Naturally, the librarian told the boys’ parents and teachers the good news that Richard and Jack had singlehandedly made the second dome happen, very excited about the spirit of adventure the two had displayed and praising the innovative approach they took to create something so extraordinary. To her great surprise, but not Richard and Jack’s, who wished they could have moved to a parallel universe where people didn’t disapprove of the plant and anyone associated with it, the boy’s parents didn’t take lightly to the news that their son, whom they trusted to know what he was allowed to do and what he wasn’t and who was raised to never displease his elders in the slightest, was the main protagonist in the propagation of something they considered the annihilation of their values and way of life. Nothing, not the increased factory output, not the new foundry, not the plethora of new devices that clearly had made her life easier would ever convince Carol that the plant wasn’t evil, and by association, she considered anybody who interacted with it evil too. The fact that her son was one of ‘those people’ was a serious blow to her maternal fulfillment, and something she mourned going forward, making sure her grief weighed down heavier than a tombstone on the hearts of the other family members.
Tom was conflicted about the plant, since he kind of liked the fact that he didn’t have to break his back to provide and the future looked just a little safer and brighter than before, but then again, in his entire marriage he did everything in his power not to displease his wife, so he did what was expected of him and had a stern conversation with their son. That conversation was the last he and Richard had, because from that day forward he decided to give his son the silent treatment.
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