Lowo N'air was back in his reality and feeling very strange, as his mind couldn't grasp whether what was happening at that moment was a dream or reality.
He was still in a strange state, similar to shock, and before he could clear his vision—which was still blurry—he felt Mr. Domi removing and then adjusting the connection tiara on his head.
Lowo N'air's vision darkened as he saw and felt a blue screen with white letters slowly forming right in front of him: "User assimilation process interrupted. System S.I.R.O.U. restarting. User recognition and assimilation in 10 seconds, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5…"
But before the countdown was complete, Lowo N'air again felt a slight numbness in his mind spreading throughout his body. And before he lost consciousness completely, he felt Mr. Domi yanking the connection tiara off his head.
At that exact moment, he saw the blue screen in front of him darken as the previously white letters changed to light red, displaying: "Unauthorized system interruption. User analysis incomplete."
And then, all information was erased.
Still feeling groggy, he realized that strong hands were shaking him. It was Mr. Domi, who seemed unfamiliar with the practice of gentleness.
"Lowo N'air, I'm sorry about this, but you need to fill out this form before anything else."
Dr. Carlie, noticing Lowo N'air's abnormal condition, approached Mr. Domi and began to call his attention in front of everyone present.
"Are you crazy, Domi? This is a very sensitive system that integrates with the user when connected to the energy cocoon. You simply can't remove it in any way."
"I don't see any problem in doing that, Dr. Carlie," Mr. Domi replied, visibly irritated by the way she had treated him.
"According to what you told me, Domi, this connection tiara contains a new neural assimilation system, optimizing the search for resources on the other side of the portal. Everything that involves connection, and especially neural assimilation, requires time. So you can't just turn this system on and off from Lowo N'air's head like it's a simple appliance. It needs time to assimilate with the equipment that will probably be scanning and analyzing his brain waves. And by making a sudden interruption, you can not only cause a system error but also harm Lowo N'air's mind."
Domi felt his nerves on edge and held himself back from making a scene, but still, his voice came out louder than he intended.
"So what, Dr. Carlie? Are you making such a fuss over this? If there's a problem with the tiara system, I can adjust its settings and repair it in minutes. Or didn't you know that? Oh, right, I'm sorry, the technology you're used to working with isn't as advanced as this, so you wouldn't know."
Dr. Carlie felt her breath become heavy, as the blood vessels in her face dilated.
"And what about Lowo N'air's mind? Will you be able to fix his mental state if he goes into a crisis and goes mad? Oh, excuse me. I forgot you have no knowledge in this area and no access to this brain configuration technology... simply because it doesn't exist."
Domi couldn't hold back and blurted out the first thing that came to his mind.
"I don't need to have knowledge in this area, doctor, because I solve my problems effectively. If there are issues with test subjects, I simply replace them with another subject. Know that no one is irreplaceable... not even you."
Dr. Carlie swallowed hard. She still liked Domi, but being humiliated like that in front of everyone was too much for her. With her face reddened by humiliation and irritation, she took a deep breath, counted to ten, and brusquely released the hand that had been held by Lowo N'air. And as she did this, she noticed the young Lowo N'air looking at her with a sad and distressed gaze. In the next moment, he made a plea she couldn't resist.
"Please, Dr. Carlie, don't abandon me now. I really need your help. Don't worry about any inconveniences. If you lose your job, I now have enough money to ensure you don't face any difficulties."
This plea touched the doctor's mind and heart, and she immediately felt like a fool. Taking Lowo N'air's hand again, she gripped it tightly and, while looking into his eyes, made him a promise.
"My dear Lowo N'air, I will never abandon you again. Even if I lose my job, I won't let anyone take advantage of you."
And, releasing Lowo N'air's hand, but this time carefully, she noticed that Mr. Domi remained still and defensive, ready to argue again. Sensing that the atmosphere was going to get even worse between the two, she spoke up.
"Listen here, Mr. Domi, you can understand as much technology as you want. I'm not worried at all if your crappy system bugs, burns out, or is simply deleted and disappears from this place. What I can't accept is that this system causes brain damage to my friend Lowo N'air. Because if that happens, you can be sure I won't rest until I see you pay the full price for it."
Mr. Ramisk saw and heard everything and was astonished to see how Dr. Carlie faced someone even he feared. Inside, he was thrilled until he remembered that it was Mr. Domi who was the millionaire behind that technology and all the funding that had gone into CPF.
"How can you say such a thing about our illustrious Mr. Domi? Dr. Carlie, apologize immediately or I'll remove you from this project permanently."
Dr. Carlie's legs trembled; she didn't know if it was from anger or anxiety. She knew that even against her will, she would have to obey her boss, Ramisk. After all, she had just promised never to abandon her newest friend, the young Lowo N'air.
"Don't worry about it, Mr. Ramisk. Actually, Dr. Carlie's intelligence surprised me. She's right in telling me that if I handle this neural equipment in any way, I could cause irreparable damage to our main experiment, Mr. Lowo N'air. And obviously, we don't want that, do we, Mr. Ramisk?"
"Yes, Mr. Domi, we don't want that," Mr. Ramisk responded, already visualizing the dismissal of the woman who had almost jeopardized everything at CPF, which he would never allow.