"What are you looking at? She already went inside. Let's go. If we head back to the hotel now, we can still make the last class."
Mina's own life was a complete mess right now; she didn't have the energy to care about anyone else.
Vivienne stared at the blue and white building in the distance. It looked brighter than in her memory, with white clouds drifting over the roof, giving her a surreal sense of disjointed time.
"What's wrong with you?" Mina took a few steps, realized Vivienne hadn't moved, and followed her gaze again, still seeing nothing out of the ordinary.
Vivienne turned around, about to leave, when a glitching tag hovering over Aurelia's head in her memory flashed through her mind.
She stopped dead in her tracks. Her luminous eyes went still as a startling theory leaped to the forefront of her mind.
Could it be?
Vivienne turned her head, looking thoughtfully back at the blue and white building.
"You go back first."
In a split second, her decision was made. She turned and walked toward the blue and white building.
"Hey?!" Mina stared at Vivienne's retreating back, unsure of what to do.
The entrance hall of the building bore the words 'Health Consultation'. Vivienne ignored them and took the elevator straight to the third floor.
The third floor was the exclusive VIP zone. Doctors here usually required advance appointments, and the environment was highly private. As soon as she stepped out of the elevator, the receptionist nurse stood up with a polite smile.
"Hello, do you have an appointment?"
Vivienne shook her head. "No."
The young nurse looked slightly apologetic. "I'm sorry, miss. We operate strictly by appointment here. You can't enter without one."
After registering, she followed the nurse's directions into the consultation wing. The area consisted of rows of private rooms, all with tightly shut doors.
Vivienne walked down the corridor and quickly found room 333. An 'Occupied' sign hung outside.
She hesitated for a moment, then gently turned the doorknob. Discovering it wasn't locked, she eased the pressure on the handle, moving with the delicate precision of tracing a needle over a balloon.
Fortunately, the people inside were deeply engrossed in conversation and entirely oblivious to the movement at the door.
It took a full minute of careful maneuvering before the latch clicked softly, and she pushed the door open just enough to create a sliver of a gap.
The soundproofing vanished instantly, and Aurelia's exhausted voice drifted out.
"No. This time it really isn't a hallucination. Someone is genuinely controlling me."
Vivienne stood stunned. She had vaguely guessed as much, but hearing such an unbelievable truth confirmed still felt incredibly surreal.

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