It all started with a BANG!

She immediately jumped into my arms and wrapped herself around my neck.

"Aaaahhhh! Don't squeeze so tight, damn it!"

I tried to loosen her grip, but she only tightened her arms around me, hugging me tightly.

"Let go of me! Let go of me now!"

"No!" She refused to release me. "This is where Lia belong! This is our secret base!"

"You're freaking nuts, you know that?! That's a goddamn bookshelf! It isn't a spaceship or anything else!"

"No! It has wings!"

"How does that explain why you're jumping off it? We aren't superheroes!"

"We are! Just look, the sky is on our side!" She pointed toward the ceiling.

My jaw dropped when I saw a hole above us, revealing a blue sky with fluffy white clouds.

"What the..."

Miss Jen looked up at the hole in the ceiling, her mouth widening in disbelief.

Then she looked at me, and our gazes met as she immediately asked.

"Mr Allen! Where the hell did you get this kid?!"

"She was shipped to me in a crate," I explained calmly, looking down at Lianne.

"In a... crate? A child...? You can't be serious! Right?!"

Seeing Miss Jen's corner of the lips twitching at the absurdity of the situation, I could only raise my hands in surrender.

I knew it. No matter how serious I looked while saying that, I'm pretty sure it looked like I had my face painted white, a colorful afro wig, and a red nose to complete the costume.

"What do you mean by that?" Miss Jen asked, confused. "Children don't come in crates."

'It's all thanks to my elder sister's great method of delivery. Probably cost effective too, with a sprinkle of human trafficking.'

"You never know... She came with a 'Fragile Package' tag."

At those words, Miss Jen couldn't help but look at the ceiling again, mumbling to herself.

"Yeah... A little 'EXTRA' fragile."

I sighed. "Yeah, well, I wasn't too surprised myself when I found her in there either. So, uhm..."

"So what happened to her parents? Was she abandoned?"

She cut me short, looking back at Lianne. "Why did they have to send her away?"

My expression darkened the moment Miss Jen uttered those words.

As expected, Lianne's curiosity was drawn to her question. She turned around to look at Miss Jen, who was now facing her. Her lips were curled into a pouty frown.

"Did momma send me away? Did momma leave me here alone? Am I not good enough for her anymore? Do I need to change? Can I become better?"

Her voice broke, causing tears to form in the corner of her eyes.

Miss Jen bit her lip, unsure of how to respond.

'I made a mistake hiring a babysitter...' I thought, feeling guilty for having Miss Jen deal with this situation while I was away and the awkward situation we were in now.

Before I could say anything, though, Lianne started sobbing loudly.

'For fucks sake, not again!'

"Don't cry! Your momma will always love you, no matter what, okay? You're here for a vacation, as she said in the letter. You're perfect just the way you are! Don't ever forget that!" I told her, stroking her hair gently.

"Now dry your tears, alright? I think the TV survived all of this, right? Let's go check it out... Maybe we can catch up on some cartoons about superheroes on it."

Lianne wiped her tears, nodded, and followed after me.

After I had made sure she was fully distracted from crying, I decided to ask Miss Jen something important.

"Miss Jens, can I talk to you outside? Alone?"

I didn't want Lianne to overhear any more details about her family than she already knew. I wanted to make sure she wouldn't feel sad anymore.

"Sure thing." Miss Jens nodded.

While we stood in silence on the front porch, I couldn't help but notice that Miss Jen's gaze kept wandering towards the floor.

"Miss Jen?" I questioned.

"Yes?"

"Are you alright? I know you must've been worried about Lianne since you started, so I'm sorry if I caused you any trouble."

"That's not what I meant." She shook her head, looking up at me through sad eyes.

"What are you trying to say?"

The moment Miss Jens raised one hand, I realized what she was going to tell me.

"I'm sorry, but I can't continue working here anymore. I can see why you were scared of her actions and gave me a fair warning earlier."

She lowered her hand, staring straight ahead.

"But I'm glad I met you, and I enjoyed taking care of Lianne." She smiled sadly. "It's a shame she ended up being such a troublesome kid. But I think it's for the best if I move on; I wouldn't want to have a criminal case on my record. Sorry for putting you in such an awkward position."

"No, please don't apologize. I'll be fine, really. It's okay; I understand. I'm quite jobless now anyway; I can take it up from here."

"I'm so sorry to hear that... Well then, I guess this is it!" Miss Jen waved at me before leaving my house.

