Luke's Underground Quest

"What?"

"You heard me. You're autistic, and we can't have that in our force." The police chief leaned back in his seat, looking directly at Luke's eyes. "You understand right?"

"But I passed all the physical tests! The fitness test, the weapons test, the shooting test, the test of courage, I-I passed them all!" Luke protested. He could feel his heart race faster at the prospect of defeat.

The chief shook his head. "That's just it son. We can't put someone who has a diagnosis of Autism on our force. It's not a matter of courage or strength or character but it's a matter of risk management."

"But-but-"

"-Don't take this personally," continued the chief as if he wasn't interrupted. "All we can do is give you counselling benefits for the next 6 months and refer you to a job agency to find work." He stood up from his chair and extended his hand towards Luke. "Good luck kid."

Luke looked at the chief's hand then at him. His face was stern as if he didn't care about what he had just said, like Luke was just another person that he had to reject and get out of his office. Luke accepted his handshake and got up from his seat to leave. He turned around to see if there were any parting words from the chief but found none as he left the room closing the door behind him. He walked down the hallway into the main lobby where he was greeted by many other people waiting their turn with their own police officers who would be assigned to protect them against crime wherever they may live in their city. At first glance, it looked like all these people were happy to be there with their shiny white teeth and hair straightened as if they were ready for a fashion show or something like that; because after all they were in a city that loved its fashion and trends more than anything else on earth. But deep inside each one of them had their own reasons for being here today with an officer assigned to them, whether it be because they needed protection or simply because they wanted to learn how to defend themselves in case of an attack or whatever reason that might make sense for them personally; and so thinking about it made him feel better about himself because even though he was rejected by the police department, at least he still had some dignity left in him that made him think otherwise about himself compared to any other person here in this city who only cared about themselves; because after all he had nothing left to lose so why should he care? He turned around towards the exit door and walked out, making sure once again that no one saw him leave even though no one really cared either way as everyone was preoccupied with their own lives in this city where everyone watched everyone else but never made eye contact with each other for fear of judgement when some day they might need help from them when they need it most. And so he walked out of the building slowly walking down those steps leading towards wherever he was walking towards next because after all there wasn't much left for him here now since he couldn't even pass a test to work for a department whose entire purpose was to protect others from criminals and bad guys like him who were willing to cross ethical and moral boundaries if they thought it would benefit them more than anyone else; but thinking about it now made him realize how ridiculous things really were because even though people rarely looked at each other in fear of judgement, no one seemed scared enough to break rules that seemed wrong according to what they believe to be right; because after all their city always seemed perfect with no discrimination between people based on gender, race or disability while they are perfectly willing to discriminate against anyone who isn't perfect enough according to their standards; so why should they care? He thought about it but finally decided not bother anymore with what happened today because tomorrow he would probably forget about everything that happened today anyway; like every other day in this city where nothing ever changed despite its appearance being different everyday; so why should it change?