Rose is about to tell me the symptoms but the person who walked past by is calling us.
"Uhmm, we will have a dinner party later Mrs. Rose. If you don't mind, you could attend it" she talked nervously then she look at me and back to Rose again as if she is very confused. Then finally, as if she managed to process all information she currently has, she quickly bow her head. "Ahhh, I am very sorry!!! I think you two have a very serious conversation right now. I am very sorry for interrupting" and she bowed down multiple times after that.
Wait, are you saying she hasn't noticed me then? Either she is disrespecting me or she is a total airhead. She has short black hair, and a very small body to the point I might mistake her for a teenager. By the way, she is still bowing her head right now and I might start laughing at her that is why I tried her to stop.
"It's okay, it is true you interrupted us but it is not a big deal (well it was a big deal), my name is Estre Luck, how about you?" I started a conversation.
"Ahh yes, I am very sorry I was rude, I didn't even tell you my name" she apologized yet again *sigh*. "My- my name is Asahi Ma- Maki, Asahi is my last name and Ma- Maki is my given nane" she answered.
She is nervous when she is introducing herself and she bit her tongue in her last words. Now I feel bad for her.
"Good job, you could finally introduce yourself, Maki, it took you a while though but good job" Rose complimented her. "Maki here is very shy to strangers. Also, like us, she has a cyber brain so treat her well"
I feel like 'treat her well' means 'if you do something to her, I will kill you and a cold feeling hit my spine. I think Rose treats Maki as a great friend. Let us just avoid Maki's bad side for our sake.
"Hmmn, her name doesn't sound very American to me, is she from another faction?" I asked.
"Are you stupid? If you heard those kinds of names in North America then I guarantee, you probably met illegal immigrants from UCE. *sigh* At least that should be common sense right?" she answered back full of disgust.
Well, I am very sorry that I don't have any common sense. For heaven's sake, I might kill this girl someday if she continues to disrespect me.
"Now that you mention, Maki here specialize in what you are asking right now. You should ask her rather than me. It will benefit both of us right?" she talked to me.
"I know, I know, you don't want my presence any longer that is why you are getting rid of me. Fine, fine, fine. Also, I promise I won't do anything to your friend" I answered back.
"Looks like you could tell, then I'll leave. Also, Maki teach him about cyberbrain in general. This would be also good communication training for you so try your best okay?"
"Yes!!! I will try my best to teach him!!!" she saluted as she gave her answer.
Then Rose walked away to the end of the corridor we are currently in.
"You heard Mrs. Rose right. Then follow me and I'll teach you everything you wanna know!!! By the way, call me Asahi, I am still uncomfortable with a stranger calling me by my given name" she clarify that, and I nodded.
"Uhmm, if it is okay to ask, what country in UCE do you come from?" I asked.
"Japan" she answered in a monotone tone.
To be completely honest, I have zero knowledge about UCE and their countries. They are neutral faction after all which is why our government pay them no heed.
"Okay we are here, let's talk inzide" she bit her tongue and quickly entered the room.
The room is your typical apartment room. A small living area, a small kitchen, and two doors probably leading one to the bathroom, and one to the bedroom.
She is still nervous around me which I hope won't make our conversation harder.
"So, any questions?" she quickly regained her 'formal and not-embarrassed attitude' and to be honest, I am quite impressed by the sudden change.
"I would like to ask about the symptoms of a person who has a cyberbrain" I asked.
"Symptoms? Ahh, I see. The correct term should be 'signs' uhmmm, by-by the way-y, how should I-I call you-u?" she replied.
Is it just me or is it hard for her to talk if the topic is about names? Weird.
"Estre will do" I replied. "So, kindly explain to me what are these signs?"
"Oh sure!!! Uhmm how should I explain this??? Ahhh, what was your favorite cartoon show when you were a kid?"
"Hmm, cartoon? I don't know that but probably I don't have one?"
"I see, I see. Then how about your favorite toys? Favorite places to go to? Favorite food during your childhood days? Can you remember them?" she asked again.
What are these questions? Is she asking about my childhood days? Sorry to break it to you but I can't remember my childhood that clearly.
"No, I can't remember them" I answered honestly.
"Hmmm???? Then when was the last time you clearly remember something for the past years?" she asked again.
"Uhmm, I am very confused right now, what I want to know are the 'signs' Mrs. Maki---"
"By the way in my case, I can't remember about myself before I entered Mrs. Rose saves me from an underground organization" she interjected. "Also in Mrs. Rose's case, she can't remember about herself before she became a mercenary" she added.
Memories?
"Are you saying lost memories are signs?" I asked.
"Yep, you are generally correct but I study these for the past 3 years now that I have a different hypothesis" she proudly said.
"Then what it is?"
"My hypothesis is; Rather than lost memories, we lost are personality the moment we had our cyberbrain," she said, but I was baffled and probably she noticed. "Well, let us just think of this one cherry as a flesh brain and this marble here as a cyberbrain. Then this cup here is us. The people" she explained. "Let's assume also the cherry has a very soft personality, and the marble has a very hard personality. We put this cherry inside of this cup which is the person. Now the person has a soft personality. But if we take out this cherry, and put the marble inside the cup---"
"The person, who has a soft personality when he still has his flesh brain, now has a hard personality. Is my understanding here correct?" I asked.
"Well, first of all, it is very rude to cut someone when she is explaining. But indeed, you are correct" she answered.
"Well, this is still a hypothesis, right? It is still not considered as a symptom you know."
"Too bad, I have evidence!!! And that is, the lost memories that all people who have cyberbrains" she shouted.
"What I need right now is concrete evidence. The evidence I could sense with my 5 senses. We could have lost memories with different causes like disease, mental trauma, and many more!" I retorted back.
"Then wanna meet those 'evidence' I am talking about?" she suggested.
"Wait, are you saying 'evidence' means people?"
"Nah, more like witnesses. It is my family. And they could testify that I am a completely different person than they know before" she explained. "When my so-called 'family' told me I was their daughter, I retorted back telling them my parents were already killed by the same organization who kidnapped me. But they showed me my birth certificate, my pictures, and even my favorite toys. But I felt nothing when I saw those things. I feel like their 'daughter' and I am two different people"
"I see" I can't answer back. She believed her parents were killed by an organization that kidnapped her yet she found out they were alive and well. I feel bad for her and her parents.
But if that were the case, how did that even happen in the first place? You can't just control someone else memories. If she is telling truth, I could also assume we are in the same case. What if my parents are still alive and did not die during the war?
"If you want to know more, attend the party later. My parents told me it is my birthday party today, March 7th, yet based on my memories, my birthday would be on August 19th" she explained.
Even the birthdays were changed. Damn. Now I would like to talk to her parents to know more. What I want to truly know is, what happened before they found Mrs. Maki.