TOWARDS A MILESTONE
CHAPTER 7
19.
Days are continuously going, something that should be faced whether we like it or not. Time will constantly move as it slowly marches us towards the future.
As the story goes on, Monday comes again. Everyone is set to do what they are supposed to do. Milly goes to Alioth's house to fetch him. She was actually surprised when she saw Alioth, perfectly prepared and already waiting outside. It's time for their weekly scheduled appointment.
Upon arriving, Alioth walks towards the vacant room where the regular sessions occur. The psychiatrist was surprised to see Alioth go inside by himself. Usually, Milly will assist him towards the room, then leaves him there as she waits in the lobby. Due to visible confusion, Milly gives the psychiatrist a heads up. She told her that
Alioth was already waiting outside when she arrived. And now Alioth goes in by himself. With this primary observation, the psychiatrist starts the session with extra caution on her mind.
Knowing that Alioth communicates through writing, the psychiatrist hands him a whiteboard and a marker. "I like your shirt, it suits you. So how's your week?" The psychiatrist asked as she tried to make Alioth comfortable.
Alioth smiled and wrote "I'm fine"
It is actually the first time that the psychiatrist saw Alioth smile, she then began to guess "Do you have new friends?" she asked.
Alioth immediately nodded as he wrote "Her name is Luna"
"That's nice! Can you tell me more about her?" the psychiatrist replied.
"They always fight" Alioth wrote.
"They?" the psychiatrist curiously asked.
"Rigel and Luna" Alioth added.
"Are they… not friends?" the psychiatrist questioned.
Alioth disagrees as he writes "They are close friends".
"So there's three of you hanging out.." the psychiatrist commented.
Alioth shakes his head because there's 4 of them, including Eezo, but then he realized that the psychiatrist should not know about Eezo. Alioth panicked and accidentally said "Oh" as he nodded, agreeing to the psychiatrist's comment.
The psychiatrist was surprised to hear Alioth's voice, the potential of making him talk again increases. With this timing, she tried harder in order to push Alioth a bit. She needs to put Alioth in a situation wherein she will catch him off guard, the questions should not be answerable by yes or no.
"Can you tell me how you met Luna?" the psychiatrist asked.
Alioth wrote "Lumpiang shanghai"
The psychiatrist was confused, she asked "What is that?"
"Food" Alioth wrote.
"Oh so you met her through food." the psychiatrist clarifies.
As their conversation goes on, Alioth is slowly getting comfortable with their discussion. The psychiatrist is fully aware that her next question might hurt Alioth, but she needs to do so, for Alioth's sake. "Are you afraid of losing them?" she asked.
Alioth was stunned, he felt like a covered wound opened again. It is actually the first time that Alioth realized he might lose Eezo. There will be a time wherein Eezo needs to go back where it came from.
Alioth starts to tremble, the scenario enters his mind, like a storm that is yet to come. "A.. aaa.. aa.." Alioth tries to speak, his voice cracks as he begins to shed tears in his eyes.
The psychiatrist immediately hugs Alioth. "Relax, relax… It won't happen. Sorry for asking" she said as she comforted Alioth.
The situation is extremely difficult to deal with. The psychiatrist could not prescribe medication due to the fact that Alioth is a kid. The dosage might harm his development. They don't have that much of a choice, they have to do it in a hard way.
In a few more minutes, the session ended. Even with a heavy heart, the psychiatrist attained notable results for that day. She began to discuss things with Milly.
"So doc, how was he?" Milly worriedly asked.
"First of all, I do want to apologize to you mrs. Milly, the session went drastic" the psychiatrist said.
"What do you mean?" Milly responded.
"It's evident that Alioth is getting better, he communicates well now. When I was talking to him, there's a part when he actually said something. To be precise, he used his voice rather than an actual word" the psychiatrist discussed.
"Really? That is amazing!" Milly reacted.
"I thought so too, he reacted (oh), like he was shocked or he suddenly realized something. It's a natural response from a person who has attention to the conversation" the psychiatrist added.
"It's good news, then why are you apologizing doc?" Milly questioned.
"I went overboard this time. Alioth loves his friends, and that's the only way to make him speak. While we were having a discussion, I asked him a serious question. He cried a lot, but I assure you that it's for his own sake. He tried his best to answer that question, he already produced sound. I thought he was going to talk at that time. He was actually close to speaking but then he breaks down. I didn't mean to hurt Alioth, with that, I'm sorry mrs. Milly" the psychiatrist explained as she apologized once more.
