In a dark room where a person could see many things — though not with their eyes — a voice asked:
"Tell me, what problems do you face in your life?"
Another voice answered:
"I don't think my problems belong to my life alone; I see my life as an ordinary one."
Joseph asked:
"So what you're saying is that your problems are the same ones most humans face?"
Black answered:
"Yes, that's what I mean."
Joseph said:
"You're right that humans may face the same problems, but of course their experiences differ, and what counts as a personal problem varies from one person to another. So, please… can you clarify what specifically troubles you?"
Black fell silent for a moment, then said:
"From my point of view, I believe the one problem I suffer from — the one that generates all of humanity's problems — is those possibilities beyond one's control, the ones that shape a person's world, their life, and what they become… the ones that can turn a person's life upside down in an instant without their knowing. Yes… it is the unknown."
In his room, Black was reading some recent scientific research while thinking:
"Science really is advancing, but not fast enough. Most of the progress is just the discovery of new theories, while experimental progress isn't going well. I really believe I won't get what I want if I wait for someone else to search for it."
While he was thinking, Robby called out to him:
"Time to go to school, Black."
Black said:
"Alright, I'm going."
Black got ready to go to school as usual, to attend his practical classes. His house was somewhat far from the city and from school, but transportation was efficient and quick, so after leaving home he headed to the high-speed subway.
When he boarded the train, he sat thinking as usual, without any emotion showing on his face, while staying alert to his surroundings. But this time his mind was distracted when he noticed a girl watching something on her portable projector device.
The moment he caught a glimpse of her eyes, he recalled memories of her reading a romance novel, enjoying the story even though her emotions weren't easily affected, because her mind always overpowered them.
He also noted she wasn't particularly interested in that genre of novels, since it was aimed at people who were mentally slow.
"Truly… one cannot forget beautiful moments like these. But… why do people seem strange today?"
The girl noticed someone looking at her, and when she turned toward him, she found something strange:
A boy of about ten years old, looking at her with a broad, silly grin.
"Is this kid crazy? Or some deranged, mentally unstable psychopath?"
Her fear grew and her heartbeat raced, but luckily the train stopped, and she hurried out. Once outside, she looked back to make sure no one was following her, and finding no one… she finally relaxed.
This wasn't Black's stop, so he remained seated, but his mind was troubled; something felt strange and unfamiliar, and he couldn't figure out what it was the whole way to school. All he knew was that people seemed different somehow, and at times he felt that thinking about it wasn't worth the effort.
Black finally arrived at school, entered his classroom, and sat in his seat as usual.
From the outside, Black behaved as he always did: not speaking to anyone, showing no expressions.
But on the inside… he was not the same.
There were battles going on in his mind that he couldn't fully grasp.
"Why isn't my mind clear today? And why do strange things keep coming to me? I need to… focus."
The teacher noticed something different about Black and asked him:
"Black, are you…?"
The moment Black heard his voice, he looked at him, and a memory came flooding into his mind:
One of the saddest days of his life…
The day he saw his father — the man he used to look up to — sitting and doing nothing meaningful, doing instead the very thing he always used to forbid: playing games and watching cartoons all day long.
But what hurt more… was when he asked him:
"Why did you stop working? Why don't you go back to what you used to be good at?"
His father answered:
"It doesn't matter anymore… I no longer need to."
Black felt sorrow then… he felt he needed to prove something the world denied.
Then an unclear voice called out to him:
"Black!"
Black began to focus for a moment, and realized:
"Wait… this isn't me. These aren't my memories."
His awareness returned, and the teacher stood there stunned and tense, thinking:
"I thought he was just having a bad day… I didn't expect that simply asking him would make him cry!"
When Black's awareness fully returned, an involuntary urge came over him to turn his face away from the teacher, who rushed over and stood beside him asking:
"Black! Are you alright? Why are you crying? Can you finish the day? Or… do you want to leave?"
"I'm… crying?"
Black wanted to answer, but his awareness slipped away again as he tried to avoid looking at the teacher, and his eyes — by chance — landed on another student who was watching what was happening.
The image in his mind shifted once more:
He was in a world resembling a virtual reality game.
Many monsters…
He and another person fighting them together…
He was laughing hard after killing more monsters than his friend and winning the contest.
A feeling of owning the world…
Black began laughing in reality too, hard and uncontrollably.
He was like one of those overused villain characters from an old cartoon show about pirates, one that takes a whole lifetime to watch.
He tried to close his eyes, which had filled with tears and turned red, to avoid anyone seeing him.
After his laughter began to settle, he finally became aware of the teacher's questions.
"Heh… yes, I want to leave. Please, Professor — the teaching robot — can you take me outside?"
The Professor came and led Black out of the classroom, while Black looked down at the ground, the traces of his laughter gradually fading.
The sound of his laughter had drawn the attention of the whole class, and the students began whispering.
One of them said:
"Isn't that the boy who never shows any expression and never talks to anyone? I used to think he was amazing… but turns out he's just crazy!"
"Yeah, he looks like those crazy characters we often see on TV shows."
The teacher said loudly:
"Alright, let's continue the lesson!"
Outside the classroom, the Professor asked him:
"I'd advise you to go see the specialist. Do you want to go there, or go back home?"
Black said, once the traces of laughter had faded:
"No, I'd rather go home."
The Professor replied:
"Alright, I've called a self-driving car for you. I'll make sure you get to it."
Once it arrived, Black got into the car and drove away from school, and throughout the ride he tried to regain clarity of mind and think about what had happened.
What were the causes?
What were the details?
He didn't know.
"I don't think I'll figure out what happened to me… or why I saw other people's memories… unless I try it deliberately, of my own will."
Black decided to look at someone through the window to test it.
He saw an elderly man wearing a hat, taking a walk.
When he looked at him… nothing happened.
"The hat… it's hiding his eyes."
Then, just as he reached that conclusion, the man's eye appeared at the edge of his vision, and the scene shifted inside Black's mind.
The head of a scrapped robot, wires dangling from its neck…
With a face identical to his own…
A terrifying feeling of having forgotten himself… worse even than forgetting one's own name.
He tried to pull himself out of the memory-trance by will… but he failed.
His mind remained clouded until it gradually returned to functioning smoothly.
"I think the questions I need answered have only grown after today… and I won't try again for now. What happened is enough."
Black finally arrived home, but before he went in, someone called out to him by name. Black didn't need to look to know who it was: his new neighbor, the one with the artificial arm.
He didn't turn to look, just replied while raising his hand:
"Hey there, neighbor… sorry, I'm in a hurry."
The neighbor said:
"No worries."
Black entered the house, and Robby greeted him:
"Welcome back. How was your day?"
"You could say… it wasn't ordinary. No… it wasn't ordinary at all."