John jumped up and replied excitedly, "Come on, let's go back before the movie ends!"
Back in the screening room.
John and Xiaoxi sat together, with a platypus plushie occupying the empty seat beside them.
Mojian operated Watts and Rosalie to push the memory time forward.
Another memory fragment of the [Platypus Plushie]!
The thirteenth time—
This was precisely the day John had planned to ask Xiaoxi to watch a movie with him.
In the hallway of the teaching building, Xiaoxi sat quietly on the steps, reading a book, with the platypus plushie placed beside her.
Around the corner not far away, his good brother Nicholas was giving John advice.
"Cheer up, bro!"
Nicholas patted John’s shoulder with a knowing look, "Don't be such a wimp, confess your love out loud!"
"It's not like that..."
John started to explain, and the music suddenly turned comical. Nicholas, with hands on his hips, urged him on, "Think about it, the worst that can happen is: she refuses!"
"Then you just keep walking with your head held high, pretending nothing happened. No one will know, and everyone will think you're super cool!"
If there’s one thing Nicholas had, it was a serious case of social butterfly syndrome.
"But... what if she..."
"No buts!"
"No ifs!"
Nicholas pushed John forward, "Go like a warrior!!"
Then he scurried away.
"Ahem..."
John cleared his throat, the comical bgm...
Everyone watched the screen, holding their breath, witnessing this innocent and beautiful moment.
John, blushing, approached Xiaoxi.
"Uh... hello?"
"Can you hear me?"
"Yes."
"Then why aren't you—... never mind," he moved a little closer, "Wow, that platypus next to you is really cool."
Hearing this, Xiaoxi stopped flipping pages and examined him without speaking.
"What are you reading?"
"A book."
"...About platypuses?"
"No."
"Oh... I, uh, I think that's nice too. Hey, would you like to go..." John’s face turned even redder.
"Lighthouse," Xiaoxi said.
"Huh?"
"There are sixteen second-order Fresnel lens lighthouses in this country," Xiaoxi explained matter-of-factly, "Nine are located in coastal areas, one of which was converted from an old kerosene lighthouse."
"..." John: "Oh, is that what you're reading?"
He looked around, fidgeting, shyly, "Um, I mean... would you have time to watch a movie with me?"
Xiaoxi put down her book: "I don't know."
"That's okay, I can wait for you to consider."
"I can't go."
"Why?" John asked, a little dejected.
"Because you didn't mention a specific time."
"...Oh, um, how about this Saturday at eight?" John pressed, "...Is that okay?"
Silence.
Watts beside him: "Eva, I think the system is stuck—"
Xiaoxi: "Yes."
A powerful slap in the face.
"Whoa!"
Quack—
John jumped up excitedly, "That's great!"
The last time he’d made a sound effect like that was when Xiaoxi had excitedly jumped up after John promised to build a house near the lighthouse.
This was a sign of extreme excitement.
"This reminds me of my first love... Oh, I don't have a first love, how regrettable..." Mojian sighed as she quietly watched this sweet confession scene, "This damned youth is truly beautiful."
Her words resonated with everyone.
‘(Cheers) To my lost youth!’
‘(Cheers) To my lost love!’
‘(Cheers) To my lost first love!’
‘(Cheers) To my lost fir—ah, this one isn’t appropriate.’
‘Those who disrupt the formation, drag them out and flog them for one minute!’
.......
Tasting sugar on a blade.
Everyone knew the reason behind this comical and witty confession scene.
It wasn't that Xiaoxi was slow to react or intentionally teasing John.
She was already showing signs of Asperger's syndrome at this time.
However, no one in the game knew except the two doctors; they just thought the girl was a bit odd.
Little did they know that her ability to express so much was already a result of great effort.
"I wish I had been this reserved when I was confessed to. I was too unrestrained back then, looking back, tsk tsk..." To prevent the sweetness from being overshadowed by the harsh reality, Mojian decided to add a little twist.
???
‘What nonsense are you spouting... Mojian, never mind.’
‘Yeah, yeah, it feels good to be confessed to.’
‘What kind of nonsense are you talking about upstairs? The downstairs guy can duplicate keys for ten yuan for three. Are you in?’
‘Downstairs: (⊙_⊙)’
‘Hey, although I don’t want to ruin the atmosphere, I still have to say, John was too oblivious. This platypus accompanied Xiaoxi almost her entire life, and he never mentioned it from the last moment of her life.’
‘Innocent, pure, sweet, is this the taste of first love? No matter how much time has passed, memories always come back so beautifully.’
.......
This segment of memory drew everyone into the emotion. They felt the tension with John's heartbeat and the joy of success.
They were truly immersed, their emotions tugged by every detail in the game.
And the more beautiful it was,
the more they wanted to know why Xiaoxi later insisted on folding paper rabbits for John to recognize.
Why was she so fond of the lighthouse named 'Anya'?
They still hadn't figured out what John had said that made Xiaoxi keep folding paper rabbits.
The book John liked was not even mentioned, and it was discarded in a corner to gather dust.
Did the designer, by dedicating so much ink to depicting Xiaoxi's social awkwardness and the resulting jokes, hint at the root of all the mysteries...
Too many questions drove Mojian to stop dwelling in this beauty.
She had to find clues quickly.
The new memory fragment was a [Backpack].
The fourteenth time—
This time, they traveled to John's childhood memories.
As expected, this would hold the final answer to all the mysteries.
However, there were no useful clues here, except that his mother always liked to call him 'Joey,' and there was a double bed.
According to John's explanation at his wedding party, his mother liked to use his grandfather's name as his nickname.
There were doubts, but not many.
In the room, they found another new memory fragment—[Football]!
The fifteenth time—
West—Saaaa—
Mojian roared in her mind and activated the football memory fragment, symbolizing the solution to a puzzle.
Let all the mysteries be solved!
Yare yare—
She was being driven mad.
However, an accident occurred...
The Watts and Dr. Rosalie she was operating on did not enter a new scene as usual. Instead, they arrived in a mysterious space filled with blanks.
Buildings could be seen in the distance, but they were separated by a vast, black-hole-like void and chaos.
Extremely distorted background music began to play, signaling that the situation was developing in a strange direction.
This... seemed to be the root of all the mysteries as well.
The story was finally coming to an end.
........
ps: I thought I could finish it within ten thousand words, but I was too optimistic. I wrote until six in the morning and it’s still not finished. Today, I definitely will!
—Bring your own tissues!