章 36: C36: Truth

As the game progressed little by little, I started feeling a bit uneasy. Something about Johnny's story didn't sit right with me.

But the two doctors, Neil Watts and Eva Rosalene were still working hard to help Johnny become an astronaut and land on the moon. After all, they'd already signed the contract in the real world. One way or another, they had to make Johnny's dream come true.

Time moved backward, bringing us to Johnny's high school years. It was here that Johnny explained why he liked River. According to him, River has something special, when asked what was special within her. He didn't answer.

What about River makes her special? This question lingers in everyone's minds.

That reason felt selfish to me, even Johnny's good friend Nicholas condemned him, while Neil just scratched his head.

I could see many different reactions in the live chat from my viewers:

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"Silently I feel sorry for River!" (＃￣0￣)

"Suddenly Johnny feels so annoying!" ヽ( `д´*)ノ

"+1, A Selfish jerk!" (҂` ﾛ ´)凸

"But I feel like something's off. Maybe there will be a twist later?" (↼_↼)

"These flashbacks are going nowhere" (￣ω￣;)

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I couldn't focus on the barrage of comments and emojis though, as I was too engrossed in the game's unfolding plot.

Johnny's behavior did come off as selfish, even annoying. But something still felt wrong about it.

Sure, Johnny's explanation could account for why River had been making all those origami rabbits. But it still seemed a bit too far-fetched. What was I missing?

I think there are still some important memories snippets that are missing here and there.

Time continued to move, bringing us to Johnny's youthful years. At home, his mother didn't call him Johnny—she called him Joey instead.

Eva Rosalene and Neil Watts pushed the memories backward to dive deeper and uncover certain answers. But what followed was something unexpected.

I leaned forward as I fixed my eyes on the screen, with eyes wide, as the screen was filled with white. In this memory, even Neil and Eva could smell the stench of dead animals.

Johnny's next memory was surrounded by nothingness- a blank slate.

This meant that this part of Johnny's childhood memory had been damaged and washed clean. And in this missing memory, there was a hint of something darker—maybe even the scent of blood and death.

I think this may be the memory that can help me solve this whole Zig saw. The anticipation within me was bubbling similar to how my stream chat was on fire with new messages sliding down each second.

With no way to move forward, Neil and Eva decided to go with their original plan. They would implant Johnny's dream of becoming an astronaut, using their special machines to steer him toward his goal To go the Moon.

But I wasn't pleased with the direction in which things were going.

"What about Johnny's destroyed memories?" I muttered, frustration visible on my face.

"What happened in his childhood? I still don't know. That may be the thing that provides the real solution!"

I wasn't the only one feeling this way. The viewers were just as unhappy with what Eva and Neil were doing in the game.

"They're ignoring the real issue!" one viewer typed. "They are just like those doctors- who keep on giving medicine time by time instead of treating and curing the illness. Focus on the memories!"

I frowned as I looked at the screen. I was way more curious about Johnny's past than about him going to the moon. It felt like the key to everything lay in his childhood, but Neil and Eva looked determined to ignore it. They only cared about fulfilling Johnny's surface-level desire. What was the point of this?

Will there be some surprise? Maybe or maybe not...

They started with changing things ~ but surprisingly, none of them worked.

No matter how hard Neil and Eva pushed, Johnny wasn't budging. They added astronomy classes in his elementary and junior high years. They replaced the movies he watched with ones focused on aviation themes. All of it was designed to nudge Johnny toward becoming an astronaut.

But none of it worked.

Johnny remained uninterested in going to the moon.

I could feel the buildup of tension and frustration within them as confusion started to set in, not only for the doctors but for me and the other players as well. In Johnny's subconscious, it was clear—he didn't want to go to the moon at all.

So why was it his dying wish? Why was he so obsessed with this wish? Why?

What was really pulling him toward the moon?

Time is running out, and Johnny's body can't support his breath for much more.

If Johnny's wish is to be fulfilled, then that blank childhood memory may be a crucial point.

Dr. Neal went back to consult the issue with the firm. Trying to understand why this happened and what could be done.

Meanwhile, Dr. Eva is analyzing the reasons. Why implanting new memories into Johnny does not work?

If there's no problem with the machine, then clearly, going to the moon is secondary to Johnny. Then what was the major purpose behind it?

There is one more major condition that leads to Johnny's desires. Is river the answer? Maybe, for instance

River played an important role in Johnny's life. They've been together since high school. But what was it that caused Johnny's desire?

While Eva was thinking about it, Neil successfully got the answer by using his contacts and by analyzing Johnny's medical history.

Johnny's memory is missing because he took a lot of beta-blockers as a kid.

Propranolol, a type of beta-blocker, is a drug that is used to prevent proteins in the brain from re-storing old memories the way they were before.

In other words, Johnny's childhood memory loss is due to taking a lot of beta-blockers during his childhood.

But this doesn't mean the memories are completely erased; they are hidden and ignored by the brain instead.

So if I want to use the machine to continue exploring Johnny's childhood, I must find a medium.

That's when I thought of something.

"The smell of blood, the smell of rotting corpses? Could the smell of that squirrel be used to form a medium!"

Looking at the prompt in the game, I suddenly realized.

This was all calculated!

"It turns out the squirrel has been important from the start!"

"It can be said that this squirrel is destined to die! Thank you, Mr Squirrel, for your outstanding contribution." ヽ(~～~ )ノ

While talking, I controlled the characters in the game to head to the side of the road to collect the scent of the squirrel. I vent a little deeper and I also found the rotting flesh of a rabbit.

I collected some of it. Together with these two scents combined~ we have a medium to restore those memories.

And the barrage in the live broadcast room was going wild.

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"Squirrel: Thank you so much!" (｡◕‿◕｡)

"One of the best characters: Squirrel!" (◔_◔)

++++++++++++

But beyond the mocking comments, more people shared my thoughts.

We were all eager and curious about what Johnny's childhood memories would reveal next.

As the chat urged me, I used the scent as a medium and successfully restored Johnny's chaotic memories.

It was a very messy scene, with overlapping memories and periods.

I could see a lot of little Johnny's on the street. It felt like multiple mirrors had been placed around me.

Among them, I noticed one Johnny playing with a football. This football was one of the previous mediums. This part of the memory was missing.

The two doctors continued to search across all the memories that had been restored.

After some time~

In one of the memories, Johnny's mother finished chatting with someone and was about to start the car to leave.

But no one noticed 'Little Johnny' had chased his football which came just behind the car.

The car started while the driver hadn't noticed any anomaly yet, due to a gear selection error, the clutch was released as the car lurched backward hitting him with a loud 'bang,' 'Little Johnny' was knocked to the ground.

What just happened? Little Johnny involved in a car accident? I mused at the scene silently.

Is this the reason for his memory loss? No, he took beta blockers! Does it leave a scar on his mind?

Some doubts were swirling in the air. Similarly to the doctors in the game, I also thought the one who was hit was Johnny.

But in the next moment, the real Johnny appeared. He came running in there.

A thick mist of confusion and the possible light of revelation both were hanging in the air!