Ron turned around, his gaze sweeping over the laboratory as memories gradually surfaced in his mind. After Dr. O'Dell died, Ron had been devastated and left this place in a daze, never returning afterward. It was precisely because he did not want to disappoint the doctor that he had worked so hard to emerge from the shadows of the past and avoid constantly recalling those old tragedies. As a result, his memory of the laboratory had grown somewhat blurry.
But standing here now, he understood that he had never forgotten. Every little moment he had shared with the doctor surfaced bit by bit amid the familiar surroundings. While the doctor conducted experiments, Ron would lean against the lab bench and chat with him; in the mornings and evenings, he would sneak out and use the coffee machine in the break room to make coffee for the two of them. He would add six packets of sugar to his own cup; it was also here that he had first tasted the Oreos the doctor brought him—the sweetest, most delicious cookies he had ever eaten.
In his memories, the doctor was always seated before one machine or another, or standing in front of the computer analyzing data... Wait. Ron looked toward that familiar spot—where was the computer???
Back then, laboratories still used those bulky old computers, the all-in-one kind with huge backs. It had originally sat in the corner at the far end of the room. But now, there was nothing there.
Ron quickly walked over and checked the area from top to bottom, but aside from a desk already covered in dust, there was not a single electronic device left. He clearly remembered that besides the computer, there had been floppy disks in the drawers, data storage devices underneath, and countless