Chapter 4:
Chapter 4: the New Nurse
The 30th of February
The next thing I remembered since the conversation with the Scholar was the injection again.
This time, I gave the Nurse my arm without her asking and said, “Please make it quick.”
But wait.
It was a different woman. The Nurse used to be a middle-aged woman who was a little bit chubby. But the New Nurse in front of me was a good-looking girl in her late 20s or maybe early 30s. Of course I had nothing to complain about this change of staff, but I still asked, “I haven’t seen you before. Where is the nurse who used to give me the jabs?”
“I started working here only yesterday. And sorry, I don’t know anything about the person who used to work in my position. When I came here, she had already left. Maybe she quit.”
Her sweet voice was a perfect match for her beautiful face. And honestly, it made the whole injection process a pleasure. For the first time since my arrival here, I actually looked forward to the next shot. And damn, they should have hired someone like her in the first place.
And over the shoulder of the New Nurse, I could see the Bound Man sitting in the corner. So after I was told I could go, I walked up to him and said, “Hey bro. What’s up? Should we continue our unfinished conversation?”
“Sure. We haven’t seen you for a while. You know what? Jessica missed you and always asked about you,” said the Bound Man.
It had been only a day and the Jessica “personality” was already missing me. What’s worse than a female personality trapped inside a schizophrenic male falling in love with me? But I couldn’t complain about this to the Bound Man, because Jessica might listen. So I just gave a polite reply.
“I missed her too. I couldn’t have joined your club if not for her help. And I want to continue my conversation with the Scholar. Are you ready? I mean, are you physically ready? Last time you said he used up too many of your brain cells and exhausted you.”
“Don’t worry. I had enough sleep recently. I’ll let you two have a good talk. But as agreed, 10 minutes max.”
We then walked to the Room again. As soon as the Bound Man entered the Room, he dropped his head and started to speak in a deep voice.
“Hey, young man, where have you been? I really want to finish our conversation. As a scholar, it’s my need to share my knowledge with someone. But the Bound Man always says he can’t understand and my knowledge is not for housewives and kids. So you’re the only one I can talk to.”
I wanted to say I was not but I knew better than to argue with a man in a mental asylum. And in fact, there were many questions that I wanted to ask the Scholar too. So I said, “I’m very happy to be this person. You can share everything you know with me.”
“Good! Very good!” The Scholar wanted to restart the conversation. But after remaining silent for a few seconds, he said with his head staying down, “Where did we stop last time? Sorry that it was quite a long time ago and my memory is not very reliable.”
“I believe you mentioned the Player, or the one who was behind the merging of different worlds. And then the Bound Man complained about fatigue and stopped the talk.”
“Yes! Yes! The Player! Now I want to explain to you why I think the worlds didn’t just merge by themselves. First, the merging was not a clean process. It was so rough and the result was that elements from both previous worlds co-existed in the newly merged world.”
I wanted to pretend I could understand but the Scholar was really talking over my head this time. So I asked him to elaborate, “Could you make it more specific? What do you mean the process was rough?”
“Do you know the Mandela Effect?”
“Sure. I remembered the Evil Queen saying ‘Mirror, mirror on the wall’ ever since I was a child. And then suddenly it turned out that my memory was all wrong and the correct dialogue should be ‘Magic mirror on the wall’. But what has this got to do with our talk?”
“Mandela Effect started to show up one or two years before the 2012 Merge and became full-blown afterward. And then after the 2019 Pandemic, people rarely found new cases and didn’t talk much about it anymore,” said the Scholar.
“You’re right. But you haven’t answered my question. What has the Mandela Effect got to do with our conversation?”
“The Mandela Effect was the result of a rough merging of two worlds. If a merge is clean and clear, only one version of reality should exist in the resulting new world. But if it’s rough, just like what we have experienced, then two versions of reality will clash and confuse people.”
“Okay. I think I get what you mean. You’re saying that it’s not just an urban legend. Mandela Effect is in fact a real deal, isn’t it? But how does it prove the presence of the Player?” I asked.
“The merge was rough. It’s an undisputed fact. But the result was not left unattended. The Player kept adjusting the merge. And some cases of Mandela Effect could evolve along the years. I’m not sure if the Covid Pandemic was related but the fact is that after the Pandemic, there were much fewer new cases of Mandela Effect. It seems that the merging has already stabilized.”
