QT: Against My Will-Chapter 627 - 12.07 - New Pet - Interstellar Voyage

Dai An quietly returned to her room without engaging in any conversations. As she moved, the crowd instinctively stepped back and gave way, with goosebumps rising on their bodies. Her bizarre monkey mask only heightened the eerie and unsettling aura around her.

Dai An wondered how long Nathaniel could maintain his facade of weakness. He could also be taking advantage of it to make her put down her guard, though. Nevertheless, she was not Bing Shi and would definitely show no sympathy towards anyone.

Once inside her room, Dai An nonchalantly flung Shina’s body onto the bed, ’~Bing Shi, I’m starting to understand why he wants to lock you up all the time.’

’Oh? Why is that?’ asked Bing Shi, who willingly locked herself inside their space’s bedroom after hubby had mentioned how he wanted to do it on more than one occasion.

’~You are like the rare species that needs non stop monitoring to ensure they don’t go extinct.’ Dai An said, comparing Nathaniel to a rare species that suddenly required protection.

’Dai An, I think you watched too many documentary movies.’

’~You should watch a few more of them through Seraphine. I love the time wrap, it makes watching movies and reading books so fast,’ Dai An suggested to Bing Shi, enjoying the animal documentaries Seraphine watched with their baby boys.

Bing Shi found it funny how they could still communicate despite the time warp, the thoughts directed at each other traveled faster than the speed of light while everything was blacked out — because Dai An would be overwhelmed by the astonishing pace of the events, while for Bing Shi, everything seemed to progress far too slowly.

Bing Shi would always ask Dai An if she wanted an update on some of her productive activities. Their memories weren’t blocked by locks or barriers. They were more like pandora doors they chose not to open on their own.

· ─────── · ⊱❈⊰· ─────── · ·

Shina had taken on a new ’pet’, and to nobody’s surprise, it turned out to be Nathaniel Hauxley. How unfortunate for such a promising young man to drop so low, thought her team. Well, she almost died because of his carelessness, so her actions were quite understandable.

Nathaniel sat in the corner of Shina’s room, "I need to use the bathroom." Leaning his back against the wall, he contemplated his life choices.

When Lu Kai asked Bing Shi if she knew what Dai An had been doing outside, she said she didn’t have a single clue. It was better not to know or else she wouldn’t be able to stay locked up for long. She also assured him that Dai An’s moods didn’t fluctuate in the slightest, and was quite happy all the time, ’...’

The bathroom door swung open by itself, prompting Nathaniel to gather his strength and stand up, "..." He thought she opened the doors for him, which was far from the truth.

He stared at how she floated eerily inside the bathroom, her clothes being removed by unseen forces.

Inside the shower, Shina remained perfectly still while the shower head and sponge moved on their own, creating a surreal spectacle. She looked like a doll that was being taken care of by invisible hands.

’At least I get to stay by her side all day,’ Lu Kai comforted himself. He couldn’t connect the cute Dai An, who used to join them during their naughty times with the cold puppeteer before him. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

He shook his head internally as he continued to peek inside the bathroom, ’I thought Bing Shi’s monkey voices were distracting enough, but Dai An can flat ass ignore even a troop of monkeys playing banjos.’ He watched in disbelief as Shina mimed pouring shampoo from the bottle he had emptied yesterday, ’She can’t possibly be studying even in the shower, can she?’ he wondered.

If his memory served right, her routine played out just like yesterday, completely automated, without a single deviation.

Nora, who was monitoring Shina, didn’t find her behavior unfamiliar. This was exactly how Shina would act if someone tried to interrupt her beauty sleep during the night. No wonder Victor didn’t find her attractive. She would scare the shit out of everyone first with her ghostly aura, then silently float towards the toilets to relieve her bladder.

· ─────── · ⊱❈⊰· ─────── · ·

The following days, Felicia and Laura entered Shina’s room to complete their usual routine.

Nathaniel sat huddled in his small, isolated corner, nibbling on a sandwich Laura had brought for him, ’This is not how I imagined our story to unfold.’ Despite his efforts to stop Shina from working, everything had failed so far.

Each time he tried to speak, she would tape his mouth shut with duct tape and force him to face the wall in silence.

Lu Kai thought he had nailed his Frosty, but he still had much to learn from the actual icicle, ’I think I’ll have to wait until Dai An is done with her research,’ he said, convinced Dai An’s affection was only a reflection of Bing Shi’s feelings, ’How is wifey? Did you find something?’

’...’ Xuan Mu also didn’t know how to approach this issue. With Bing Shi unable to see things through Dai An’s lens, Dai An was blissfully free from the rollercoaster of her inner reactions, ’Her physical condition is beyond perfect. She still bounces around like a rabbit on an espresso shot, and there are more and more hints of her running out of time.’

Embracing her lock-up, Bing Shi seized the opportunity to organize and rearrange the contents of her space rings. She pulled out an astonishing array of items: clothes, books, trinkets, and more mysterious objects that even she had forgotten about.

She wrote a list of items she realized were absent and made a note to acquire them for her space rings.

The contrast between her cheerful ignorance and her husband’s dramatic paranoia was almost comical.

He’d collect and observe each strand of hair she shed, check on the state of her spiritual well being, and murmur incantations under his breath, half-convinced they’d act as protective spells to safeguard her soul.

Ironically, his overzealous actions were actually the reason why her energy levels were off the charts. His protective measures were unknowingly boosting her vigor.

· ───────── · ⊱❈⊰· ───────── · ·

"Mama, we have to save Nathaniel!" Lily burst out, teleporting inside Elera’s room out of nowhere, "Shina Night trapped him in her room and refused to release him! I saw her doing experiments on him, and, and—"

"Lily!" Elera’s voice sharpened with anger as she grasped Lily’s hands firmly, looking for any injuries, "How many times must I tell you how it’s reckless and dangerous for you to go near Shina Night and her people?!"

"But Mama, Nathaniel needs our help!" Lily pleaded.

Elera’s expression softened as she saw the earnestness in Lily’s eyes. "I promise we will find a way to help Nathaniel, but you must promise me you will not teleport into Shina’s room again. It’s far too dangerous."

Lily, sensing the genuine worry in her mother’s voice, nodded reluctantly. "I promise, Mama. I won’t go there alone again."

Elera sighed, hugging her daughter tightly, "Good."