《In-Variable Life》
1. Are you Happy?
[Q: 10 - Are you happy in life?]
[Yes] ; [No] ; [Not sure]
As soon as Kaya filled in his answer, he heard a familiar confident voice behind him seconds before he felt two hands being placed on his shoulders.
¡°You also filled in [Yes] right, Kaya?¡±
As Kaya looked back, he saw his friend, Bryan, looking at him with a wide smile across his face.
Before pulling his gaze up, Kaya reached for Bryan¡¯s hands and placed them off his shoulders, a perfect smile having formed on his face as he met Bryan¡¯s gaze a second later.
Brushing away the wrinkles on his clothes that Bryan¡¯s grip left behind, Kaya let out a mental sigh.
¡®A high schooler has no business being so strong.¡¯
Like most high schoolers, he had already finished puberty, unlike Kaya who had a late start. And it didn¡¯t seem like his genetics betrayed him either, standing at a height of over six feet. Bryan also had the body to go along with it, his muscles toned. And well, his face wasn¡¯t all that bad either.
¡°Yes, of course I filled in [Yes].¡± Kaya replied, his eyes as confident as his friend¡¯s even though it was a stone-cold lie.
Hearing Kaya say this, Bryan¡¯s smile widened even more, a hint of pride in his eyes.
¡°Yeah, that was a dumb question.¡±
¡®If only they knew.¡¯ Kaya thought dejectedly, but his smile not portraying any of these emotions.
Looking past Bryan, Kaya found an opportunity to end this conversation early and couldn¡¯t be quicker to act.
¡°Yeah, Yeah, I am amazing. Now, sit down, you are disrupting class.¡±
Confused, Bryan looked around to see that some people were still staring in front of them, seemingly at nothing.
¡°Oh, is it another such question? The one where if you give a certain answer you get more questions? That means that the people who are still answering all answered [No]¡¡±
Kaya nodded and pointed back to Bryan¡¯s seat, signaling him to sit back down and stay quiet for a bit.
Without arguing, Bryan sat down. Without him seeing, Kaya put three fingers in the air and silently mouthed ¡®after school¡¯ to some people who were looking at him with worry and sorrow in their eyes.
These were the people who had probably written down [No] on the question. And Kaya, in some way, besides being friends with most people, had become like a therapist in the eyes of them. They seemed to trust him, and genuinely be helped by his advice. Kaya didn¡¯t quite know how it turned out like this, but it unfortunately did.
With a smile on his face, Kaya turned around. When he looked up again, though, his lips returned to their resting position, perfectly straight like they portrayed no emotion whatsoever.
[Q: 10.1 - Do you want to be happier in life?]
[Yes] ; [No] ; [Not sure]
Kaya had more questions to answer, having answered [No] to the question of today himself.
Kaya was literally friends with everyone and in their eyes always looked happy, so why did he answer no?
Did he lie?
No, Kaya had answered honestly.
Kaya had built up a reputation and an image of a perfect student, and from what people gathered, it was genuine. But that was only from the outside. A shell. A whole lot of deceit. From the inside, Kaya was far from happy. He was a mess.
¡®Well, I am happy that they believe it.¡¯ Kaya thought melancholically. However, that sadness could not be seen on his face.
¡®Okay, let''s answer some more questions before the class starts then, shall we.¡¯ Kaya thought to himself as he shifted his focus back to the translucent hologram in front of him.
[Q: 10.2 - Do you know how to become happier in life?]
[Yes] ; [No] ; [Not sure]
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
¡®Of course I know.¡¯ Kaya thought sullenly. ¡®That is never going to happen though.¡¯
[Q: 10.3 - Are you doing something to become happier?]
[Yes, every day!] ; [I try] ; [No] ; [No, why would I bother?]
¡®That option fits perfectly, [why would I bother?]¡¯ Kaya thought, a slightly bitter smile forming on his face.
[Q: 10.4 - If you are not happy with life, and know how to make it better, then why would you not bother trying to change it?]
[Open answer]
Kaya slightly flinched back upon seeing this.
¡®An open answer?¡¯ He thought, his brows slightly scrunching together.
***
One day, seemingly out of nowhere, a translucent hologram popped up before every single human being on earth at the same time, asking a simple question: [Do you think life is flawless?]
Moments after that could only be described as chaos. People who were driving in their cars lost control of the wheel after a hologram suddenly popped up in front of them, causing mass pile-ups, cars crashing into buildings, numerous fires, and even some buildings collapsing.
And that is only to say for the damage caused by people who were in their car at that moment, let alone people who were operating a plane or other occupations. The immediate chaos was unlike Earth had ever seen before.
But not only was there chaos in that moment alone, the hours, days after that were as chaotic.
People were afraid.
Had aliens suddenly visited Earth? Was this some kind of higher power? Was this the sentience of Earth itself?
Not any of these possibilities seemed to calm anyone down. Each and every one of the possibilities just seemed more impossible than the other.
It was only when the government gave the people an answer, saying that they were the ones to have created this hologram with a hyper-advanced technology, that humanity started to calm down.
But still, for the past ten days, there had been nothing but this strange hologram questionnaire phenomenon circling the internet, televisions, and newspapers. How could it not? But even then, Kaya had never heard of anyone being able to give an open answer before¡
Looking around, there didn¡¯t seem to be anybody else to have this option as no one looked surprised. Kaya had a good read on people, but besides a few worried expressions from the thoughts these questions might have brought up, nobody seemed surprised.
¡®Weird.¡¯
Kaya snapped back once he noticed that almost everyone was done answering questions, so he had to hurry up.
¡®But, how can I just answer such a question?¡¯
Kaya could probably answer this question for most people, but when it came to himself, he couldn¡¯t. Or rather, something was stopping him from answering this question as this meant acknowledging that he had a problem. And if it was one thing Kaya didn¡¯t want, it was problems.
Deep down Kaya had an answer to this question, but he couldn¡¯t bring himself to let these answers surface. So, kaya was left with a hologram in front of him.
Minutes passed, just blankly staring in front of him. Kaya was in his own mind, battling thoughts from coming up, suppressing everything as he would rather let these thoughts stay down where they didn¡¯t bother him.
But then, the mention of his name in an eerily deep tone made Kaya snap out of his thoughts.
¡°Kaya, what do you think of today¡¯s question?¡±
Without looking up, Kaya recognized this voice. It was his teacher¡¯s.
¡®Oh yeah, I am still in class.¡¯
This hologram questionnaire phenomenon, what the people had called it, happened 10 days ago. And school was quick to adapt.
Every single day, the hologram precisely popped up with a single question at 3 pm. With the commotion that these questions caused, the students became too rowdy for the class to continue.
So, the school had been quick to schedule a daily class dedicated to letting the students answer these questions, and then discuss them like a philosophy class.
Today, Kaya was chosen to first give his thoughts on the question of that day. Standing up, Kaya walked to the front of the classroom and put a smile up before turning around to face the class.
¡°The question for today was: [Are you happy in life?]. I think this is a good question to be asked. I think most people have answered [Yes] to this question. But, despite this, I bet that each and every one of them can think of at least one thing that would improve their lives. I think we can all take away from this question that, even though we are happy, some things can make us even more content in life. So, even though this question will only be asked once by the hologram, I think it is worth to keep asking this question to yourself in an attempt to be better every day.¡±
As soon as Kaya was done speaking, people began to clap. Some were just happy because of the way he spoke, or just seeing their friend up there. But some people were really thinking about what Kaya had just said, intent to follow that advice. People who had answered [no] and [yes] alike.
¡®Well, that was pretty good advice already. Maybe fewer people will come to me after school now.¡¯ Kaya thought, hopeful as he returned to his seat. ¡®But I won¡¯t take myself up on that advice.¡¯
Back in his seat again, the hologram was still in front of him. Now, however, Kaya was filling it in while his classmates were further discussing the question of today and thinking about what Kaya had said.
[Q: 10.4 - If you are not happy with life, and know how to make it better, then why would you not bother trying to change it?]
[Because I don¡¯t strive to be happy in life, I strive to be unbothered. The life I am living now, I have built up in such a way that nothing unexpected can happen. All the expectations I have set for my life are not set in a way that can make me happy, but they are realistic. If I just follow this plan, I will have no setbacks. I will just complete high school, graduate from college, get a standard office job where I don¡¯t stand out and where no responsibilities lay on my shoulders and just work until I am retired. Simple as that, nothing more. So, I don¡¯t bother to try and change my life to be happy as that might become a bother. Besides, it is already too late to change that now.]
With a small sigh, Kaya mentally completed the answer and the hologram in front of him finally disappeared.
¡®Ah, that bothered me.¡¯
That was the truth though. Kaya might not have been happy with the choices he made about his life or his future, but he was going to stick with them now. He had climbed up such a big cliff that he could only continue going up.
But now that thoughts about this surfaced again, Kaya had become a little absent-minded. That didn¡¯t last for long, however, as suppressing his thoughts was something Kaya was used to. In a matter of minutes, Kaya had pushed them deep down, his mind becoming clear. An empty shell again.
2. Perfect Deceit
By the time Kaya had suppressed his thoughts, the hologram questionnaire philosophy class had already ended and it had become time for the last period of that day, mathematics.
As the bell rang, conflicted emotions could immediately be heard as students stood up to walk to the next classroom. Some grunts from people who despised math while some students were just happy that the day was almost over.
Having sat down in the back of the math class, Kaya was quickly greeted by a high-pitched but gentle and happy ¡°Hello.¡±
Kaya couldn¡¯t help but smile back at her. Not because he truly felt joy from seeing the woman, but because he had to keep up appearances.
¡°Hello to you too Lucy.¡±
Kaya could see Lucy¡¯s expression brighten up immediately. And not like his own, but genuinely. She opened her mouth to respond but was quickly cut off by a loud voice that slightly made her flinch back.
¡°The test results are out! And I don¡¯t know how to feel about them¡ In all my life of teaching I have never -.¡± The math teacher said, his voice loud and disappointed.
What he said after though, Kaya had already filtered out. It was the usual speech of teachers as they came back with test results they were not happy with.
Kaya could see Lucy¡¯s expression becoming worried, but Kaya¡¯s wasn¡¯t at all. Putting on a reassuring smile, Kaya put his hand on Lucy¡¯s shoulder.
¡°Don¡¯t worry, your score will be alright.¡±
Instantly, Lucy calmed down. She knew that Kaya wasn¡¯t the one to joke about such things with her. But a question came with this as anticipation quickly began to form in her eyes.
¡°How do you know?¡±
Kaya didn¡¯t answer though and just widened his smile. Kaya had looked at Lucy¡¯s answers while she took the test after Kaya had already submitted his test paper, so he knew roughly what score she would get. Probably around a B.
This speech of the teacher was going to at least take a few minutes, so, Kaya opened his book to continue with a few math problems in the meantime. It wasn¡¯t even directed towards him as he knew he would get a good score, so he wasn¡¯t going to listen to this. It was a waste of time.
It was only 15 minutes later that the teacher finished his speech and began handing out the test results. Kaya was immediately distracted from his work as he heard the disappointment and frustration of the people who got handed a D or even an F.
Stretching out his body, Kaya slid his math book forward.
¡®At least I was able to go ahead another few pages. I won¡¯t have to worry about doing homework for a while.¡¯
Another few minutes passed before the teacher got to Lucy and him as they sat in the back row of the classroom. Once the teacher got there though, his expression brightened.
¡°Kaya, as expected, I can always count on you.¡±
As he handed Kaya the test paper, a big A could be seen on the top right of it. Kaya gave the teacher a smile as if he was happy with the result, but as soon as the teacher looked away, kaya¡¯s expression returned neutral as he laid the test paper on the side of his desk.
Kaya wanted to go back to solving questions again now that the class was quieting down, but he was disrupted as someone suddenly put their arms all around Kaya. Kaya flinched and shuddered, his expression becoming nasty for a second before forcefully putting a smile on his face when he remembered he was still in class.
¡°I got a B Kaya! Can you believe it?¡± Lucy practically yelled for the whole class to hear, making nearly half the class stare at the two of them with jealousy in their eyes.
¡°Yes, I can believe it. Isn¡¯t that why I said not to worry. I was the one to help you with studying after all.¡± Kaya said playfully, matching her tempo. ¡°Ahem, Lucy, I know you are grateful, but can you please stop hugging me?¡±
Lucy looked at Kaya for a short moment, her eyes looking directly at his. ¡°Hmm, but I don¡¯t want to.¡± Lucy said in a bratty way, only hugging Kaya tighter, her body pressing against his.
It took all Kaya¡¯s mental strength to not give Lucy a death stare. Instead, he tilted his head slightly, his eyes almost fatherly, or at least what Kaya had surmised a normal fatherly assertive look to look like.
Seeing this, Lucy giggled. ¡°Okay, Kaya.¡± She said, and let go of Kaya immediately, still looking into his eyes with a smile on her face.
