Chapter 67: Peridot and the Garden of Memories (3) [PART 4 - END]
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14h
33
It was as if this dark, claustrophobic space was a living image of little Peridot's mental state. It didn't even try to simulate peace like the green field I had been in before; everything was just black and monotonous, without variation, without color, without highs or lows. Just a dark and hopeless space playing the role of a private prison.
Little Peridot huddled where no one could see her, waiting for an uncertain end, unknown to everyone but herself. I could feel her apathy and the weight on those small, hunched shoulders.
Breathing became difficult as I processed unfamiliar emotions.
The frustration of being trapped in this place, the fear of being abandoned, the shock of being rejected by her group, the sadness of seeing the tree's shadow fade, and the despair of monotony.
It wasn't as if I had access to this Peridot's memories, but her emotions were so strong that they seemed to emanate from her body.
My arms appeared in my field of vision before I even thought to extend them, then enveloped little Peridot's head and pulled it against my chest. She remained expressionless, listening to my turbulent heartbeat.
[What are you doing?]
She asked, genuinely curious about my behavior. This Peridot hadn't had any human contact and naturally lacked knowledge of social situations; perhaps the very concept of affection was foreign to her.
[Why are you treating me like that four-eyed human? Or perhaps, by living with humans for a few months, you have awakened what they call "maternal feelings"?]
Not entirely strange. On the contrary, she seemed to possess a distorted understanding of reality, along with a mouth that spat out rude words with every sentence.
[I should remind you that this physical form, although resembling a human child, has long since reached maturity. Moreover, feeling such emotions about your own appearance reflects narcissistic and dissociative traits. According to the protocol in the document from that sharp-eyed human, you fit a possible scenario of mental illness—]
"You should stop talking as if you know everything. This is nothing more than a hypothesis based on a tiny sample, with no real foundation beyond biased assumptions."
[On what information do you support this claim? I have been observing you since your first breath 111,376,842 seconds ago. The data used in my diagnosis includes your entire behavioral repertoire since birth and 3,000 years of systematic reflection. Does that not mean any claim you make loses its validity before it is even stated?]
My face tightened as I heard the absurd sophistry from this Peridot, who had never even spoken to a real human being. She seemed like those classroom nerds who dispense information without being asked, as if they alone possessed reason.
Even though she could see my data since my birth in this world, I carried the experience of my past life. More than twenty years as an adult did not compare to a few months living with the Maheswarans.
Even so, I had no plans to argue with this stubborn mind. If I ignored her words, her green skin and silky hair were quite soft to the touch.
I rested her head in my lap while letting little Peridot talk to herself and stroked her hair to my heart's content. Her hair was surprisingly unruly and kept returning to its original position.
It was like petting a grumpy cat that seemed irritating from a distance but became tame when petted. At some point, little Peridot closed her eyes in my lap, like a kitten asking its owner for affection.
"You're quite cute when you shut up."
[Stop talking nonsense...]
I continued stroking Peridot's hair and glanced at her ear, stroking it softly. Suddenly, she pulled her legs back and frowned.
[Not on the ears...]
She protested, objecting to my method of petting. It seemed this Peridot had sensitive ears. Who would have thought even aliens had such weak points?
"Oh, how about here?"
I shifted my hands to the top of her head and the nape of her neck. Her lips pressed together, clearly enjoying the touch, her chubby cheeks on display. I could not help but secretly pinch them while she lost herself in the comfort.
[So this is how you manipulate those stupid humans...]
"You're talking nonsense again." I pinched her cheeks, stretching them until her white teeth showed and her eyes squinted like pudding. "Do you want me to stop petting you?"
Little Peridot looked at me with her mirrored eyes, calculating something in her small head full of foolish thoughts, then shook her head from side to side.
[No, the loss does not compensate for the gains.]
"So you know what to do, don't you?"
[...]
Little Peridot closed her mouth and tilted her chin upward, as if insisting on being petted.
She had maintained a cold and sarcastic attitude before, but the moment she realized that staying silent would earn her affection, she immediately changed her demeanor.
One way or another, this Peridot was true to her tastes, capable of abandoning her pride in order to reap some benefits.
I looked at the sleepy figure in my lap with melancholic eyes.
How hungry for affection was she to fall like this for a mere pat on the head? I felt that if she were offered a sweet by a stranger, she would easily justify being kidnapped in the process.
I brushed away strands of her hair, revealing her lazy and peaceful face. Her delicate chin and round cheeks were like weapons of mass destruction to lovers of small animals.
The fact that someone so pure was trapped in this place was even more lamentable.
What could I do?
