Integritus Prime

In Part 1, we discussed the riots and Rick as one of the riot leaders. Prior to this, he was just an ambitious lad who wanted to impress people with his looks and attitude. His friend had asked the factory supervisor to give Rick a job at the steel factory so he could earn a living. The small town did not have many work opportunities. Small shops and kiosks lined the streets selling all sorts of packaged snacks and food items. Rick did not seem to have a family of his own, so he was renting an upstairs flat from one of the immigrant families.

His vulnerability, and that of his friends, was taken advantage of by the perpetrators when they were brainwashed and paid them to conduct the riots and ethnic cleansing. Rick was not a racist or violent person to start with; he was a kind-hearted guy. However, the choice was either to support his boss or be against him. He chose to support his boss but held the intention of helping people and minimizing the killing.

Before the riots, all the houses where people of the targeted ethnicity lived, were marked for destruction, as was the case with the Nazi genocide campaign. On the night of the riot, Rick took his landlord, his wife and their daughter, his lady love, Mary, to his own flat to protect them from harm. He diverted the rioters’ attention to destroying properties and other material assets to try and save lives.

His friend, Matt, was also interested in having a relationship with Mary, but she mostly ignored him. On the night of the riot, when he realized what Rick was doing, he doubled back to Rick’s flat, barged in, and locked Mary’s parents outside so they could not interfere. He then raped Mary. Matt was still in the flat when Rick returned. Realizing what had happened and in a fit of rage, Rick attacked Matt with a piece of wood, beating him to death. The next morning Mary and her parents safely escaped to another town and Rick lost touch with them.

After many months, when things finally settled down in his town, Rick went looking for Mary and her family. When he found them in another town, he saw that Mary had a baby (Ann) from the rape. The parents had found an expatriate who was willing to marry her but did not want the baby. So, Rick took baby Ann and went away to another town. Mary got married and migrated to another country.

Rick brought Ann up as a single parent, never making her realize that he was not her father. He sang her to sleep, packed her lunched and drove her to school on his scooter. Ann loved him unconditionally and progressed well in her life and then in her career as a police officer. It was only when she was given the task of investigating the riots that she realized all was not what it seemed. Still, she never doubted that her father was not her biological father.

This really demonstrates the power of love – Rick’s true love for Mary and then her child, Ann. Rick became a father by choice and portrayed a brilliant example of the power of the divine masculine. He was compassionate and selfless in dedicating his life to bringing up Ann in a safe environment.

It takes a courageous person and true love to accept someone else’s child as your own. To accept a child of rape is also extremely difficult – even Mary could not do it.  Rick not only truly loved Mary but also her daughter Ann. Ann was shielded from a society that calls such children tainted, which was the title of the TV series.

In current society, women have the option to abort a baby conceived out of rape. This was not an option in the old days. Also, many times children born out of rape are left in orphanages or with relatives, who may or may not treat them well. This is a very positive story of true love. Rick loved Ann because she was Mary’s daughter and needed no other reason to nurture her to adulthood.

I found this a very touching and inspirational love story, which brings up a lot of other issues regarding human nature. The use and abuse of vulnerable people, ethnic cleansing, politically motivated racism and the power of love over hate.

Next week, we will look at Mary’s role and perspective in this story.

What are your thoughts on how to prevent violation of women and children’s rights? How can we stop abuse from happening? Share with us some actions we could take to halt these atrocities.