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Most people in this situation would have been jealous of Kaya, being hugged by one of the prettiest girls in the school. Lucy had a small figure, but she was not petite. With her slender body only accentuating her curves. Her face was also nothing to scoff at. She had a little button nose and pretty blue doe eyes that went well with her long, blonde, wavy hair.
However, more people were jealous of Lucy for being seated next to Kaya. People just found it nice to talk to Kaya. And a rumor also went around school that whoever sat next to Kaya would improve their test results and get more friends, which wasn¡¯t really a rumor anymore but just a fact.
After Lucy stopped hugging Kaya there were still some eyes on them, but they were quickly diverted forward as the teacher began his class. He began teaching like he hadn¡¯t just given a 15-minute-long speech about how disappointed he was. But unlike normal, no one dared to mess around, much less talk, as he already wasn¡¯t in the greatest of moods.
Kaya didn¡¯t mind this, however. He could just listen to the lecture uninterrupted as he solved some more questions from the textbook in the meanwhile. This was the atmosphere Kaya hoped to have in every lesson. Just in his own world. Being productive as a normal student.
Like this, time passed quickly, and before Kaya knew it, the bell rang. This being the last period meant the school had ended for the day. It was also Friday, meaning that it was the weekend.
Already regretting his promise, Kaya headed toward classroom 3 as he had said in the hologram questionnaire philosophy class.
Having waited there for a few minutes, surprisingly only one student showed up. Apparently, the advice he had given in front of the class had already helped most people who wanted to talk to him.
¡°Hey Ray, seeing that you are the only one and that you live in my direction, do you want to talk about it while walking home?¡± Kaya asked the one student who had shown up, Ray, with a smile on his face.
Ray¡¯s expression immediately brightened up. ¡°Yes, please!¡± He said as if it was a huge favor Kaya was giving him. However, Kaya only suggested this as walking home while talking about it was going to take up less of his time than if they were to talk in the classroom.
With both people happy with this arrangement, Ray and Kaya walked home. On their way, Ray vented about why he answered that he was not happy in life, and Kaya played his part as a friend, but mostly a therapist just listening and giving advice.
With the walk to Kaya¡¯s house taking around fifteen minutes, Ray¡¯s problem had already been solved as much as advice could by the time they had gotten to his house.
¡°Uhm, Kaya, do you maybe want to hang out with me and a few of my friends on the weekend?¡± Ray asked, a nervous smile on his face thinking to have become closer to Kaya on this walk.
¡°I would love to,¡± Kaya said, immediately igniting sparks in Ray¡¯s eyes. ¡°But, I have to study. We have a test next week, and you know me¡¡±
Instantly, Ray became saddened. ¡°Okay, good luck.¡± Ray said, disappointed. He wasn¡¯t disappointed in Kaya, however, he could never be. Kaya had already helped him so much.
Having said goodbye to Ray, Kaya headed inside the apartment complex he lived in and entered his room, number 205. Shutting the door behind him, Kaya couldn¡¯t help but utter a sigh of relief.
Kaya put down his backpack by the door and immediately undressed, changing into something more comfortable. A pair of soft, loose-fitting grey sweatpants and an oversized T-shirt.
¡®That¡¯s better, much better.¡¯
As Kaya had changed clothes, he immediately lay down on his bed. Grabbing his laptop that was on the nightstand, he put it on his lap and opened it. As soon as he heard the melodic beeping of the laptop starting up, a slightly relaxed smile formed on Kaya¡¯s face. This time genuinely.
This was it. He didn¡¯t plan to study at all, that was a lie. But he didn¡¯t completely lie, there is a test next week. However, Kaya had no need to study for it as he had paid attention in class. And for Kaya, this was good enough to get an A most of the time.
Now being at home, with no one to bother him, Kaya was going to spend every minute, every second of his free time just sitting on his bed reading some novels and watching shows and streamers to pass the time.
This was the only time in Kaya¡¯s life when he was comfortable, and the closest he could come to happiness.
He had always wanted to become an author, artist, or something akin to a streamer. So, in a sense, reading authors¡¯ works and watching streamers felt the closest he could come to this dream, living vicariously through them.
Because there was just no way Kaya was going to pursue his dreams. These types of aspirations, these dreams, were quickly beaten out of him as he was still a child, transformed into something forbidden, something unacceptable and unachievable.
Kaya already knew that, at that moment, his whole life changed. He changed. Instead of dreaming of a happy life, his mind was already becoming programmed to work towards a normal, stable unfulfilling life.
Kaya¡¯s aspirations had already been set then and there. He was going to live a normal, unbothered life. Out of view of everyone, just finishing school peacefully, going to college for business, and getting a job at a normal company with an average position where he would practically be invisible. Just being able to work the clock from 9 to 5 and then not having to think about anything anymore.
Even now, years later, Kaya was still following this path. But to achieve that Kaya had become someone else entirely, his life filled with deceit. And he had become perfect at it. Not only had he deceived his friends, but also the teachers. Without doing much, Kaya had already received a scholarship and was seen as the perfect student.
Kaya was happy with this, but not in a normal way though.
¡®With this, I will be able to retire a few months earlier.¡¯
That is how Kaya thought about it. He was still a child, but he was already thinking about retiring as early as possible, already knowing that he wouldn¡¯t like his job or anything besides just comfortably sitting on his bed reading novels and watching shows and streamers.
He had also already decided that he was just going to live in a cheap small apartment never going on vacations, and breaking off all ties with his friends after school just so that he had more free time and could save money to retire earlier.
Yes, this was what Kaya was going to do. And he IS going to achieve that, there are no variables in that as he had everything planned out, realistically, without risks.
3. Comfort in Solidarity
[Q: 11 - Do you think you are better than other people?]
[Yes] ; [No]
Trying to get the hologram question over with as quickly as possible, Kaya gave an answer. An honest answer though.
Expecting to be ready there and then, Kaya¡¯s mind was already shifting back to his laptop again. But then, another hologram popped up.
¡®More questions again. Ah, what a bother.¡¯ Kaya thought as he read what the next question was. ¡®There goes my comfort.¡¯
Kaya was tempted to just randomly answer the questions and get it over with, but for some reason, he couldn¡¯t get himself to answer dishonestly.
He had already subconsciously set up that rule for himself when he first started answering questions honestly. And once Kaya started something, he wasn¡¯t going to differ from it. That was a good trait to have, but to what extent Kaya took it, it was more akin to a curse.
[Q: 11.1 - Do you think some or most people are better than you?]
[Some people] ; [Most people]
[Q: 11.2 - Do you think you are below average as a human?]
[Yes] ; [No]
¡®Why are there so many questions asking if I am below other people? One is enough, isn¡¯t it?¡¯
[Q: 11.3 - How would you rank yourself as a human compared to other people?]
[Worst 1% of people] ; [1% - 15%] ; [15% - 33%] ; [Average 33% - 67%] ; [67% - 85%]
; [85% - 99%] ; [Best 1% of people]
¡®Yes, just rub it in, why don¡¯t you.¡¯ Kaya thought, a sigh leaving his lips.
[Q: 11.4 - Are you academically better than the average person?]
[Yes] ; [No]
¡®Well, objectively yes.¡¯
[Q: 11.5 - Are you better ~] [Yes]
[Q: 11.6 - Are you better ~] [Yes]
[Q: 11.7 - Are you better ~] [Yes]
[Q: 11.8 - Are you more liked than an average person?]
[Yes] ; [No]
¡®Again ¡objectively yes.¡¯ Kaya thought for the fifth time. ¡®Why are there so many questions anyway?¡¯
[Q: 11.9 - Would most people around you want to switch lives with you?]
[Yes] ; [No]
¡®Well yes, but only because they know the fake me¡ and not my real thoughts and life.¡¯
[Q: 11.6 - If you think you are below 99% of the population, why are you better than the average person in aspects 4 up to and including 8, and why would most people around you want to switch lives with you?]
[Open answer]
Kaya slightly flinched back seeing this. ¡®An open answer again?¡¯ He thought. And after reading the question, he only found it more weird. It seemed oddly specific. Were the after-questions different than normal questions?
Kaya didn¡¯t want to think about it any longer, however. It was the weekend, his only time of rest. So, just wanting to get back to comfortably reading his novel, Kaya concentrated back on the question.
Once again, Kaya had an answer to this question, but for that, a lot of suppressed thoughts would have to surface again. And they were already surging up like last time. But this time Kaya just let them all come up like a tidal wave and began writing his answer.
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[Q: 11.6 - If you think you are below 99% of the population, why are you better than the average person in aspects 4 up to and including 8, and why would most people around you want to switch lives with you?]
[Being better than someone is not something that can be defined by any standard, really. Yes, I might be academically better than the average person and most people around me want to switch lives with me and so forth, but that does not change my perspective on how a person can be better than another person. For me, a person is their best if they are happy in life, pursuing whatever they desire. Being free while not hindering another person¡¯s life. And frankly, I score low on that standard besides the latter part of the last one.]
As soon as Kaya had given his answer, the hologram disappeared from his sight again. His lingering thoughts, however, remained running rampant in his consciousness. This time, however, they were almost immediately suppressed as Kaya redirected his focus back to the novel he was reading. Instantly getting a tranquil mind.
Kaya got comfortable again as he knew he had more than half a day in front of him where he could just comfortably read his novel. One he had found the previous day that had more than a thousand chapters. This would keep him entertained for at least¡ this weekend.
The whole Saturday, Kaya just read the novel, following his normal routine of taking his laptop with him everywhere, showering, going to the toilet, and cooking. Only the basic necessities so that he could get comfortable behind his laptop for as long as possible.
And so did he the day after, on Sunday. This time the hologram questionnaire also left him at peace, asking a trivial question.
[Q: 12 - Have you ever gone a week without showering?]
[Yes] ; [No]
Kaya was relieved that the question today didn¡¯t bother him. What did bother him though, was that it was Sunday, which meant that he would have to go to school tomorrow. But that wasn¡¯t what was bothering him right now.
Today, his groceries would be delivered. Kaya ordered an exact amount of groceries every week and perfectly planned out what he was going to eat that week so that he wouldn¡¯t order too little that he had to go buy something and not too much that he had to throw away anything.
Ordering this wasn¡¯t the problem, however. The problem was that he had to interact with someone. This was a bit contradictory, but Kaya had come to have social anxiety even though he interacts with so many people at school. Kaya himself didn¡¯t know why he was afraid of these interactions. He did have an inkling though, but he rather not go down that path.
So instead, Kaya put this fact off his mind for as long as he could. Just postponing the inevitable so his mood wasn¡¯t ruined for all that long.
But now, it being 15:55, just five minutes before the delivery normally came, he couldn¡¯t ignore it anymore. Kaya quickly ran to his closet, put on some formal clothes, and put his laptop aside.
Now, sitting on the edge of his bed, waiting. Just staring at the door in anticipation. This didn¡¯t seem like a big deal, but Kaya¡¯s heartbeat was becoming heavier as the seconds passed, his breath even becoming a little broken.
And then, Kaya¡¯s heart missed a beat entirely as he heard footsteps coming towards his door. And a moment after, his doorbell tore up the silence in his room.
¡°Co-ming!¡± Kaya yelled, stumbling over this single word. The one word he kept practicing in his head for the last five minutes.
Going red from embarrassment, Kaya waited a few seconds before walking to the door. Trying to steady his heartbeat and breathing in a futile attempt. He also couldn¡¯t wait anymore as the delivery person knocked on the door again.
In front of the door, Kaya took one last deep breath and opened it. Kaya tried to keep himself together and act normal, forcing a smile at the deliveryman as he got handed the groceries. The groceries, however, were heavier than Kaya had expected, pulling his arm to the ground with it.
¡°Oh, are you okay?¡± The delivery man said, reaching his arm towards the bag of groceries to help. But before he could even help, Kaya mustered up all his strength and yanked the bag full of groceries inside.
Kaya couldn¡¯t help but pant a little. Partly from the exertion, but mostly because he saw the stranger¡¯s hand coming towards him. Kaya¡¯s face had also become even redder. This time not from embarrassment though. Just purely from withholding the utter disgust, he felt throughout his whole body while trying to maintain a smile.
¡°Card please.¡± Kaya said under a whispered breath, his hand coming forward with his card.
The deliveryman took a good second before he pulled out the card reader, his focus drawn on Kaya¡¯s body and face. Kaya had a small frame for his age, not having hit puberty yet despite being 16 years old. His face was average but couldn¡¯t be seen that well, only slightly revealing that it had become bright red, almost purple.
The expression the deliveryman made from seeing him now was too much for Kaya to handle, his smile quickly coming undone. An expression of disgust quickly began to replace it. But before this could become visible to the deliveryman, Kaya had already quickly swiped his card and thrown the door in the deliveryman¡¯s face.
Running to the toilet, Kaya couldn¡¯t help but empty his stomach over that interaction, bringing with it images and memories he would rather be burned from his mind.