I wasn't able to manipulate this place like Peridot. The only person who could create a way out was herself, but she was incapable of leaving.
I wasn't able to find her mind with my abilities. Even neuroscience had trouble determining where consciousness formed. Human beings were products of everything they had lived through, and gems operated differently from typical humans.
All of this was possible through the act of sleeping. Perhaps mastering this mental realm is the key to a faithful simulation of my senses, but it was impossible to achieve that in the real world.
If I activated my senses, I would have to experience excruciating pain again. This space kept me protected, but in the real world, there was no such thing.
Just how did these powers work? What was so special about this place that it could counter my powers? Why did I only have access to this Peridot now? Do the red figure and the memory tree have anything to do with it?
[You're thinking something stupid again.]
Suddenly, a voice pulled me from my thoughts. Only then did I notice the two eyes staring directly at my face and my motionless hands.
"Oh, sorry. I'll pet you again."
I reached out my hand, but Peridot grabbed it before I could touch her hair.
[No, it's okay.]
Peridot shook her head from side to side, refusing further contact, and then she stood up.
[Your mental state is unstable and dangerous. Without those humans around, you start trying to mentally kill yourself with energy overload.]
My wrist tightened as I listened to Peridot speak so outrageously, as if it were fact. She had no idea why I was so worried in the first place.
"I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself."
[If you don't sleep clinging to the four-eyed human, you have nightmares. If I hadn't interrupted one of your nightmares, we'd both be dead.]
"What? I don't remember any of that..."
[You cut your own wrist because you were unable to contain your own twisted curiosity and can't even manage your own addictions to watching a cartoon, even crying pathetically while clinging to the sharp-eyed human to increase your TV time.]
"A-About that, there are certain circumstances involved... It's not like I was fully conscious at that moment."
[I bet you were, just like a few days ago, when you almost revealed the disguise you insisted on maintaining in front of the four-eyed human you clung to while your gem produced heat like a bomb that could explode at any moment.]
"..."
My face contorted, and my ears turned as red as tomatoes due to the constant exposure to facts whose veracity was both ambiguous and, at the same time, irrefutable.
Was I really a lost cause when it came to living on my own? No, I was certainly improving day by day. I rationalized my actions and justified them, but Peridot didn't seem interested in listening.
As she extended her arm, the closed door opened, once again revealing a radiant light illuminating this endless darkness.
[Get out of here.]
With words devoid of any affection, Peridot expelled me from her mental space. However, I hesitated.
"And you? Isn't this an uncomfortable place?"
I didn't see myself as capable of leaving her alone, even though I knew, rationally, that there was nothing to be done.
Peridot looked at me expressionlessly and, in her monotonous tone, began to spout facts again.
[I've lived well here for over 3,000 years. You, on the other hand, in just three years, have almost killed us both more times than I can count on my hands and feet. I don't need your cheap sympathy.]
Suddenly, the door moved in front of me, and the light began to engulf my body. I was being forcibly expelled from this place.
My eyes tried to find Peridot, but her gaze was nowhere to be seen. All I could hear was a faint sound in the background.
[Take care.]
The voice I heard sounded strangely warmer than usual.
I knew almost nothing about her, but she seemed to know a lot about me.
Maybe that was why she forced me out, knowing that I would be unable to leave her behind.
That was my first encounter with the mysterious Peridot who lived inside me.
And I could only hope it wouldn't be the last.
Little did I know that when I woke up, I wouldn't have time for such worries.
An eccentric nurse, whom I had no desire to see again, stood before me.
Her face remained still as she cut an apple, but the moment our eyes met, the knife and the apple fell from her hand, and her mouth opened in shock.
I couldn't hear her, but I was sure a strange sound escaped her lips.
She ran to the door and left the hospital room, leaving me completely alone.
Suddenly, a bad feeling took hold of my mind.
Little Peridot's words echoed in my head like thunder.
[A week had passed.]
In other words, didn't that mean I'd spent a week unconscious?
The door opened abruptly again, and a familiar woman, with piercing eyes and agitated breathing, appeared. It was none other than Priyanka.
Seeing her worried and emotional expression and the deep dark circles under her eyes, I felt a complex emotion in my chest.
'This doesn't look good at all...'
Unlike the dreams, which seemed chaotic, the real world was proving to be even more chaotic.
*
Author's note
It was a very difficult chapter to start. Sorry for the absence of the chapter yesterday, I'm working on more reserve parts. As I promised in an OFF TOPIC, my goal is 3 reserve parts by the end of the week, this scenario should become even more unlikely to occur in the future.
Thank you for reading, for the comments, for the power stones and for everything 🍪🍪🍪
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