"I understand, I'm sure that we are all having a hard time as well…" Milly responded.
"Though I advise let Alioth hangout with Rigel and Luna. Those two individuals that he mentioned were extremely helpful to him." the psychiatrist mentioned.
"Sure sure, I'm happy that my son and his friend were helping Alioth" Milly replied.
"I'm just wondering, the girl Luna lives in your neighborhood?" the psychiatrist asked.
"Yes, she lives near with her parents." Milly answered.
"Do they settle there? Like no plan of leaving the town?" the psychiatrist added.
"I'm not sure, though they'll probably stay, they've been there for years. Their business is doing well, I doubt that they'll move somewhere. Why did you ask?" Milly replied.
"Good to know, I just want to know if there's a possibility of sudden changes. The progress of Alioth might go to waste if someone precious to him suddenly goes away." the psychiatrist answered.
"I hope it won't happen. By the way, thanks again doctor. It's been a huge help" Milly said.
"Thank you for your understanding as well, see you both next week." the psychiatrist responded.
After their discussion, the psychiatrist and Milly go to the separate room to fetch Alioth. Seems like he is already calmed down, though the outburst of emotions were evident in his face. The appointment comes to an end, due to exhaustion, Alioth sleeps inside of the car while Milly drives back to their home.
Days like this surely happen. Breaking down again does not mean there's no progress at all. Falling down to your knees reminds you that you were standing, crawling, doing your best to firmly walk once more. It might look stagnant but the results differ. There are people who are closely watching, they can tell that you've made it this far, even though you think you didn't. You don't have to be fully healed before claiming that you have made progress. Progress is progress, even an inch can make a difference.
20.
Upon arriving home, Milly gently wakes up Alioth. Like every other child, Alioth woke up feeling empty, similar to a rebooted device or a newly booted computer. He cannot remember what happened as of the moment, his feelings reset to neutral. Alioth comes down from the car, goes straight inside of the house, eyes barely open. Comparing last week's reaction, it is evident that something went wrong. Milly knows how hard it is for Alioth, but she could not blame the psychiatrist. They need to endure in order to surpass this struggle.
As Alioth enters his home, Eezo immediately sees the melancholic emotion. Alioth looks at Eezo while Eezo tilts its head, calculating the situation. Alioth knows that Eezo would never understand him if he didn't start saying something, it is a robot after all. There's a huge possibility that Eezo will stay if Alioth ordered him to do so. At least, that's what is going on inside of Alioth's mind. He remembered Eezo told him that it will do anything that he says.
Afraid of losing his friend, Alioth made up his mind. He'll try his best in order to speak again. There's no assurance but at least he tried.
"Ha… ha…" Alioth struggles as he tries to say Hi Eezo.
"Are you alright, master Alioth?" Eezo asks as it tries to hand Alioth his white board and marker.
Alioth grabs the white board, as well as the marker then puts it down.
"Nnnn… na…. nnn… no…." Alioth said as he shook his head.
Eezo doesn't know what is happening but it can see how Alioth trembles as he tries to say something. Alioth is trying so hard to say something, he slowly loses his breath, resulting in hyperventilating.
Eezo closes the gap, and hugs Alioth. "There… There… calm down, Take your time" it said.
Alioth started to cry as he embraced Eezo tightly. After some minutes, he slowly calms down. He picks up his whiteboard and marker and writes "I want to speak". He showed it to Eezo as he sniffed.
"I'll inform the others, for now I suggest don't stress yourself. You should eat some foods to regain your strength then take some rest" Eezo replied.
Alioth nodded as he went to the kitchen to get something to eat. Meanwhile Eezo used the network available in the surroundings to directly send Rigel and Luna a message from his system. Their phone will receive an sms with no number indicated, containing a message "Alioth wants to speak, Maglaho tayo". No need for introduction since Luna and Rigel will immediately know that it's from Eezo, just from mere observation.
The problem now is that Eezo and Alioth's goal contradicts while having the same trigger to pull with. Alioth wants to speak in order to say Eezo should stay. On the other hand, Eezo wants to help Alioth to speak again before going back to his own planet.
Some hours have passed, Alioth woke up as he heard a loud noise, someone was knocking continuously at the door. While squeezing his left eye, Alioth walked towards the door and opened it. He saw Rigel and Luna still in their student uniform, excited to see him. Alioth tilts its head as he blinks for a better vision. Luna immediately hugged Alioth but then let go of him after a couple of seconds.