In the coming hour, Kaya lay on the cold bathroom floor trying to calm himself down, suppressing everything that had surfaced again. And when Kaya had finally suppressed everything, it still left a bad aftertaste. And not only from the vomit.
Even when he got back to reading his novel, he still couldn¡¯t enjoy it. He just couldn¡¯t get comfortable anymore. Even this couldn¡¯t bring him peace at the moment.
Now that this didn¡¯t bring him anything positive like it should, Kaya just grabbed a random book from his backpack and started working ahead on whatever subject it was that he had grabbed.
¡®If I won¡¯t enjoy anything I do right now, better do something that will allow me to have more free time when I can enjoy it again.¡¯ Kaya thought, pushing his pen against his notebook harder than usual.
4. Unknown Questions
Kaya never thought that he would be glad that his Sunday evening went by quickly. But today he was. Comfortable in his bed Kaya couldn¡¯t wait to fall asleep, hoping that a night¡¯s rest would wash down the bad taste in his mind.
And luckily a good night¡¯s sleep quickly came.
Now, it already having become Monday morning, Kaya was walking to school again like normal after having a quick shower and breakfast. His facial expression wasn¡¯t the same however as he was trying to form a smile, but struggling to do so convincingly.
It was only when he ran into another student, that he couldn¡¯t afford to struggle anymore. As soon as he saw the sight of his school¡¯s uniform, it was quickly followed by the waving of an enthusiastic female upperclassman.
¡°Hello Kaya! Want to walk to school together?¡±
Luckily Kaya¡¯s smile had come quicker than the upperclassmen could turn around, and Kaya greeted her with an unwavering smile, as genuine looking as always.
¡°Yes, I would love that.¡±
Unfortunately, this was a common occurrence for Kaya, but that didn¡¯t stop him from letting out an internal sigh as it wasn¡¯t something he was looking forward to in the slightest after the rough weekend.
In the 15 minutes it took to walk from his apartment to the school, Kaya had already amassed a group of around twenty people that were walking with him. Kaya being the center of it.
There wasn¡¯t a moment where Kaya could let go of his pretense, which was slowly burning his already depleted mental battery that day.
As they arrived on school grounds, though, the group split ways. Some people who Kaya was walking with were from other classes, or even different years entirely.
The only person who Kaya was left with was the energetic Bryan, which wasn¡¯t really a positive thing. Bryan seemed to deplete Kaya¡¯s mental battery the most. And looking at the smile on his face, today wasn¡¯t going to be any different.
¡°How was the weekend? Anything fun?¡±
Luckily Kaya had become accustomed to handling Bryan. Just throwing a little bait could make Bryan go off on a rant where he would talk about honestly anything for a long time. And that was exactly what Kaya needed at the moment, to get a moment of rest to recharge his battery.
Taking a short breath in, Kaya looked up at Bryan with a smile on his face and tried to sound as enthusiastic as possible.
¡°I just studied all weekend for the test today, you know me. What did you do? Knowing you, something interesting must have happened.¡±
As soon as he saw the look in Bryan¡¯s eyes change, instantly becoming more vibrant, Kaya knew that he had landed his bait hook line, and sinker.
¡°Yeah, the craziest thing happened yesterday! When I went to the arcade with Sam, Liam, and Ryker there was this -¡±
Hearing that was enough for Kaya to roughly know what happened so anything that Bryan told after that went in one ear and out the other.
¡®Finally, a moment''s rest.¡¯
For at least the next few minutes, Kaya had some rest while Bryan was ranting away.
As they arrived at the English classroom, Kaya greeted some people before sitting down in his seat. Meanwhile, Bryan was still telling his story, which Kaya occasionally entertained with a nod or an interested ¡°Really?¡±.
A few moments later though, the sound of the bell rang meaning that classes had officially started.
The whole classroom suddenly quieted down and even the chatterbox Bryan quickly got to his seat. Walking in front of the class with heavy strides, a grumpy old man with glasses on the tip of his scrunched-up nose was making his way to his chair.
You didn¡¯t need to be good at reading people to notice the annoyance of the students directed towards the teacher.
¡°Quiet down everyone. Today will be a book reading class. If I catch anyone talking, you will have to attend detention.¡±
Before the teacher had even said this, everyone was already quiet as they knew not to mess with this particular teacher on a Monday morning. He didn¡¯t give out empty threats.
Ironically, the only person in the room with a smile on his face at this moment, a genuine one, was Kaya. He knew that he could get some rest in this class to recharge his mental battery, and looking at the rest of the classes he had today, he was going to need it.
This class was scheduled for two whole hours, so Kaya felt relatively better, at least as much as two hours of ¡®rest¡¯ could grant someone.
¡®I think I¡¯ll manage to make it through the day at this rate.¡¯
Taking a deep breath in, Kaya put up a smile again as he saw some people walk up to him.
¡°Wanna grab lunch with us, Kaya?¡±
If they would have asked the same question at the beginning of the day, Kaya would have found an excuse not to go, but now he just responded with an enthusiastic ¡°Sounds good.¡±
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Of course, he would still rather not go, but he had already gone back into the usual autopilot mode, acting like the person he was in others¡¯ eyes.
Just like that, class after class passed as Kaya just went with the flow. The classes today were pretty mentally draining with a lot of group work, but Kaya got through it like normal.
Surprisingly, time had passed relatively quickly and it had already become time for the second to last class of today to start, the hologram questionnaire philosophy class. Sitting down, the class was as rowdy as ever in anticipation of the question that was going to be asked today.
This class had quickly become a favorite of most people. It was a class where they could just mostly mess around and talk amongst each other. On top of that, the novelty and hype from the reality of the hologram being real hadn¡¯t died down yet either.
For Kaya though, it was slowly becoming his least liked class as he measured his liking to a class on how mentally draining it was and the questions that were popping up seemed to be more and more mentally draining for him by the day.
It wasn¡¯t long after Kaya sat down that the question of that day appeared, instantly silencing the rowdy class. Seeing the questions, Kaya¡¯s thought about the questions becoming less and less trivial was unfortunately confirmed a little more.
[Q: 13 - Do you feel 100% in line with your birth gender?]
[Yes] ; [No]
¡®Well, I suppose no one can feel literally 100% about that.¡¯ Kaya thought with a sigh, almost knowing that he would be getting more after-questions.
And he was right as another hologram instantly replaced the previous one. ¡®Yup, there it is.¡¯
Leaning back in his chair, annoyed at how often he was getting after questions, Kaya got a good look around the class. Once he did, he couldn¡¯t help but raise his eyebrows slightly in surprise.
¡®Why is almost everyone¡¡¯
Looking around, it seemed like most people had answered [Yes] as they were already talking to their friends again, meaning that they didn¡¯t get any after-questions like Kaya did.
¡®How can someone feel 100% of something?¡¯ Kaya couldn¡¯t get that thought through that logical head of his. ¡®They must have just answered not taking into account the 100% part of the question... Right?¡¯
Still gazing around the classroom, Kaya locked eyes with Bryan who was in the process of standing up to start walking towards him.
This time Kaya was luckily quick enough to act, pointing at the few people around him who were still answering and then pointed down, lip-syncing ¡®sit down¡¯ to Bryan with a jokingly stern expression on his face.
With that dealt with, Kaya directed his focus back on the hologram. He once again had more after-questions to answer.
[Q: 13.1 - Do you feel more female than male?]
[Yes] ; [No]
Kaya almost sighed out loud as he read the question. ¡®Just because I don¡¯t believe one can feel 100% of something does not immediately mean the extreme opposite applies.¡¯
[Q: 13.2 - Do you feel more male than female?]
[Yes] ; [No]
¡®Okay, better question.¡¯ Kaya thought, a little less annoyed. ¡®I am a male, so why would I not feel more male.¡¯
[Q: 13.3 - Do you fulfill the male or female gender role more?]
[Male] ; [Female] ; [Equal]
Unlike the other two after-questions, Kaya didn¡¯t have an immediate answer to this question. And strangely, there were no suppressed thoughts wanting to surface like what happened when answering the previous days¡¯ questions.
Kaya was genuinely stumped by this question. Normally he would have an answer for everything, but now he just didn¡¯t. He had never thought about this.
Deep in thought, Kaya faintly lost track of his surroundings. Only when he felt a gaze directed towards him did he snap out of it. Looking up, he met eyes with a female classmate standing in front of the class as she began speaking.
¡°I answered yes. Honestly, I thought everyone would immediately answer yes, so I was a little surprised that people took longer to answer or answered [No].¡±
Kaya didn¡¯t know why she was looking at him while saying this, which got him a little worried. He didn¡¯t like the unknown.
¡°But I kind of changed my thought process when I saw that Kaya also took a little longer to answer-¡±
Hearing him being called out, a slight frown unconsciously formed on Kaya¡¯s face.
The girl seemed to have noticed the subtle change in Kaya¡¯s expression, but just smiled back and continued talking.
¡°If I were to answer for Kaya, I would say he would fulfill both gender roles.¡±
Upon mentioning this, the whole class instantly became rowdy as this got the attention of everyone in the class. At this point, all eyes were on her and Kaya.
Kaya, however, didn¡¯t notice the eyes on him. After hearing her mention ¡®gender roles¡¯, he immediately sat up in his chair, becoming interested in what she had to say as it might help him come closer to an answer he couldn¡¯t give himself.
¡°First of all, I would like to say that I see Kaya as a man as much as everyone does, so you can stop glaring at me. He is a strong person, takes on a leadership role, an authority figure even, keeps the other boys in check and overall just does boy stuff. So, as far as a traditional male goes, he couldn¡¯t be more male. But -¡±
As she said the first part, everyone couldn¡¯t help but agree with what she said, which made the stares less fierce. But as she added a ¡®but¡¯, everyone quieted down a bit as they waited in anticipation of what she was going to say.
¡°But, I also think that Kaya is very good at taking on female gender roles. When he talks to me, and other girls, he takes on a more gentle role. Something that people would say to be more of a female gender role, talking about feelings, emotions, and... well, female stuff. Whenever he is with the female group, I sometimes can¡¯t help but think of him as one of the girls. So, yeah, that.¡±
Abruptly wrapping up her opinion, the girl made her way back to her seat, becoming a little flushed in the face as she walked past the gaze of Kaya.
Hearing this put Kaya with a lot of thoughts in his head, but he didn¡¯t have time to process them yet as more and more people began speaking about their opinions, with Kaya being the center topic.
Nearly an hour later, filled with people arguing if Kaya fit the female or male gender role more, did Kaya finally give an answer to the question of the hologram.
[Q: 13.3 - Do you fulfill the male or female gender role more?]
[Male] ; [Female] ; [Equal]
With so many views on the matter, Kaya couldn¡¯t help but have this answer be thrown in his lap. He had never viewed it like that, but as it sounded, the [Equal] options fitted him the best, so he chose that. Still not entirely having given it a place in his own mind.
And before he could give it a place in his mind, another hologram with an after-question popped up.
[Q: 13.4 - If you could change your birth gender without ANY consequences, would you?]
[Open answer]
¡®Oh, for god¡¯s sake.¡¯ Kaya exclaimed with a defeated sigh, thinking that this would be the last question. ¡®Why am I getting after-questions and open answer possibilities so often.¡¯
Kaya couldn¡¯t be bothered with it anymore and just began filling in the raw thoughts that were being formed on the spot about this new understanding of himself.
[I am a male, I feel like a male and I wouldn¡¯t do anything to change that as that is bothersome and not needed for what I want to achieve in life. But, if I were born, or suddenly woke up as a female, I couldn¡¯t care less. It wouldn¡¯t change my life. -
As Kaya mentally completed his answer, a last thought of his was added to his answer before it was sent.
- Hell, I could be genderless and I couldn¡¯t care less. Hmm, maybe that isn¡¯t even that bad of a thought.]
5. Questionnaire Results
After that day, life went on like normal for everyone. But for Kaya, it was unknowingly the beginning of a downward spiral. A leakage in an already faulty battery.
It was already a draining task for Kaya got to keep up appearances and suppress any negative emotions and thoughts about the past from coming up, but now with the hologram questionnaire, one more burden had fallen on Kaya.
New questions.
Questions that brought new thoughts entirely.
Thoughts about his life brought up new worries that he hadn¡¯t even thought about.
With each passing day, there would be another hologram that questioned Kaya¡¯s entire life¡¯s choices. And, honestly, each day Kaya became less and less certain about the path he was following in his life. A path that had been carved since childhood, a plan that Kaya followed without question.
What he once thought was a plan for his perfect life, a life being completely unbothered, began to look more like a pointless life altogether.
Cracks started to appear in Kaya¡¯s ¡®perfect¡¯ life.
As the days passed and the questions from the hologram questionnaire became more thought-inducing, it was becoming harder to maintain his perfect image in school each passing day.
He was still able to keep up appearances though, but that came at a price. A heavy one. Before school, after school, on the weekends, and even now, at the time when kids Kaya¡¯s age should be happiest in life, summer vacation, Kaya was completely broken both mentally and physically.
