There are some characters I hesitate to describe — not because there isn’t much to say, but because too much would be lost in the telling. Lata is one of them. She humbles me. She unsettles me. And sometimes, without warning, she angers me. That’s all I can say, for now.
Manoj K.
<Diary Entry/ Lata’s personal log at GAISE/ DATE: **/**/**** >
I’ve been at GAISE for a few months now.
It’s strange, living here — surrounded by these towering basalt cliffs of the Sahyadris, thick forests on all sides, and buildings that somehow don’t feel like buildings. More like something grown, not built. I didn’t expect to like it this much.
The best part? The gardens. They’ve designed everything around green — real green. There are Miyawaki forests, wild creepers climbing the buildings, open lawns, small waterfalls, and birds everywhere. In the mornings, you can hear them before the sun is fully up. And on some evenings, when the Alstonia flowers, the whole place smells like memory. Hard to describe, but you know it when it hits you.
After the tests each day, I usually go for a walk. Sometimes to the observatory up on the hill — the climb’s steep, but the view’s worth it. Other times, I just wander around campus. You can disappear into one of the trails and not see another soul for hours.
Working with Aafreen has been good. We’ve found a rhythm with the tests. She’s sharp, focused. Doesn’t waste time. But she also lets me be, which I appreciate.
Anyway. The birds were loud again this morning. I’ll probably go up to the observatory after lunch.
— Lata
That’s all for this one.
If you’ve been following these entries, the full story — Zero Dimensional Space — releases on Kindle on August 10, 2025. I hope you’ll read it.
