We sat quietly at the café table for a while.
For the first few minutes none of us said anything. Even the usual background noise of the campus café felt strangely distant as the three of us waited for our drinks.
For the first time since I had known him, Anthony didn't order his usual Caramel Nebula Latte.
All three of us simply ordered coffee.
Just coffee.
The order arrived a few minutes later, delivered by one of the service robots that worked inside the café. The machine carefully placed the cups on our table before rolling away toward the next customer.
No one even bothered to thank it.
I knew it was just a robot… but still.
The silence had started feeling uncomfortable, so I tried to break it.
"Hey, Will," I said while lifting my cup slightly. "Prepared for the exams?"
He didn't respond...William kept staring down at the table for a moment before giving a small nod, as if acknowledging my question without actually answering it.
I glanced toward Anthony.
He looked calmer than William, though I couldn't tell if he genuinely wasn't affected or if he simply didn't want to show it. Still, the fact that he had ordered plain coffee instead of his usual ridiculous drink told me something was bothering him too.
If anyone could lighten the mood, though… it was Anthony.
Suddenly he stood up from his chair and before William could react, Anthony grabbed his coffee cup.
"Hey!" William shouted.
"If you're not drinking it, fatso, then this one belongs to me," Anthony said proudly while holding the cup away from him.
"Give it back!" William snapped.
"Not in this life, buddy - hehehe" Anthony replied with a mischievous grin.
William stood up as if he was about to chase him — then suddenly sat back down.
"Go ahead," he said calmly. "I just won't pay for it."
"Hehehe."
Anthony narrowed his eyes.
"Don't copy my laugh, you nerd."
William leaned back in his chair.
"Hehehe."
Anthony jumped toward him instantly, and the next thing I knew the two of them had started wrestling right there in the middle of the café.
It didn't even look like a real fight from my side — more like two oversized children trying to prove who was more annoying.
People around us started laughing.
Anthony grabbed William from behind while William struggled to escape his grip, both of them slipping and bumping into chairs while the entire café watched the chaos unfold.
I couldn't help laughing.
After a few minutes the "fight" finally ended, and both of them collapsed back into their seats — breathing heavily, sweating, and still laughing.
For the first time since the conversation with Professor Hanks, the tension between us had finally loosened.
I took a sip of my coffee and looked at them. Seeing them like that, laughing and wrestling as if nothing had happened, I realized the calm was only temporary and that all of us needed a break from everything weighing on our minds—then suddenly an idea clicked.
"Guys… we should go on a trip," I said slowly. "It might help us clear our heads."
Both of them looked up immediately...The idea seemed to excite them.
We ended up talking for another hour, throwing around random ideas and locations while the earlier heaviness slowly faded away.
That's the strange thing about friendship.
One hour earlier we had been sitting in shock, trying to process a secret that could change everything about our lives — and now we were laughing, joking, and planning a trip as if nothing had happened.
With friends, even the darkest moments can briefly disappear.
Norway.
That was the country we chose — the travel wasn't too expensive, the place was famous for its scenic views and quiet luxury hotels, and most importantly it wasn't overcrowded like most popular tourist spots. It felt like the perfect balance for a short escape.
"Fine then — I'll ask my parents tonight and we'll discuss everything tomorrow after college, alright?" William said while pushing his chair back and adjusting his glasses before standing up.
"Just make sure your mom doesn't start crying the moment you leave the house," Anthony added while laughing.
I laughed too.
"Oh shut up, you two — I'll be the first one to get permission," William said confidently as he grabbed his bag and walked out of the café.
Soon after that we all headed back to our respective homes.
My father didn't even think twice before saying no.
He had always stopped me from going out anywhere — I had never even been on a school trip before, and every time I asked him why, he simply refused without giving a proper reason.
This time though… things were different. I wanted to tell him everything Professor Hanks had told me — about the chip, about the system — but I held myself back, because telling him would only create more chaos.
I hesitated.
Another reason for that hesitation was our relationship.
I had always listened to everything my father said, but deep down I hated him. I blamed him for what had happened to my mother — something inside me had never forgiven him for that day.
Still, pushing those thoughts aside, I tried asking him again — and this time I stopped eating as well.
I knew I needed this trip badly, and I wasn't even asking him for money — although money had never been a problem anyway. I already had my own from the Chrono Hub visit earlier.
The next day at college we met again.
Anthony and William had both received permission from their parents — even William, which honestly surprised me. His mother was probably the most sensitive person I had ever seen.
Once, when we were twelve, the three of us had taken William to a small restaurant nearby — we had been gone for barely thirty minutes when his mom, Mrs. Rebecca Ginart, had already called the police saying her son was missing.
Oof.
That had been one of the most chaotic days of my life — I still couldn't imagine what William had gone through that day.
Anyway, when I told my friends I still needed a few more days to convince my father, they immediately started laughing.
"Come on, Justin — you're apparently smarter than anyone on Earth now and you still can't convince your own father?" Anthony joked while William chuckled beside him.
I ignored them.
Three days passed but Still no permission. Finally, I decided to take a very dangerous step.
What I did next…
shocked my father in ways no one could have imagined.
I finally decided that I didn't need permission anymore.
Late that night, around three in the morning, I called Anthony and William and told them everything — how I had tried every possible way to convince my father, how every conversation had ended the same way, and how I had reached the point where only one option remained.
Just go.
For once, both of them were completely silent.
"Oohhkayy... Are you sure though?" William asked on the call.
I knew exactly why they were worried. Sneaking out of the country without permission wasn't exactly a harmless decision.
"Don't bother yourselves," I replied calmly. "I won't tell my dad that you both knew about this — so you're safe."
After a moment the call ended, and the three of us agreed to leave the following week — on the very first day of our summer vacation.
The days between that decision and the actual trip turned out to be strangely important for me.
During that time I focused on learning how to control my thoughts.
Professor Hanks continued teaching as if nothing unusual had ever happened, and although he never treated me differently in class, I now found myself filled with far more questions than before.
Sometimes I even wondered if my father already knew something about everything that had happened — about the chip, about the system.
But I never asked.
For reasons I had already made very clear to myself.
Over the next three or four days I slowly learned how to channel my thoughts and control the strange rush of ideas that had been overwhelming me since the incident.
In that process I discovered something else.
Even though my chip had broken, my lifespan was still being regulated.
Before the malfunction the chip had already set a total limit of sixty-eight years for my life — including the extra forty years I had mysteriously received. And even after the chip stopped functioning properly, that limit still remained in place.
By the time the day of our trip finally arrived, I felt ready.
I had learned to handle the chaos inside my mind — the nausea, the uncontrollable waves of thought, the sudden bursts of emotion that seemed to appear without warning.
Everything felt stable again.
And with that strange sense of calm, I prepared myself to leave for Norway…
completely unaware that this journey was about to become the real turning point of my story —the moment that would eventually explain how I ended up where I am now.