The Question (2)

It's so boring.

Just doing nothing every day, would make her die because of the boringness. She back to Cerebra today but Helio was not in the messy principal's office. Maybe Helio was sleeping. If there was no task to do, Helio just went to sleep. There were no humans lost in Cerebra anymore. Everything was back to normal again.

Good, right?

Oxy didn't want to feel disappointed. It's good to hear there was no victim of the brain fog effect anymore. The government didn't know that she and the principal, and also Helio, were the ones who work behind the scenes. Unpaid or even unknown. The unknown hero. Sounded so stupid.

Oxy put the binoculars. She was using binoculars even though it was still foggy outside. She seemed to hope to see Urons walking around on a foggy day searching for their prey. But outside was so quiet. Are they sleeping just like Helio? After all, of course, it sounded stupid walking around on a foggy day when they couldn't able to see.

But Oxy had that stupid idea.

If all of Cerebra's townspeople couldn't be saved when the town disappeared, it meant, her parents died here. Or have they turned into Uron?

There must be a hospital out there, the place where Oxy was born. She was born on the day when this city disappeared from the real world. Maybe she was born a few hours before that happened, maybe after she was put in the crib by the nurse. The hospital was still out there, probably there was data of her parents in there.

The idea sounded crazy but it's interesting.

Oxy looked around. As if she was worried that Helio could hear her thoughts. Helio would be against her crazy idea, of course.

But Oxy was excited. She stood up and left the principal's office. She passed the dark alley. Her feet stride wide, impatient to take her.

Oxy arrived at the library. She started looking. It took time to find what she wanted. In Skeleta, the school library kept a map of the city. There might also be a map of Cerebra keep here.

Then Oxy found it. Her excitement grew more. She studied the map. She traced every street, every name of the place and building.

She glanced at her watch. The clock worked differently at this dimension. She already estimated it if the time was running half a time faster here. That means if the day lasts for twelve hours in the real world, it only takes six hours in this dimension. So was the night too.

Oxy tapped on her watch glass, making sure the clock was still working properly.

After memorizing the street from the map, she got up, rolling up the map to put in an Helio backpack that she took from the principal's office before. Yes, yes, she knew that was not the principal's office anymore, it was Helio's private room, the Red Castle. But it still looked the same as the principal's office in her real world.

Oxy checked every place. She found a flashlight and some usable batteries. She left the library in a hurry. Her watch showed that there were still about four hours before sunset in the real world. Which meant two hours in this dimension.

Oxy found the bat as she passed the gym storage room. She's never played baseball, but maybe it's useful.

Oxy arrived at the gate. She gulped seeing how thick the fog was behind the gate. She thought to return, back to the principal's office then curled up on the sofa to return to her world.

But she's already here. So she managed herself and then opened the gate. The rusty metal of the gate creaked.

Oxy stepped into the fog.

Oxy walked. She hoped to find street signage to guide her way. She was grateful when she found the street sign that was still in its place.

Oxy remembered what was written on the map. It should have taken her only ten minutes to walk from school to Cerebra general hospital. She hoped not to miss the building because of the fog.

She looked around, starting to get nervous. She found no sign of Uron's whereabouts, but the silence and the thick fog made everything feel dangerous.

Oxy glanced at her watch. She had walked for about fifteen minutes. If she still couldn't find that hospital, she would turn back immediately, she promised herself. And when she had given up and intended to turn back, she saw that building.

Oxy stopped, breathing a sigh of relief as she saw the hospital roofs visible in the fog. She immediately entered the hospital.

Oxy didn't expect anything. This city has been abandoned for sixteen years. Everything was just left the silent mess. Oxy fantasized about seeing her mother sitting on the waiting chair in front of the administration counter. Accompanied by her father too. They both held hands, full of love because Oxy was about to be born.

Well, Oxy was just imagining it.

Oxy entered the administration counter. Sixteen years ago everything would still be manually saved. She read every row of visitors' names, she grouped them for the who would do the childbirth that day. There are only two patients. Maybe the other was Helio's parents. Wow, Helio will thank her if she managed to find the names of his parents.

With that data, Oxy immediately headed to the room. She struggled to read the instructions in the hospital corridor. She got lost several times and had to return and then read back the instructions properly.

Oxy found the room. She entered the inpatient room. She thought she would find her mother's skeleton in one of the beds, but she hadn't seen a single skeleton since she entered Cerebra. Maybe everyone had turned into Uron or already been eaten by them.

"Shit," Oxy realized that she only had half an hour to go back to school according to the time in the dimension. She immediately entered the nurse's room, and took any files she found on the table, and also the files that were on the top shelf. She stuffed it all into her backpack, then she ran.

Oxy left the hospital feeling so happy. She didn't know what she got exactly, but she was happy to have visited the hospital where she was born. It looked like she visited her parent's grave.

Oxy's smile slowly faded as she noticed the fog was thinning. And before she could realize it, suddenly she was thrown into the middle of the road. Two Urons appeared in front of her, howling.

Oxy sat up, flabbergasted at the sight of the terrifying black skull creature walking toward her. She immediately got up, then ran as fast as she could. Without looking back she just ran towards the school gate.

Damn, she saw the school gate fading. She remembered what Helio told to her, that the school would disappear when night fell.

Oh, no!

Oxy kept running. She ignored the two Urons chasing her behind. Just focus, and keep running! She ordered herself.

Oxy managed to reach the gate, but she screamed when her one leg was caught by Uron's big hand behind her. She screamed terrified as she clung to the gate. While Uron tugged her leg very hard. It felt like her body was about to break.

"Helio! Help!" Oxy cried desperately as she continued to kick her legs, hoping that Uron would let go of her leg.

And she forgot if there was one more Uron that charged forward, it might immediately catch the middle of her body.

Oxy was knocked down when she couldn't keep her grip. Her body was dragged backward as she pulled a baseball bat out of her bag. She immediately hit the bat with all her strength at the monster who tried to touch her.

But it was no use. She would die. Now.

Dor!

Uron howled at the sound of the gunshots, turning their attention to Oxy who immediately rose to her feet and entered the gate before it disappeared.

Helio was still aiming his rifle while the two Urons howled at the black hole that had formed in the air, howling as if to whine for their prey to come out. But when the air closed again, Uron's screams got even louder. They knew if they lose.

"Are you crazy?" Helio shouted angrily to Oxy, he grabbed the back of Oxy's clothes to make her stand. "Come on!" he dragged Oxy to leave the gate.

Oxy still felt tired after running away from the Urons and now she was forced to follow Helio went inside the building.

"So? You just practiced your suicidal idea, huh?!" Helio looked very annoyed.

"Sorry," Oxy just smiled lopsidedly. She felt stupid, but also satisfied. Satisfied to have seen the hospital where she was born, also satisfied that she was still alive after being attacked by two Urons at the last moment before the school disappeared.

"There's... something I want to check." She tried to give the reason. But of course, it was no use.

She was just stupid anyway.

Helio stared at her flabbergasted. He seemed unable to believe he would hear a simple excuse from a person who almost die.

"What will Mr. Dome say when he hears this?!" Helio exclaimed. "Seriously, if there is no me, you will die, Oxy Jane!"

"Well, thanks! That's why you're called the gatekeeper!" Oxy exclaimed, although irritated by Helio's outburst, but still, she had to thank Helio. Tonight her adoptive mother would not find her rotten head because of the brain fog effect.

"Just... Go home!" expelled Helio. "You piss me off so much!"

"Well, okay, yep. I'm going home," Oxy nodded in agreement. She immediately stepped forward to go to the principal's office. She already missed the sofa, then sleep there to return to her real world.[]