Everyone is here…
Joyce fell into thought for a moment, then asked a seemingly irrelevant question.
"If everyone's here, why aren't the lights on?"
John froze, then chuckled softly.
"We'd like to turn them on too…" John sighed. He stood beside Joyce, a frail old man. Who would have thought that Joyce, in fact, was the "senior" who deserved his respect?
The absurdity of the situation was palpable, yet neither of them found it strange.
"But this isn't our inner world… nor is it our dream. We're just a bunch of lost souls living in memories, not even able to decide what we look like…"
"But you don't seem like a lost soul right now." Joyce looked at John. He clearly wasn't acting like a puppet.
He had his own thoughts, his own emotions, just like any normal person.
"Yes… I wonder why…" John sighed. "I used to think this was heaven, then I thought it was a dream world…"
"At first, I was muddle-headed, like I really was dreaming… But a few days ago, I suddenly woke up, like I had awakened from a dream. I could think for myself, I could remember the past…
"But what good is waking up? I'm still trapped here, unable to leave this hallway… unable to touch anything… and certainly unable to turn on the lights…"
Joyce paused, confused. "If you can't leave here, how do you know everyone else is here?"
John froze, staring at Joyce. Joyce stopped as well, waiting for his answer.
Silence stretched between them. After a moment, John shook his head. "Never mind… it's not that important…"
He gave a bitter smile and continued to shuffle forward.
"These past few days haven't been long, but for us, it's like we've been given a new life… Since you're here, Lady Joyce, you must know everything that happened at the Tower of Babylon…"
Joyce nodded. "After all these years… thank you for your hard work."
John suddenly turned around, the old man looking almost flattered.
"Don't mention it… I only did what I could… and I… there are still so many I couldn't…"
"That wasn't your fault." Joyce shook her head. In the [Demon King City], she had also seen those fragmented memories. Shu had seen Sirin's past, but she had seen the entire process of the Tower of Babylon's establishment.
From John's return to Future City to the moment he entered the hibernation pod.
John wasn't comforted by Joyce's words. He sighed and continued walking in silence.
"If you were going to do that, why didn't you come to me?" Joyce asked suddenly. "You didn't have to face this alone. If you had talked to me, I would have helped you."
John seemed flustered.
"I wouldn't dare… I wouldn't dare…"
"Am I really that unapproachable?" Joyce looked at John, a little exasperated. "Did I really leave such a bad impression on you…"
Joyce had personally spearheaded Future City's three great miracles. She remembered each of the few dozen core members of the Utopia Project clearly.
Over the decades of the project, she had spoken with John many times, witnessing his transformation from an ambitious young man to a peak academic.
His attitude towards her had changed as well. In the beginning, they were like brothers, confidants, friends despite the age gap… But as he grew older, his attitude gradually shifted into the current humble deference.
Joyce understood that it wasn't a matter of physical age, but a terrifying reality for many geniuses.
Burnout.
At his peak, he was confident in his limitless future and potential, believing that even if there was a gap between them now, he would eventually catch up.
But as time passed, the summit seemed further and further away, and his passion for climbing naturally waned.
John sighed. "Of course not… Mr. Joyce…"
He looked at his aged hands, then at Joyce, who seemed eternally twenty. "I'm just… old…"
"But you're different, Mr. Joyce. You're still at the forefront, leading everyone, leading our entire civilization forward."
"I couldn't hold back the progress of humanity for such a small matter… and I'm old. I no longer have the inspiration, the passion I once had…
"After the project succeeded, I no longer cheered. Perhaps there was some satisfaction… but the greater feeling was one of relief, a sense of liberation. Experiments and projects had become like rote learning to me…
"And then, I was faced with two paths… either stay in Future City, participate in secondary experiments like it was just a job, and live out the rest of my life in a daze; or go to Siberia, follow my heart, and help those children…"
John closed his eyes, smiling wearily, yet with a hint of gratitude. "I thought about it for a long time. The kind of crossroads that troubles young people came to me in my old age…
"I don't know what young people think, but at the time, I really felt that I was too old to deal with these things anymore. I thought about just letting it go, turning a deaf ear, and choosing stability.
"I thought I would choose retirement, but in the end, I still chose the path I truly wanted to take, to see the scenery I wanted to see, to choose the Tower of Babylon, to choose Siberia…
"At that time, I felt like I had finally found my younger self… the passion, the dreams… all the things I had gradually lost came back to me…"
John suddenly fell silent. His story abruptly ended.
After walking a long distance in the dark hallway, John asked cautiously, "Mr. Joyce… may I ask a question…?" He spoke hesitantly, like a young person too shy to speak their mind.
Joyce stopped naturally, ready to hear John's question.
"Well… I just wanted to ask… did we fail?" John looked up, his eyes filled with a desperate plea for an answer.