“You’re right. People don’t really talk much about Mandela Effect anymore.”
“The improvements prove that the Player exists. Mistakes will never correct themselves. New cases stopped appearing. It’s not natural. It’s maintenance.” The Scholar then paused for a while and said, “And if the Mandela Effect is real, then technically speaking, the Mayans were right. Our old world where the Evil Queen said ‘Mirror, mirror on the wall’ was long gone.”
“Then isn’t it good news? At least we continue to live despite the destruction of our old world,” I said. And immediately I regretted saying this to the Scholar, because apparently he and the other three “residents” inside the Bound Man were the victims of the merging process.
But fortunately, he didn’t dwell on his misfortune and continued the talk.
“No, it’s not good news. Not at all. Have you questioned why there are 28 days in February instead of 29 after the merge? I mean, if one day was to be deducted, then it should have gone from 30 to 29, definitely not straight to 28.”
“February has 29 days in leap years.”
“And that’s the problem. Do you know the main sign of an upcoming destruction of the world? It’s the unstable number of days in a specific month. Leap year is just a bullshit theory. February sometimes has 28 days and sometimes has 29, because something really bad is going to happen.”
“No way. Leap year is not a new concept. I learned about it many years ago as a kid.”
“I understand how you feel. But just like the Mandela Effect, the leap year phenomenon can supernaturally change history and your memory. People can feel it has been around for thousands of years with tons of evidence but in fact it’s only a new thing after the 2012 Merge.”
I shook my head in disbelief.
“If you don’t believe me, ask yourself,” said the Scholar. “Do you feel that time passes faster nowadays than it did when you were a child?”
“Yes, I feel it this way sometimes. But there are scientific or psychological explanations for this.”
“The only real scientific explanation is that when our world is approaching another big destruction, our dimension is distorted and the length of one second becomes 10% shorter than it normally is. My mentor told me this before --”
Knock, knock, knock.
Before the Scholar could go into further details, someone was knocking the door. I opened it and it was the New Nurse. She was saying something. But I couldn’t hear a word. My vision became very blurry and what’s worse was the dizziness. Gradually, I couldn’t feel anything at all, as if inside a dream.
This time, I gave the Nurse my arm without her asking and said, “Please make it quick.”
But wait.
It was a different woman. The Nurse used to be a middle-aged woman who was a little bit chubby. But the New Nurse in front of me was a good-looking girl in her late 20s or maybe early 30s. Of course I had nothing to complain about this change of staff, but I still asked, “I haven’t seen you before. Where is the nurse who used to give me the jabs?”
“I started working here only yesterday. And sorry, I don’t know anything about the person who used to work in my position. When I came here, she had already left. Maybe she quit.”
Her sweet voice was a perfect match for her beautiful face. And honestly, it made the whole injection process a pleasure. For the first time since my arrival here, I actually looked forward to the next shot. And damn, they should have hired someone like her in the first place.
And over the shoulder of the New Nurse, I could see the Bound Man sitting in the corner. So after I was told I could go, I walked up to him and said, “Hey bro. What’s up? Should we continue our unfinished conversation?”
“Sure. We haven’t seen you for a while. You know what? Jessica missed you and always asked about you,” said the Bound Man.
It had been only a day and the Jessica “personality” was already missing me. What’s worse than a female personality trapped inside a schizophrenic male falling in love with me? But I couldn’t complain about this to the Bound Man, because Jessica might listen. So I just gave a polite reply.
“I missed her too. I couldn’t have joined your club if not for her help. And I want to continue my conversation with the Scholar. Are you ready? I mean, are you physically ready? Last time you said he used up too many of your brain cells and exhausted you.”
“Don’t worry. I had enough sleep recently. I’ll let you two have a good talk. But as agreed, 10 minutes max.”
We then walked to the Room again. As soon as the Bound Man entered the Room, he dropped his head and started to speak in a deep voice.
“Hey, young man, where have you been? I really want to finish our conversation. As a scholar, it’s my need to share my knowledge with someone. But the Bound Man always says he can’t understand and my knowledge is not for housewives and kids. So you’re the only one I can talk to.”
I wanted to say I was not but I knew better than to argue with a man in a mental asylum. And in fact, there were many questions that I wanted to ask the Scholar too. So I said, “I’m very happy to be this person. You can share everything you know with me.”