"I'm sorry" Luna laughed in panic. "I just kinda want to do that" Luna said.
"My turn!" Rigel said as he hugged Alioth too.
Now Alioth is completely puzzled.
"So Alioth, is there anything you want to do?" Rigel asked.
"I don't usually leave my assignment pending but that can wait. Let's do something fun!" Luna added.
Alioth raises his right palm, indicating that the other two should wait as he fetches his writing material. As he gets back, he writes "You can change into a more comfortable clothes first"
"Right… Of course!" He said as both Rigel and Luna laughed.
"I'll be back, just for a minute!" Rigel said as he ran.
"It won't take long, wait for me!" Luna also said as she immediately went home.
Just like the two of them said, Rigel and Luna came back after a short span of time. They both catch their breath as they reach Alioth's home.
"Now we are ready! Which one do you prefer, on our base or inside your house?" Rigel asked Alioth.
"I brought some snacks, we can hang out 'til night!" Luna added.
"Inside the house" Alioth wrote.
"That makes sense, it's quite late after all." Rigel said as he entered.
"Thanks for letting us in" Luna mentioned.
As they all settled in the living room, all of them realized that there's no particular activity that they wanted to do. Rigel and Luna sprinted their way just because they were carried by their emotions. In fact, both of them are not prepared, clueless on what they should do in order to help Alioth speak again.
Rigel looked at Luna and instantly, they understood their roles without saying a word. Rigel will keep Alioth occupied while Luna browses the internet, searching for some activities that will salvage their situation.
The plan goes smoothly as they expect. Rigel keeps on telling random stories, some happened in their school, while the other stories were just very random, like how he opened a can using a knife. Afterwards Luna saw an activity that they can all try.
"That's it!" Luna suddenly stated.
"Finally.. What is it?" Rigel responded.
"Let's try this one! There's a singing contest that I joined, help me vocalize" Luna requested.
Rigel is clearly aware that there's no such thing, events in their school are already done, though he can see where things are going. "Riiiight, that's a great idea. Let's start with the simple ones!" he said.
"It says here that the simplest one is saying aaaaaaahh in a monotone manner"Luna instructed.
"Aaaaaahhhh" Rigel tried as he vocalized in a deep voice.
"That's right, now you try!" Luna said to Alioth.
"Aa.. aaa… aahh…" Alioth said as his voice cracked.
"Nice try! Let's all practice until we can do it properly" Luna enthusiastically said.
Luna and Rigel intentionally crack their voices in order to show Alioth that the activity is challenging for them as well. They want to guide Alioth's progress.
"Maaan, this is quite hard!" Rigel mentioned.
"Yeah… I can't do it continuously as well" Luna replied.
Alioth sees that all of them were trying to do the said activity, he then repeatedly tries even harder in order to voice out continuously.
Shortly, Rigel and Luna saw an immense improvement from Alioth. Both of them are having teary eyes but they don't want to ruin the mood, they tried their best to keep it inside.
Eezo randomly joined their vocalizing practice, though since it is a robot, the consistent monotone is part of his identity. "Aaaaaaaaaaahhhh" Eezo vocalized.
"Ooooh, a worthy opponent! You won't beat me!" Rigel energetically said as he tried it once more.
"Now it's on!" Luna added as she joined the battle.
The heated battle pumps up Alioth even more, he as well wanted to prove himself.
Just like their previous hang outs, the activity went chaotic but fun. They tried doing different types of tones, as well as the duration. From saying "aaaaaaaaaaaaah~" to "woo!" different tones were made in a joyful way. Eventually, they all get tired and decide to rest while eating the snacks that Luna brought.
Since Alioth is a type of person who loves scheduling things, they all decided to do the activity every other day. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, at least 4-7pm, they will vocalize. Tuesday and Thursday, will be their rest. Finally, Saturday and Sunday will be their fun day. The said event was fabricated and they told Alioth that it will happen next month. The remaining days will be used to help Luna to vocalize, which is an excuse to help Alioth to speak again.
After their progressive afternoon, Rigel and Luna went home, a mission accomplished on their belts. Meanwhile Alioth feels better since for him, he is helping Luna while helping himself in the process. All of them were excited about the results which were waiting for them at the end of the road.
21.
