The definition of depression is a mood disorder with prolonged feelings of sadness. I'm just a human who doesn't feel pain, so I'm not afraid.
But sadness, that feeling is still there. At least I've seen what a sad person is, a crying face.
My grandmother once said, the words she said when I was two years old. When I accidentally fell down the stairs, my head came down first, making my grandmother a little surprised. No, she wasn't surprised because I fell. It was because I didn't cry.
Ah, what grandma said back then. I had forgotten it, this me? Seriously..
---
The sun is peeking over the horizon, slowly sinking. Orange accents in the distance accompanied by a gentle breeze, the atmosphere of the cafe on top of this building is indeed delicious.
If only the burden of advanced schooling wasn't there, I wanted to keep playing this moment like a videotape on an old TV.
"So, about this question. Aren't there only the values of b and a?" Nich asked.
A middle school problem, about quadratic function equations. What do I get if I work at Annt? Although true, the problems they might give would be too easy. I'm a prodigy after all.
"The value of c is zero, so you multiply four and a by zero, the rest you should be able to do on your own." I drank my cappuccino coffee, looking at my smartphone.
Mr. Umbrella, who exactly is he? Is he a time traveler like he said? If so, what does he want from me? He came back for a reason.
But what? I must know before I accept his offer. So that I don't regret it in the future, regret what the man on the black screen said.
"Hey! That's mine!" Noir said, Sunny was toying with her.
I smiled.
"It's unusual for you to smile, aren't you what they call the prince of ice? The one who has no feelings, with a gaze that's always blank? Like someone who has no purpose in life." Nich asked.
Blank stares yes, probably true. All this time, I only just laughed and smiled with them, that's all.
"Hey Nich! Punch him! Make him fly away like Team Rocket!" Noir shouted.
Nich was stunned to be spoken to by Noir. That's how he is, he's timid, or what is often called social anxiety. Talking to ordinary people would be scary, let alone with people he likes.
"Eh-A won't that hurt him?" Nich asked.
"That's exactly the point!"
They are the ones who make me emit feelings, that's right, they are the ones who make me human.
"So, you guys want to work at Annt?" I asked.
Noir and Sunny nodded.
"Alright now it's your turn, Aadflyn." Mr. Umbrella suddenly appeared behind me.
The tall man with a fedora hat and a suit that looked like it had been bitten by a rat. This strange man always came as if he had been struck by rain.
"Who are you?" Nich asked, his reflexes hid him behind Noir.
Mr. Umbrella smiled.
"I am what they call The Collector. And I am here to collect your soul. It's time for you to die." Mr. Umbrella joked.
Nich hugged Noir even more, while Noir himself was getting uncomfortable with Nich's behavior.
I finished my drink, setting my resolve.
"Annt, let's go back to that place one more time."
Without realizing it, the next morning we were already at the metro station, with the weather not cooperating. I was ready to head back to our village, though I wasn't about to accept Mr. Umbrella's offer right away.
Noir and Sunny arrived late once again, but I saw a familiar face peeking out from the distance. I approached the muscular male figure.
"Look, I know you like Noir but, you better not come this time if you don't want to get struck by lightning." I said holding Nich's shirt collar.
"Why not? Wouldn't that be more fun?" Mr. Umbrella appeared from behind, once again wet.
I stared at him for a while then sighed.
"Okay."
It wasn't long before Sunny and Noir arrived, and Mr. Umbrella led us away from the train that most people use.
Yes, the train we were on was a Lagtrain, and only he knew about it. Maybe how to drive it, its history, so far we only know how he found the Lagtrain.
Mr. Umbrella snapped his fingers, the raindrops around us stopped. This guy...how did he do that? Is he a wizard? I thought those things didn't use logic nor science.
We got into the Lagtrain, it had the same attributes as the high-speed train, a revolutionary invention from the east.
A fast train that uses magnets, just like the Lagtrain. The difference is that the Lagtrain overuses those magnets, and then its speed exceeds five times the speed of sound.
But what makes Lagtrain fast is not only that, the Rift, a special path that is like splitting the path between two spaces and directly merging them. So, a 750-kilometer journey can become 500 kilometers, that's the limit. 250 kilometers.
Nich seemed to be shaking during the trip, even though to me there was hardly any vibration at all.
I sat on one side with Sunny, while Noir, Nich, and Mr. Umbrella sat together on the other side. So i figured that's why.
The view of the Rift from Lagtrain was so strange, it felt like the train was traveling without direction in a gray-white dimension. Running at hypersonic speeds, I wonder who's the genius behind invented this thing.
"Mr. Umbrella, what is the mechanism of Lagtrain?" I asked.
"You still haven't accepted my offer, I won't tell you." Mr. Umbrella smiled.
This guy! I curse him . Alrighty then, I'll accept your challenge.
"I'll intern for one month, if I like it, I'll continue working there. Besides, what if my parents cry because their favorite son is missing?"
"Your parents are dead Aadflyn."
That's right, he's not wrong. Sh**! How well does he know me.
I took a deep breath, what the hell was that. I feel like I'm not myself. Why am I panicking? What the hell was going on.
Without realizing the sea of ash in front of my eyes distracted me, I saw a train passing by. What is this? I'm outside the train? How come.
I opened my eyes, seeing that all eyes were on me on the floor of the train.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"What's wrong? You tell me! You were like a different person for thirty minutes." Sunny said.
What you mean thirty minutes? It felt just a fraction of a second to me!
"Multiple Personality disorder. This is what I'm curious about, fun fact, this person actually has it." Mr. Umbrella pointed at Nich.
"Nich?"
"Yes, that's the reason he can have such a muscular body. The other side of him probably loves to exercise for some reason. While the person we see now is a coward."
Nich's face instantly turned pale, Mr. Umbrella's guess was correct.
"Besides, that unexplained effect that always surrounds you. Aadflyn, you are susceptible to diseases, even those that shouldn't be contagious can be. Like that Disorder I mentioned earlier." Mr. Umbrella explained.
"No way. That's ridiculous." I tried to stand up.
From a distance I saw it, Hello darkness my old friend.
Whatever is happening right now is ridiculous, I hope we get to Annt quickly so that this nightmare will end quickly.
"Insomniac, you need Antidepressants."
Next : Midnight Noodle Before Dying