"Good riddance," I muttered, walking inside and locking the door behind me.

I sighed, rubbing my forehead.

'Well, it looks like I'm stuck with this little demon till the heavens know when. Guess I should get used to the idea.'

"What should I do to keep her busy?" I wondered aloud, turning around and heading back into the living room.

'We can always watch some cartoons,' I heard my inner voice answer. 'There's nothing else to do here anyway.'

So I took a seat next to Lianne, paused the show, and patted Lianne's head.

"Hey there, let's fix the mess that was made and that hole in the ceiling, then we start watching some shows together."

"Yay~" She whooped.

Then she jumped off the couch as her little legs found their way into my storeroom, in search of the tools.

–––––––––––

After cleaning everything up and repairing the hole above our heads, we settled down on the couch and spent the rest of the afternoon watching cartoons until dinner time.

Dinner went well too.

For once, I managed to cook my meal without dropping a single morsel onto my clothes or the floor or causing a thick cloud of smoke over my head.

By the time I finally laid down on my couch, it was already midnight.

And despite my exhaustion, sleep eluded me.

I felt restless and tired but couldn't find the strength to fall asleep.

I felt tiny hands pat my arm.

Looking up at the source, I was graced with the scary perspective of Lianne's wide eyes, peeking between the gaps in the couch cushion.

'What the hell?!'

"Uncle Ally, are you awake?"

"Yeah, I am," I replied.

"Can you sleep by Lia's side? Your bed is scary and cold."

My heart skipped a beat at her innocent request as we walked to my room.

'I got my bed back, well, partially!'

"Of course! I'll gladly share my bed with you, Lianne. Come over here."

"Yay! Thank you, Uncle Ally~"

Lianne hopped off her oversized flip-flops and crawled into my lap, curling herself into a ball.

I held her tight, petting her head, and lifted her chin up.

Her face looked peaceful as she fell asleep.

No matter how much of a pain this girl could be, I still couldn't deny that she had changed my life for the better.

Ding!

[Link identified]

[Lianne]

In the hopes that this wasn't yet another case of fatigue-related hallucinations, I wiped my hand across my face.

[Congratulation! You have successfully activated your 'Quantum Synthesis System'.

This will allow you to use the skill of quantum manipulation. Please do hold on as the information is being downloaded into your memory to fully understand its capabilities.]

I was left speechless after the influx of information into my mind.

Then a wave of realization hit me like a ton of bricks.

It was the same skill I had chosen two days ago!

The one I decided to pass on as a prank.

But why did it show up now?

[As your link to your system—Lianne—has been identified, your main goal is to keep her serotonin levels stable.

The more serotonin you maintain in your link, the higher your level and control over your skill will be. If the serotonin level of your link drops below a certain point, your skill will be weakened significantly and drop a stage below it's current level until it's stabilized.

Additionally, the lower your link's serotonin levels are, the harder it becomes to maintain a high level. To increase serotonin levels, you must focus on maintaining a good relationship with your link. You may need to be reminded to keep yourself calm when needed.

Keep in mind that others' actions can also affect your link's serotonin levels. To avoid these issues, please try to have your link remain positive and upbeat whenever possible.

This concludes the tutorial. I hope you enjoyed the experience.]

The translucent yellow screen turned dark and faded from my view before I even finished reading the last sentence.

'That was quick.'

I had to convince myself that I'd make sense of all of that later in the day.

I glanced at the wall clock; it was past 1 a.m.

Turning my attention back at Lianne sleeping peacefully beside me, I carefully shifted myself around so I could cradle her head in my arms.

'Today is going to be a good day. I would finally deposit the cash into my account, buy myself a new pair of shoes, buy some new pairs of clothes and shoes for Lianne, and get us some sweet vacation spots for the weekend.'

I smiled to myself, holding my breath and closing my eyes.

Time seemed to freeze itself.

–––––––––––

A few hours passed, but it didn't feel like anything had happened.

Until…

BANG! BANG! BANG!

The shockwaves of an explosion rocked my entire body and knocked me right out of bed.

"Wh-wha…"

I struggled to make sense of what just happened.

'Wasn't I just lying down? How many hours had gone by? Most importantly, what the hell was that?!'

Everything was pitch black.

I blinked several times, trying to regain my vision.

"Oh, thank goodness! I was not... wait... wait..."

I gasped loudly upon realizing where I was.

"Where's Lianne?!"