Wanted: Purrfect Cat Guy 55 The Monkey Who Never Lies

"Uhm... that could be the case, yes."

Mina reluctantly admitted. She was not sure about anything after all.

"Wait..." Devin couldn't help but feel overwhelmed by the sudden influx of new information. "That stupid orangutan said you don't remember anything."

"I asked him what this place is and he a.s.sumed I b.u.mped my head on the gla.s.s and lost my memories," Mina explained. She hoped that Devin whom everyone seems to rely on will realize she was a victim in all of this too.

Mina stared at Devin while waiting for his reaction. The man looked attractive despite his knitted brows. Even if he had the power to possibly feed Mina to the sharks, she couldn't help but admire his appearance. He would look perfect in front of any magazine cover.

'Mina! Stop being distracted!' Mina tried to keep her thoughts from straying but she couldn't resist the man's magnetic aura. She sneaked another glance at Devin who now had one hand on his chin while mulling over their current situation.

"That's not it," Devin started, "That orangutan you just met could tell at one glance what the problem is."

Mina looked at him as if he was saying something ridiculous.

"If he says you have memory loss, you most likely lost your memories."

It was Mina's turn to be surprised. "But this may be a special case. I remember everything that happened before all these crazy time travel supernatural weirdness!"

'Are you crazy, I can even remember who s.h.i.+t who's pants in preschool!' Mina wanted to add but she restrained herself, it might not sound too funny to Devin. Who knows what this creature is thinking

"How far back do you remember?" Devin continued to prod which made Mina feel like something was wrong.

'How did the entire situation became all about what she remembered? Wasn't it supposed to be why she was transported to this world? This...this entire thing was not about her.'

While Mina continued to mull over the situation in her head she heard Devin's cutting voice.

"Do you remember anything unusual back when you were in your world?"

"No. There's nothing of that sort. I'm just a regular girl with a regular job and maybe a highly irregular sense of judgment when it comes to relations.h.i.+ps." Mina couldn't help but since when she mentioned the last part. "Looking back, nothing unusual happened to me, I didn't even stand out. I'm just like everyone else."

"That can't be right!" Devin insisted. You might have missed out something important.

Mina finally snapped.

'What else did this person want her to remember? He acted as if he's talking to a liar. I had an uneventful life alright!'

"So what if I'm just a boring person with no excitement in her life!" Mina couldn't help but be defensive about how she lived her life.

"Stop right there! No nagging, you remind me of some raven I know." Devin interrupted.

"Argh, I forgot I have to explain everything."

After a short pause, Devin went on to explain.

"You see, not anyone can take over my sh.e.l.l. You need the necessary security clearance. Since I don't remember authorizing you to take over, someone higher than me might have given you the clearance. Otherwise, you won't be able to enter that world as a cat."

"How could that be possible?" It was Mina's turn to be shocked. "Why would I be involved in all these afterlife bureaucracies?" she wondered aloud.

"You see," Devin insisted, "that monkey never lies. You should try to remember."

"How could I remember something that I don't remember?" Mina exclaimed with frustration.

'This man was only making things more complicated. Isn't he supposed to be the one with all the answers? Why is he making things even more confusing!'

"How can I have a special ident.i.ty when I remember everything ever since I was a child!" Mina protested.

Devin looked at her as if sympathizing with her plight. "Even if you remember everything from the moment you were in your mother's womb, you could still be missing something. A memory before your current life."

"You mean I was reincarnated or something?" Mina suggested.

"Reincarnated? Of course not!" Devin replied quickly. "If you received enough authority to use my sh.e.l.l you wouldn't be a candidate for reincarnation."

Appalled at the man's reply, Mina couldn't help but shoot him another question.

"How could that be the case, did I live such a vicious life in the past?"

"That's something that only you could answer."

"How did this become all about me again? I'm a victim in all these!" Mina complained to which Devin had another reasonable answer.

"Didn't everything start because of you? You managed to throw off the balance in the Network. This Network is the afterlife as humans are so fond of calling it. If it's not your time to go yet, Baba will take you back to your body and you will wake up."

A fluffy hologram of a black sheep appeared before Mina and the sheep escorted what appears to be a soul to a hospital bed. While Mina looked at the images, Devin continued.

"If you're supposed to die, some other creature will escort you to where you are supposed to go."

The hologram disappeared and it was replaced by a miniature model of what she saw from the pod.

"You can't go back to another time. Each era is built like your esophagus, but with a stronger stopper. It's impossible for souls to do a backflow."

"What if there's reflux?" Mina asked in a serious tone. "And I'm the regurgitated soul?"

While asking the question Mina couldn't help but wince at the comparison.

'Seriously, we're going to compare this entire network to an esophagus? What am I supposed to be -- the vomit? This Devin guy is not creative at all!'