Twix and Tunoo curiously looked at the floating platforms hanging mid-air. As they stared at the tall platforms, their feline instincts kicked in.
They really wanted to jump up. Tunoo was the liveliest.
With a light leap, he landed on the lowest platform and then began jumping up one by one. Reaching the highest one, he happily wagged his tail, let out a "meow," and lay on the top, looking down.
The view from high above made him very excited. Seeing Tunoo so happy, Twix felt a bit envious.
It looked fun, so she wagged her tail and started jumping up slowly, but she couldn't even reach the first platform.
"Meow?" She let out a low, sad meow, and her thin tail drooped weakly.
Twix was so clumsy, she couldn't even jump onto a single board. Minara watched Twix looking so down, her eyes filled with tears from heartache.
She quickly picked her up to comfort her. "Twix is just too small. Once you grow up, it will be fine."
"Really?" Twix's tears fell as she looked up at her. "Meow, they all say I'm weak. Is it true? Is that why mom and dad didn't want me?"
Even though she was still little, she had already become aware of her differences. She was always very cautious.
Minara heard her choking voice and felt a sharp pain in her heart. The three kittens were abandoned because of different health issues.
Beast people still followed their instincts when raising young ones. Only strong babies would be raised, while sick ones were heartlessly abandoned.
Even though the government had taken many steps to stop this, many families still threw away sick kittens without mercy. Twix and Trevor were both born weak.
They might not even be able to take human form by the time they turned ten. Tunoo had an invisible genetic defect.
It wasn't obvious when he was young. But as he grew, his genes would collapse, leading to death.
Thinking of this, Minara's heart hurt deeply. She softly comforted Twix.
"Twix just has a small illness. As long as you behave and get treatment, you'll be fine."
"Really? You're not lying?" Twix still sounded unsure.
"I promise." Minara kept soothing her. Under her gentle care, Twix believed her words and visibly became more lively.
"Sis, I want to go up and play!" she said sweetly, snuggling up to Minara, her watery cat eyes staring at her full of affection.
Minara used the remote control to reduce the gaps between the floating platforms. Twix could easily jump up.
Twix happily jumped up and reached the top platform, meowing with joy. "Meow, this is so fun!"
She squeezed next to Tunoo. The two kittens hugged each other, licking each other's fur.
They looked absolutely adorable. "Trevor, do you want to play too?"
Minara looked down at Trevor by her legs and asked. Trevor sat on the ground, looking up at the tall cat climbing frame.
The green vines hanging from it swayed with the wind. He looked a little tempted.
But he felt he had already grown up and shouldn't fight with his siblings over toys. In Trevor's mind, these toys were for Twix and Tunoo.
He should take responsibility as the older brother and look after them. Not play.
"Trevor is also a baby. Go play with Tunoo and Twix." Minara smiled gently. "You can also look after them from up there."
Minara saw through his hesitation, picked him up, and gently spoke to him. "Trevor, remember that you're still a little one too. You should have fun. I'll take care of you all."
Minara patiently corrected his thinking. Her words were soft but sounded trustworthy.
Trevor hesitated, then nodded. Minara patted his head gently.
There was no rush. It would take time to change his mindset.
She would show him through actions that he could feel safe. Trevor crouched on a platform, his big cat eyes staring at the dangling vine.
He reached out and gently scratched it. The vine swayed back and forth, making his paws itch to chase it.
He couldn't help but start playing with it. Watching the three kittens happily playing in the yard, Minara finally relaxed.
She decided to search the SkyNet for information about their illnesses to see if there was a cure. After a long time, Minara got off SkyNet feeling defeated.
She had looked through everything. Most congenital diseases had no cure.
These were genetic problems caused by massive mutations during the beast people's evolution. And with supernatural abilities added in, genetic diseases became the most difficult problem for beast people.
So far, there were no effective treatments. "System Y-01, is there anything you can do about Trevor and the others' illnesses?"
With no other options, Minara placed her hope in System Y-01. System Y-01 was silent for a moment.
Then said, "As a benefit to the host, I can provide knowledge from a higher-level civilization. How much you learn depends on you."
"I can do it, I'll learn!" Minara quickly said, full of excitement.
She hadn't expected System Y-01 to be so helpful. She was a top student in school.
And now, in the interstellar age, her body had been enhanced by System Y-01. Her memory and understanding had also improved.
So learning would be even easier.
Minara said excitedly, "Sister, the egg moved, the egg moved, is my little brother about to come out?"
Minara looked hesitantly at the egg in her hands and said uncertainly, "It should be, maybe in a few days, he will come out."
"That's great!" The two of them said happily.
Inside the eggshell, a certain man rolled and bumped around before finally becoming conscious.
After waking up, he was confused.
Where was this place? Why was he not in the lab?
Even though he had destroyed most of the lab, taking him away from it should have been nearly impossible.
He moved his body slightly, the hands holding him were warm, unlike the cold and heartless lab.
Hearing people outside cheering for him to break out of the shell, he thought coldly, why should he come out?
Those filthy desires made him sick.
Everyone coveted his ability, hoping he would become an emotionless weapon in human form so they could control him.
He would never let them have their way.
Thinking of the people at the lab who tried everything but couldn't figure out why he had not broken out of the shell, he felt pleased.
They never guessed he had already developed self-awareness and had the ability to control when to hatch.
Not knowing the boy in the egg was already conscious, Minara gently placed it on a soft blanket to let it bask in the sun and turned it over from time to time.
