Dylan King and His New Roommate Called Goddess Athena [1st Book]

CHAPTER 20

POINT OF VIEW: DYLAN

Sunday, October 23, 2028, around 11.30 P.M

Right after Athena explained to Hera how Voulos would help figuring out the problem, her eyes trailed over to Voulos' box on Athena's hand. Her stare at the automaton was full of doubt. Nevertheless, she looked back at Athena and spoke to her again. Athena returned a few words, before she turned to Dylan.

"Hera has agreed to use Voulos."

"Okay then," Dylan nodded. "Let's get her to your room now."

After Hera laid on the bed and seemed to have made herself as comfortable as she could be, Dylan slid open Voulos box. Pressing the blue button on Voulos' chest, the automaton burst to life. "Be ready to inspect Hera's brain," Dylan said to the automaton.

"Your command shall be executed."

"You can talk??" Dylan was surprised.

"Of course I can. Any automaton would be created with the ability to talk. Earlier I didn't talk because I didn't feel the necessity to do it."

Dylan nodded a few times. "That's .... amazing."

"Keep the amazement for later, Dylan. We now have checked what's wrong with Hera."

"I am sorry for being distracted," Dylan said. He then looked at Voulos again. "Execute the job now."

Voulos instantly grew smaller. With the size of a fur, he leaped from the box to Hera's right shoulder. Hera was still doubtful, but then she shut both her eyes as the tiny Voulos ran across her shoulder and entered her ear. Before long, Hera who shut her eyes tightly suddenly became relaxed, indicating that Voulos had just managed to make her lose consciousness.

Athena decided to sit at the edge of the bed, while Dylan brought a dining chair into the room. A few minutes later, which seemed to be an eternity to him, Voulos came out again. He made himself return to his normal size again, and he beckoned for Dylan and Athena to get closer to him. Both did as Voulos asked, and the automaton immediately jumped into Dylan's right arm. After making himself stable on it, Voulos said, "The sphere of Lethe is rooted in goddess Hera's brain."

"The sphere of Lethe ?! How can that be ?!"

"What is the Sphere of Lethe?"

"It is the sphere produced from goddess Lethe's power. The purpose was to make anyone who receives it forget everything about his life, his experiences, his identity or his memory," Athena explained. "She was the goddess residing in The Underworld. Her task was to help the dead forget everything in their past life."

"I see ... ," Dylan nodded. "But ... how did the sphere end up in Hera's brain?"

"I don't think we will get the answer to that. Unless of course, Hera told herself how she received the sphere."

Athena looked back at Voulos. "Do you think you can remove the sphere?"

"I can try," Voulos said. "Nevertheless, I have to tell you that it will be complicated, as the sphere has been rooted deeply to everything that made you you."

"I know that. If the sphere did not root to everything that made someone someone, then for sure the dead will still remember a little bit of their past life."

"Yes," Voulos confirmed. "Do you still want to proceed?"

"What is the worst that can happen if you remove it now?"

"Up to this point, I cannot predict a specific outcome. Nevertheless, there will surely be an unwanted effect after the removal."

"Do you have any suggestions to handle this situation then?" Athena asked. "I mean ... Since you know what the problem is, probably you can ask Hephaestus to make an upgrade for yourself?"