Chapter 4

Raven lowered her voice, a hint of excitement in her tone.

Lance walked over and crouched down beside her.

Beneath the door, a strand of lifeless hair could be seen splayed across the floor.

"The subject's hair has lost its luster."

Raven typed rapidly on her tablet.

"Initial assessment: endocrine imbalance caused by long-term psychological suppression."

Lance pushed his glasses up.

"Not just that. This is keratin loss from malnutrition."

He stood up and dusted off his hands.

"Make sure to record this. It's valuable physiological data—very useful for studying physical regression in low-cognition individuals."

I watched them, feeling waves of nausea.

This was Lance and Raven—two monsters with IQs of 160.

Half an hour later, the front door opened. Dad walked in holding an enormous shopping bag.

"Shelly, Daddy bought you the bear you love most! Come out and see, okay?"

Dad placed the massive plush bear on the couch and patted its head.

"This bear wasn't cheap. Cost me half a month's bonus."

Mom walked over, looked at the bear, and sighed.

"Well, you bought it now. As long as it gets her to calm down."

Dad cleared his throat and walked to my door.

"Shelly, Daddy's home."

"I got you the bear you love most, and the most expensive imported medicine."

"Come out and look, okay?"

Still dead silence behind the door.

The smell of waste mixed with decay had become impossible to ignore.

The living room air purifier started blaring frantic alarms, its red light flashing painfully bright.

Mom covered her nose, brows furrowed.

"Why is the smell getting worse? What is she doing in there?"

She tried the emotional approach through the door.

"Shelly, Mom knows we've upset you."

Mom's voice cracked.

"Remember the first time you called me 'Mama'? You were just this small."

She gestured.

"Mama loves you, you know. Don't hold a grudge against Lance and Raven, okay?"

I floated above them, watching this belated performance of devotion.

Love me?

Loving me meant watching me get locked in an abandoned factory?

Loving me meant switching my life-saving medication with saline?

Beside them, Raven was completely unmoved by her parents' emotions.

Her fingers tapped rapidly on the tablet.

"Three minutes into family emotional intervention. Subject shows no vocal cord vibration. Emotional threshold abnormal."

She reported without lifting her head.

"Recommend increasing stimulus intensity."

As the purifier's alarm grew louder and louder, Dad's patience finally snapped.

The kind-father smile vanished from his face, replaced by pure fury.

"What experiment? That's your sister! Both of you, knock it off!"

Dad whipped around, snatched the tablet from Raven's hands, and slammed it on the floor.

The screen shattered instantly.

Raven flinched and stepped back.

"Dad, what are you doing?! All my data was on there!"

"This is what you're worried about right now?!"

Dad finally sensed something was deeply wrong.

He rushed to the entryway, yanked open a drawer, and frantically rummaged through it.

"The spare key—where's the key?!"

He flung the contents of the drawer all over the floor.

Mom's heart leapt to her throat, her face going pale.

"Carter, don't scare me. Shelly didn't actually—"

Dad finally found a rusty spare key at the very bottom.

His hand trembled violently as he gripped it.

He walked to the door, took a deep breath, and inserted the key into the lock.

[Click.]

The sound of the lock disengaging rang unnaturally clear in the silent hallway.

My soul quietly closed its eyes.

The door was thrown open.