The questionnaire was chipping away at him mentally, and the consequences of that manifested physically. Any hint of Kaya¡¯s already paltry emotion had now completely vanished, leaving behind a truly empty body.
He couldn¡¯t even find comfort in anything anymore, not by being alone, not by sleeping, and not even by reading the novels that brought him the closest to happiness in his life before.
Now, with a truly empty body and nothing to refuel his battery anymore, Kaya just silently let it deplete as he functioned on the last of his dangerously empty reserves.
Energy that wasn¡¯t even enough to keep up with the most simple of tasks like eating, sleeping, or just anything that required effort or thoughts.
Kaya didn¡¯t even know that he was out of food, his last meal already having been a few days ago. If he wasn¡¯t so lifeless, his eyes would have portrayed annoyance as he opened the fridge door and saw the cold empty shelves.
But instead, Kaya just slumped past the fridge, slid into a random pair of shoes, and opened the front door. As Kaya looked outside, tears started to form in his eyes. Not because of an emotional response though, just tears as a reflex from the sun hitting his sensitive eyes which hadn¡¯t seen anything but the darkness for weeks.
Trudging his way to the closest convenience store, an all too familiar sight appeared in front of him. This already being the 300th day that this happened, Kaya didn¡¯t even react and answered it in autopilot mode.
[Q: 300 - If you suddenly changed from today onwards, knowing that it could either improve or worsen, would you?]
[Yes] ; [No]
[Q: 300.1 - Why?]
[Open answer]
At this point, Kaya had so many questions resulting in an open answer that he wasn¡¯t surprised by that anymore. Not that he had the energy or emotion to be surprised by it at the moment.
But for some reason, this question felt different and strangely personal, more so than all the previous questions. Even the lifeless Kaya could discern this difference.
Instead of a long question, combining multiple aspects from previous questions, this one was just a simple [Why?].
It was such an open question that Kaya could write a whole book for his reasons, but instead, he gave the shortest answer possible, almost as short as the question.
[Because I don¡¯t care anymore.]
This short answer conveyed everything that Kaya had come to realize after being asked something that questioned his life, his existence, and his reasons for living every single day. He knew that if something didn¡¯t change soon, life wasn¡¯t worth living anymore.
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And, even though Kaya knew exactly how he could change his life for the better, he just couldn¡¯t set a single step toward it. Something was holding him back, both mentally and physically. He just couldn¡¯t change.
¡°So, if something, someone suddenly changed who I was from today onwards, I would take it without a second thought even knowing that it could also worsen my life. Because nothing can go below zero and everything can end with death!¡± Kaya shouted from the top of his lungs, surprising even himself.
For some reason, this brought up a lot of emotions that he thought had long been lost.
¡°SO, YES!!!¡± Kaya suddenly screamed even louder, his head tilting towards the sky.
As soon as Kaya screamed that, his vision suddenly went black.
¡®What?¡¯ Kaya thought confused. ¡®Why did it suddenly go dark?¡¯
Kaya was sure he wasn¡¯t dreaming, and he was pretty sure didn¡¯t faint as he was looking up at the sky just a moment ago with the most energy he had in a while, and he still had his thoughts accompanying him.
There was a good second of silence before Kaya¡¯s body randomly shuddered. He got a strange feeling as he continued staring into the darkness that just appeared.
¡®Is it even darkness?¡¯ Kaya had assumed that everything went black as he suddenly couldn¡¯t see anymore, but it wasn¡¯t really that. It didn¡¯t feel like darkness. ¡®It¡¯s more like complete nothingness¡¡¯
It was only a few moments later that Kaya came to the realization that not only his vision had gone. He also couldn¡¯t hear the bustling streets anymore, he couldn¡¯t smell the air and most of all, he couldn¡¯t feel anything anymore.
The only thing that was left was his consciousness in this empty space.
For a second, Kaya¡¯s thoughts went silent and when it did, Kaya suddenly had no sense of time anymore. He felt like just a few seconds had passed, but he wasn¡¯t entirely sure. For all he knew a few hours could have already passed just like the passing of time in dreams.
¡®This is kind of¡ nice, peaceful.¡¯
¡®Did I die?¡¯
As soon as Kaya thought that, something suddenly appeared in the nothingness. In front of Kaya¡¯s emptiness, another hologram appeared.
This hologram looked different from the usual questionnaire holograms though. Not only was it grey instead of blue, but there also wasn¡¯t another question written on it. Instead, it read: ¡®Results?¡¯
[Questionnaire results]
[Honesty: 100%]
[Congratulations Kaya. You are one of the few humans on earth that has achieved a 100% honesty score.]
¡®What is this¡¡¯ Kaya thought, not even having processed that his senses suddenly disappeared yet, much less the supposed results that were in front of him now.
Kaya stared at it for a second in confusion, but then moved on quickly, curious about the rest of the results.
¡®I guess I did answer everything honestly.¡¯
[Purity 100%]
[Congratulations Kaya. You are one of the purest human beings on earth. You bring pure kindness and happiness wherever you go.]
¡®¡ Where is this going?¡¯ Kaya thought, with a strangely strong feeling of anticipation as he read further.
[Final score: 15.365 points]
[Congratulations Kaya. You have achieved a score of 15.365 points on the questionnaire.]
¡®Is that high..? What does it even mean to get a score on a questionnaire? All questions were personal and opinions from our own point of view¡¡¯
As soon as Kaya had read these three messages from the hologram and finished his thoughts about them, the hologram disappeared and was instantly replaced by another one.
The hologram that was now before Kaya was an angelic golden color, emitting a soft radiant glow from it.
In the middle of it, three words read.
[Embodiment of Purity]
As soon as Kaya read this, three more holograms popped up. The first and last one being of the same radiant golden color and the middle one being a deep dark red.
[Reward - You have been the light for many people, bringing happiness to others. Now it is time to return this blessing. To bring you peace of mind, you will receive a pure mind, unwavering to anything that wants to pollute it.]
[Cost - Others still need you, in the future even more than now. As destined from the moment you were named, you will remain the bearer of pain for others. This will be your curse.]
[Accolade - As you are blessed, the gods can¡¯t stand for demons to shackle you and have bestowed upon you the same as your mind, a body unwavering to anything that wants to pollute it, a perfect eternal body and a new uncursed name, Nora.]
Having read these three holograms, Kaya was even more confused than he was after reading the supposed results.
¡®Is this supposed to be a joke..?¡¯
Kaya couldn¡¯t believe what he had just read, it was almost comically unbelievable. Things going on about gods and being bestowed a pure mind and eternal body, Kaya just couldn¡¯t come to terms with anything that he had just read.
Even though this whole hologram questionnaire had already been something unbelievable, what rewards had just allegedly been bestowed upon him were an even harder thing to believe. Impossibly so.
He couldn¡¯t help but sneer at it sarcastically, but as he did, he didn¡¯t hear any sound, neither did he feel his expression change, and then the golden hologram disappeared again like it had never been there in the first place.
Once again Kaya was left alone in the emptiness.
¡®Why am I still in this senseless state?¡¯
Kaya thought a lot about why this was, but no matter how much he thought about it, he didn¡¯t remotely come close to a conclusion. He didn¡¯t even have a good hypothesis. There were just too many questions and too few answers.
He was pretty certain that he was brought to this ¡®space¡¯ or ¡®state of mind¡¯ for these results and rewards to be announced. That was the only concrete fact he knew of. But why was it that when the holograms disappeared that he did not leave this emptiness?
¡®Maybe I have to wait a little bit.¡¯
But after Kaya had been waiting for what he thought to be quite a while, literally nothing changed. He was still in this emptiness, completely senseless.
Eventually, Kaya just went silent after a single thought popped up.
¡®Thinking about it more won¡¯t change anything. Let¡¯s just get some rest.¡¯
6. Senseless Respite
Since Kaya let go of any thoughts, just accepting the reality and getting some rest, he had lost the little sense of time he had in this space.
Had it been minutes, days, or even longer? Kaya didn¡¯t know.
He had no sight to gauge the passing of time, and neither did he have his other senses to rely on. He couldn¡¯t discern anything in his state.
One thing he could unconsciously notice changing though.
At some point, Kaya began feeling less tired, mentally. A sensation he hadn¡¯t experienced in what felt like forever. It was like his battery was being recharged. No, he had never felt such energy before. It felt like a new battery was taking its place altogether.
It was weird, Kaya unconsciously felt changes slowly happening, but at the same time, in this contorted space, these changes felt like they had manifested in an instant.
It felt like an invisible weight had been lifted off his shoulders.
All of a sudden, Kaya began feeling strangely at ease. His mind wasn¡¯t a mess like it was before, but neither was it dull.
Before Kaya knew it, he was unconsciously wandering into the depths of his own thoughts. A place which, before, he wouldn¡¯t want to touch the surface of and avoided at all costs as it was the epicenter of his misery.
But now, for some unknown reason, he had a good feeling about it. It didn¡¯t bother him anymore. It was like he was being drawn into it even.
The rough waters that were his mindscape had become completely still. Kaya didn¡¯t know how or why, but he felt at peace as he stepped into these waters, exploring every part of it.
For the first time in his life, Kaya felt at peace in this place, his own mind. At peace with everything that had happened in the past, with his life, and even about the thoughts that were brought up because of the hologram questionnaire.
¡®¡I¡¯m okay.¡¯
This single thought had surfaced in the emptiness of Kaya¡¯s mind. A seemingly simple thought, but for Kaya, this thought was liberating.
It felt like an invisible shackle had broken, completely shattered. A shackle that had now seemed so frail, but had previously been holding back the weight of his entire existence.
A shackle that had been holding back the very thing that made humans human. Emotions, hope, dreams. A thought that had been suppressed in the depths of Kaya¡¯s mind couldn¡¯t help but come rushing forward.
¡®¡I don¡¯t want to live an unbothered life anymore, I want to be happy.¡¯
This was the moment when Kaya truly felt like he had woken up from a long nightmare, like he had regained the freedom over himself, over his mind.
After a long time of emptiness, his thoughts returned to him. This time only positive ones.
With this thought awakening, Kaya couldn¡¯t help but feel like he would wake up entirely. Getting his senses back and leaving this empty space.
But nothing more seemed to be happening.
The emptiness felt a little less empty, but it still remained. He was still senseless.
¡®At least my thoughts returned to me.¡¯
Kaya couldn¡¯t help but feel positive about this. His thoughts had never felt so productive before. Now that he didn¡¯t have to be careful, traversing his own mindscape, worrying to come across a depressing thought, Kaya felt like he was thinking in an overdrive state.
Kaya¡¯s thoughts bounced around from one place to another. It didn¡¯t take long for Kaya to form a connection between two things. The first one was the fact that his mind had become so clear and the second one was the thing that had brought him into this state, the results from the hologram questionnaire.
[To bring you peace of mind, you will receive a pure mind, unwavering to anything that wants to pollute it.]
It was like the hologram had appeared again, Kaya could perfectly picture it before him.
Concentrating on this thought, Kaya clearly felt like his mind was more clear and purer. Kaya had previously thought that the supposed results and rewards from the hologram questionnaire were nonsense, an impossibility of a situation. But now, Kaya couldn¡¯t deny the possibility of it anymore. It suddenly felt a lot more real.
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With this in mind, if this was really the hologram¡¯s doing, Kaya couldn¡¯t deny the possibility that he was currently in this senseless state to receive the rewards that had supposedly been bestowed upon him.
¡®I guess I¡¯ll have to wait a little longer then.¡¯
Kaya was okay with that though. He couldn¡¯t help but feel positive about it.
But he couldn¡¯t sit still anymore either. His battery was fully charged, he had more energy than he had ever had before and felt like doing something productive.
He didn¡¯t want just do nothing like before. He didn¡¯t want to live an unbothered life anymore, he wanted to be happy.
But what could he do in this senseless state where only his thoughts accompanied him. That, he didn¡¯t know quite yet.
However, it didn¡¯t take long to think about something as he dove into his younger self¡¯s definition of happiness and what he wanted to do when he grew up. And one thing stood out to him, something he could do even in this senseless state.
¡®¡I could try to think of something to write a novel about.¡¯
Kaya had always wanted to become an author since he was young. Even until now, he had always had a liking for novels, manga, and books. But, he hadn¡¯t taken a step toward it as something was holding him back mentally as being an author wasn¡¯t part of his plans in his view of an unbothered life.
But now, there was no mental shackle anymore, it had long been shattered to pieces. He had decided not to walk that path anymore. So, what was stopping him now? Nothing. This was the perfect time to start.
And that is what Kaya did. Start.
His mind being his only companion, and time not being a problem, Kaya made sure to make use of it. Kaya¡¯s mind instantly got filled with a thousand thoughts. Some emotional thoughts from being excited, proud even. But these thoughts were mostly drowned out by thinking of what concept he wanted to write about.
Kaya had all the time to think about it but was surprisingly decisive. One concept just stood above everything else. The concept Kaya was going to write about was the hologram questionnaire.
