Zhou's Diary

Hello, diary.

I’m getting rid of my old diaries, because they’re embarrassing. This is a reset – a reboot, they call it in comics.

It’s a good time to reset my diary, because I’ve moved out of the group home, and now I’m living in my new school.

Okay, now it’s backstory time. My name is Zhou Xizhang. People in the group home used to call me John, because it was easier to pronounce, but my tutor Umbra says my real name is important. I asked her why she didn’t use her real name, and she said that Umbra is her real name. She lies, I’m certain.

I wish Mr Taylor was my tutor. He has been very kind since I’ve come to the school. He’s much older than everyone else who teaches here, and he makes me feel safe. I’m not allowed to see him when he’s teaching his class, because he has a student called Aadita who might be dangerous to me.

Aadita can change people’s brains. She can reset minds to an earlier point – she could make Mr Taylor have the memories and thoughts he had when he was five years old, for example. They don’t want Aadita to see me, in case she makes me remember the things I’ve forgotten.

I think it’d be nice to remember some things. I wish I could remember my parents. Apparently, I’m from Fujian, which is part of China. I don’t remember Fujian – apparently, the winters are warmer there. Which sounds nice.

I was taken from there to come and work in the UK. I don’t remember this either. Umbra says I’m better off not remembering, because it was probably horrible.

My earliest memory is when I was a brick. Then I stopped being a brick, and people were worried about me, and made sure I was okay. I was outside a house, and when the police checked the house, they found there were lots of people working there from other countries.

I must have run away, and then became a brick, and then forgot everything. Now when I become things, I don’t forget as many things. It’s hard to keep everything, though. Umbra is helping me. She can’t become objects like I can – she can become other people. But she says it’s the same for her – she has to remember who she really is, or she’ll stay as the other people forever.

I’m enjoying the school. The other students are nice, and I like most of the teachers. I wish Mr Taylor was my tutor instead of Umbra, but otherwise I love it here. I was allowed to keep all of my comics.

Mr Taylor wants to adopt me, but he thinks he’s too old.