There were two customers inside Jack when I got there. They didn't take too long to finish their transaction and leave but being patient was very irking tonight. Especially when the second customer was a bit of a whiner. Tyler, however, had as always the patience to deal with it. He didn't make a fuss, stayed calm but made sure that no one went against his wishes.
A menacing calm.
Tyler turned to me. "Can I help you, miss?"
I smiled. "No need to be formal. I have two questions and though I know you don't like me asking them, at least one of them can be answered."
He frowned. "Which are?"
I took a deep breath. "Where does your responsibility end? With everything that you sell here?"
He smiled a little. "At the door."
I blinked. "Seriously."
"I'm serious. What I sell here has a lot of uses, both legal and otherwise. I don't sell guns, but even if I did, it's not my responsibility what people do with them. None of my things require a permit, so people are free to buy them."
"But don't you feel responsible for the bad people can do with them?"
He shrugged. "It's not me doing it. People are responsible for their own actions, always. Even children. It's just that parents feel responsible for their education up to a point. But if a child hits another, it's still the child doing so." He looked very serious. "That doesn't mean parents shouldn't take notice of it."
I didn't want to ask, but I did. "Do you have children."
He smiled. "I'm sure that's not your real second question."
I thought about what he said. Be responsible for your own actions and let other people be responsible for theirs. Sounded simple enough. I wondered if my conscience agreed with it. There was some truth to it though. Even the one who made me wasn't responsible for what I did, just what I was. How I handled it after that was all my choice.
"No, the second one is more practical and I'm not sure if you can answer it. What do you know about the security companies in the city?"
He thought for a moment. "Not much, I think the Jason Group had a monopoly here perhaps a year ago, but two other small companies came in and the market has been fluctuating ever since."
"Why are you telling me this?"
"It's not exactly uncommon knowledge and I play no part in it."
Something clicked. "Hold on, Jason Group?"
He nodded.
"From the capital?"
"Yes. You've heard of it?"
"Eh... Something like that. Thank you. And thank you for clearing up my head a little."
He grinned. "Hey, it took me a long time to figure out my own responsibilities, there is no shame in that."
"Thank anyway." I smiled and waved. "Bye for now!"
As I left the store, my thoughts were racing. It made perfect sense that my father would have been involved in things like that. The hospital security was probably arranged by him, or rather his company, as well. And, of course, he had the audacity to call it after himself. Though it did have a nice ring to it.
I wasn't going to applaud him for what he'd done, however, it did bring to mind a very intriguing question; did Seriph know who I was. I didn't consider myself to be that Amy anymore, so speaking of 'was', was the proper noun. I was someone new, yet still the same.
I was still going to do it, but I wanted to talk to her first.
What if she was actually part of the Jason Group? That felt unlikely though. But who was to know?
All these thoughts and more were racing through my head. Crashing into each-other, fighting for first place, trying to reach the finish line before the other. But I felt surprisingly calm now. There were only more questions now, but at least I felt where my responsibility was and where it stopped. I wasn't responsible for the whole of humanity and didn't need to be.
And that was a very peaceful thought.
Not that it will stop Amy from helping others, but at least she chooses to now.