“How much do I owe you?” I asked Loan as I put down a biology textbook.

  He replied, “Somewhere in the range of ten to twenty million carts. Don’t worry, though.” He tapped my chest, “You don’t have to pay it all at once, I take installments.”

  “Hmm, you’re very…kind.” I raised an eyebrow at him. “But do you have any evidence of this?”

  Loan clicked his tongue against his teeth, “Damn, he’s still good. Looks like he isn’t all gone.”

  A deep voice came from the bathroom, “What do you expect? He did finish top of our class.”

  “Right, that’s a good point.” Loan nodded and raised his index finger. I do have a question: How did you reach the top without an Attachment?”

  I stared blankly at the young man with brown hair. Gerard came out of the bathroom. “And that’s why you almost finished at the bottom.” Then he crossed his arms on his chest, “Asking questions like that.”

  I chuckled at his remark. Loan gritted his teeth and went to the kitchen. He opened a jar. “Yeah, I almost laughed, but I have another question: why did your dad abandon your family?”

  Woah! This guy. I thought this was playful banter. I immediately checked on Gerard’s reaction, and his expression was somber yet grizzly. They choked the room with the tension between them.

  Gerard lifted his chin and started wheezing from laughter. I could also see Loan banging on the counter while holding his stomach. There's something off between these two.

  After a few minutes, Gerard wiped a tear off his face. “No, my dad did abandon my family, don’t joke about that.” His face straightened out, but his comment was directed at…me?

  “I don’t understand,” I said. “Why?” I glanced back and forth between Loan and Gerard. The former came back and wrapped his arm around Gerard’s neck and pointed a thumb at himself.

  “Our dad abandoned us.” Loan said. I couldn’t take it anymore. What is up with these two? I got up from the couch and walked past the two ‘brothers.’ I made my way into my room and shut the door behind me. It was a simple room, with one twin-sized bed and a dresser. Was I some sort of minimalist?

  I rolled onto the bed. My name is Boris Tusk; I turned 22 last month. I am a first-year Enforcer for the state of Ludon. I was told they don’t know anything about me since I never shared anything with them. Looks like that came back to bite me. They told me that the lightning homebrew must have affected my memory. I’m not sure, I can’t remember anything before waking up with that awful mutant next to me.

  This hole in my memory is eating away at me. It feels like I’m standing on a glass floor, ready to shatter at any moment. The medic, Tomas, did say something that piqued my interest: Detachment. If that was the key to accessing my past life, then I needed to do everything possible to find an expert.

  I heard a thudding knock, “We’re going out. Want to come?”

  Did I want to go with them? I'm not sure; I certainly didn’t feel like going. “Hey, Gerald, if this were me before the memory loss, would I have come?”

  Gerald didn’t speak, but I felt as if I opened my door, I would find a smiling man. He said, “No, you wouldn’t have.”

  The tall Enforcer stood outside the door. He turned around, but he heard the whine from the hinges. I said, “If that's the case, then I'll tag along.”

  “Why is it still nighttime?” I asked while strolling through the lively district.

  My two Enforcer buddies raised their eyebrows, “What do you mean by nighttime?”

  “You know, when the sun sets and we have to wait until it rises again,” I explained.

  “Sun?” They faced toward each other, implying that if they knew what I mentioned. Must be one of their jokes.

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  I grabbed a random stranger passing by, he jolted and complained, “What the hell? Get off me!”

  “Sir, why is it still nighttime?” His facial expression freaked me out. I tried asking more people, but I started to look more and more like a crazy person.

  “Hey Boris, how about we stop bothering these people?” Even Loan acted as if disturbed.

  My shoulders slumped, and a disappointed sigh flew out of my nose, “Is there no such thing as daytime? Then where did this idea come from into my head?”

  “Let’s get something to eat, maybe that lightning homebrew did more damage than we thought.” Gerald led the way.

  We sat around a table, and the establishment had a casual vibe. I did notice some glances aimed at me. Loan handed me a drink. I took it and gulped it in one go. It burned badly. “What did you give me?” I hunched over.

  “Liquor! It helps with uhhh…just about anything.”

  A steaming huff came out of my nose. “Perhaps poisoning your enemies.”

  The two brothers took swigs from their drinks. I saw them engorge their stomachs with more of this liquid. If this drink is so popular, then why can’t I remember it? The inconsistency is odd. I looked out the window. Where is the sun? Did I just come up with that, or is there a massive part of the world missing? And I'm the only one who's aware of it. I looked down at the glass cup with alcohol, and then the two Enforcers who went wild. I pushed the cup away and took a step outside.

  I saw a railing, so I leaned against it. The difference in air quality between inside and outside was telling. A grin manifested on my lips. The former Boris had good reasons for declining their invitations. I should get my file from the Enforcer HQ. I can get more answers about my origins.

