“Great. Then please relax your mind.”

The Overseer went towards the door to open a sliding window in the center.

“Bring her.”

He closes it.

“What will you do? Is it necessary for me to be restrained?”

“Yes. Get used to it because we’ll continue using such methods until we know you’re innocent.”

“How will you do it?”

“Stop asking questions and relax.”

I wait patiently for a short time. I can’t relax at all but not talking is helping me. The Overseer opens the door when they knock on it.

A blind woman comes in with the Overseer guiding her towards me. She isn’t my type, but she’s pretty. Her black, long, and wavy hair looks like mine. Well, how mine used to look like.

“This woman will find the truth with her ability. To help with the process, she’ll tell you her name, but you’re forbidden from telling someone else about it.”

“Okay.”

She takes a step forward and extends her arm until she touches my body.

“What’s your name?”

“I’m Uzziye Bakker.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you; my name is Miry. I’ll be asking you some questions along with the Overseer; is that okay for you?”

“Yes.”

She moves her hand and stops around my heart. With her other hand, she touches my head.

“Does this make you uncomfortable?”

“No.”

I find it strange, but I don’t care ‘cause it feels good. Much better than receiving a beating even if I tell the truth.

“What’s your favorite food?”

“Sweets. I like seeds and legumes more than fruits.”

“That’s fantastic and unusual. Most people like greasy stuff or meat, or natural things like fruits.”

“Yeah. I don’t like meat.”

“I see. Do you enjoy hot weather or prefer it colder?”

“I prefer hot weather. I hate to feel cold.”

“What do you think about rainy days?”

“I don’t fancy them ‘cause everything becomes muddy, but it makes things fresher, and it helps grow food and plants.”

“Oh, so you don’t like to get dirty?”

“No, I hate it.”

Miry touches my face with the hand that was on my head. Unlike the times when I had sex in the dark, her hand carries no sexual tension. She has no ulterior motive, and her hand on my chest is resting around my heart without exploring my breasts. I can’t help but show a timid smile.

“It’s great to get to know you, Uzziye.”

“It’s also nice to meet you, Miry.”

“This may be too personal but, is there something you want to do when you become free?”

I thought I had nothing, but there’s something I want with every fiber of my being.

“I want to become a mother.”

Contrary to my enthusiasm, the Overseer and Miry give me a troubled look. The Overseer is looking at me with a “you will never become a mother” attitude. Fuck you. Miry looks at me with pity and resignation, but there’s also surprise and understanding in her blind eyes.

“How many kids do you want?”

That’s something I haven’t thought of. What’s my limit, I wonder? Let’s answer that I don’t know.

“I’ll be happy with just one, but if I can have more, then it’s great.”

“Do you have a lover waiting for you?”

“No. But I can have a kid without marrying, so it’s okay.”

“That’s no good; you need someone to help you when things get hard.”

“Excuse me, is she ready?”

The Overseer interrupts us. Miry nods with her head.

“Tell us everything you know about how monsters are born.”

“I already told you I don’t know!”

Miry closes her eyes.

I feel a strange sensation from her hand touching my body. I don’t like it.

“Please move your hand.”

Miry doesn’t move, so I look at the Overseer. He’s smiling. That bastard. What’s with him asking me the same over and over again?

“The memory is blocked. I’ll need time.”

Eh? So I’m crazy?

“How much time?”

“Months. I need to take it step-by-step from the present towards the past.”

I don’t like how that sounds.

“She knows how monsters are born, am I right?”

“Yes.”

“Then you have a week.”

The Overseer goes out, leaving us alone.

“He’s a hard man to deal with.”

“He’s a bastard, so stubborn.”

Miry laughs at my words. I laugh too. It’s great to have Miry with me. She draws closer to me and bumps her head with mine; she apologizes and searches for my ear. It tickles.

“I’m a criminal… so I can’t disobey him. I need your help… will you?”

She whispers with such a soft voice that I barely heard her.

I also turn my head towards her ear.

“What do you need me to do?”

“I need you to trust in me and do your best to remember.”

…

“This can be dangerous and drive you mad if you resist. The Overseer is so impatient he forced me to do this… and they went crazy.”

So it’s like that. I don’t want to.

“I know this is hard, and you don’t want to, so I’ll also do my best to do this fast and avoid any hurtful memory.”

“What do you mean?”

“I only need you to know such a thing happened for me to see everything. You won’t relieve the memory. But that’s for the hardest memories. To reach those memories, the others will be as clear as yesterday for you.”

“So you will force me to remember things I don’t want to, that make me so scared I want to die, just to reach a faraway memory?”

Miry faces the ground for a moment before raising her head.

“What he wants to know is a memory hidden so deep I don’t know how difficult it’ll be. I detected three blocked memories that hide that one. Something terrible happened that you blocked at least four memories of the same time. It scares me just to think I’ll have to see that as if I’m you. So I get it if you don’t want to.”

The seriousness in her words tells me how much pressure she has on her shoulders. She doesn’t want to drive me crazy, but she’ll do it if needed ‘cause she believes in their cause.

“Then just drive me crazy and kill me. I don’t want to know.”

“Don’t underestimate the damage it’ll do to you if we force the process. Just give me the chance to show you how it is with one memory. One memory is all I need.”

“No.”

“Do you want to live the rest of your life here? What about your dream to become a mother?”