When Kaya had decided that, there wasn¡¯t a single second his mind wasn¡¯t focused on anything else but writing this novel.
Kaya¡¯s mind was racing as he was thinking of plots, creating characters, and everything that went into writing novels. One idea after another surging forward.
Kaya hadn¡¯t had fun like that in a long time. He never had fun like that now that he thought about it. He could just let his mind wander. For the first time, he had an outlet for his creativity. He felt free.
Well, maybe not completely free. He did think a little bit about what is popular and added concepts of it to his story. He wanted to be an author after all, so he was going to take it seriously. But that didn¡¯t stop his enjoyment one bit.
Writing wasn¡¯t a problem, well figuratively so. He definitely couldn¡¯t physically write right now, but he had read so many books and novels that he could envision how he wanted to write everything.
With no concept of time, Kaya finished writing the story in his head, he revised it multiple times and almost knew how he wanted to write it word for word. It seemed like not only his mind had become more clear, but his memory also seemed to have become better.
¡®Is that also part of the pure mind reward?¡¯
The rewards of the hologram questionnaire seemed more and more like a reality. Writing a fantasy novel might have influenced that thought a bit though.
Now that Kaya was done thinking of his novel, he was already thinking about the next thing he wanted to do. But he couldn¡¯t think of anything else to do.
So, Kaya once again began questioning why he was senseless again, but once again couldn¡¯t find a definite answer to it.
At one point, Kaya let his thoughts die down like he did before. Unlike last time, he felt at peace. So nothing to complain about.
In Kaya¡¯s mind, he just had to wait and eventually, something must happen. Hopefully. That was his positive mind thinking though, his rational mind didn¡¯t know.
Just like that, time passed by. It felt like a long time, but at the same time, it felt like not even a single second had passed.
Suddenly, the emptiness seemed less dark.
Kaya instantly noticed this subtle change, sparking his muscle memory of opening his eyes and seeing a dark pink color.
Then, Kaya noticed that he could feel something sticky, and he could hear something muffled in the distance.
¡®Did I get my senses back?¡¯ Kaya thought as he began feeling his heart beating faster and faster.
Getting the feeling of his body back, Kaya intuitively made his way toward the brightest spot, worming his way through some kind of liquid.
Kaya made it to the source of the light shortly after. Moving his hand towards it Kaya felt something hard. Without any hesitation Kaya pulled his hand back and hit it as hard as he can. His fist made it through it with ease, making the entire thing break apart.
Kaya felt a strong pull and got swept off his feet, flushed out of whatever he was in.
Lying on the ground, Kaya took a deep breath in, only then realizing that he was just submerged in some sort of liquid.
Kaya¡¯s eyes widened. ¡®How was I breathing before?¡¯
Strangely, Kaya didn¡¯t wander on that thought for long.
His mind had immediately put up its guard as Kaya noticed he wasn¡¯t in the place he lost consciousness,
As Kaya looked around, he saw that he found himself in some sort of small, all-white room, which had now been stained by a pinkish-blue liquid.
A slight frown subconsciously made its way on Kaya¡¯s face. ¡®Where am I?¡¯
Kaya had a bad feeling about this. He had no idea where this was and there was nothing to give it away. Things were looking worse by the second.
It was a solid room wherever he looked. There were no windows nor was there a door, much less any sort of furniture or d¨¦cor. As Kaya looked at the corners of the room, the weird liquid wasn¡¯t even able to flow out of the room. It seemed airtight.
Kaya¡¯s mind began racing, thinking of what place he could be in. The more he thought, the less favorable his situation seemed.
However, any thoughts about trying to find out where he was suddenly vanished as soon as he looked down¡
7. Perfect Eternal Body?
As Kaya¡¯s gaze fell down, he saw that he was naked. But that was the least weird thing he saw.
Looking down, two things immediately caught Kaya¡¯s eyes. He saw that his once short hair now fell over his shoulders, and his chest¡ wasn¡¯t as manly as before. He didn¡¯t have pecs anymore¡ but he couldn¡¯t quite call them breasts either.
Kaya was surprisingly calm about it, only taking a second to process this information.
¡®Must be the pure mind?¡¯ Kaya thought with a blank expression.
Kaya¡¯s mind couldn¡¯t help but form a connection to the one thing that had been on his mind.
¡®A perfect eternal body¡?¡¯
The second reward, or rather accolade, Kaya had supposedly been rewarded was a perfect eternal body. From what he was seeing, his body had indeed changed a bit.
In his senseless state, Kaya had already come to the conclusion that the rewards that had supposedly been bestowed upon him must be real, but a change to his state of mind and a literal physical change to his body were two completely different things.
Shaking off his daze, Kaya began looking at his body once more.
It was definitely not how his body used to look. Running his hands through his hair, it was not only longer, it felt softer and it was definitely darker, a jet black color.
Looking at his arms, they were smoother and paler than his used to be. And the hands which he used to hate for some reason now looked¡ perfect. His fingers were long and slim, his nails looked healthy and the proportions just looked right.
As Kaya was looking at his hands, Kaya¡¯s gaze couldn¡¯t help but fall further down. What he saw, his pure mind couldn¡¯t even completely keep him calm from. Kaya¡¯s eyes widened and even his mouth fell open in dumbfounded surprise.
¡®There¡¯s nothing¡ down there¡¡¯
It took a good few moments before the sight in Kaya¡¯s empty eyes returned to him. Getting another look, a closer look, made Kaya even more flabbergasted, his mind empty again. There really wasn¡¯t anything down there at all.
Then, in that empty mind of his, one thought surfaced.
On question number 13 of the hologram questionnaire, the question about gender, Kaya remembered that his answer was abruptly completed by itself, stating that it wouldn¡¯t be that bad of a thing if he was genderless¡
Kaya pushed this thought out of the way, for another thought to instantly take its place.
¡®Perfect eternal body¡ did it mean a body how I deemed it perfect?¡¯
From what Kaya could see, everything looked like something he would deem perfect. His hair color, his skin complexion, his hands, his body proportions, everything. He couldn¡¯t guess what his height was or how his face looked, but he was quite sure this was a body from his view of perfection.
Well, the genderless body he wasn¡¯t sure of yet. Deep in thought though, Kaya had subconsciously formed a smile on his face.
However, this smile quickly turned upside down when he heard some noise coming from outside the room. He heard footsteps, but couldn¡¯t hear a single word being spoken.
Kaya instantly put his guard back up and scurried to the opposite side of the room. Passing by the membrane of whatever he had just come out of, Kaya grabbed a piece of it to cover his body with and sat down in the corner of the room.
Kaya didn¡¯t know what to expect and neither did he have time to think about it.
A moment later, what had seemed like the wall suddenly started opening. After the wall had not even made space for a person to fit through, Kaya saw some sort of device peeking through it. Before Kaya had time to process what that device even was, a sudden bang made Kaya flinch.
For a split second, Kaya saw something ablur coming towards him, which was followed by an excruciating pain on his neck, making him instantly slump down to the floor and scream out in pain.
¡°aAAaAHHhHH!!!¡±
Kaya had always been good at handling pain, but this pain was unlike he had ever experienced before. It felt like a million little knives, knives that were scorching hot, were mercilessly stabbing at his neck. Over and over and over again.
Trying to make the pain stop, Kaya reached his hands to his neck to feel that something had attached itself around his neck. In a desperate attempt, Kaya dug his nails into his neck, trying to get off whatever was around his neck, but quickly stopped as this futile attempt only brought him even more pain.
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The pain was something Kaya had never felt before, something so unbearably painful that he didn¡¯t even know how he was holding onto his consciousness. But somehow he wasn¡¯t passing out even though he would have rather.
The seconds that followed were the longest he had ever experienced. But the pain was starting to subside, slowly, making Kaya partially come back to his senses.
Opening his eyes, Kaya saw that the wall had once again closed. Behind it was complete silence, but Kaya knew there were still people behind that door.
In a burst of pain and anger, Kaya yelled at the top of his lungs.
¡°Where am I?! Why did you put this around my neck?!¡±
There was no response.
For a minute, Kaya was left to himself, but then the wall started to open again. There he saw a dozen people with hazmat suits on.
Immediately, one person stood out to Kaya and quickly directed his gaze toward him. The man Kaya was looking at was the only person without a hazmat suit on. Instead, he wore a formal uniform. A blue dress shirt, black dress pants, and black oxfords.
Even though Kaya¡¯s gaze was solely on the one man, Kaya could notice that everyone¡¯s eyes were on him. Kaya couldn¡¯t help but feel like these gazes portrayed anxiety.
¡®Why are they wary of me? They are the ones who have me, a single person, surrounded. I should be the one who is wary of them!¡¯
For the next minute, not a word was spoken. Kaya just hid his body behind the membrane, only his head peeking from underneath it. He was just silently observing the situation, and in return, the people were observing him.
At one point, the gazes of the people began to feel less wary. But for some reason, Kaya felt even more uncomfortable now.
Even though Kaya had covered himself, it felt like they were piercing straight through it, looking at his naked body. The gazes of everyone, male and female almost felt like the gazes of¡ doting.
Kaya¡¯s body shuddered. He couldn¡¯t take it anymore and broke the silence.
¡°Can I get some clothes?¡± Kaya said in a soft tone.
The male in a suit opened his mouth to respond but was caught in his words.
¡°Get that ma- woma-¡Get them some clothing, quickly!¡±
Kaya couldn¡¯t help but form a slight smile in this unsettling situation.
The man couldn¡¯t even tell if he was a man or a woman even though only his face was showing. Kaya also couldn¡¯t tell¡ because he literally didn¡¯t have anything down there. But seeing as the man couldn¡¯t tell his gender by his face, it must also have changed to become gender-neutral.
¡®What does a gender-neutral face even look like?¡¯
With nothing in this room, much less a mirror, Kaya hadn¡¯t seen his own face yet. After this reaction though, he had become curious as to what his face would look like.
The only thing holding back his excitement was his caution about the situation. He didn¡¯t know where he was, who these people were, or what their purpose was.
But what Kaya did know is that they were as cautious about him as he was about them.
As soon as Kaya thought that, his gaze shifted to the side making him take back that statement.
¡®¡Maybe they are more wary of me.¡¯
Only now did Kaya notice that the wall that they opened was nearly a meter thick solid steel wall.
¡®Did they think I was a monster or something?¡¯ Kaya thought, letting out a slight giggle.
Redirecting his gaze back to the people, Kaya noticed that they were still staring at him. Their expressions were still wary, but some of their faces had become slightly flushed after Kaya giggled.
Kaya always had a good read on people. But now that he also had a creative mind, he wished that he didn¡¯t know what these people were thinking¡
¡®I can¡¯t look that good, right?¡¯
It didn¡¯t take long for someone in a hazmat suit to return with a trolly full of towels and a change of clothes.
As Kaya saw the person give the trolly a big push, Kaya let out another chuckle. ¡®They won¡¯t even come close to me?¡¯
Kaya put his hand out to stop the trolly that had perfectly rolled its way toward him, picked up a towel, and then looked back at the people to see them still staring at him.
Kaya cleared his throat. ¡°Do you mind?¡±
For some reason, they didn¡¯t get the memo. They just kept staring at him. It was only after the man in the suit spoke that the people backed up and the wall began closing again.
For obvious reason, Kaya didn¡¯t feel comfortable with people looking at him changing clothes. Normally he wouldn¡¯t even feel comfortable with it, but now especially.
Until he got a good grasp on the situation, he wasn¡¯t going to reveal anything about himself that wasn¡¯t normal. So, he especially didn¡¯t want to reveal his situation¡ down below.
Luckily, there didn¡¯t seem to be cameras in the room. It seemed like they really prioritized safety.
¡®Just to be sure, I will cover my¡ parts? My¡ nothing? Anyway, I am covering my body nonetheless!¡¯
As soon as the door closed, Kaya stood up and began wiping himself with the towels. He couldn¡¯t wait for this weird liquid to be off him. Luckily, it seemed to come off pretty easily.
Fully dried off, Kaya put on the clothes that were provided to him. Kaya was glad with the clothes, they were comfortable. They were long, loose-fitting pants, a long-sleeved sweater, and a pair of flip-flops. And underwear of course! His only complaint was that, just like this room, it was all-white.
¡°Okay, all done!¡± Kaya shouted.
Immediately the wall started to open again. But this time, there was only one person there, the man in the suit.
Kaya found this strange and wanted to ask what was going on, but he didn¡¯t have the chance as the man was the one to speak first this time.
¡°Come with me.¡±
As soon as the man said that, Kaya stepped forward, following his command. What else could he do?
Kaya was confused though, as everyone was wary of him just a moment ago, but now he was alone, following this man who had his back turned to him.
Kaya didn¡¯t give himself time to be confused though. Instead of uselessly thinking about this, he focused his attention on his surroundings. Kaya tried to look for anything that possibly hinted at where he was and tried to remember the layout of this place, already preparing for the worst-case scenario.
