PROJECT NIRVANA | ONC2020 ✔️

Chapter 20.

A few days later, Avron returned home.

I stood at the porch, watching him park his car in the driveway. He got out, standing beside it idly as if unsure about what to do. He probably feared that I didn't want to see him anymore or that I had decided to forget him. But neither had happened.

I ran to Avron and wrapped my arms around him in a tight hug. He held me, brushing his hands through my hair and we just stood there doing nothing. I buried my face on his shoulder, inhaling his scent and reveling in the warmth of his body.

It felt as if we were the only two who existed in that moment. The tragedy surrounding our parents had become nothing more but a distant dream; it held no weight in our newly crafted future. The only thing that mattered was what we had now, not what we no longer possessed.

We pulled away and when I looked into Avron's eyes, I knew he was having the same thoughts as me. We knew what we needed to do now. We needed to return to the ocean.

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I woke up to find myself sitting on an overstuffed leather couch in a brightly lit room. Potted plants decorated every corner giving the area a floral aura, and an embroidered carpet sat on the wooden floor. Blue drapes fluttered in the air as a cool breeze billowed from an open window.

Avron sat beside me holding my hand. "You awake?" he asked.

I nodded, rubbing the drowsiness out of my eyes. My skin tingled as if I was recovering from the aftereffects of some drug and my brain felt heavy as if it were stuffed with cotton. But as each second passed, my condition improved and I felt myself growing more comfortable and stronger in my body.

That was when I noticed that Dr. Morgan was sitting in front of us jotting down some notes on a notepad.

She smiled when she realized that I had regained consciousness.

"Congratulations to the two of you for successfully completing Project Nirvana."

"What do you mean by successfully completing the project?" I asked. I had thought Nirvana was a place you were meant to inhabit until you grew tired of it. The fact that the simulation could be 'completed' boggled my mind.

"The purpose of Nirvana was to test whether subjects would choose false happiness over a painful reality," Dr. Morgan said. "But even after regaining your memories, you decided to return; therefore, the simulation has accomplished its purpose."

Avron and I shared a glance. This was not what we had been expecting.

"So what made you decide to come back?" she continued, her voice full of interest. "What realization led you back here?"

"We decided that Nirvana only made solving our issues harder," Avron replied after a moment. "It felt as if we were wearing a mask, but in the real world, we can tackle our problems without hiding. There's no way to escape reality here, so we'll eventually learn how to accept it and grow with it."

Dr. Morgan nodded. "You realized that confrontation is more effective than suppression. And that in order to truly solve an issue, you need to face the reality."

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Later that day, as Avron and I took a walk outside together, I realized that Nirvana wasn't a place that you traveled to in order to find peace and happiness. Instead you would be stagnant, never being able to transform into the best version of yourself.

You would be content, but with contentedness, came a lack of challenges and fulfillment. The real Nirvana wasn't a city, person, or simulation. It was a place that you created within yourself and shared with others.

Especially with your loved ones.