Who Knows?

In the room's heavy, unbearable silence, Aim is the only one who feels in his element and does not look like an out-of-place object in this cold and creepy universe.

Everything suits him perfectly, and Nodge, for the first time, loses his majestic and refreshing charm in the face of this imposing and threatening figure that Aim's image sends back to him.

He knows how beautiful and almost cute he is, like a baby koala, but he didn't realize he could exhibit such charm and aura. He didn't know he could be so dominant just by imposing his presence on others with this almost arrogant and contemptuous attitude that emanated from him.

He did not know that this boy, whom he loved like his own child, had grown up despite the seclusion in which he had closed himself all these years.

This frightened and fragile boy, whom he protects with all his being, is no longer there, and he does not know when he changed so much.

He has just realized he has never seen him as anything other than a child he must protect at all costs and not as someone capable of defending himself.

Despite all the precautions he took so that the latter could take self-defense and other courses, he never counted on Aim to ensure his own safety.

This little boy, whose mere sight of a camera can drive him mad and uncontrollable, the whispering and intense gaze of others can push him into a state of madness and uncontrolled rage that makes him almost stupid in the eyes of others.

But that was a long time ago. This boy, whom Nodge knows and wants to protect at all costs, no longer exists. He died a few years ago, but Nodge does not know that either.

Without protection, this sweet and fragile boy died in this boarding school for gifted children to which he was admitted.

This boy died under the sexual thrusts of this wanton woman, who abused him by all means, using his fear against him. But Nodge does not know it either, and will not know it one day.

He's become the vulnerable boy Nodge knows only when Ewen is near him.

With Ewen, he's that little kid who only needs love and attention since the latter poses no threat to him or his peers. For better or worse, this person who cries when he can't cry and who makes him cry to get rid of his distress, his pain, makes him feel his pain hidden deep inside him, buried in the depths of his being far from his thoughts and needs.

But can he afford the luxury of keeping him forever by his side to preserve and protect his fragile and gentle side, his pure childish soul? Or does he still need those stupid emotions in his life, which still make him vulnerable like before?

Does he need these disturbing waves in his life to harm the emotional balance he has erected around him, to destabilize and weaken his wall?

Nodge has this poignant feeling that he's missed an episode in Aim's life. He feels something is not right, but he doesn't know what it is. He can't put his finger on this oddity. He can't understand this drastic change he noticed in his conduct.

Has he been too forgiving or blind all this time?

Or at least, his love and appreciation for his protege's parents made him so pout that he failed to notice that he was no longer that scared child.

This vulnerable kid who fainted under the harsh lights of the cameras, banging his head because of a journalist who showed no patience or limits with a child who had just lost his parents cruelly.

A sigh of frustration escaped his throat without him realizing it. He glanced hastily at the other people in the room, especially the mother and son duo in front of him. He jumped at the sound of his sigh.

But Kiara is far too engrossed in the sweet little one-sided conversation with her son to realize the icy, electrified atmosphere in her office, let alone Nodge's scowl and almost decomposed expression.

The memories of those events that caused Aim to shut himself off from the outside world resurfaced in his head, each incident causing him to become even more asocial each time.

Then he remembers how he was when he got home from boarding school. This veil of distress and darkness enveloped him and floated above his head, not to mention that he refused even more than ever that anyone approach him.

It was precisely on his return that he decided to live outside the manor, far from all the crazy family atmosphere they tried to create for his sake and away from these people who evolved around him day and night.

He couldn't take it all anymore, so he chose the penthouse far from the mansion with a minimum of servants, which he hosts on one floor of his complex.

Of course, he wants to live a little far from everything that reminds him of a family atmosphere, but he doesn't know how to do anything by himself, and he hates having so many people around him.

He couldn't even talk to him like he often did when Aim was younger, and he locked himself in his room for three straight months without ever seeing the light of day or night.

Nodge was so scared and distraught that he visited the boarding school to find out what had changed and if they hid any details about his stay from him during their report.

Unfortunately, he found nothing suspicious; they repeated the same charades to him, and he told himself that he just had to give him time to adapt outside the boarding school walls.

This is how he patiently waited for Aim to come to him instead of rushing him around. And since his journey to find the truth did not reveal anything alarming, he did not conduct further research on the boarding school.

Meanwhile, Aim decided to make Cody physical. He didn't want him to be just a virtual assistant anymore. He felt the need to have near him the presence of someone he believed in and someone he could bear the company of without feeling like throwing up.

So, that's how Cody went from virtual assistant to hologram assistant and finally to a do-it-all humanoid who accompanies him in his daily delirium and taunts, teases, and lectures him day and night like a mother, a brother, and a friend.

Cody's presence in his human form has given him more comfort than he ever thought he wanted, more human warmth than he ever had, and this one has proven very useful in human relations.

He pushes him to trust him not as his assistant or his toy with millions of dollars but as a whole person; sometimes, he even forgets that this person who looks like him like two drops of water is not human.

Cody became his partner in crime. He went from advising on all sorts of matters to being Aim's right-hand man. He taught him how to take advantage of this situation, in which he found himself in the boarding school, but he was only a virtual assistant at the time.

And it was only when Aim returned from boarding school that he understood what this woman was doing to him. He understood the truth about his condition only when he started to take an interest in some forums where young people discuss and explain what they go through daily and their suicidal intent to escape their monsters.

Sometimes Cody can be a good helper, and sometimes he can be a bad one. He taught Aim that he doesn't have to be the one to suffer the deed idly.

He taught him that he could also be the one who does it. He is not always obliged to be the one who receives obediently. That said, he was far from understanding at the time that Aim was being abused by someone who should be watching over him.

If only Aim had the right to use his gadgets outside his room, he would have understood what was going on, but the poor child could only ask him questions, and the wrong ones, apparently.

But luckily, those questions he often asked Cody once sheltered in his room helped him lessen the damage in his brain. His intolerance of tactile people or whatever the nature of these touches also played a significant role in his freedom.

It would be even worse if he didn't hate being touched or hit. He would indeed have remained adorable and docile while watching this depraved woman deprive him of what he had of self-esteem, innocence, and humanity in him.

But despite that, the big question is: does he have anything human left?

And other questions can still be asked to better understand and analyze it, such as; didn't he become one of those monsters?

Someone who haunts people at night to blackmail them, or even worse, is this a person with all their human faculties?

Hasn't he also become a monster hiding under the good Samaritan's attitude or the night's savior?

Hm, who knows?