But this was short-lived as they soon entered another room.
Entering the room, Kaya immediately got the gist of the situation. The room was almost too clich¨¦ looking not to. In the middle of the room was a single table with a chair on either side of it, and behind where the man had sat down was a big mirror.
¡®This is probably an interrogation room, and that is probably a two-way mirror.¡¯
8. Truthful-ish Interrogation
Kaya couldn¡¯t help but smile at the situation.
The fact that he was in an interrogation room meant that they also didn¡¯t have all the answers as to what was going on, at least not for his own situation, so Kaya might have been in a better position than he had initially thought.
But what he was most excited about was finally being able to see himself in the mirror.
Kaya sat down while the man was getting some kind of file ready. By this point, Kaya had long lost focus though, as he had caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror and almost couldn¡¯t keep a straight face from what he saw.
He couldn¡¯t believe he was saying this at the sight of his own face, but it was¡ beautiful. His facial features just looked perfect, and completely symmetrical. Kaya couldn¡¯t find one thing he didn¡¯t like about it, not even a flaw.
Kaya could now understand the reactions and confusion of the people who had looked at him. Even now, looking at himself, he couldn¡¯t ascertain if he looked more like a man or a woman. More than that, did he even look like either? He didn¡¯t quite know how to put it, but his face literally looked genderless.
Kaya did well keeping a straight face though, not letting the man see that he was surprised by his own appearance.
After a short minute of silence, a minute of Kaya looking the man straight in the eyes, emptily thinking about his own appearance, the man cleared his throat.
¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± The man asked in an emotionless tone.
Without a second of hesitation, Kaya answered.
¡°My name is Nora.¡±
Nora was the name that he had supposedly gotten from the gods, so he used that name. He didn¡¯t want to say his own name as that could lead back to him.
The man wrote down Kaya¡¯s name and proceeded to ask the next question.
¡°And what about your last name?¡±
Kaya took a good second to answer and then said:
¡°I wasn¡¯t given one.¡±
The man looked at Kaya with a bothered expression and leaned back. For the next few minutes, not another word was spoken.
Then, suddenly, a woman with tired eyes entered the room, walked beside the man, and showed Kaya a kind smile.
¡°Hello, I am Sophia it¡¯s nice to meet you.¡±
Kaya smiled back at her, more convincingly than her fake smile though.
¡°Yes, it¡¯s good to meet you too.¡±
Then, the man spoke again, his tone a little more stern this time.
¡°Okay, let¡¯s try this again.¡±
Kaya¡¯s smile couldn¡¯t help but turn a little more genuine.
¡®Good cop, bad cop. I like this plot!¡¯
Seeing Kaya smile even wider, the man¡¯s voice became hoarse.
¡°Just so you know, this woman has the ability to tell if you¡¯re lying or not, so don¡¯t think about lying. Got that?¡±
Kaya nodded, a smile still on his face. ¡®How can someone have the ability to tell if someone is lying?¡¯
But Kaya was curious though. ¡®What if he is telling the truth though?¡¯ He had always had a good read on people, but he couldn¡¯t tell if someone was lying or telling the truth. So, it was better to try and find out first.
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¡°Before we begin, can I know your name?¡± Kaya asked.
The man¡¯s eyebrows furrowed but answered his question.
¡°Richard.¡±
Kaya wanted to ask more questions, but the man¡¯s patience had apparently already run out.
¡°We will be the ones to ask the questions.¡±
Giving a glance to the woman, she gave him a nod back.
Just like the man, the woman started asking the questions that were on the file.
¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± She asked.
Kaya let out a short breath. ¡®This is where the game begins.¡¯
¡°Richard.¡± Kaya said.
The man¡¯s pupils dilated as he slammed his fist on the table. He opened his mouth to let out his anger, but the woman intervened and plainly said:
¡°That was a lie.¡±
¡°Yes, it was.¡± Kaya said playfully, a smile still on his face.
¡°My name is Nora.¡± Kaya said instead.
This was a crucial moment. Kaya had confirmed that she could probably tell if he was lying, which probably also meant that she knew when he was telling the truth. But what about a partial truth?
Nora was the name he had gotten from the ¡®gods¡¯ as it said in his accolade, so it wasn¡¯t a lie, but it wasn¡¯t the truth either.
Richard looked at the woman with distrust in his eyes. The woman simply nodded as she wrote down Kaya¡¯s answer.
¡°That was the truth.¡±
Richard looked pissed off that Kaya had told him the truth the first time. He was sure he had lied about that. Before Sophia could ask the next question, the man asked it instead.
¡°What¡¯s your last name?¡±
Before answering the question, Kaya¡¯s smile grew even bigger. Now that Kaya knew he could get away with a partial lie, he gave the same answer he had given him before.
¡°I wasn¡¯t given one.¡±
The man slammed his fist on the table again, even harder this time, but the woman quickly intervened and gave Richard a stern look.
¡°Thank you for telling the truth, Nora.¡±
Kaya giggled. ¡°You¡¯re welcome.¡± he said, giving a teasing smile to Richard who couldn¡¯t withhold an angered expression.
Without saying it out loud, the woman hinted for Richard to leave, which he did after showing his displeasure once more by clicking his tongue.
¡°I¡¯m sorry about that. Richard usually isn¡¯t like that. I know it isn¡¯t an excuse, but he has had a lot on his plate recently. So, please forgive him for that.¡±
Kaya just nodded, accepting the apology. He wasn¡¯t bothered by it anyway, it was fun even.
¡°May I continue with the questions then?¡±
Kaya could only accept in this situation, but he couldn¡¯t just sit still either.
¡°Yes.¡± Kaya said, but quickly added: ¡°If I also get to ask questions.¡±
The woman was quick to agree, saying that he was allowed to ask questions when she was done with her questions, and quickly continued with the next question.
¡°How come you don¡¯t have a last name?¡±
With a grasp of the situation, Kaya was sure to only give information that was a partial truth or useless and quickly came up with a good answer.
¡°God didn¡¯t give me one, I guess.¡±
The woman¡¯s brows furrowed slightly, but she still wrote down the answer, which meant that it had been the truth. A few seconds passed, and then the woman¡¯s facial expression suddenly brightened as if something clicked.
¡°Ah, so you are from an orphanage.¡±
Kaya¡¯s expression didn¡¯t change, but he was slightly worried. ¡®If she asks a direct question about that I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll be able to avoid lying.¡¯
But luckily for Kaya, she seemed certain of that conclusion and didn¡¯t ask a question about it.
¡°How old are you, Nora?¡±
¡°16.¡±
The woman wrote down the answer, meaning it was the truth.
This question, however, piqued Kaya¡¯s curiosity. ¡®How much time has passed since he entered that senseless state?¡¯
¡°What is the date?¡± Kaya asked, blankly, his heart beating a little faster.
¡°June first 20xx.¡± Sophia said.
¡°Oh, then I¡¯m 17 years old.¡± Kaya said as his eyes widened. ¡®¡Almost a year has passed.¡¯
Kaya was in a daze for a bit, and it seemed like the woman was mindful of this, not asking another question quite yet. She was sensible enough to know that hearing something like that must be quite shocking, but Kaya snapped back to reality much quicker than she thought.
She didn¡¯t think much of this though and just asked her next question.
¡°Are you a boy?¡±
Kaya took a good second to answer, not quite knowing how to answer this at this moment, and eventually just said: ¡°Sure.¡±
The woman found it strange how Kaya answered this yes or no question, and she was even more shocked by the fact that it came back as the truth.
She was about to further ask about that, but Kaya quickly intervened.
¡°Can you please don¡¯t ask further about that?¡± Kaya said, in a polite and puppy-eyed way.
This was the one secret he didn¡¯t want to reveal, so he wanted to avoid her asking more questions about it at any cost. He didn¡¯t want to be turned into a lab rat.
The woman looked at Kaya with sympathy, and said ¡°Yes.¡±
Kaya was glad she wouldn¡¯t ask any questions about it anymore, but he wasn¡¯t quite sure why she had a sympathetic look on her face.
Then, the interrogation continued.
The rest of the questions were mostly to identify Kaya, which Kaya managed to avoid, giving either a useless answer or a partial truth.
It seemed like that was everything they wanted to know of Kaya, at least for now, as the woman put down her pen.
With these questions out of the way, Kaya thought to be in the clear for now. Not only did he manage to give them an identity that wouldn¡¯t be traced back to him, but he also managed to hide his biggest secret.
What Kaya did find strange, however, was that not even one thing about the hologram questionnaire or its rewards was brought up in the questioning.
But Kaya didn¡¯t pay that any attention for now as it was his turn to ask the questions now.
9. Watchful Eyes
Now that the interrogation had ended, at least for now, it was Kaya¡¯s turn to ask questions. His priority was finding out where he was and why he was here, with a collar around his neck no less.
This information, however, Kaya himself knew he wouldn¡¯t be able to get all the answers to this so easily. Even though Kaya had a good read on people he couldn¡¯t tell if someone was lying to him unlike Sophia, so he was sure that they would just lie about most important matters and occasionally give him a little bone.
But that was a worry for later. For now, Kaya just started to ask some basic questions. But first, he asked the most important question.
¡°Now that you have gotten information about me, can you take this collar off my neck?¡±
The woman looked Kaya in the eyes, an apologetic expression forming on her face. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, we need to confirm a few things before we can take the collar off.¡±
Kaya frowned after seeing that fake expression again and sighed. ¡®Figured. I might be able to get less information than I had thought.¡¯
Unfortunately, Kaya was right. All the questions Kaya asked were either answered vaguely, with uncertainty, or completely ignored. On top of that, his little interrogation was stopped only after a few minutes.
In these few minutes, Kaya did get some information, though not anything he hadn¡¯t already suspected. However, it was still a nice confirmation. Kaya had confirmed that he was in a government facility and that question number 300 was indeed the last day of the hologram questionnaire.
He didn¡¯t get to know why he was here or confirm if more people had gotten some kind of rewards like him though. But this was enough for now. And even if it wasn¡¯t, he didn¡¯t have much of a choice.
Walking out of the interrogation room with Sophia, two muscular men immediately appeared next to them. As Sophia started guiding Kaya somewhere, the two men were closely following behind.
¡®Still with the security¡ What is this facility really?¡¯ Kaya thought, his mind wandering in confusion.
They were walking back in the direction he had come from, the white room. Thinking that he would be put into the small white room again, Kaya was pleasantly surprised when they walked right past it without even giving it a glance.
However, Kaya was wrong to get his hopes up as he soon after arrived in front of a room not much bigger than the small white room.
¡®At least it is furnished¡¡¯ Kaya thought optimistically as he stepped foot inside the room which didn¡¯t look much better than a prison cell. It had a bed, a desk, and a bathroom. ¡®Well, what more could I have asked for?¡¯
¡°Sorry, but you¡¯ll be staying here for a bit until we get further notice.¡± Sophia said with the same fake smile on her face.
¡°Okay, can¡¯t be helped.¡± Kaya responded plainly.
Sophia closed the door behind her, and one click of a locking mechanism after another could be heard.
Kaya sighed. ¡®Do they still think I am some kind of monster? Well, never mind.¡¯
Turning around, Kaya was about to just take a shower as he still felt dirty from that weird liquid that he had been submerged in, but then noticed something on the desk. ¡®¡A laptop!!¡¯
Any thoughts of showering were instantly gone as Kaya quickly took a step toward the laptop and opened it. As soon as it started up, Kaya¡¯s excitement dwindled.
¡®I should really stop getting my hopes up.¡¯ Kaya thought to himself, letting out a sigh.
The laptop had no internet access, not even an internet browser. The only thing that was on there were a few single-player games.
In a moment of disappointment, Kaya emptily stared at the screen for a bit. But not long after, his excitement suddenly kindled again.
¡®Wait! I have a laptop!¡¯
Looking through the standard programs of the laptop, Kaya quickly found a word processing program among them and started it up.
Kaya¡¯s smile immediately widened. ¡®How could I almost forget the one thing I have been focused on for, apparently, the last year?¡¯
For most of the time, Kaya spent in his senseless state he had been thinking of creating a novel, so much so that he almost knew what to write word for word. And now, finally, the opportunity had come for Kaya to make his writing physical. Well, digital!
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Kaya¡¯s mind immediately went into overdrive thinking back about what and how he wanted to write his story. Almost not taking the time to even sit down, Kaya began typing away. With such a clear picture in his mind about the story, Kaya¡¯s slim fingers didn¡¯t get a moment''s rest.
Immediately, Kaya had become so engrossed in his typing that, much like his senseless state, he forgot about the passing of time. As there were no windows in his room, Kaya had no tell¡ besides the digital clock on the laptop, but he was far too focused to notice it.
It was only when someone knocked on the door that he came to his senses. Looking back, Kaya saw something being slid through the chute in the door.
¡°Breakfast!¡± A male voice called.
