“Unless there’s some radical new treatment I don’t know about, what’s done is done. You can’t unbake a cake and get it back to separate ingredients, and you can’t unmake a submissive. I thought the science was pretty settled.”

“I haven’t heard the cake analogy in a while. I try not to use metaphors because they are imprecise, but this poor boy….”

Liam is pretty sure he knows where the doctor is going with this, but raises an eyebrow in interest anyway, wanting to hear his take on the submissive he’s about to meet. “Go on?”

Dr. Chang sighs. “Sure. Why not? I find this example trivializing and unscientific, but I understand the appeal. And I actually tried telling this to his father. I was so desperate to get my point across—not that it made any difference,” he says, and then takes a deep breath. “Before the designation process, a soldier is basically clay. He goes through the designation process and he emerges as a durable plate. Microwave safe, dishwasher safe, can withstand various temperatures, shatterproof, etc. Further modifications to get a better plate weaken the creation. You get chips, cracks, and if the plate breaks, then a very good glue can be used to piece it back together, but it will never be as strong as it was in the first iteration. Just like you can see where the plate is broken, we can see where further attempts are made upon the body and the DNA to alter the soldier, and the improvements aren’t there. It isn’t possible. Once you get the plate, you have to accept the plate and move on.

“This poor boy has the unfortunate honor of being the son of a very high-ranking military official who does not like the word no. It’s clear no one has told him no in a long time. He also appears to hate plates and wishes his son had been a cup. So he has smashed him to pieces and glued him into something and it’s not worked. At all. And the plate might believe he is a cup or could be a cup.” Dr. Chang glares at him. “Do you perhaps see why I dislike using metaphors for people? He is a person and deserves respect and to be accepted for who he is. He isn’t a disposable piece of crockery.” He shakes his head, running out of words.

“Who is his father?”

“General Burrows.”

Liam whistles. “That’s unfortunate. I met him once. I think he’s a psychopath. And I mean that he literally meets the diagnostic criteria for psychopathy.”