– I can't even make a normal sound!
Doctor Emmett sighed and put the instruments aside.
– Okay, Nia, let's not rush. Everything has its time. Maybe your memories will return on their own.
After that, Doctor Emmett stopped offering Nia any activities. He just came to her room, asked about her well-being. Nia felt that he was not losing hope, but also did not know what to do next. He just feels sorry for me, Nia stated.
The days dragged on, one after another, as alike as two drops of water. Nia looked out the window, trying to remember at least something from her past life. But it was all in vain. Her brain remained clear and imperturbable. I am a blank slate. But who will draw my life on it? The girl pondered.
Sometimes Nia began to think that she had simply gone crazy. That all this was just a figment of her sick imagination. But then she looked at Doctor Emmett, at his kind eyes and sincere concern, and realized that this was not so. She really had lost her memory. And she needed to somehow live on. Or at least survive.
On one of the doctor's visits, Nia, gathering her courage, asked:
– Doctor Emmett, why is there no sun here? When will dawn come?
Doctor Emmett raised his eyebrows in surprise.
– Dawn? – he asked again, as if he had heard something long forgotten. – I don't even remember dawn ever being… I think my grandmother or great-grandmother told me about the sun, but I can't remember exactly.
– What kind of lighting is this? Where does the light come from? – Nia continued to inquire.
– These are generators, – Doctor Emmett explained. – They supply the earth with energy.
– But how is that? Why doesn't the sun appear for so long? What happened? – Nia didn't give up.
Doctor Emmett sighed.
– There are legends that once the day began to shorten, and the sun appeared for less and less time. And then it didn't rise at all. We call this the Day of the Great Darkness. No one knows when the sun will rise again.
– But why did this happen? – Nia asked. – Doesn't the earth rotate in orbit? And if the sun disappeared, the earth would begin to cool down, wouldn't it?
Doctor Emmett could not answer this question.
– Hmm… You know, I never thought about it. I don't have the necessary knowledge in the field of astronomy. But I will definitely check with my colleagues and tell you next time. I myself have never been interested in this topic.
Nia felt disappointed. Doctor Emmett seemed so smart and knowledgeable, but even he couldn't explain what had happened to the sun. What kind of world was this, in which even the sun was just a legend?
The days dragged on slowly, filled with anxiety and expectation. Doctor Emmett did not return for a long time, and Nia began to worry. What happened to him? Why doesn't he come? Maybe he got sick? Or did he just forget about her? She rushed around the room like a beast in a cage.
One day, an unfamiliar man in a light blue suit entered her room. His face was impenetrable and cold, and his gaze was aloof.
– Doctor Emmett will no longer be able to visit you, – he announced without any preamble.
– What happened? Where is he? – Nia asked fearfully. She felt her heart sink.
– Doctor Emmett has been arrested for his interest in forbidden knowledge, – the new doctor replied.
Nia felt the world around her collapsing.
– Arrested? For what forbidden knowledge? What will happen to him now? – Tears welled up in her eyes. She had become so used to Doctor Emmett, to his kind eyes and sincere concern. He was the only person she could trust in this crazy world.
