Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

Marisha explained things that I would've easily waved off as words coming from a madwoman but today I'm paying attention as much as I could. This type of thing shouldn't make sense in the first place—but the thing was, you'd need to put a bit of faith or trust in it to have the logic, if there were any of it, to work in my head or for any of this to make sense.

In any case, as Marisha continued with her explanation, it seemed that the other loophole was unless the person being hypnotized was susceptible to it naturally, the only way it'd work—even for a skeptic like me who already had tons of resistance against it—was for them to be willing in the first place.

Because yeah, I've heard and seen her get surprised while I was in the middle of getting hypnotized to remember shit I should've been able to remember in the first place—and her explanation for that was that it was a memory I repressed, and at the same time, I vaguely remember despite my strong feelings for them.

"How is that possible? I thought I saw everything, even from the footage—"

Marisha shook her head, "It's just one point of view if you were talking about your CCTVs. Also, despite your photographic memory, it's not 100% and you've only lived it once.

You might be able to remember most of it—and yeah, let's say ALL of it—but there are smaller details that could be just as important as the bigger ones and I just helped you see it again by looking and living through it a second time…"

"I see…"

"There's more to everything than just a replay from an electronic device. Our heads are much better at doing that, most people just don't have the right tools to do what I did to you…"

"And you're telling me it also increased my resistance to said hypnosis to a degree? You mentioned at least .1%, right?"

"This is where it gets floozy…"

"Floozy?"

"I can't accurately quantify the values of said resistance as if you're looking at a chart but it did increase by a good amount, adding it on top of your already strong resistance to it. I know it's kind of loosey-goosey and the results couldn't be seen that easily but all I can tell you right now is that I can notice the small difference each time I talk to the person I put into a uhh… a trial?

If we categorize it that way…"

"Can you… C-Can you give me an example? You know, in how you put someone in a uhh… hypnosis effect? Am I saying it right?"

"I'd define it more as a suggestive state—but there are different ways to do it, wanna hear a few?"

"Anything, I just want to somewhat know the ins and outs of it. How it starts, how it builds up again, how you know it's not working, etc., etc."

"Hmm? Then why don't we use that time as an example? I don't have a coin hanging from a rope to do it in the olden days so…"

"Pfft… Now, you're getting funny… That's more your style, heh."

"Really?! Alright, I'll listen to you on that… Oh…"

"Hmm?"

"Can you lay your head flat on that couch and put your hands to the side?"

I felt off, "Why?"

"You'd be more comfortable that way, just saying…"

"Nah, I'm good—" then I suddenly had a realization, "You're trying something now, huh? Isn't that a little obvious?"

Marisha let out a smile, "I'm actually being deliberate. This works on the less than umm… perceptive ones. I'm glad it didn't work on you. Listen though, despite your strengths against this type of thing, you also have a certain weakness no one else should hear about."

"What do you mean?"

"Call it an 'in' to start hypnosis against you—or for you, whichever works. And that is?"

Marisha shook her head, "I really shouldn't tell you verbally. You'd have to know it yourself or else you'd be too conscious against it. Do you understand?"

"I guess so…"

In any case, it didn't take long before Marisha asked the other three to leave the room so she could have a one-on-one session with me in her designated office.

And before we started, she asked me to raise my hands if I felt that I was getting hypnotized or was just about to—to the best of my ability—and even though it'd make her work harder for her, it was all in order to help me notice my faults—no, weaknesses or holes in my psyche.

I wasn't exactly sure as to how this would go since it felt like someone told me they'd ambush me before ambushing me—so yeah, it's safe to fucking say that my guards were definitely up.

With that said, I sat normally on the couch while she sat on her sofa across from me while wearing a gentle smile. It had been a while since we really talked like this—though a part of me was a little excited because the last time I did this, I gained more control over my "powers".

However, I started to get conflicted because if I had my guard up, how could I fall into that realm again and obtain a power-up?

And that's when it started:

"Hmm? Something on your mind?"

"Ah— You see, the last time we did this, I managed to—"

"I'll stop you right there."

"Hmm?"

"If you start turning it on and off again, I'll smack you in the head with the closest item I'd get my hands on."

"W-Well, I almost did, haha… But yeah, the last time I did this… I… I leveled up for some reason… Now I'm a… Umm… Since we've been through that part of my life already, I thought I might level up but thinking more on it, I might not."

"Ah… I see… I mean— You can tell me about other things similar but not as traumatic as that, no?"

"I mean…."

"C'mon, now… We barely talk to each other like this, tell me a few."

"Okay…"

For some reason, I began detailing the time I flew back to Japan to return my swords where I was unfortunately met with a demoness wielding my tachi against me, chasing me up and down the mountain—and again, for some other reasons, we end up in each other's arms.

Still, Marisha was just listening the whole time with a smile on her face, and I kept adding details that I could only remember as I was relaying the story to her.

Then she cut me off mid-sentence, "That… I do remember Kaley telling me that story a while back. When umm… When Tatiana got injured, is that right?"

I nodded, "I believe— Yeah, that's right."

"This young lady, Aoi, still have feelings for her?"

"Umm… W-Well, it's a little weird since I used to treat her as an older sister but yeah… If we're comparing it to what I feel towards Kaley, umm, I don't think I can if we look at it as a whole."

"Hmm?"

"For one, I treat her as a family member too—the same I treat everyone else in the compound but as a lover, I'm still confused. I mean—she's a viable partner, sure, but if I have to choose between them, Kaley had always been the one. No questions asked."

She let out a smile, "At least you're not lying, heh."

"Don't— Why would I lie?"

"I dunno~ I just thought you'd at least try and impress me. As Kaley's Mom, I want the best for her but as both your psychiatrists… Hmm. Nevermind that, we have to focus on you now."

"I— Sure…"

"So tell me specifics of it, how is it that you've somehow cured Tatiana of her fear of that particular creature by using that experience of yours?"

I scratched the back of my head, "It's not like she's cured in a way because fear will always be there— but let's just say I transferred that fear over to me but since we're that close, it somehow canceled it altogether. But yeah, she's extra sensitive when we came across beings like that one so I guess it's kind of a small boon too if she's around."

"So that lady chasing you down the mountain is that frightening, huh?"
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I wiped the cold sweat off my face as I began to remember more details about that story:

"You see, I— damn, thinking on it now, technically speaking, I was more afraid at that time because I didn't black out and was present the whole time she chased me with my sword. I've seen and made her mad a few times but that was the first time she actually emitted killing intent. I really thought she was gonna kill me."

"You've left one particular part of that story unsaid. What did you actually do or say to get her mad?"

"I thought I did mention it. I remember telling her that I'm gonna return the swords Ojii-san made for me and it's gonna be the last time they'd see me…"

"Then what?"

"That's it."

"Think deeper. I'm sure there's more to that… Trust me."