BTB04
[Date | Nov-5-24]
[Barista | Lavender]
[Subject | Business as Usual]
[File Reference | BTB04]
Something is seriously off. I mean, yeah, obviously. But—emotionally speaking, everyone’s in this… weird funk. I don’t know exactly what Hibiscus’ sister did, but it’s like we’ve all taken on an extra dose of repressed feelings. I’m not sure if any of you have felt it, but I can definitely see it in your faces. Take Cherry, for example. She’s carrying the grief of her Tanty’s death like it’s her own… but her Tanty, Miss. Singh, is still very much alive. And Cherry’s not the only one carrying emotions that aren’t necessarily hers.
I’ve managed to make sense of everyone else’s strange extra baggage, but Hibiscus’ emotions… I can’t quite place them. There’s this deep… resentment, this visceral bitterness directed at him… her dad… but it doesn’t feel like her anger. I’m not even sure anger is the right word. It’s more like a black hole of rage and sorrow, sucking everything into it. Just trying to read the emotion from her was enough to fill me with despair and hopelessness. I tried to nullify it, but it was too overwhelming—like pure, bottomless nihilism.
While everyone else’s additional emotions are normal… well, maybe they’re not exactly “normal,” but at least they make sense. Whatever is coming from Hibiscus, though… it doesn’t. All I know for certain is that it’s not hers. They have to be someone else’s emotions. Could it be the Nova? Or maybe it’s something from within Hibiscus’ Archives project, clawing its way to the surface…? If things can go back, surely, they can go forward too. And from what Hibiscus has told me about the Archives, there are plenty of people the Cafe and Diner have crossed paths with who wouldn’t hesitate to defy the odds and come back for a fresh tab if given the chance.