Chapter Text
Tommy Thompson was your completely average fourteen-year-old boy.
He liked video games, pizza rolls, and silently questioning everything his parents said the moment they left the room.
His parents, however, were very devout conservative Christians. The family attended church three times a week, prayed before every meal (even snacks), and had a strict rule against using the word “evolution” unless it was followed immediately by “is a lie.”
But Tommy felt like something was missing.
No matter how many youth group meetings he went to…
no matter how many VeggieTales episodes he rewatched…
there was still a tiny, rebellious spark in his heart whispering:
“But what if… science?”
One quiet Tuesday afternoon, Tommy decided to take a walk down the old neighborhood trail. He told his parents he needed “fresh air to clear his spirit,” which satisfied them because they assumed he was going to pray in a bush.
Instead, fate had other plans.
That’s when he met him.
A middle-aged man with a long black coat, a turtleneck, and the serene expression of someone who had read at least three philosophy books.
“Lovely weather for critically evaluating your worldview, isn’t it?” the man said.
Tommy stopped.
His heart pounded.
No one had ever spoken to him like that before.
“I… I don’t know,” Tommy said honestly.
The man smiled. “That’s the first rational thing you’ve said. My name is Dr. Edison Factwell, PhD in Applied Skepticism.”
Tommy had never met an atheist before.
In his parents’ stories, atheists were shadowy creatures who hissed at crosses and stole Christmas trees.
But this man seemed… normal. Calm.
And worst of all—
He made sense.
They talked for hours. About science. About curiosity. About the universe being 13.8 billion years old and NOT created on a random Tuesday.
By the end of the conversation, Tommy felt something awaken deep in his soul.
Or rather—not his soul, because those didn’t exist.
Something awakened deep in his neurons.
“I… I think I’m an atheist,” Tommy whispered.
Dr. Factwell nodded like this happened every Tuesday.
“Come with me, Tommy. There is a school—one that will nurture your budding rational mind. A place where no question is forbidden. A place where knowledge itself is magic.”
Tommy’s eyes widened.
“What is it called?”
Dr. Factwell stepped closer and said dramatically:
“The Richard Dawkins Academy for Rational Thought.”
“RDART.”
Tommy knew what he had to do.
That night, clutching nothing but a backpack full of snacks and a forbidden copy of Bill Nye’s Big Book of Everything, he ran away.
He ran toward knowledge.
He ran toward reason.
He ran toward… RDART.