his meaning hadn’t been lost on anyone around the breakfast table.
Sari assumed that the discomfort was about the uncertainty of his future, and not about David as a person or as her partner. He was an exceptional individual, and she couldn’t conceive of anyone finding fault with him.
“Fascinating subject.” Amanda put her hand on Dalhu’s shoulder. “What you said about the unhealthy attachment replacing healthy ones is also true in reverse. To free a person from a cult, a new healthy attachment is needed. When Dalhu decided to tie his life to mine, it enabled him to break free from Navuh’s compulsion. We thought it was the mated bond that did that, but perhaps another healthy attachment could have done it as well. The bond doesn’t even have to be romantic in nature. A bond between a parent and child or even a close friendship might work just as well.”
“The distance also had something to do with it,” Kian said. “There is a good reason Navuh requires all his men to return to the island at least once a month. He needs to reinforce the compulsion periodically.”
Amanda waved a dismissive hand. “I’m not talking about the compulsion. In my opinion, it is used to reinforce the underlying organizational structure of the Brotherhood, which operates like a cult. Its members remain loyal to Navuh even when they are away from the island for extended periods of time and the compulsion loses its hold on them. The main reason that Dalhu was able to break free of the cult’s brainwashing was his new bond with me, not the weakening of Navuh’s influence. But what I’m trying to say is that any healthy bond could have done it. Right, Dalhu?”
The guy looked uncertain. “Don’t forget that I’d been having doubts about Navuh’s so-called holy war long before I met you, and his hold on me was already weakening. That being said, I had nowhere to go. The Brotherhood was my home, my family, my entire world, so even though I had doubts, leaving was extremely difficult. I needed a major catalyst, and I don’t think I would have jumped ship and dove into the deep for anyone other than you. A good friend would not have been enough.”
“That’s precisely the power of cults,” David said. “Even those who somehow realize the truth of their situation can’t leave because they have nowhere to go. They are led to believe that they have no support system on the outside, no safety net. For better or for worse, the cult is their entire world.”
“Hmm.” Sari put her hand on David’s thigh. “You might be onto something. Let’s take a random former Doomer for an example. He was brainwashed to hate us, and the prime objective of his conditioning was the annihilation of our clan. If we were to capture him and offer him our support, give him decent living conditions, and assign him one of us as a Big Brother of sorts to form a bond of friendship with, would that be enough to break apart his indoctrination?”
“Not every Doomer,” Kalugal said. “When I planned my escape, I carefully assembled a unit of men whom I could trust. I had the ability to override my father’s compulsion and set them free, but only a select few were worth the effort. Most were so rotten that they were beyond salvage. Don’t forget that Navuh’s breeding program favors thugs, and then the training camp reinforces those inborn traits. Some of the men were lucky to inherit their mothers’ personalities, but my observation is that the thuggish genes are dominant.”
“What do you think, David?” Amanda asked. “Is it possible to redeem the sons of thugs and bullies who inherited their fathers’ violent tendencies?”
“That’s a tough question. If you are asking me whether nurture or nature determines a person’s personality, I would say that nature is the dominant force. But from what you are telling me, in the Brotherhood’s case, nature and nurture were combined to produce monsters. What I’m going to say will not sound politically correct, and I wouldn’t say it in a faculty meeting, but I doubt that anything could be done about those men.”
Kalugal sighed. “That’s what I’ve tried to tell my brother. He has those naive fantasies about freeing the island’s population. He thinks that once the men bond with mates, they will have a new and positive purpose for their lives, start families, and live happily ever after.”
From the corner of his eye, David