A year and a half had passed since that day. Now, Aisha was a university student at the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Universitas Konowledge, majoring in Botany. That morning, the campus botanical garden was alive with the soft rustle of leaves and the warm, humid air of early spring. Rows of peanut pots lined narrow pathways, beds of tomato seedlings quivered in the gentle breeze, and clusters of freshwater seaweed swayed in shallow pools, their tiny fronds catching glimmers of sunlight. Somewhere nearby, the faint hum of a cicada blended with the distant clatter of student footsteps, a reminder that the garden existed in the middle of a bustling campus.
Pak Amir stood in the center, the sunlight catching the broad surface of a banana leaf he was pointing at. "Look at this," he said, his voice calm but full of quiet authority. "Its wide surface isn't just for catching sunlight. It also helps regulate the plant's temperature. Humans sweat; plants 'breathe' through their stomata."
Aisha leaned toward her roommate, Prilly, her voice barely above a whisper. "If the stomata open too much, the plant could dehydrate, right?"
"Yeah," Prilly replied, eyes still sweeping over the orderly tomato beds, a faint crease between her brows betraying her focus.
The lecture faded into the background as most of the students drifted away, their laughter and chatter dissolving into the garden's greenery. Aisha lingered, crouching beside a small tomato plant that leaned slightly to one side. Carefully, she straightened it with a thin wooden stick, brushing her fingers over its tender leaves. The plant quivered slightly, as if acknowledging her touch.
"You're growing the wrong way, but you're still strong…" she murmured softly, almost to herself.
Prilly appeared behind her, carrying two bottles of water, the condensation glinting in the sunlight. "Talking to a tomato?" she asked, eyebrows raised.
"Yes," Aisha replied flatly, not even looking up.
"And… what did it say?"
"Don't give up," Aisha answered, the words floating in the warm air like a secret between her and the plant.
Prilly clicked her tongue. "I don't know if you're a genius or just need a vacation."
A gentle breeze teased Aisha's hair, carrying with it the faint, earthy scent of soil and the tang of sunlight-warmed leaves. Amid the soft rustle, she felt something that went beyond the scope of research—a pulse of life, quiet yet insistent, growing and remembering. Something that felt like herself, mirrored in the tiny green world before her.
Later that afternoon, the dormitory was bathed in the golden haze of the sinking sun. Aisha sat cross-legged on the cool wooden floor, carefully organizing her field notes and sticking labels onto her notebooks. The soft scrape of pen on paper mingled with the distant hum of traffic outside the campus gate. Prilly leaned back in a chair, holding a steaming mug of tea that sent wisps of fragrant vapor curling into the air. Her gaze followed the fading streaks of sunlight as they splashed across the floorboards and the edges of the window frame, painting everything in a mellow, almost lazy glow.
Suddenly, a commotion erupted from the next room.
"Ahhh! Why won't this wardrobe open?!"
Prilly glanced at Aisha, a barely contained smile tugging at her lips. "What now?"
Aisha exhaled, closing her notebook with a decisive snap. "It's probably Yuni again. She never runs out of ideas for chaos."
A loud knock rattled the wall, sharp enough to make them both jump.
"Hey, Aisha! Prilly! You have to hear this! There's a giant cockroach in my room—help!"
Aisha rose, planting her hands firmly on her hips. "She's really ruining today."
Prilly offered a small, amused smile. "Relax… probably just another drama."
Yuni appeared at the doorway moments later, a grin plastered across her face as though she had rehearsed this entrance for maximum effect. She barged in, heedless of boundaries. Bags toppled, shoes scattered across the floor, and sticky notes fluttered in the air like confetti caught in a miniature windstorm.
Aisha straightened, summoning all the theatrics she could muster.
"Get out of my room!" she shouted, half-joking, half-serious. "I don't need you! Go! Leave me alone!"
With a deft shove, she sent Yuni staggering back. The door slammed, and Aisha could hardly contain herself, hopping and laughing with unrestrained glee.
"Hahaha! See? I'm talented! I've wanted to chase someone like that out for ages!"
Prilly chuckled, shaking her head. "Let's just hope we don't get in trouble for this."
As the afternoon waned, the two of them made their way to a worn wooden bench in the campus courtyard. The air had cooled slightly, carrying the faint scent of jasmine from a nearby hedge. Aisha rolled up an attendance sheet between her fingers like a cigarette, the crinkling paper echoing softly in the quiet courtyard.
"Sometimes I feel like I can't see my future in this major…" she murmured, eyes tracing the distant treetops, where sunlight caught on shifting leaves.
"That's just the attendance sheet," Prilly said, smirking.
"Oh… no wonder it feels like a D grade," Aisha said, shaking her head, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips.
They laughed softly, a gentle, shared sound that seemed to blend with the whispering wind. "What if we switched majors?" Prilly suggested.
"Yes!" Aisha said eagerly. "One without labs."
"…Which one?"
"I don't know."
"Then… medicine?" Prilly said suddenly, as if struck by inspiration.
Aisha choked slightly on her breath. "Me? A doctor? No… I couldn't handle sticking needles into patients."
"Same here," Prilly said. Their laughter bubbled again, warm and intimate, the kind that only years of shared dorm room antics could produce.
Eventually, the laughter subsided, replaced by the soft glow of their phone screens.
"Wow… AI is getting incredible," Aisha said, her voice low, thoughtful.
"Guess we'd need some serious math skills," Prilly replied, a teasing lilt in her tone.
They exchanged a long, quiet look. In that moment, the courtyard seemed to shrink around them—the air still, the sun dipping lower, and the shadows stretching into shapes that made the world feel both infinite and intimate at once. Then, almost simultaneously, they smiled.
"Good idea," Aisha said. "We'll make our own AI. Call it… Pril-Qayyah Bot."
"Sounds like cough syrup," Prilly said, laughing.
The first stars pricked the deepening sky, and night crept gently over the dorm, a soft blanket of darkness tinged with warmth. The world hushed around them, leaving only Aisha and Prilly amid the quiet stirrings of their own imagination—dreams of plants that whispered encouragement, cockroaches that instigated chaos, and AI that might just change everything.
And in that moment, the garden, the dorm, and the courtyard—all the spaces that had shaped their day—seemed to pulse softly with life, memory, and possibility, as if the universe itself had paused to watch them grow.