QT: Against My Will-Chapter 622 - 12.02 - Isolated - Interstellar Voyage
Over two centuries, the isolated spaceship, once a marvel of interstellar travel, drifted aimlessly through the void of space. Time and neglect had taken their toll on this once-proud vessel.
Externally, the ship’s sleek hull was now marred by the scars of countless micro-meteoroid impacts and the harsh radiation of space. Its once vibrant colors had faded, leaving a ghostly shell floating in the cosmos. Solar panels, essential for powering the ship, were coated in cosmic dust, reducing their efficiency.
Inside, the eerie silence of the ship was a stark reminder of its forgotten mission. The capsules, designed to preserve life, became unintended coffins for the crew. Over decades, the life support systems that maintained the hibernation pods gradually failed. Nutrient solutions that once fed the sleeping passengers ceased to flow. The bodies inside, preserved by the capsules’ controlled environment, lay undisturbed.
Nature aboard the ship took a bizarre turn. In the controlled environment, some of the plant grew uncontrollably, creating a surreal, overgrown garden amid the technological decay. These plants adapted to the ship’s conditions, evolving in unexpected ways, adding to the ship’s transformation from a vessel of exploration to a floating relic of a forgotten era.
Even though no morning light seeped into the rooms, many woke up due to their biological clocks.
Outside the rooms, the air was heavy with depression and sorrow. Here, some soldiers shouldered the weight of supporting the survivors who had succumbed to a deep lethargy. Unable to move independently, their vacant stares told silent stories of trauma and unspoken horrors.
"I keep thinking about the sun," murmured one, his voice barely a whisper, as if afraid to break the fragile atmosphere. "You know, the warmth of it on your skin, the way it lit up everything... made the world feel alive. I can’t remember the last time I felt truly warm."
Another nodded, her eyes distant. "I miss the rain. The sound it made as it hit the windows, the smell of the earth afterward. It’s funny the things you take for granted, isn’t it? Now, there’s just this endless void, a silence so deep it’s like the universe itself has forgotten us."
A third leaned forward, his hands clasped tightly together. "Do you think there’s any going back? I mean, to a life that feels... real? This ship, it’s like we’re ghosts, haunting the remains of a dream we can’t even remember dreaming."
"We’re trapped!" one suddenly cried out, the fear in their voice cutting through the somber mood like a knife. "How do we survive this?!"
The idea of being the last of their kind, adrift in the unfathomable emptiness, pressed down on their spirits with an unbearable weight. "The silence is too much," someone whispered, their voice laced with fear.
The notion of endless drifting, with no destination and no hope of rescue, sparked a frantic despair. "What if we’re all that’s left?" a voice questioned, choked with emotion. "What if there’s nothing out there but this endless, empty space, and we’re doomed to wander it forever?"
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Nathaniel patted a soldier’s shoulder with a cold, calculated precision. One by one, he erased every trace of Silvia LeClére from everyone’s minds like wisps of smoke. The depression that had swept over the spaceship had left everyone exposed, which weakened their mental defenses.
The idea of her naked body being seen by someone else, or even taken advantage of continued to ignite a deep seated aversion in Lu Kai. This primal, territorial emotion was something he thought he had long since left behind.
’Woah, chill out there nerd,’ Ziek taunted, his smile sharp. ’Your pent-up geek fury is getting out of control.’
One might begin to question if Lu Kai’s intention was to aid the Ethers or just to erase everyone over a petty disagreement with his wife’s actions.
They were completely unfazed by the grime situation. Even when really bad things happened, things that would shake most people, they acted like it was just another normal day.
’She has been doing too much at once. It’s as if she is running out of time again, and it terrifies me,’ Lu Kai retorted. Some people would never know what they have until it’s gone. But what about the ones who did know? He never took a damn thing for granted. He tried his best to hold on to Bing Shi, yet could only end up looking on helplessly as he lost the very thing he loved the most.
He couldn’t fathom Bing Shi’s choices — her inexplicable need to save others, only to then willingly succumb to a ’coma’. And then, just as abruptly, she returned to her role as a host, ’Don’t tell me she found out about the debt. There is no way.’
Not only was she dealing with her mission, but she suddenly took on his, XiaoPu, and Stinky Bun’s problems as well.
With her return, he believed he had no right to be selfish in any way. In his opinion, preserving her happiness was above all else, even if it meant swallowing his own discontent and watching her take paths he silently disapproved of, especially as Silvia and Shina.
’It’s driving me crazy; I just want to lock her up, shut down her mind, and make her stay in a real coma.’ This thought, once unthinkable, now hammered persistently at the edges of Lu Kai’s conscience.
Lu Kai relied heavily on Nathaniel as a reason to oppose his wife’s choices, but one simply couldn’t go against her will, ’Why couldn’t she stay as Seraphine a bit longer?’
Seraphine embodied docility, femininity, and a delicate dependence on him. She fed into his need to be the protector, the provider and satisfied his deepest, unspoken yearnings. Bing Shi would only ever behave in such a way when they were alone together, and he always cherished it so much, ’I definitely need more of that, no question about it.’
He found himself obsessively longing for more of this feminine side of her, but instead...
Nathaniel felt a jolt of numb pain as if he had been dropped from the air onto the ground, though the sensation was somewhat muted, "..." Without conscious thought, his feet carried him to Shina’s room, as if drawn by an unseen force.