This kind of setup goes monumentally satisfying, especially each time that there's a notable progress that can be seen. Rigel secretly recorded some of their practices in order to let her mother hear it. As Milly listened to the recordings, she could not help but cry. Rigel does not want Alioth to see Milly's reaction, it could blow their cover, that's why he only shows the recording secretly, when Alioth is not around. It is not only beneficial to them, it is also extremely significant to the psychiatrist. Milly emailed her the recordings and finally, the psychiatrist knows how to navigate the situation more effectively. All of their hard work was slowly paying off.
The whole week was heart melting as it could be. As their funday arises, the squad goes to their normal routine. Everything that they do goes way more chaotic than the previous one.
It's time for them to disappear, MAGLAHO TAYO is used to summon everyone in their place. As they arrived, out of nowhere, they randomly wanted to do archery, the rest of the story goes on.
"I do think archery is kinda cool" Luna said.
"FOR REAL! I SAW AN ANIME ABOUT IT!" Rigel replied.
"How?" Alioth wrote.
"Actually that's a good question" Luna responded.
"Well… ahmm.." Rigel suddenly starts to think deeper since it was his suggestion. "Let's ask Eezo!" he added.
"I can turn the place into an augmented reality." Eezo replied.
"THEN LET'S DO IT!" Rigel reacted.
"I haven't seen this feature, we can try that" Luna commented.
Alioth shakes his head, opposing the idea. Rigel and Luna wait for Alioth as he writes why "That will be eye catchy!"
"Affirmative, the desired area will be enclosed in a black dome. The individuals inside will see augmented particles, but those who are outside will be seeing a black dome." Eezo clarified.
"True true…" Rigel commented as he touched his chin, posing in a thinking position.
"You clearly didn't think this through" Luna disappointedly said.
"I forgot that we did that in a closed area back then… Well, certainly there must be another way" Rigel argued.
"Analyzing possible steps" Eezo said.
"Now we are talking! I like that beeping sound!" Rigel shouted.
After a couple of minutes Eezo finally came up with the best possible suggestion. "Each individual needs clear eyeglasses. Then I'll connect the beam to those glasses. The augmented reality will be displayed in front of the user while wearing the glasses."
Everyone listens carefully to Eezo but none seems to fully grasp how it will exactly work.
"Sooo, all we need is eyeglasses… Right?" Rigel clarified.
"Affirmative" Eezo answered.
"I have those at home" Luna mentioned.
"For all of us?" Rigel asked.
"Yeap." Luna answered.
"Why do you have that many?" Rigel questioned.
"Those are extra props during the last event. Sometimes I keep those, you know, just incase" Luna explained.
"Then Lezzgo and get those!" Rigel initiated.
Alioth is actually surprised how fast Rigel changes his character. The only understandable part is that he truly wants to do it. As per usual, Rigel and Luna head out while Alioth and Eezo stay inside of their place.
"Ha… haa.. Ay… (Hi).." Alioth stutters as he tries to greet Eezo.
Eezo tilts its head and responds "Hello master Alioth".
Alioth proudly smiled, he is definitely happy since his voice reaches Eezo. He wants to have a conversation with Eezo but he could not say a single syllable properly. Alioth knows that it will take time for him before he can speak again. For now, he needs to settle for single syllable words.
Alioth writes on his whiteboard "Not that far" he showed it to Eezo as he tried to say "w…wwuu.. Wuu… eeeeyt… (Wait)"
"Affirmative, we will wait for them to get back." Eezo responded.
"Aaa… aafffa.. Afff.." Alioth is trying to say affirmative. His previous decision was to stick with a single syllable answer but he suddenly wants to try saying affirmative, mainly because Eezo usually says it.
"Affirmative" Eezo reiterated.
"Fffiii… fffiii…" Alioth says as he keeps on trying.
"Firmative" Eezo continued.
"Ii… iiiirrr… iiiirrmm.." Alioth keeps on going.
"Mative" Eezo responded.
"Mmmm… mmmmaaa" Alioth is nearly done.
"Tive…" Eezo added.
"Tttt… tiiii.." Alioth is almost there.
"Tive" Eezo reiterated once more.
"Vvvv….. Vvv.. vvaaa" Alioth said as he finally completed the word.
"Well done" Eezo congratulated Alioth.
It took him a while before completely pronouncing a word with more than a single syllable. But it does not neglect the achievement that he has done. They say that the first step is always the hardest one, but it also is the most precious and memorable one. You wouldn't have a milestone without completing a mile.
