She could go home. There was a way back to earth. She could go home!
"As you may have noticed, the people here are not really open to outsiders. And for good reason. People who pass through the black monoliths usually suffer from side effects in the body and mind. You might have noticed feeling off and more mentally unstable since you arrived," Mr Huo poked her forehead. "Your fake amnesia is probably only somewhat fake. You might have really lost a portion of your memory without realising."
Stacey caught his poking finger and pushed it away with a scowl. What? What was he talking about. Her brain was fine. There was nothing wrong with her brain. He was the one who was mentally unstable and had lost a part of his memory without realising.
Fine. She was a bit high strung these days but surely that was the culture shock, learning so many new things and suddenly entering a new, highly competitive environment. Or something. Anyone in her situation, displaced or not, knowing the language or not, might find a competition like this hard to handle.
"I got my brother to look you up after I met you the other day," he continued, patting her head instead. "I did a background check to see what sort of a person I have on my hands now and whether you might be more trouble than you're worth. It turns out that you, who could have been a somebody, grew up to become a nobody after you quit piano. It's like your self-esteem and life goals all collapsed."
Stacey fended off his hand again. She wasn't a dog or cat. She wasn't a pet to be petted. Nor was she a nobody. He was the nobody. She was a somebody. At least she was to herself. It didn't matter what her family or friends or anybody else thought.
"Are you sure you want to go back to that boring humdrum life of being at the beck and call of other people when you can be so much more than a customer service girl who is the assistant to the assistants of a company that organises parties for others? If you go home, you'll be going back to a place that doesn't appreciate your talents and where you no longer have a job," Mr Huo seemed to have started lecturing.
Did he have to keep poking at her life and life choices? What did her situation on Earth have to do with him? She'd heard enough grumbling and scolding from her parents. She didn't need him getting started on it too.
What was wrong with working as an assistant? She was working her way up the ranks, ok? She might be suppressed but she had been working to overcome those people and win them over, ok? But then her job… yeah… this long without contact, they would probably be thinking of replacing her by now. Those people would have thought she couldn't take the pressure or bullying anymore and run away.
"You will never be welcomed back here again if you did leave. Especially if they realise you're a true alien. Instead, they'll offer you up as a wildling slave to the Ancients and their beastmen. With your talents and potential, why would you settle for such a low position there anyway? Are you really so weak that you let an insignificant piano teacher bully you into mediocrity? How could someone who has won so many competitions give up on herself? Your family must be so disappointed in you. You did so well in your high school exams and could have gone to university but gave it up. Why?"
If she could go home, why would she want to come back here, anyway? Then she wouldn't have to care about any crazy beastmen or Ancients or whatever. What were they, anyway? Why had no one mentioned other races to her besides humans on Gaius so far? She had just assumed it was like Earth, but this just underscored the difference between the two planets.
Besides, she wasn't weak. She wasn't. She wasn't. Stacey swallowed the bitter taste in her mouth along with those bitter memories and her irritation. She didn't want to think of or remember what had happened all those years ago and why she had stopped her studies. There was no point remembering what her family, teacher or friends had said. They had all just tried to bully and pressure her into things. They felt like she had let them down. Had they ever considered whether they had let her down when she had needed them the most?
"What can I do to convince you to help me go home again?" Stacey asked instead. The pressure of his presence intensified. It was suffocating. She had to fight her fear to continue asking rather than just nodding her head to what people said in obedience. Nothing else mattered besides going home now. That was the only thing on her mind.
"You do everything I say," Mr Huo told her. "You have a second chance at life to shine here. I'm not going to let you throw that chance away. You're part Chinese, from what I learned. Your Chinese features shine through, so I'll consider you as one of my people and help you. I'll let your parents know that you're alive and safe. I'll get my people to keep an eye on things on Earth for you."
What did being part Chinese have to do with anything? Why was he going to force her to revitalise her talents in the performing arts? What throwaway chance? Was she not going to have any say? She just wanted to go home. What did her musical talents have to do with being able to go home?
Being accepted as one of his people made her feel a bit warmer inside, but what was he going to tell her parents? How was he going to help her keep an eye on things on Earth if even he was reluctant to travel between the worlds?
"What do you want?" Stacey asked, worried he might ask for something she couldn't give.