Then there was Slade. Slade saver of lives, knight in shinning armour. Ram could never work out if there was a heart of gold underneath the leather cladding or whether rescuing him, Ebony & Daryl had all been part of his master plan to overthrow Mega, and get his brother back.
Slade: maybe I didn't want a dead man on my conscience
Did Ram consider Slade as a friend, yes. Did he trust Slade with his life, yes.
After all Slade had given him back his life, his legs.
Ram:
get this straight - I am a cripple
C-R-I-P-P-L-E. You know what
that means, Slade? That means "legs no walkie". "Legs no
workie".
Slade: So tell me, which doctor was it that told you your injury was permanent? What hospital was it? What tests did they make you have? Who was the specialist who told you? So Maybe it won't take a miracle for you to get off your butt and walk again. Only maybe you're too scared to find out.
Slade fed me when I was too sick to feed myself, gave me the courage to walk again, got my chair, my crutches and pushed me beyond my limits. Slade got me computer parts, he gave me a purpose in life, gave me Zooty. My wheelchair has been cast aside, all those pills, my paranoia are things of the past. Paradise no longer dominates my life, it is no longer my future, my future is here, in reality and not in some plastic bubble hooked up to machines.
I am more in control of my life, of my own future than I have ever been and I have Slade to thank for that.