shut down the Restart program. Most of us don't know why, and those that do are instructed to keep their muzzle shut about it."
"Then how is your current program possible?"
"About forty years ago, an arctic wolf named Kit Cameron reinvigorated the Restart program and turned it into what it is nowadays. He had been in the program himself when he was thirteen and had first-hand experience on how such a program, although unconventional, can drastically change someone's present and future. Cameron had developed a strong wish to continue the work of his former caregiver. Even after his treatment, he had kept in touch with the wolfess."
Aran listened as Jennifer continued to feed him between his questions. They were down to the last jar of food as of now.
"There are a lot of similarities between the Restart program and Cameron's adaptation, but there are also differences. During his treatment, each caregiver had one charge and they lived in large apartment buildings. All caregivers had their own apartment, so the charges had no 'siblings' so to speak. However, they did interact with one another in the communal play areas. Cameron, once an only child and an orphan, decided that this should change. Nowadays, we try to let charges spend the first and last part of their treatment together with a fellow puppy, so the new ones can get accustomed more easily by learning from their 'older sibling'."
"Then why is your other charge not here?"
"I have various reasons, actually. One of them is that each charge will have specific learning objectives that need to be tested by another caregiver. This is to ensure that the charge has learned said lesson, but also to check if they can function in a slightly different environment, away from the caregiver with whom they've bonded."
"Oh, I see. By the way, how do you deal with the whole interspecies-thing? I mean, Cameron was treated by someone within his own species and Wesley is a dog, I'm a wolf. How does that work?"
"Well, we try to match charges to a caregiver of their own species, preferably even their own breed. However, that's not always possible. In your case, we had no available wolves, but there were other reasons as well. Furthermore, my other current charge isn't a dog either."
"That makes sense. What else did Cameron change?"
"Restart Incorporated was an adoption agency, therefore they only dealt with minors. Their goal was to help foster children by re-raising them in a loving and nurturing environment, so they would be able to have a happy and healthy life when they would be adopted. To increase the realism of this 'second childhood', the charges started at the simulated stage of a two-year-old."
The wolf swallowed the last spoonful Jennifer offered him and waited for her to open the carton of yogurt. It was not strawberry-flavored, but Aran did not mind.
"Why did Cameron also take in people over eighteen? I'm not exactly up for adoption, am I?"
"Goodness, no. Our company might be unconventional, but we're no freaks," she joked. "See, he changed the goal of the program to broaden the target. Instead of helping only foster children, he intended to help other people like him. Those that had experienced a rough childhood, particularly if caused by an abusive parent, but also people that had been traumatized by a life-changing event. He called it the 'Chainbreaker Program', and employees are frequently referred to as 'Chainbreakers'."
"So that's where the reference to chains comes from?"
"Indeed. In case you're wondering how Gina knows this, I've explained some things to her before I let her in your nursery, so she could say what you needed to hear with the right words. Anyway, Cameron retired fifteen years ago, and his successor also experimented with unstable teenagers. The first few charges required more time and attention, but the second attempt showed astounding results."
"Am I one of those 'unstable' people?" Aran asked between two spoonfuls of yogurt.
"Don't worry. I was moreover referring to people like Wesley. On the other hand, you _do_have some issues that should be dealt with."
"Like what?" he asked, cocking his head.
"We've already started with the first one. Your detoxification and rehabilitation are a part of the program. You know that, right?"
The wolf nodded, looking down at the wooden tray of the highchair.
"No reason to be sad, little one. I'm here to help you, and I won't let you fail."
"Thanks," he muttered.
"Cheer up, wolfie. There's still yogurt in the carton," the collie chimed.
Aran faintly smiled, then opened his muzzle to accept Jennifer's offer.
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Author's note: "Restart, Inc." was written by Kit Cameron. I claim no ownership of that story whatsoever. I do, however, admire the story and wanted to express this by building on his work, as a form of tribute.
Kit, should you ever read this, please contact me. I'd like to have a chat with you from one writer to another.