  “You look like a maniac,” I heard a woman’s voice.

  I turned to my right, “Can’t a man just enjoy his own company?”

  “No, that’s weird,” Maria commented. “Anyway, I’ve never seen you out before. Why now?”

  “I was curious,” I said.

  “Right,” she covered her mouth with a hand, hiding a small giggle. “Well, at least you’re not dead. I have never seen anyone survive a homebrew.”

  “What’s a homebrew?” I asked.

  She stood quietly and grabbed her chin. “It is an Unsanctioned Alchemical Compound, a concoction created outside of licensed laboratories or expert supervision, typically crafted by independent practitioners using improvised methods. That is the textbook definition.”

  “What type of homebrew did that lady hit me with?”

  Maria spoke again, “It is a common one, especially during storms or dark cloud formations. The lightning homebrew creates a conductive path. Of course, there are limits, such as being inside buildings or if you are around other highly conductive paths.”

  “Wow, you sure know a lot,” my expression livened.

  She giggled again, “That’s ironic, coming from the encyclopedia, or former encyclopedia. This conversation would have never taken place with the old Boris. He was really mean.”

  “Mean? I was mean?”

  Maria tilted her head. “You are nothing like him,” she said. “I guess it's nurture over nature.”

  “I don’t know. Maybe I’ll get there again,” I said. “I think I have a lot to learn from him.”

  “Stay exactly how you are now, no need to dwell in the past. I’ll be joining in on the fun now.” She entered the bar.

  I looked up at the night sky, the moon shining brilliantly. The pale shade perfectly contrasted the black sky. I couldn’t tear my eyes off the heavenly object.

  “I knew it,” I whispered. Something wasn’t right. The moon doesn’t produce light. It reflects, meaning that the origin of that reflected light must be the sun. I tightened my hand into a fist. It’s killing me. I hate every part of my current existence. I don’t know whether I am blind or ignorant. Why do I care?

  An ear-popping sound of glass shattering came from the bar. I turned back to see Loan sliding across the ground. He grunted and flipped off his back to his feet. Loan turned his head to me, “Boris, I know you lost your memory or whatever, but I need you to help us leash these dogs.”

  Through the broken window, I saw Gerald fighting a man half his height and surprisingly the tall man got his ass handed to him. The shorter man was stocky and had dark hair; he took good care of his beard. What could these two have done?

  That man laid it down on Gerald, he fully mounted him and struck from the sky like a smite. I ran in and shouted, “Stop!”

  The bar goers shifted their gazes from the beat down to me. Why do I always have to intervene? I gulped loudly. “I’m sure we can all work out whatever differences we might have, but can you please let go of him?”

  However, before the stocky man spoke, I noticed Maria holding on to her wrist in pain.

  “Everything will work out once that girl comes with me and we can all go our separate ways.”

  How long has she been here? In that short amount of time, chaos ensued. I turned toward Maria, “What happened?”

  “This pig hit on me and wouldn’t take no for an answer!” She cried out. Gerard lifted his head; his eyes were a mixture of red and purple. I couldn’t quite hear what came out of his mouth, but I did see a bloody spit fly from it, landing on the bearded man’s face. A grim smile stretched across his face, and another thudding blow knocked Gerard unconscious.

  He got up and walked in my direction. I held my hands up, “Look, I understand you want to get the girl and be the man, but I want to warn you.”

  His march was inevitable; no one in the establishment would stand in front of the bull, “Warn me? About what?”

  “I want to warn you…” My eyes sporadically bounced around until they landed on Maria. “I want to warn you that she has syphilis.” I pointed a finger at my fellow Enforcer.

  The stocky man paused and dropped his shoulders; he looked at Maria, who appeared to have gone blank. I felt a hand on my shoulder; it was Loan. Everyone in the bar felt less tension than before I spoke those words.

  The bearded man spat on the floor and stomped out of the building. Maria snapped back and arrived near Loan and me. We carried Gerard out of the bar and took a seat on a nearby bench.

  “Why didn’t you guys use your Attachments?” I leaned back on the seat.

  Loan held his brother up, “We aren’t allowed to use them outside of Enforcer practice. We should have beaten him bloody, but I’m not going to lie, the dude was a tank.”

  Maria smiled, “Thank you guys for sticking up for me. The two of you should go to the nearest infirmary.” Then the female officer backhanded my face like a whip. The slap echoed throughout the street.

  I held my red cheek as my jaw loosened, “Why?”

  She didn’t respond and disappeared with a straight face. Loan limped with Gerard, “Dude, get yourself back to our apartment, we’ll regroup tomorrow.”

  I watched Maria and the two brothers blend into the night, “That stupid b-.”