Immediately, Kaya turned his head back to his laptop screen in confusion ¡®Breakfast?¡¯
Kaya¡¯s eyes widened as he saw the time displayed on the laptop. ¡®It¡¯s already 7 am..?¡¯
Kaya hadn¡¯t seen it wrong, it had already become morning. He had spent the whole night typing away without him noticing. Kaya almost couldn¡¯t believe it, his mind even going to the extreme.
¡®Did they mess with my sense of time?¡¯
That extreme thought was quickly refuted by the actual answer, that much time had actually passed. After having looked at the word count of what he typed for his story so far, the hours added up.
Kaya was surprisingly proud of himself but mostly happy. He was working towards a dream he had. For a second he almost forgot he was still held in some strange facility¡ with a collar around his neck.
Having come back to reality again, Kaya stood up to grab his breakfast from the chute in the door and sat back down at his desk. Opening the paper bag, Kaya saw a more positive sight than he had expected.
There was a little carton of milk and a healthy-looking sandwich in it. This was definitely better than what Kaya would have made himself for breakfast at home, so he had no complaints. In mere minutes, Kaya had already taken his last bite.
¡®I could get used to this!¡¯
Having finished his breakfast, Kaya had nothing to do again. There was only one option in his mind: ¡®Let¡¯s get back to typing!¡¯
And that was exactly what Kaya did, with a big smile on his face nonetheless, once again getting lost in it until someone knocked on his door. ¡°Lunch!¡±
Kaya was as surprised as the first time. Not only because another few hours had gone by in the blink of an eye, but also because the lunch was as delicious, if not more so, than breakfast.
The same as breakfast, lunch had also only been able to distract Kaya for a few minutes before engrossing himself in typing his story again, until ¡°Dinner!¡± which Kaya quickly ravished, and even then Kaya went back to typing his story again.
It was only when someone knocked on his door again that Kaya fully snapped out of his rhythm.
¡°Breakfast!¡±
¡®Breakfast? Again? ¡That¡¯s not good.¡¯ Kaya thought with a slightly confused and worried expression on his face.
Kaya had typed away for more than 30 hours straight.
For his own good, even though he was having fun, Kaya closed his laptop to get his mind away from typing his story and refocused on the matter at hand. He was still in some sort of strange facility, locked in a room!
Kaya had thought to just chill in this room and go with the flow until he had more information, thinking that someone would probably come by sooner or later to interrogate him again. But even after 30 hours, no one had come.
¡®Why though?¡¯ Kaya thought, slightly confused.
Multiple reasons rushed to mind, but there was only one conclusion that sounded reasonable.
¡®They have been gathering data all this time...¡¯
Until now, Kaya had only considered them asking him questions as the only possibility for getting information about him, but now he wasn¡¯t so sure of that anymore. There were other ways they could get information about him.
Kaya knew that he wouldn¡¯t be the only one to have gotten some kind of rewards from the hologram questionnaire. If he was, that would have been weirder. So, these people must also know that Kaya had gotten some kind of reward, some kind of change which they were probably trying to observe.
¡®¡So there are probably cameras in this room.¡¯
Kaya couldn¡¯t help but glance around but quickly stopped himself to not look suspicious in case there were indeed cameras in the room.
For now, Kaya just ate breakfast like normal to not raise any suspicions. While eating, Kaya wondered if there was anything he had done to give something that could be considered not normal while he had been in this room.
It wasn¡¯t difficult to find something that could stand out. He had literally been typing away at his computer for 30 hours without a break.
¡®I should probably go to bed.¡¯ Kaya thought logically.
Kaya hadn¡¯t gotten a wink of sleep for 30 hours. Now that he thought about it, he didn¡¯t feel tired one bit. But he needed to act normal, so he just decided to go to bed anyway.
¡®Why don¡¯t I feel tired though?¡¯ Kaya thought as he lay in bed.
Kaya couldn¡¯t help but let his mind go to the extreme again, making a connection to the eternal body. But he soon just came to a more reasonable conclusion. He probably just had a lot of energy after spending a year in a senseless state, resting.
When he was done thinking about that, Kaya almost instantly fell asleep even though he wasn¡¯t tired.
Waking up in the morning, a whole 22 hours later, Kaya was resolute on keeping up his normal act. So, just like he normally would start a new day, Kaya decided to take a shower. Taking off his shirt and pants, Kaya suddenly stopped when he was about to take off his underwear.
¡®¡they won¡¯t have cameras in here, will they?¡¯
Kaya was taking no chances though, definitely not for this secret. So, in the end, Kaya just showered in his underwear and was careful to cover his body while changing. It might have been unnecessary, but it was better to be safe than sorry.
Walking out of the shower, Kaya sat behind his desk again. This time, however, Kaya didn¡¯t start typing his story. Or better said, he couldn¡¯t start typing his story as someone knocked on his door.
¡®Is it time for breakfast?¡¯
That thought was quickly proven wrong as someone called out to him:
¡°Nora, please come with us.¡±
Kaya couldn¡¯t help but think that it was awfully good timing.
¡®Coincidence, or not?¡¯ Kaya could make a pretty good guess.
10. Unexpected Luck
A few minutes later, Kaya found himself in the same interrogation room again. Only this time, a girl around his age and an older man wearing a sophisticated suit were present instead of Sophia and Richard.
Kaya¡¯s attention couldn¡¯t help but be drawn to the girl. His eyes were first drawn in by her appearance. She might have been the most beautiful girl he had ever seen in his life. She had a cute button nose, big light blue doe eyes that were naturally accentuated by her blonde hair, and her soft-looking lips were as perfectly symmetrical as her entire face was.
But Kaya¡¯s eyes were quickly diverted from her face as he saw that she was wearing the same clothing as him on her lithe body. The same all-white uniform.
¡®What? Are we both being interrogated? Why is she sitting next to that man then?¡¯ Kaya thought in a moment of confusion.
Immediately, Kaya put his guard back up as he remembered where he was and what position he was currently in.
On a closer look, Kaya noticed something else about the girl. On her all-white uniform, she also wore a nametag, reading 002.
¡®Why does she have a nametag?¡¯ Kaya thought, but quickly changed the direction of this thought. ¡®Why don¡¯t I have a nametag?
As Kaya sat down, the man didn¡¯t bother introducing himself, nor did he even look at him. Instead, he directed his gaze towards the girl.
¡°Okay 002, you can start.¡±
As soon as the man said that, the girl, 002, directed her gaze towards Kaya. As soon as they made eye contact, 002¡¯s light blue doe eyes began to faintly glow.
Kaya¡¯s eyes widened in shock as he looked the girl in the eyes. ¡®¡What? Her eyes are glowing, right?¡¯
¡°Did you receive a reward from the hologram questionnaire?¡±
Muffled in the background, a male voice asked this question, but Kaya¡¯s focus had long been lost from him. Kaya couldn¡¯t help but keep his eyes on the girl, pondering as to how the girl¡¯s eyes had started to glow, and more importantly, why?
The question as to ¡®how¡¯ was quickly answered. Kaya knew this wasn¡¯t normal so his mind immediately went in one direction. ¡®Is that some sort of reward from the questionnaire hologram?¡¯
¡°002, what are you doing!¡± A loud male voice suddenly yelled, snapping Kaya out of thought.
As Kaya saw the man frowning at the girl, a confused look formed on Kaya¡¯s face. ¡®¡Why is he yelling at the girl instead of me? I was the one who was distracted and didn¡¯t answer the question.¡¯
¡°I-I¡¯m sorry sir, I will do it properly this time.¡± The girl responded with a soft, shaky tone.
Once again, the girl looked into Kaya¡¯s eyes and started glowing a beautiful blue hue.
Immediately after, the man asked the same question again. ¡°Did you receive a reward from the hologram questionnaire?¡±
Once again, Kaya was deep in thought. This time however not because he was surprised by the girl¡¯s glowing eyes, but because the gears in his brain had started turning as thought to have found the answer to ¡®why¡¯ her eyes were glowing.
¡®No, that can¡¯t be, can it?¡¯
Kaya almost didn¡¯t want to believe it, but all the evidence was pointing in this direction. Kaya was reminded of his previous interrogation with Sophia who could tell truths from lies. And now, in this interrogation, the girl probably had a similar ability. But it seemed like whatever she was doing wasn¡¯t working.
¡®But what was she trying to do?¡¯ Kaya thought, only for an answer to quickly form in his mind. ¡®She is supposed to make me talk, somehow?¡¯
After having seen the reaction of the man, getting angry at the girl instead of him, Kaya could only come to this conclusion. Unfortunately, Kaya didn¡¯t have long to think about this as the man was already turning his head towards the girl again, probably to scold her again.
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If his guess was right, he shouldn¡¯t let that happen.
¡°Yes.¡± Kaya quickly replied to the man¡¯s question.
As soon as Kaya said this, a confused look formed on the girl¡¯s face. Seeing this reaction, Kaya¡¯s heart started beating faster.
¡®Did I make the wrong conclusion?¡¯
A second later, Kaya¡¯s heartbeat started to calm down again as he saw a pleased look in the man¡¯s eyes.
¡°Good, 002. Try and make him answer longer for the next question.¡± The man said, looking down at a file in his hands.
¡°¡Yes sir, I¡¯ll try.¡± The girl said, looking at Kaya in the eyes with a worried expression, her body lightly shaking.
Kaya returned her gaze with a smile on his face. Not only was he smiling to calm the girl down, but Kaya genuinely felt happy about the situation he was in.
He had confirmed his conclusion. ¡®That girl has the ability to make someone tell the truth.¡¯ This conclusion would have normally sent a shiver down his spine in this situation as all his secrets could have easily been spilled by the girl, but for some reason, the girl¡¯s ability wasn¡¯t working on him.
Kaya¡¯s smile widened even further a second later. ¡®I¡¯m in a rather favorable position, aren¡¯t I. Let¡¯s make the most from it then.¡¯ Kaya thought, trying his best to not let out a laugh.
¡°What is the reward you got from the questionnaire?¡± The male voice interrupted Kaya¡¯s wandering thoughts.
As Kaya saw that the girl¡¯s eyes were still on him, glowing, Kaya knew it was time for him to answer. But it was a risky question. Kaya would have loved to answer ¡®No¡¯ but he was sure that they wouldn¡¯t believe that, making his plan fall apart that instant. However, he also didn¡¯t want to reveal too much.
A second later, Kaya answered with confidence.
¡°As a reward from the hologram questionnaire, my mind got more clear.¡±
Hearing this, the man wrote down the answer, but a slight frown appeared on his face.
¡°That¡¯s it? You didn¡¯t get any other rewards?¡±
Confident in his position, Kaya answered without hesitation.
¡°No, I didn¡¯t.¡±
The man sighed but wrote down the answer before asking another question.
¡°What benefits have you noticed from this clear mind?¡±
Kaya answered without hesitation again as he was already expecting this question before he had even given his first answer.
¡°My memory seemed to have gotten better, my thoughts a little faster, I think I get less tired and-¡°
Naming these three things, the man wasn¡¯t writing it down. Instead, it looked like he was ticking off boxes.
Noticing this, Kaya became happy but was careful not to let it show on his face. ¡®They have indeed been monitoring me in my room.¡¯
¡°And the last benefit is that the negative thoughts in my mind have been resolved.¡±
After Kaya said this, the man began writing it down, confirming Kaya¡¯s suspicion.
¡°Besides a reward, did you get a curse?¡±
¡°No.¡±
Kaya didn¡¯t want to reveal too much so he decided to keep this a secret, but the man looked pleasantly surprised by this, which wasn¡¯t something Kaya was hoping for, thinking that he had said something out of the norm.
¡®Does everyone have a curse?¡¯ Kaya thought a second later.
If that was true, Kaya had made a mistake that would make him stand out more, which was the very thing he was trying to avoid.
The interrogation lasted for quite a long time after that, or it at least felt like that for Kaya, but in the end he managed keep most of his changes a secret, sticking to his story about only his mind having become clearer as a reward. Kaya¡¯s worries had also calmed down a little as he also didn¡¯t make a ¡®mistake¡¯ again.
¡°Okay, last question. Why were you in some sort of egg?¡±
¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Kaya answered plainly, not reflecting how much faster his heart had started beating by the mere mention of this question.
¡°Yeah, figures.¡± The man sighed. ¡°¡°Okay, we¡¯re done with the interrogation.¡±
Kaya felt relieved that the interrogation was over, happy even now that he had turned this dreadful situation into something favorable. But this sense of relief was immediately washed away as he heard what the man said next.
¡°002, you can erase his memories now.¡±
As Kaya heard this, his eyes widened in surprise. He hadn¡¯t even quite come to terms with the fact that the girl supposedly had the ability to make someone tell the truth. So, believing that she could also erase someone¡¯s memories went beyond Kaya¡¯s expectations.
Kaya did his best to appear calm though, and apparently he did manage to appear that way. Seeing Kaya not giving a reaction to this statement, the man spoke to Kaya directly for the first time since they met.
¡°Oh, you¡¯re surprisingly calm after hearing that.¡± The man said with a pleased smile on his face.