Come out soon, Minara silently prayed, she had already prepared everything.
With knowledge from both her lives, she would raise him to be a righteous and kind person.
She would never let him become someone who harms the world.
Minara clenched her fists, determined, completely unaware that the one about to emerge was already a self-aware teenager.
Back then, she was completely stunned.
Trevor and Twix stopped playing and excitedly lay down beside the egg, staring at it as if it would hatch the next second.
Minara smiled and worked faster, planning to bathe the three little cats after finishing the toys.
They had been running around and were a bit dirty, and they liked licking each other.
Germs could enter through the mouth and make them sick.
"I'll give you a bath later!" Minara said.
The moment she said that, the three cats all puffed up.
All three were long-haired, and when they puffed up, they looked like fluffy balls.
Trevor immediately ran off. He hated baths more than anything.
Twix looked at Minara with his big amber eyes, acting cute, "Meow! Sister! No bath!"
Minara coldly and firmly rejected his request, "No, if you don't bathe, you'll get sick!"
Hearing this non-negotiable answer, Twix suddenly wilted.
He lay on the floor, gloomily scratching it with his paw. Running was useless, Minara would catch them anyway, and it would just waste energy.
"Trevor, where are you going?" Minara raised an eyebrow, watching Trevor tiptoe around.
Hearing her voice, Trevor froze for a moment, then slowly turned around.
His eyes darted left and right, refusing to meet Minara's gaze.
His tail twitched nervously, and he stiffly said, "I'm just a bit thirsty, going for some water, meow."
"So Trevor wants water? I thought Trevor didn't want to bathe either!"
Minara looked at his guilty expression and spoke seriously.
"Meow! Who, who said that? Trevor is a big cat, he definitely bathes on time."
Trevor nervously moved his front paws, then lifted his head and puffed out his chest, trying to look brave.
"Then Trevor has to set a good example for his younger siblings!"
Minara looked at Trevor pretending to be calm and almost laughed, but she still spoke seriously.
Trevor nodded faintly. It's just a bath, what's so scary about it?
Okay, maybe it was a bit scary. As soon as Minara turned away, Trevor deflated, ears drooping, lying on the ground listlessly.
Why did bathing even exist in this world?
She carried the fleeing Trevor back and walked to the bathroom.
On the way, Trevor kept meowing, "Meow! Sister, I don't want a bath!"
"Meow meow! Baths are scary."
Minara held his butt with one hand and patted his head with the other, "Be good, Trevor, it's not scary at all. You'll be out soon. Look, your sister already went. As the older brother, shouldn't you go too?"
As they got closer to the bathroom, Trevor realized he couldn't escape.
He lay limp on Minara's shoulder, totally lifeless.
Trevor and Twix had already arrived at the bathroom.
They stayed far from the tub, not looking at it, thinking maybe that would make the pain go away.
Minara laughed at their silly behavior and placed Trevor on the floor.
She started filling the tub with water.
Hearing the sound of running water, the three cats huddled together, trembling.
Twix glanced at Trevor with a pleading look: Trevor, big brother, let's run while we still can!
Trevor tried to stay calm and looked back: Even if we run today, we still have to bathe tomorrow.
Twix signaled again: Sigh, brother, forget it, just close your eyes and it'll be over.
Realizing escape was impossible, Twix slowly lay down.
He closed his eyes and covered his head with his paws, pressing his ears down. If he couldn't see or hear, then it wasn't really happening!
Minara tested the water temperature.
When she turned around, she saw Trevor truly acting like he couldn't hear or see anything and couldn't help but laugh.
She placed a few toys into the tub and picked up Trevor first.
As she gently lowered him into the water, the moment his paw touched it, he curled up into a ball.
Minara stroked his head and slowly put him in.
She placed a little duck in front of him to distract him.
"See, isn't it fun? Trevor is doing great!" she encouraged.
Trevor, however, refused to open his eyes and stayed frozen, determined to be a deaf and mute cat to the end.
Then she brought Twix into the tub, and Trevor followed behind like a hero heading to battle.
Knowing all three cats feared water, Minara sped up to avoid keeping them in too long.
Twix wasn't as scared of water as Trevor.
Once he got used to it, he started playing with toys.
Trevor just naturally disliked bathing but wasn't afraid of water itself.
Only Trevor never opened his eyes the entire time.
After the bath, she dried them one by one and tucked them into the blankets.
Seeing how lively they looked afterward, she smiled helplessly.
In their animal forms, instincts were still strong.
Once they turned human, it should get better.
Back in her bedroom, Minara lay down and thought about what she needed to do the next day.
She felt drowsy and glanced at the egg next to her.
She gently touched it and covered it with a little blanket.
Softly she said,
"Little egg, hurry and hatch. There are many beautiful things in this world waiting for you to discover."
After saying that, she couldn't resist her sleepiness and soon fell into a deep sleep.
After she fell asleep, the egg wobbled slightly.
Feeling the warmth around him and the girl's kindness, his emotions became mixed.
No one had ever welcomed his birth with kindness.
Since gaining awareness, all he ever sensed was: hurry up and come out so we can control the world, or what if we can't control him? Then kill him.
Even when he first emerged, they kept injecting him with control drugs.
Over time, he realized they didn't care about him as a person, only the power he had.
His view of the world was full of negativity, so he never had any hope for it.
But tonight, a girl told him that many beautiful things were waiting for him.
That kind and hopeful blessing stirred something inside his long-dead heart.