The "affirmative" practice comes to an end when Rigel and Luna finally arrive at their place.
"Ta-daaa!" Rigel excitedly showed the glasses.
"Be careful with those" Luna reminded Rigel.
"Okay okay… Let's start!" Rigel responded.
Each of them wears the eyeglasses while Eezo shoots the beam into the left edge handle of the eyeglasses. As the glasses reflect the imagery, Everything slowly turns pixelated as the environment differs from their perspective. The landmass is the same but the colors differ, generally the vibes of the place changed. From a peaceful relaxing nature into a neon glowing arcade type. Everyone loses their mind as they witness the fully rendered augmented reality through their glasses. Since Eezo acts as the server, he gives everyone a bow, all they have to do is to act that they are shooting the arrows, the rest will be handled by the server. The only rule that they have is they can't leave the hut to prevent unwanted accidents. The server is designed like they are in a tower while the rest is a target that they can shoot.
"THIS IS AMAZING! WAY BETTER THAN I EXPECTED!" Rigel shouted as he tried to shoot a dummy.
"I'm quite sure that we look stupid from a distance, BUT WHO CARES!" Luna responded as she shot arrows as well.
Meanwhile, Alioth's competitiveness shows as he starts to shoot the target that Luna and Rigel already hit. They both look at each other and even without a declaration, a shooting contest has begun.
Eezo displays the scores of everyone in the middle of the hut. Every successful hit will acquire them 10 points. The competition is indeed tough, no one seems to miss as everyone grinds more points. It's time to level things up. More dummies appeared in the server as most of them started to move, some sways while others jump. The faster the target, the higher the points. This time, some arrows are not landing their marks.
"That is a close one!" Luna disappointedly stated.
"That's not fair! The dummy clearly dodged my arrow!" Rigel madly complained.
Alioth is clearly minding his own business. While Rigel and Luna constantly shoot arrows, Alioth took his time to analyze the pattern of the fastest dummy in the server. The scores state that Alioth is far beyond Luna and Rigel, but Alioth will automatically win if he hits the fastest one.
The time is ticking and the game will be over soon. Alioth calms his nerve, stretches his bow, aims to the dead center of the field, inhales deeply, then lets the arrow go as he exhales. The arrow flew straight, it looks like it will only sail wide open, not hitting any target as it goes straight to the edge of the server. Shortly, both Rigel and Luna finally understand the idea as they see the fastest dummy goes straight where the arrow is heading. Everything feels like a slow-mo as they all anticipate certain success. Deep inside everyone wanted for that arrow to land on the target since no one managed to do so. The arrow and the dummy slowly reach the dead center, like how the X and the Y axis intersect in a cartesian plane.
"It landed!" Rigel and Luna shouted as the time ran out.
All of them immediately looked at the scoreboard but Alioth's score did not move at all.
"It's not changing?" Rigel questioned.
"Maybe it is still processing…" Luna said.
"The winner is Rigel," Eezo announced.
"Wait what??" Rigel reacted.
"How's that happened? Alioth hit the dummy" Luna argued.
"Unfortunately, no" Eezo said as he showed a close up preview of that scenario. "As you can see, the arrow is above the dummy. It may look like it landed from a distance, but there's a tiny margin in a closer perspective" Eezo explained while showing the imagery.
"Soo.. It was only a split second off?" Luna asked.
"Affirmative" Eezo responded.
Alioth feels a bit bad for not hitting the fastest dummy.
"That is rigged! I still believe that Alioth wins that game" Rigel complained.
"I agree as well" Luna added.
"Besides, Alioth looks extremely cool at that moment! I thought I was watching an anime, a real archer!" Rigel continues to argue.
"For sure! All I did was randomly shoot and hope it will land" Luna said as she laughed.
Alioth smiles as he gets his confidence back. The event clearly shows that timing means everything.
"Well, I'm still better than you tho" Rigel said to Luna.
"HUH? Want to do it again, tough guy?" Luna challenged Rigel.
"Mmm….mooo….rrree… (more)" Alioth loudly said but in a stuttered manner.
Everyone is fired up as Eezo resets the server. Indeed, their group will always be chaotic. Alioth, Rigel, and Luna play the game once more, as they all enjoy this precious experience.
-Timing is indeed meaningful, you either hit or miss. But what's important is you've tried, instead of missing the chance. There will never be a right timing if you wouldn't even try. A small step out of your comfort zone, a huge leap towards a milestone.