Neaf stepped out of the car, feeling the need to calm down before his eyes felt like they were about to burst into flames from the cringeworthy scene before him.
"Yeah, Neaf is right. You need to calm down, Alfred," Alisa nodded, taking Neaf's hand as the three of them made their way into the hospital.
Neaf walked in the middle, letting Alisa and Alfred guide him, taking in his surroundings with wide eyes.
As he looked around, he was shocked by what he saw. Was this really a hospital? The place was filled with glass, patients in beds suspended in the air, and everything looked so extravagant, like something out of a science fiction movie. The metallic robots and large machines he had never seen before only added to the spectacle.
"Neaf, don't you remember hospitals at all?" Alisa asked, noticing her son's keen interest in his surroundings.
Neaf snapped back to reality as Alisa's words registered in his ears. The number of screens and the constant movement of people made it feel like he had stepped into another world.
"I... I just don't remember," Neaf replied uncertainty.
This memory loss seemed like the only explanation that made sense to him. How could he explain that he didn't even remember himself? Who would even believe that?
"Let's get him to Doctor Adam Federal," Alfred said, leading them to a cabin door without making any appointments.
They didn't need appointments? Neaf wondered if this was just how things worked in this world.
The door slid open automatically, and they entered the room. As soon as Neaf stepped inside, he felt like he was about to suffocate. The room was filled with water up to the ceiling, with fish and sea creatures of all colours floating in front of his eyes. It felt like he was underwater.
His breath became shallow as a fish brushed against his forehead.
"Honey, breathe in and out," Alisa said, rubbing Neaf's back as he struggled to catch his breath.
"How am I supposed to breathe in water?" Neaf asked, bubbles escaping from his mouth.
"It's not real water, sweetheart. It's just an illusion. It feels real, but it's perfectly breathable for humans. And you're not entirely human," Alisa reassured him, pointing to herself to emphasise her point.
Not real water? If it's just a projection, then how were these sea creatures brushing against everyone's skin? Neaf took a few deep breaths and realised that he could breathe just fine. It was just his mind playing tricks on him.
"Why the sudden appointment, Alfred? What's the rush?" a sharp voice interrupted.
"Nothing, just my son's head isn't working," Alfred replied as he walked over and sat down across the table from Adam.
Alisa guided Neaf to the chairs and they both took a seat beside Alfred.
"What do you mean, not working? He's not even the same as you," Adam asked, narrowing his eyes as he looked at the young man sitting in front of him.
Neaf felt nervous under the scrutiny. He didn't know how to make sense of it all. Everyone looked human, but at the same time, some were not. Alfred looked like a robot, Alisa claimed to be human, and she said Neaf was not entirely human.
He didn't feel like his body was human, and then there was that strange Axtral. Nothing seemed weirder than all of this.
But here he was, in this unreal water-filled room, feeling like he was inhaling water into his lungs, yet still able to breathe, unable to taste it.
"I mean to say, he doesn't remember anyone, not us, and probably not even himself. It seems like a short circuit happened in his brain," Alfred explained, as he understood it.
"Either you've lost your mind, Alfred, or you think it's a good idea to waste my time just because I'm your friend. When I got the signal for your appointment, I should have rejected it instead of hearing this nonsense you've come up with. Neaf looks perfectly fine," Adam sneered, tightening his grip on his own.
He couldn't believe his friend was so foolish, even if Alfred didn't have veins in his brain. But that didn't mean that Alfred didn't have a brain. Neaf's brain was more like a human's, but there was no blood in it. How could his brain have short-circuited when he had veins, unlike Alfred?
"Then he has memory loss," Alfred said nonchalantly.
Neaf could see that his so-called father knew how to get on everyone's nerves. At least the doctor who was a friend of Alfred still sounded reasonable. But he looked too young to be a doctor, for sure.
Alisa had wrinkles, but Alfred had robot-like skin, so he didn't look aged, which surely meant he was a robot, right?
"Ask him if he remembers you, then we might be able to have a proper conversation," Alisa chimed in, clearly frustrated with her husband's behaviour.
"Neaf, do you remember your favourite uncle?" Adam asked, taking note of Alisa's words.
He could believe that his friend Alfred might have a loose screw, but it wasn't the same with Alisa. So if she was saying so, there was a problem that was evident.
"I don't know," Neaf plainly answered.
What was the use of even trying when he wasn't the Neaf they knew? Yes, he was Neaf, but not the Neaf that this world knew.
"What?" Adam stood up from his chair in shock. How could Neaf forget him, when he had watched this child grow up from diapers to pants?
"See, I told you, he doesn't remember anything," Alfred shrugged, speaking in a matter-of-fact tone.
"Tell me what's happening. How could he forget us? Does he remember anything? Since when has he been behaving like this?" Adam sat back down in his chair, firing off the questions.
Neaf could understand the shock because he was shocked too.
"I don't remember anything from this morning, just my name, that's all I know,"