Mensa - Schizo | Jakehoon

3. Memento

<A few weeks prior>

<Schizo wakes up from his reoccurring nightmare, sweating with exhaustion and scared.  

They would occur randomly and not too frequently.  Memories of his past before he was 10.  Prior to that, he has no recollection, other than dreams that would invade his sleep and take over his consciousness.  They were vivid, as though he had been transported to another universe.

Each time, revealing a little more.  They didn't always result in some type of actionable steps he can take to get closer to the truth.  And not all steps resulted in any gains.  But he had to try.

The dreams were different each time, never the same.  As though they were puzzle pieces.  

He recalled walking or running in the forest, being chased by people, sometimes for fun, other times, it felt like an escape.  People searching for him.  He would hide, climb up a tree, or dig a hole to hide with provisions.  Other times, he noticed someone was helping him escape.  

It wasn't a normal childhood.  He could see people in white gowns examining him and chatting about him.  They spoke in a different language.  He wasn't always around other kids.  But when he was, they would play together.  There were 6 others, and they all had nicknames.  He was schizo.  He had someone that watched over him and different tutors for different subjects, experts in their fields.

He realized he must have been some type of private genetic experiment.  He knew he tried to escape before, but didn't succeed.  He knew he was still being watched and monitored.  That his adopted mother doesn't know anything about it.  The adoption was arranged by them.  

He found an embedded small chip under the skin of his arm.  He knew if he removes it, they would just install another one.  He knew his biological parents were used for their selected genetic DNA, and know nothing about what happened to them or him.  

So there was no point in finding them. they were just DNA specimens.  He knows his adopted mother cares for him, but was also afraid of him.  He didn't know why.  Perhaps his intelligence or actions were not of a normal boy that frighten her.

Maybe it was related to the blackout he has sometimes, where he recalls nothing. Perhaps, the agency was behind this and he had no control, or they were there to clean it up.

She was merely above-average intelligence.  They were never that close, but she did her best and loved him regardless.  She provided the essentials as best as she could.  She never married, but that didn't stop her from being able to adopt a child.

The first 2 years since adoption, she home-school him until he decided to show he was better off self-taught.  She had wanted to send him to school for socialization and making friends, but he was different, and she didn't want kids to bully and ostracize him for it.  

He made friends that met his criteria, through the internet, chatting in gaming, in zoom meetings or met up socially afterschool.  She worked from home, and she didn't mind the company.  

But then one day at 14, he decided he wanted to go to school.  He provided no reasons to her.  He thought about taking the GED when he was in middle school, but realized if he did, it would restrict him from going to high school if he wanted to.

In some way, she knew it wasn't for learning, socializing or for the experience.  He could have just skip high school and gone straight to college if he wanted to, he was smart enough.  He knew those with higher intelligence, have to work harder expressing empathy or emotions than to be overridden by their logical predisposition.  He suggested this to her to comfort her in case he may have seemed indifferent at times.

He knew he couldn't tell her the real reason.  One night, he had dreamt of the person who tried to help him escape but was shot. Before she died, she gave him a silver necklace with a medallion engraved with the words in the back - Jakehoon.  He didn't know what it meant and she died before she was able to say anything.

He had a mass a following on the internet partly to reach the other agency kids, he couldn't remember their nicknames, for some reason.  They kept it a secret from the agency.  But, overnight he closed and blocked all of his accounts.  Was it because of the dream?  What is he doing?  What is he hiding? Did he have to go that far?  What's next?>

<Memories remind us of who we are.>