All Chapters of Three Years Later, They Finally Regretted It: Chapter 1 - Chapter 8

8 Chapters

Chapter 1

"Activate, Unit EVA."Mom's voice was hesitant. She wasn't sure what she was saying, just repeating the headmaster's words.My eyes lit up — like a screen flickering back to life after years on standby.I stood up from the chair, hands at my sides, back straight."Activated. Please give instructions."Mom froze. Behind her, the headmaster explained, "Mrs. Walker, our academy has designed a special system to better teach our students. Each student must be awakened by an activation command. With this command, she will never disobey any of your instructions."Mom finally understood.My brother Jack pushed forward, a mischievous glint in his eye. He was five years older and had always loved teasing me until I cried."Unit EVA, bark like a dog."I immediately tucked my chin, stuck out my tongue, and let out a loud bark.Jack burst out laughing. "Emily finally learned her lesson! Before, she'd waste half an hour before practicing piano. Now she barks like a champ."Mom and Dad nodded, clearl

Chapter 2

At dinner, the family sat around the table.Sophia sat to Mom's right. Jack sat to Dad's left. I was seated at the far end."Eat up," Mom said automatically.I immediately picked up my fork.Steak, mashed potatoes, green beans.When I ate the green beans, Jack's eyes went wide. "No way! You actually eat green beans now? You were the pickiest eater ever!"I didn't answer.The instructor had said preferences were "emotional residue," a sign of incomplete rehabilitation.In my third month, because I refused to eat green beans, I was locked in the Quiet Room for two full days.No light. No sound. No stimulation.Only darkness.When I came out, I ate the green beans.Then carrots. Then onions. Then broccoli.Everything I'd never touched before, I ate.Next, I reached for the peanuts on the plate.I put a peanut in my mouth, chewed mechanically, and swallowed.Dad's eyes bulged. "She ate a peanut? Emily is allergic to peanuts!"Jack put down his fork. "The academy can even fix that?"I didn'

Chapter 3

A woman in a white coat came to the house. She introduced herself as Dr. Thompson, a psychologist."Hello, Emily."I didn't speak.Mom wrung her hands. "You have to give her a command, or she won't talk."Dr. Thompson frowned. "Please tell me your name.""Unit EVA."Dr. Thompson's pen paused on her notepad. "And your real name?""Emily Walker. But that's my former name. Academy regulations require graduating students to use their unit numbers as their official designations."The whole family's expressions darkened.They went into the study and talked in words I couldn't understand:"PTSD... depersonalization... long-term therapy..."After that, things got strange at home. They started tiptoeing around me.On Sophia's birthday, they made a difficult decision: to send Sophia away.This would be Sophia's last birthday with us.The living room was filled with balloons. A two-layer cake sat on the table.Sophia walked over to me, still gentle and sweet. "Happy birthday, big sister."My eyes

Chapter 4

The night wind was cold."Emily!" Jack spotted me first. His voice was sharp and piercing.Mom turned her head. All the color drained from her face."Emily! What are you doing!"I gave her a small smile and carried out the command without hesitation.When I opened my eyes, the ceiling was white. Not the sickly white of the academy's training room.Everything hurt. Not the sharp pain of electric shocks, but a deep, bone-heavy ache.Someone was asleep beside my bed. Mom.The hospital door cracked open. Dad walked in, carrying a thermos. "Emily, you're finally awake. Your mother stayed by your side for three days and three nights. We couldn't make her leave."I didn't speak. He hadn't given the "speak" command.Mom stirred. When she saw I was awake, she burst into motion. "Emily, you're awake?""Interrogative sentences are not valid instructions."The words slid out of my mouth like a tape recorder hitting play. No emotion. No thought. Just reflex.Mom's tears stopped for an instant.She

Chapter 5

"There is no definition! No standardization! Emily, Mommy was wrong. So wrong. We never should have sent you away. We never should have forced you to be obedient. We never should have broken your heart over a machine. Just be the old Emily again. Please. Is that too much to ask?""Is that an instruction?" I asked.Mom's body stiffened. Her arms around me loosened. She looked at my expressionless face, and the color drained from her cheeks. She sank back into the chair.Dad came over. His back seemed so much more hunched now. His voice was hoarse."Emily, I'm sorry, sweetheart. I used to think you were too difficult, not as easy as Sophia. But now that you've become like this... I realize the daughter who would throw tantrums and ask for hugs — that's the daughter we truly loved."I didn't speak. There were no command words in what he said.Jack stood up and slapped himself across the face.The sharp crack echoed in the hospital room.Again. And again. Until his cheek was swollen and Da

Chapter 6

Days passed like that, one after another.They stopped giving me random commands. But without a command, I just sat there, from sunrise to sunset, like a machine on standby.Every day, Mom sat beside me and told me stories from when I was little.She told me about the first time I said "Mama" at age three, how she'd spun me around in joy.She told me about the time I stole her lipstick at five and drew all over the wall, how she'd stayed up half the night scrubbing it off.She told me about the time I had a 104-degree fever at ten, how Dad had carried me three kilometers to the hospital, losing one of his shoes along the way.She cried the whole time.I just sat there. No response.Jack visited every psychologist in the city. He went back to the academy and raised hell. Eventually, he brought home two thick folders.One contained my three years of training records.The other was Sophia's complete backend log from the manufacturer.That night, the three of them sat in the study reading

Chapter 7

The fragments inside my head began to churn.The warm memories from before I turned fourteen — Mom's gentle hugs, Dad lifting me onto his shoulders, Jack sneaking me snacks —And the dark memories from those three years. That hard slap. The endless darkness of the Quiet Room. The blisters on my arms. Jack's poisoned words: "Go kill yourself."All the pain, all the anger, all the grief that had been crushed down for three years — it broke through the dam labeled "absolute obedience" like a flood.My shoulders started shaking. Tears fell without warning.Mom grabbed me and held me tight, crying with me."I'm sorry. Mommy is here." Over and over.Dad turned his back, his shoulders shaking.Jack leaned against the wall, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand, but the tears kept coming.I cried for a long, long time. Until my voice gave out. Until I was so exhausted I fell asleep in Mom's arms.From that day on, I began to slowly come back to life.I still instinctively waited for comma

Chapter 8

Her voice was so small. Like it came from somewhere very, very deep.I held her hand."I will."Sunlight streamed through the window, falling on the floor in a patch of gold.Just like that morning so many years ago.Back then, I thought I would never be okay again.But here I am.Treating others the way I once so desperately wanted to be treated.A soft voice cut through my thoughts."Can you tell me what I should do next?"I looked up at the quiet girl in my arms, and before I could answer, the question repeated, firmer this time, sharp with the familiar habit I knew so well:"Is that an instruction?"I froze for a second, the familiar question tugging at a thread of old memory buried deep in my chest.Then I wrapped my hand more gently around hers, brushing the stray hair stuck to her wet cheek away with my other hand.I spoke slow and soft, just like how my family talked to me when I first came out of that place:"No, it isn't. This isn't an instruction. There's no right or wrong a

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