Chapter 36: The Truth About to Be Revealed
As the game progressed, Jay felt a pang of discomfort. But Dr. Neil and Dr. Eva continued to strive to help Johnny become an astronaut and reach the Moon. After all, in reality, they had already signed the contract. No matter what, they had to help Johnny fulfill his dream.
Time continued to advance, this time in high school, and Johnny explained why he loved River. He felt she was special. Johnny acted a little selfishly here; even his good friend Nicholas criticized him.
'I feel so sorry for River!'
'I suddenly feel so disgusted by Johnny!'
'+1, selfish!'
'But I feel like something is wrong. Maybe there's an unexpected twist later?'
Comments were also exchanged on Jay's live stream. But at that moment, Jay's attention had completely shifted; he was completely absorbed in the game's plot. It seemed that Johnny's behavior in this section was, in fact, extremely selfish, even annoying.
But Jay couldn't help but feel that something was wrong. Of course, this explanation could explain why River had been constantly making origami bunnies. But it still seemed a bit far-fetched to Jay. What was going on?
Time continued and the story unfolded, moving to Johnny's adolescence. At home, Johnny was in school, and his mother didn't call him Johnny, but Joey. Using football as a medium, Eva and Neil advanced again. But everything that followed was different.
Jay leaned slightly forward in front of the computer, his eyes wide. The screen was a vast white expanse, and in this memory, Neil and Eva could even smell the stench of dead animals. Before Johnny's next memory, there was nothing. This meant that a part of Johnny's childhood memory was damaged.
And even within this damaged memory, there seemed to be the smell of dead animals and blood.
With no way to proceed, Neil and Eva decided to go ahead with their previously planned approach. They implanted in Johnny the dream of becoming an astronaut. Thanks to a special machine, Johnny would continue to work towards his goal. However, players were clearly unhappy with Eva's and Neil's actions.
"What the heck is this memory destruction? What the heck are Johnny's childhood memories? You still haven't figured it out!"
"Why are you doing things like this?"... Jay asked with disgust. After all, he was more curious about the secrets of the events than about going to the Moon.
Based on the game's current performance, he had a feeling that all the previous mysteries would be revealed in Johnny's childhood. But these two doctors, using any means to achieve their goals, focusing only on superficial projects, what was the point?
To the two doctors' surprise, the unexpected happened again. Because no matter how much Neil and Eva guided Johnny, or even hinted at it—adding astronomy classes in elementary and high school, changing the movies Johnny watched to aeronautical ones—everything still hinted that Johnny would become an astronaut; none of this changed Johnny's later memories. Johnny didn't even have an interest in going to the Moon.
Not only the two doctors in the game, but also the players themselves were equally bewildered. Even in Johnny's subconscious, he had no desire to go to the moon.
'Why would such a man's last wish be to go to the moon? What was it about the moon that captivated him?'
Time was running out, and Johnny's body could no longer sustain him. For Johnny's wish to be fulfilled, his fragmented childhood memories might be crucial.
Dr. Neil consulted a consultant to understand why this situation had occurred. Dr. Eva also analyzed why the memory implant had not altered Johnny's desires. If the device was not malfunctioning, then going to the moon was clearly secondary to Johnny's desire. A more crucial factor had altered Johnny's desire. And River played a crucial role in Johnny's life. They had been together since high school.
But what exactly caused the change in Johnny's desire?
While Eva pondered, Neil had also reached the correct conclusion from his findings. Johnny's memory loss was due to the excessive use of beta-blockers in childhood.
It is believed that propranolol, a beta-blocker, prevents proteins in the brain from resetting memories to their original form. In other words, Johnny's childhood memories were lost because he took large amounts of beta-blockers during his childhood.
This does not mean that the memories were completely erased, but rather that they were hidden and neglected. Therefore, for the machine to continue exploring Johnny's childhood, a medium is needed.
Then, an idea occurred to Jay: "The smell of blood, the smell of decaying corpse? Oh, right! Didn't the doctor kill a squirrel at the beginning? Could the squirrel's smell be used as a medium?"
Upon seeing the game's message, Jay instantly realized. Everything was calculated!
"So that's how it is! That squirrel was crucial from the beginning!"
"You could say this squirrel had a dignified death! It was destined to die! Thanks to this squirrel for its remarkable contribution," Jay said as he controlled his game character to the side of the road to collect the squirrel's scent.
The live stream was filled with comments.
"Squirrel: Thank you very much!"
"One of the most miserable characters: the squirrel!"
But in addition to the mocking comments, many others shared Jay's feelings. Anticipating and curious about what Johnny's childhood memories would reveal, Jay, at the insistence of the live stream comments, used the scent as a medium and managed to enter Johnny's chaotic memory.
It was a deeply chaotic memory, with various overlapping moments. Consequently, he could see many little Johnnys on the street. Among them, Jay noticed one playing with a soccer ball. This ball had been one of the previous mediums. The two doctors searched the town unsuccessfully.
Meanwhile, Johnny's mother finished chatting with someone and was about to leave. Unnoticed by anyone, little Johnny chased the ball and approached the back of the car. The car started and, with a dull thud, little Johnny fell to the ground.
'What was going on? Had little Johnny been in a car accident? Was that the cause of his memory loss? But wasn't it due to an overdose of beta-blockers?'
He was a little confused, but like the two doctors in the game, Jay believed that the injured person was Johnny.
But then, the real Johnny appeared.
Instantly, all his doubts dissipated!
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