Some Memories You May Have Forgotten

Bye, Chidi

'We found each other before, hundreds of times, we can do it again.'

Eleanor was looking into Chidi's deep black eyes as if she was seeing them for the last time. She felt like she had missed out on so much. Had she noticed how black his eyes were before? Did she make the most of the time they spent together? The kind of questions everyone ask themselves when the end is near. The end of what though? She did not even dare to think about what was going to happen next. Would she be able to interact with him, be around him, fully knowing that he would not remember a single thing about her?

They both turned to see Michael who was standing a few steps away from them, far enough to give them a bit of privacy so they could say goodbye to each other. He had acquired a fair and actually quite impressive amount of knowledge about human behaviours since the beginning of this whole adventure. He was looking at his two friends, feeling bitter about the fact that he could not help them in any way. He wished there was something he could do to avoid Chidi being rebooted. He had done a good deal of thinking since Chidi volunteered to have his memory wiped out, but he quickly came to the conclusion that the bad place was determined to see him fail, especially since he switched sides. But Michael was not really worried. He knew that, thanks to his new friends, there was a chance for them all to be happy and get through this. He believed in his clever friend Chidi. He believed in his resourceful friend Eleanor, his faithful friend Janet, his optimistic friend Tahani and his dumbass friend Jason. God, how he loved them. He did not know what that felt like before, and he certainly did not expect to end up having feelings for these four humans and one not-human when he brought them down in the fake-good place. Michael nodded. It was time.

Chidi smiled lovingly at Eleanor. She placed her hand on his cheek and quietly said 'Bye, Chidi' before kissing him one last time. He was going to miss his sassy hot blond girlfriend. In fact he was not, since he would not know her at all. He was a little bit scared of the whole thing, but he was trying not to show it, because it would distress Eleanor even more. Chidi was not used to doing crazy things that involved mind wiping or anything like that. A few months ago he would not even have considered it let alone suggested it! But everything had changed when he met this bunch of stupid faces that he now called friends. Basically, everything had changed since he died, which is quite sarcastic when you think about it. Doesn't being rebooted means to die a little? He had died hundreds of times before though, as Eleanor pointed out, and he had been okay. He was okay; and he will be. Because his friends and his girlfriend would be by his side.

Chidi stood up and slowly walked away from Eleanor, not looking back, because he wouldn't stand to see the look on her face and the tears rolling down her cheeks. He knew she was trying to look strong for him to think that it was okay, that she was going to be okay. She looked tough, Eleanor, but truly it was just a facade. Maybe Chidi was more worried for Eleanor than for himself. He was like that, Chidi.

Michael guided him through the streets of the fake-good place. After having walked for about five minutes in a total silence, Michael stopped in the middle of a deserted square. It was a beautiful night. The sky was clear and the moon glowed so bright that one could see their surroundings almost as easily as in daylight. Michael turned to Chidi and said:

'I figured you'd like to be in a peaceful place before...you know.'

'Thank you, Michael.' he was impressed to see the improvement Michael had showed since the first time he met him. One could not possibly believe that he was actually a demon.

'So, are you ready?' the good demon asked.

'Can I ask you one last thing?' Chidi said, looking up. It felt like forever since he had actually took the time to look at a stary sky. This was definitely a nice one.

'Of course, you can.'

'Michael, you've done this before right?'

'Of course, you don't need to worry about the procedure, it's very casual, I've been trained for this my...' but he got interrupted by his friend.

'No, I mean you've rebooted me and the others before. You have seen us starting all over again many times, right?'

'802 to be precise.'

'So, do you think this is the right thing to do?'

'I admire your bravery, Chidi, and I think this can only be a good decision if it is made to help your friends. They will help you through this, we will. And you're a philosophy professor, you can figure this out!'

'You have been such a good friend Michael. Thank you for everything you've done for us.'

'Oh well, I put you in this mess in the first place, it's only right that I do my best to get you out of it.'

They both went quiet. Chidi looked around him one last time. The fountain, the frozen yoghurt places, everything looked so familiar. His eyes stopped on a dark corner of a street nearby, he thought he had seen something, or someone, move in the shadow. He tilted his head a little to make sure he wasn't dreaming. Could it be...? He heard a snap and suddenly everything went black.