Chapter 8

'I'm telling you Miss Aiko, I know what I saw!' Leo explained.

Miss Aiko sighed. Leo did tell her he stayed up past midnight working on the Neurometer. So she could understand that Leo had probably hallucinated what he had seen because he was so fatigued.

'Leo... maybe what you thought you saw was just a hallucination. Think about it. What is the possibility that you built a machine that sent you to another dimension?' Miss Aiko reasoned.

'How many times do I have to repeat myself, Miss Aiko? I even heard a voice! It was female too! And I saw a light, like a bright light from a fluorescent bulb. How could I have possible made that up?!' Leo said, exasperated.

Miss Aiko was worried about Leo. She had let this go on too far. She should have stopped the poor boy from doing all this when he first told her about his experiments a couple of years ago. Now Miss Aiko fretted that Leo was on the brink of madness. He kept going on about seeing something, what was it, a light? She wasn't really paying attention to what he was saying. She was too distraught by the fact that Leo could be going insane.

She listened to Leo for a few more minutes. Then she suddenly snapped.

'Stop it, Leo! Stop lying to yourself! This is all absolute nonsense! I condemn my self for condoning all of this in the first place! I know it hurts Leo, trust me. But listen, you have to move on. Please, Leo. You're only hurting yourself.'

'If I can prove it to you...' Leo muttered.

'Pardon...?' Miss Aiko asked.

'I-If I can prove myself, Miss Aiko!' Leo suddenly said desperately. 'If I can prove that this isn't a lie, will you finally believe me?!'

'Prove yourself how?' Miss Aiko asked skeptically.

'I-I'll let you log into the Neurometer. B-but you don't have to if you want to! It's very risky, and-'

'I'll do it, Leo' Miss Aiko interrupted. 'And what will you do if nothing happens?' She asked.

'Uh, well....' Leo was reluctant to say he'd give up on his mission. He knows what he saw, and he would do everything he can to get back to that place.

'Promise me you'll stop all this if nothing happens' Miss Aiko said sternly.

Leo was silent.

'Promise me, Leo!' Miss Aiko exclaimed.

Leo looked away.

Miss Aiko sighed. She knew Leo was a tough nut to crack, but this was unbelievable.

'Just... whatever. Bring the Neurometer here at 3pm. Make sure that it's up and running perfectly, because I don't want any excuses if it fails to work!

'Yes, Professor. Thank you!' Leo slightly bowed at her and left the room, slightly upset that his professor hadn't believed him. He thought she would be elated when she heard the news. Not only was she angry, she thought Leo was insane.

'Is this what you had to go through, father?' Leo thought.

He wouldn't let this incident upset him. He should celebrate, because he got one step closer to finding Suki. The words of that female still echoed in his mind... 'it's happening again!'

'What was happening again?' He thought. He really couldn't think of any valid answer. He wondered if it even had to do with him at all.

Leo soon returned to his apartment and slumped on his sofa. He took of his shoes and wristwatch and stared at the ceiling for a few moments.

Once again, he said to himself 'Suki, I will find you.'