“Good! Very good!” The Scholar wanted to restart the conversation. But after remaining silent for a few seconds, he said with his head staying down, “Where did we stop last time? Sorry that it was quite a long time ago and my memory is not very reliable.”
“I believe you mentioned the Player, or the one who was behind the merging of different worlds. And then the Bound Man complained about fatigue and stopped the talk.”
“Yes! Yes! The Player! Now I want to explain to you why I think the worlds didn’t just merge by themselves. First, the merging was not a clean process. It was so rough and the result was that elements from both previous worlds co-existed in the newly merged world.”
I wanted to pretend I could understand but the Scholar was really talking over my head this time. So I asked him to elaborate, “Could you make it more specific? What do you mean the process was rough?”
“Do you know the Mandela Effect?”
“Sure. I remembered the Evil Queen saying ‘Mirror, mirror on the wall’ ever since I was a child. And then suddenly it turned out that my memory was all wrong and the correct dialogue should be ‘Magic mirror on the wall’. But what has this got to do with our talk?”
“Mandela Effect started to show up one or two years before the 2012 Merge and became full-blown afterward. And then after the 2019 Pandemic, people rarely found new cases and didn’t talk much about it anymore,” said the Scholar.
“You’re right. But you haven’t answered my question. What has the Mandela Effect got to do with our conversation?”
“The Mandela Effect was the result of a rough merging of two worlds. If a merge is clean and clear, only one version of reality should exist in the resulting new world. But if it’s rough, just like what we have experienced, then two versions of reality will clash and confuse people.”
“Okay. I think I get what you mean. You’re saying that it’s not just an urban legend. Mandela Effect is in fact a real deal, isn’t it? But how does it prove the presence of the Player?” I asked.
“The merge was rough. It’s an undisputed fact. But the result was not left unattended. The Player kept adjusting the merge. And some cases of Mandela Effect could evolve along the years. I’m not sure if the Covid Pandemic was related but the fact is that after the Pandemic, there were much fewer new cases of Mandela Effect. It seems that the merging has already stabilized.”
“You’re right. People don’t really talk much about Mandela Effect anymore.”
“The improvements prove that the Player exists. Mistakes will never correct themselves. New cases stopped appearing. It’s not natural. It’s maintenance.” The Scholar then paused for a while and said, “And if the Mandela Effect is real, then technically speaking, the Mayans were right. Our old world where the Evil Queen said ‘Mirror, mirror on the wall’ was long gone.”
“Then isn’t it good news? At least we continue to live despite the destruction of our old world,” I said. And immediately I regretted saying this to the Scholar, because apparently he and the other three “residents” inside the Bound Man were the victims of the merging process.
But fortunately, he didn’t dwell on his misfortune and continued the talk.
“No, it’s not good news. Not at all. Have you questioned why there are 28 days in February instead of 29 after the merge? I mean, if one day was to be deducted, then it should have gone from 30 to 29, definitely not straight to 28.”
“February has 29 days in leap years.”
“And that’s the problem. Do you know the main sign of an upcoming destruction of the world? It’s the unstable number of days in a specific month. Leap year is just a bullshit theory. February sometimes has 28 days and sometimes has 29, because something really bad is going to happen.”
“No way. Leap year is not a new concept. I learned about it many years ago as a kid.”
“I understand how you feel. But just like the Mandela Effect, the leap year phenomenon can supernaturally change history and your memory. People can feel it has been around for thousands of years with tons of evidence but in fact it’s only a new thing after the 2012 Merge.”
I shook my head in disbelief.
“If you don’t believe me, ask yourself,” said the Scholar. “Do you feel that time passes faster nowadays than it did when you were a child?”
“Yes, I feel it this way sometimes. But there are scientific or psychological explanations for this.”
“The only real scientific explanation is that when our world is approaching another big destruction, our dimension is distorted and the length of one second becomes 10% shorter than it normally is. My mentor told me this before --”
Knock, knock, knock.
Before the Scholar could go into further details, someone was knocking the door. I opened it and it was the New Nurse. She was saying something. But I couldn’t hear a word. My vision became very blurry and what’s worse was the dizziness. Gradually, I couldn’t feel anything at all, as if inside a dream.
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