When I got back to my place in Boston, it was the evening after they released from custody. Ti rolled on just the sa in the lab as it did on Earth.
I took a seat on the sofa, gazing ahead at the balcony.
There was one crucial thing that had changed from the ti I left Earth to the mont I arrived on it again.
I felt like there was a goal again. There was more to learn. More to explore. There was a challenge.
I also felt strangely normal again, more human. That’s when it hit —I felt anger back in the lab, and I feel anger now. I’m furious about what The Lord did with Olivia.
How could he do this? He played gas with people.
However, none of those emotions seed to surface in my mind when I was back at the police station or when I first spoke with The Lord in the car.
And at that exact mont, I understood.
I understood the side effects of the Somnus Veri!
The thirst for knowledge overshadows my emotions in a way that I would never have expected.
The Somnus Veri craves an environnt rich with things to learn. It compels to concentrate on acquiring more knowledge and live my life efficiently.
The mont I felt like there was nothing captivating left to learn.
The mont I felt like pushing myself to prove sothing unnecessary made no sense.
It struck back.
It attacked my personality. It made empty.
Did the Lord know about this? Was this why he created that environnt for ?
Was this why he t with in the first place?
’The more you know about it, and the more you focus on it, the worse the side effects beco’ - ’It has to do with efficiency, and its not purely beneficial. That’s what my informant said, and these side-effects are precisely why I needed this eting’
That’s what The Lord said...
I felt stupid...
Therion and The Lord rely toyed with . I had a sense that nothing they said held any truth.
Now my thoughts wandered back to Oliv. I really wanted to speak to her again. I wanted to apologize. Try to get her back.
I retrieved my phone from my pocket and swiftly opened the chat with Oliv.
There were 3 ssages from her.
’Max. Did they arrest you too??? How is that even legal? Shouldn’t we just be fined?’
’Max? Why aren’t you responding? They released after just one day. Fuck is happening.’
’It says in the newspapers that they released you yesterday, why aren’t you writing back?’
I made a quick response, ’Olivia, I want to et up with you. I have made a mistake. I know. I want to talk about it with you. I hope you’ll hear out.’
Damn... I was getting emotional.
After sending the ssage I didn’t need to wait for long before I got a response, ’ok, Max. I can talk with you, but you better have a good explanation for this. Where are you now?’
’At my house. Back Bay Boston.’
’You bought a house? After you ditched ?’
’I’m sorry, Olivia. I will tell you exactly what happened, but know that ntally, I’m much better now.’
’You’re much better because you left behind? Just give the address... Genius’
’444 Marlborough St’
While waiting for Olivia to arrive, I pondered on how to address the newfound knowledge about the side-effects of the serum.
I realized the importance of maintaining a relentless thirst for knowledge. Just screwing around with business regulations, buying houses, or having fun with won wasn’t the way to accomplish that.
I was determined not to let the serum dominate my life. I aspired for sothing more aningful.
’Ding Dong Bing Bang’, 20 minutes later I heard the sound of a bell. Oliv was at the front door.
I swiftly made my way downstairs and opened the door for her. She stood there, as beautiful as ever, with her blonde hair flowing longer than before.
Yet, she seed a bit pale, as if she hadn’t eaten in a while. Her expression appeared empty, and I couldn’t discern what she was thinking.
"Co on in, Olivia," I said.
"Okay..." she replied, stepping inside. "Where should I leave my shoes?"
"Just leave them here," I gestured. "Co upstairs, we can sit on the sofa, and I’ll tell you everything."
As we ascended the stairs, she added, "If it’s so stupid reason, I’m leaving right away."
We sat down, with about a ter of distance between us. It was evident that she didn’t want that distance to close any further.
I began by explaining that back then, during our conversation in New York, I was apathetic. My feelings were not what they were supposed to be.
However, she quickly refuted that it made no difference. I had sex with another woman without her consent. The fact that I was ntally ill did not help the case at all.
"Do you know why you were arrested, Olivia?", I asked.
"They said it was because of what we did on the plane, but I didn’t know they could just put in jail, skipping the court case. I already contacted a lawyer about this. I will take this to court myself.", she answered.
That’s when I began to explain everything from the very beginning. Olivia was clearly aware that what was happening to wasn’t natural.
I didn’t say everything, fearing for her safety, but I wanted to be as transparent as possible.
When I told her about the reason, they stopped back at the airport. At first, she didn’t want to believe it, but luckily, I still had the picture of the protective order I took back at the police station.
I showed the picture to Olivia, and the reaction I witnessed was difficult to describe—a mix of disbelief, disgust, and even sadness.
Finally, I ended up explaining to her that the only way I could keep my emotions in check and remain the person I was when I first t her was to focus on constant learning.
Olivia looked at for a while, her emotions surely in turmoil. She then asked, "Max...", her voice shaking, "Couldn’t you stop yourself? Tell . How did it happen? With Ms. Brooks."
I answered, "Believe or not, but she did it in a mont that I couldn’t stop it. She did it at the exact mont that the German politician I was supposed to et with entered the office. She got under the desk and..."
"OK! Stop... ", Oliv interrupted, "Stop, Max...", she then looked at for another minute or so, I could see her eyes getting red and moisty, "I missed you Max. I cried because of you... I even lost appetite because of you...", she pouted.
I could see a solitary tear rolling down her cheek, landing on her dark jeans and creating a small wet point. I decided to move a bit closer to her. The ter of distance was now cut in half.
She looked at , tears streaming down her face. "I’m sorry, Oliv. I will never cheat on you again," I vowed. She fell onto , hugging softly against , as she gasped.
After holding her close and whispering, "I promise, I’ll do whatever it takes to make things right. And I will start right now,"
I took out my phone and called Mr. Reymond.
"What are you doing, Max?", Oliv asked, while she fanned her face. She clearly wasn’t crying out of sadness.
"You will see, Oliv", I answered as I caught the signal.
"Mr. Reymond?"
"Yes, sir! You just called though, what happened?"
"The authority that I gave you... you still have it, right?"
"Yes, I do. I will give it away if you so desire, Max."
"No, you don’t need to. I need you to do sothing for ."
"Yes, Max? What is it?"
"I need you to fire soone for . I need you to fire Ms. Brooks for her misconduct during work."
Oliv had wide eyes, tears still falling into her mouth. She asked, "Isn’t she your best employee?"
I winked at Oliv, and Mr. Reymond responded, "As you wish, Max."
The sky was getting dark. It was late in the evening. Oliv stayed at my ho for the night, but we didn’t go as far as taking our clothes off.
We just sat there, hugging for a while, maybe bringing our lips together quietly every now and then.
She said that she didn’t believe that the affair was one-sided, but what she really wanted of was to not do things behind her back.
After all, we already did it with Casi.
I did not disclose everything to Olivia. I said nothing about The Lord, the lab, or the many civilizations aside from ours.
There might co a ti when I need to share that information, but that ti wasn’t now.
For the mont, I wanted to put my life together, dominate this world, learn as much as I could in the anti, and find people who are as bent on learning as I am.
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