not easily broken

"Whose voice is that?" murmured Sharon. "Whoever he or she is, it seems to be coming from inside that memory," Abbey concluded. "Let's go in," Sharon added. "We have to proceed with caution. I don't want to be caught off guard," replied Abbey. Once inside the memory, they could see Michael's defense mechanisms surrounding the whole place. "It seems we are in the right place," Abbey noted. "Let's not give them a reason to turn hostile against us," Abbey insisted. "What is this memory all about?" Sharon seemed confused. Looking into the memory, they could see Michael at a corner, sitting on the floor and holding his legs. He was clearly upset with someone or something.

Taking a closer look, they noticed that someone else was in the room with Michael. He turned his back towards Michael as if purposely trying to hide his face from everyone. Sharon was taken aback by his suspicious actions. Not only were his actions suspicious, but it seemed like he knew that people would access Michael's memory. Furthermore, Sharon did not recognize the man from anywhere, which was strange on its own. "Where is this place?" she murmured to herself.

Abbey, on the other hand, was not bothered by this. Instead, he went straight to Michael and looked into his eyes. Calling out to Sharon with confidence, he said, "We are here. Michael is in there." Sharon was a bit confused and immediately asked, "We are already seeing Michael. Where exactly are you talking about?" Trying his best to clarify things, Abbey went on to explain, "Michael is hiding inside his memories, or as I would say, a memory inside a memory. Even though we are inside Michael's memories, we have to enter into this memory to find Michael."

But before they could do anything else, the strange man spoke, "You are playing with fire. It's better not to get on my bad side." Sharon was shocked and surprised. She asked, "Are you talking to us?" To her greatest surprise, the strange man inside the memory replied, "Yes, I know who you are and what you are attempting to do. It's best you leave Michael alone, or you will incur my wrath." Abbey sneered at the words of the stranger and said to Sharon, "Don't be afraid of a defence mechanism. He has no hold over you when I am around."

With that, he led Sharon inside the memory where they found Michael. Michael could not contain his joy when he saw Sharon. He immediately yelled, "Aunt Sharon, is that really you?" Sharon, holding back the tears in her eyes, answered, "Yes, it's me Michael." They both reached out to each other and embraced. "Aunt Sharon, I can't believe you are here. How did you find me?" Michael asked enthusiastically. Sharon replied, "With the help of my friend over here. Without him, we would not have been able to find you."

Abbey gestured towards Michael and asked, "Michael, do you know where you are?" Michael replied sincerely, "I don't know, but I have been trying my best to leave this place. But something or someone keeps preventing me from leaving or escaping." Sharon chimed in, "Don't worry, Auntie Sharon is here to help you. You don't have to be afraid anymore." Michael responded, "I am not afraid, auntie. I have some friends who have been helping me fight the bad man." Again, Sharon was taken aback by his response and immediately asked, "What did you say? You have some friends who have been helping you fight the bad man?"

"Yes, Aunt Sharon," replied Michael. "And where are your friends now?" asked Abbey. "They're all around us," answered Michael. Before long, all of the cartoon characters began to appear one by one. Abbey noticed immediately that they were all characters from Michael's favorite TV shows and series. He commented, "These are your defense mechanisms," to Sharon, who understood immediately.

"Do you know who the bad man is and what he wants?" Sharon asked Michael. Michael thought for a while before saying, "I don't know who he is, but he keeps saying my father owes him a debt that he must collect."

"Don't worry about it for now," added Abbey. "We need to focus on getting out of here first. The longer we stay, the harder it will be to escape now that the enemy is aware of our presence." Turning towards Michael, he continued, "We're going to need the help of your friends to get you home. Do you think they will help us?"

"I will ask them for help. Don't worry, sir. I believe they will help," Michael reassured them. He started to chat with his friends and after what felt like a long time, he finally came back to Abbey and Sharon.

"They have agreed to help us. They only ask that we don't forget about them," Michael said. Both Abbey and Sharon replied simultaneously, "We won't forget you guys. Thank you so much for agreeing to help Michael and us."

Holding onto Michael as if her life depended on it, Sharon instinctively looked at Abbey and asked, "What shall we do now? Shall we leave the same way we came?" Just like that, they were out of the inner memory and back in the room with the stranger. This time, the stranger was not alone. He had surrounded himself with strange creatures – his defense mechanisms. But before they could attack, Michael's defense mechanisms appeared. The stranger was taken aback by this sudden action. He immediately composed himself before yelling, "Attack them!" Soon, a fight broke out between two different types of defense mechanisms – one led by Michael and the other by the strange man.

As Abbey, Sharon, and Michael stood there watching, something caught Abbey's attention. He noticed that the strange man's defenses were getting stronger and pressing hard on Michael's defense mechanisms. But before he could say or do anything, Michael spoke up, "Auntie, uncle, let's leave now while the bad man is distracted." Michael was deliberately trying to lose so that the bad man would think he is winning and be distracted. "What a clever boy," remarked Abbey. Holding onto Abbey and Sharon, Michael immediately began to run. When the strange man saw that Michael and the others were about to escape, he yelled to his defense mechanisms, "Don't let them escape!"

But his effort was almost too late. Michael had led Abbey and Sharon out of that memory and they were back inside the thread of the labyrinth. Michael seemed confused, as he asked, "Where are we and why are we not at home?" Both Abbey and Sharon stared at each other. How could they explain to Michael that they were inside the inner workings of his mind? How could they explain to a seven year old that they were in his memories? They paused for a long time, trying to think of the best possible explanation to give, before they saw the defense mechanism coming at them again.

"No time to waste, we have to get out of here first before we can answer any questions," replied Sharon. Both Abbey and Michael nodded in acknowledgment. "How do we get out of here?" asked Sharon. "Michael, you are familiar with this place, we need you to help find the way out," replied Abbey. Michael seemed surprised and confused. He immediately asked, "I don't know where we are, how can I help in finding a way out?" Abbey's response was sudden. "Don't worry about that, just ask your friends to lead you to the door. That's all you need to do. They will handle the rest," she explained to Michael.

Just as she finished speaking, Michael's defense mechanisms appeared in front of them and started leading the way. Michael, without understanding, said to both Sharon and Abbey, "They want us to follow them. They are saying they know the way out of here." Abbey began to smile, as if trying to say, "I know." Before long, they were led along the thread of the labyrinth. Every now and then, they would encounter some of the evil defense mechanisms, but Michael's defense mechanisms appeared to be stronger. After all, this was his mind.

Not long after, they encountered the implants once again. This time, it seemed to have a more direct impact on Michael. He appeared fatigued and was almost fading away. Sharon screamed in panic, causing Abbey to immediately form a protective barrier around Michael. "It seems the enemy is desperate and doesn't want you to wake up," Abbey concluded. "They are using the implants to eat away at your consciousness," Abbey explained to Sharon and Michael. "The barrier around him can only protect him for so long. You have to destroy all the implants now," Abbey urged Sharon.

Without hesitation, Abbey began forming a vacuum from thin air. The vacuum immediately began sucking in all the implants and incinerating them at the same time.

After some time, Michael appeared to be well again. "We are almost at the door," he said, pointing in a direction.