Kaya returned a smile. ¡°I have my clear mind to thank for that. And, I wouldn¡¯t be able to avoid it even if I wanted to, right? So why struggle?¡±
The man laughed. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s true.¡±
As they had that short interaction, 002 had already moved closer to Kaya. She was face to face with him now as her eyes started to glow again.
A few seconds went by, a few seconds of Kaya just staring into the girl¡¯s beautiful light blue doe eyes, whose beauty was only accentuated even further by the glow.
Focused on her eyes, Kaya could see them twitch to the side for a split second. The girl leaned in even closer, and softly whispered: ¡°Pretend to pass out and wake up in an hour or so.¡±
Hearing this surprised Kaya, but he immediately followed her instructions without asking questions, pretending to pass out then and there.
As soon as Kaya closed his eyes, he heard the girl again.
¡°I have erased his memories, sir.¡±
¡°Good. Make sure not to mess up next time.¡±
¡°¡Yes sir.¡±
A few moments later, Kaya felt someone picking him up and cringed a little. He was brought back to his room where he got lay down on his bed. A moment later, he heard his door closing.
¡®Well, I guess I have to pretend to sleep for the next hour.¡¯
That hour didn¡¯t seem to last long however, as Kaya¡¯s mind was racing, full of thoughts.
11. Social Interaction
Kaya¡¯s mind was full of thoughts, thinking about what had just happened at the interrogation. Not only thoughts about the outcome of the interrogation, but Kaya was also still thinking about the girl who supposedly had the ability to make people tell the truth.
For some reason, which Kaya could take a good guess as to why, his mind was very clear and he could quickly gather his thoughts about the situation.
Having come to a few conclusions, and answering some unanswered questions that were on his mind, the situation Kaya found himself in seemed to have become more positive than he thought just a few hours before.
¡®I now almost certainly know the purpose of this facility, which is observing or researching the hologram rewards.¡¯ Kaya thought, his smile widening as he came to his next conclusion.
¡®I got through the most critical interrogation without revealing any secrets I didn¡¯t want to be spilled. AND, if that girl¡¯s ability was really what I think it was, which I am almost certain of, I think they won¡¯t be interrogating me anymore. They probably will still keep observing me through the cameras.¡¯
Kaya didn¡¯t really mind that though. It was not really convenient while showering, but that was about it. It didn¡¯t hinder anything else.
¡®I might be allowed out of here now that they think they got all the information from me¡ Who am I kidding? Seeing as that girl was wearing the same uniform as me, I don¡¯t think they will just let me leave that easily.¡¯ Kaya thought as a devious smile subconsciously started to form on his face as he was already thinking of a way to get out of here.
All in all, Kaya was in a better position than he had even hoped for.
About an hour later, Kaya pretended to wake up as the girl had instructed. Not even having stepped foot out of bed, Kaya was immediately called for, which surprised him.
¡°Nora, you¡¯ll be relocated, please follow me.¡± A man said from outside his room.
As he heard the man, he didn¡¯t quite know if he was pleasantly surprised or not though.
¡®Well, that must mean that they think they have gotten all the information out of me. How could they not think that when they literally had someone with them who could make someone tell the truth?¡¯ Kaya thought smiling, but that was where his positivity ended.
¡®¡That also means I am not getting out of here anytime soon.¡¯ Kaya thought a little dejectedly, but soon after his lips curved upwards again into his previous little devious smile.
A few minutes later, Kaya was following some guards to a different part of the facility. Up until now, Kaya had only walked through a small part of the facility, but now it seemed like he was being moved to a different area entirely.
After a bit of walking, they approached a door where two people stood guard in front of. As they saw Kaya and the three guards coming towards them, they quickly typed in a code to which the thick steel door slid open, revealing a hallway that must have been over a hundred meters long.
Kaya was slightly surprised to see such a long hallway behind a thick, guarded door. It wasn¡¯t particularly comforting to see.
Walking through the long hallway, it was lit up by bright industrial white lights, the same kind as everywhere else in the facility, which just made the facility give off even more of a vibe of a scientific lab or a mental hospital.
Without any natural light in sight even here, Kaya had begun thinking more and more about the possibility of this entire facility being underground. He had never seen a window nor a spec of sunlight since waking up here.
Approaching the end of the long hallway, the guards had to put in a code once again for another thick metal door to slide open.
Unlike before, Kaya was now smiling after what he saw behind that door. There were people, dozens of people, wearing the same outfits as him.
¡®Fellow lab rats.¡¯ Kaya thought with a delighted expression on his face.
No, he wasn¡¯t happy about them being in the same situation as them, he was just glad that they were in this situation together. After not having a normal conversation in a few days, Kaya was craving some casual human interaction.
¡®Why?¡¯ Kaya thought confused a second later. ¡®Why am I craving human interaction?¡¯
¡°Keep up Nora.¡± A man called out to Kaya who had fallen behind, deep in thought.
That was a thought for later apparently. Quickly catching up to the guards, Kaya was looking around to see people staring at them. Kaya was happy to see them, so he smiled at every single person he made eye contact with.
Immediately, Kaya couldn¡¯t help but notice that almost everyone here was surprisingly good-looking, noticeably so. But what caught his eyes more was that this place looked and felt different than the part of the facility he had been staying in, positively so.
Kaya didn¡¯t see one person depressed, upset, or even unhappy and he quickly thought to have found out the reason as to why. This place didn¡¯t look anything like the facility at all.
First of all, the lighting was a warm yellow instead of a cold white immediately giving off a different vibe, and, second of all, unlike the cramped lab feeling, this part of the facility just felt open but comfortable, it being a big open space with tall ceilings and all sorts of different rooms. Almost giving off the vibe of something like a school, or a dormitory.
¡®Yes, that¡¯s it! This feels like a dormitory!¡¯ Kaya thought excitedly.
There was a big cafeteria, a living area with comfortable-looking couches and televisions, a library with plenty of books, a game room with computers, and so many more rooms!
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Looking his eyes out as he followed the guards, Kaya had reached the other side of the facility. Walking through another door, this one just a normal door for a positive change, Kaya saw a long hallway again. Only this time did the hallway span from left to right and had doors every few meters.
Guided to one of these doors, Kaya got a few glances into the doors and saw that they were just normal-looking rooms, much like a hotel room.
Arriving at a specific door, the guards handed Kaya a nametag.
¡°Put this on your chest.¡± The guard plainly said.
Kaya was surprised to see that his nametag read ¡®001¡¯, but he didn¡¯t think much of it and just put it on his chest. As soon as the guards saw this, they just walked away without saying or explaining anything else.
Ignoring this weird behavior, Kaya just went into his room to check it out. It was much like his last room, only having a bed, a desk, and a bathroom. The only difference was that it was more spacious.
¡®Well, let¡¯s go introduce myself then.¡¯ Kaya thought as he walked out of his room on his way to the communal area. He wasn¡¯t instructed anything, so he presumed he was free to do what he wanted.
Not even having walked a few paces, Kaya halted as a previous thought ran through his mind.
¡®Why do I want social interaction?¡¯
Kaya found it a little strange. If it was the him before, he would have found it a bother and tried to avoid it as much as possible. So why not now?
Deep in thought, Kaya subconsciously began thinking back to his past, to the time he was a child. A bitter-sweet smile formed on his face when he thought back to that. Those were the most carefree times of his life, just playing outside with friends.
¡®Yeah, back then I really was a social butterfly.¡¯ Kaya thought.
It had been so long ago that Kaya thought that he had just always been the same as he was just a year ago, always disliking social interactions or anything that could ¡®drain¡¯ his battery. But that was anything but the truth.
At his core, Kaya was truly a social butterfly.
It was just that the burden of his thoughts buried his core, his very nature, and made him dislike interacting with people. But that burden was nowhere to be seen now, making the Kaya at his core surface once again, back to his true nature before he had become corrupted and fake.
Taking a deep breath in, having long set these thoughts at ease, Kaya continued walking with the biggest smile on his face, feeling even more free and unrestrained than before. Opening the door into the communal area, Kaya could immediately feel a lot of eyes on him.
These eyes on him didn¡¯t feel negative, however, which Kaya was glad about. Making eye contact with a small group of people closest to him, Kaya decided to walk up to them, not failing to hold his smile. Or better said, his happiness in the moment didn¡¯t let him drop his smile.
¡°Hello, I am Ka- I mean Nora. Nice to meet you.¡± Kaya said, almost saying his real name instead of the one he had given to the facility people.
¡°¡Oh, hello. How are you doing..¡± A woman from their group responded after a brief pause.
Kaya was a little surprised that they looked a little nervous, wary even. However, that didn¡¯t seem to affect Kaya¡¯s positive mood one bit as he was still smiling as wide as ever.
¡°I¡¯m doing good, how are you doing?¡± Kaya responded.
This time the woman didn¡¯t hesitate to respond. However, instead of answering Kaya¡¯s question, she asked a question of her own.
¡°Do you have a strong mind ability?¡±
Kaya¡¯s smile dropped slightly as he was caught off guard by this question, expecting to just have a casual conversation.
¡°The reward I got from the hologram was that my mind got a little more clear. I don¡¯t know if you could consider it strong.¡± Kaya said, without hesitation.
Hearing that seemed to immediately brighten up the expressions of the people he was talking to.
The woman let out a sigh of relief. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s good. I assumed that you had some scary mind ability seeing the number on your nametag.¡±
Kaya looked at the nametag of the people he was talking to and saw that they all numbered above 100. Kaya thought about what these numbers meant, but this time he didn¡¯t have to uselessly wonder about it in his mind. He had people he could ask now.
¡°What do these numbers mean anyway?¡± Kaya asked with genuine curiosity.
¡°Oh yeah, my name is Hannah by the way.¡± The woman said politely, before answering Kaya¡¯s question. ¡°Well, what we know is that the lower a person¡¯s number is, the stronger or more unique their rewards were.¡±
This sounded pretty logical to Kaya. Even though the facility people did not know anything about Kaya¡¯s actual rewards, the fact that he came out of an egg still remained. That is pretty ¡®unique¡¯ and probably deserving of the 001 nametag.
Hannah shortly after added: ¡°Seeing that you don¡¯t have a strong mind ability, but still got 001 as a nametag, you must have gotten very good cosmetic rewards. You are the best-looking person I have ever seen after all.¡±
¡°Thank you, but I didn¡¯t get any cosmetic rewards.¡± Kaya said, feeling a little warm inside his chest from the compliment, but also feeling a little bad about having to lie to them. ¡°You look very pretty as well. That goes for everyone of course.¡± Kaya said, looking everyone in the little group in their eyes.
Hannah smiled. ¡°Yeah, everyone in this part of the facility is good-looking, more so than the average. That is because this part of the facility is for people who had gotten cosmetic rewards, with a few exceptions for people who had gotten mind rewards.¡±
Kaya nodded. ¡®That makes sense.¡¯ But then his mind snapped onto the phrasing Hannah used: ¡°this part of the facility¡± and ¡°people with cosmetic rewards¡±.
¡°Does that mean there is another part of the facility with people who have different types of rewards?¡± Kaya asked out loud as soon as this thought popped up.
This time, someone else than Hannah decided to speak, her voice timid. ¡°Well, we don¡¯t know for certain, but rumor is that there is another part of the facility where there are people who had gotten something akin to actual powers as their reward.¡±
Kaya didn¡¯t quite understand and decided to ask further. ¡°How do you know that, and what do you mean with actual powers?¡±
¡°One day when I was brought in for an interrogation, I saw someone being escorted by the guards and for a split second I saw electricity coming out of his hands before the guards swiftly subdued him.¡± The timid girl explained.
The girl also quickly added: ¡°Our second reasoning is that there are a lot of low numbers that are not accounted for here in this part of the facility, so they must be somewhere else. These missing numbers are mostly pretty low, meaning stronger or more unique. And those powers are strong and unique, hence our suspicions.¡±
A lot of new information was suddenly brought up, some pretty unbelievable information as well, so Kaya took a second to let this information sink in.
For some reason, this information set Kaya¡¯s mind at ease. It was like he found the missing puzzle piece to his wandering thoughts. He could now understand the way he was being treated somewhat.
Kaya had long surmised that this facility¡¯s purpose was to get more information on the hologram rewards, but he never knew the purpose behind it. Why the government would do something so extreme.
But now, hearing that there were people with actual powers, he could kind of understand why the government would do this. There could be people with bad intentions who got those powers.
Kaya could now also kind of understand why they immediately put that collar on him immediately, a person who came out of a weird egg.
Snapping out of it, Kaya found himself thinking too positively about the facility. A shudder went through his body as he caught himself thinking positively about the facility and the people who had literally kidnapped him, put a collar on him, monitored him in a tiny room, forcefully tried to get information out of him, and then tried to erase his memories.
This was the first time Kaya thought negatively about the pure mind reward, at least as negatively as his pure mind would allow.
¡®That was dangerous¡¡¯