A Room Under Control

The room was about ten square meters in size. Reese had seen such a sleeping chamber before when she had gone on hospital visits organized by her school. Usually, it looked like an ordinary single bed and could be used for sleeping. But once needed, metal walls would rise from both sides of it and bind the patient inside entirely.

The bedside was equipped with a box of nutrient solutions. If the patient could not ingest food, these solutions could be administered directly to maintain their vital signs. Meanwhile, the box itself was actually used to atomize the nutrient solutions when patients couldn't medicate themselves, allowing the medicinal particles to be absorbed instead.

There was also an electronic display on the wall, and it was used to monitor the patient's vital signs. Reese knew that the screen could be used to control the various emergency equipment inside the sleeping chamber if needed. She also knew that a set of such devices was not cheap.

The table and chair weren't far from the bed, but the material of the furniture couldn't be seen as they were covered with a thick layer of cotton cloth, probably so that patients wouldn't hurt themselves or others when having a manic episode. There were several books neatly arranged on the table for recreation and Reese glanced through them. They were mostly classics in the galaxy that had been around for a long time. Most of them were heroic stories, but there was one on medical drug research.

Reese took quite an interest in it. After all, on Earth, she was a Medical PhD student and was also considered a professional in the field. This book would be quite a good way for her to pass the time.

Although there weren't any windows in the room, there was a monitor on the wall above the bed which was screening what seemed to be the hospital's surroundings. The buttons on the right side of the sleeping chamber could be used to switch between channels so that the patient could watch other galactic programs instead.

At present, the screen was showing the empty space in front of the hospital, with some fitness facilities placed there. The empty space was surrounded by a high wall that looked to be at least five meters tall, and there were many werebeasts standing guard, dressed in uniforms and carrying guns. Anything further, Reese couldn't see clearly. However, she was certain that this place was truly incredibly strictly controlled. The entire hospital was protected with an energy shield. If she wanted to escape, it definitely wouldn't be an easy task.

Reese lay in bed and sighed deeply. She stared at the white ceiling above her and sunk into deep thought. Since she was already here, she had to learn to take it in stride. There would definitely be a chance for her to leave this place and return to human society eventually.

As she pondered on everything, her mind slowly started becoming groggy. After half a day of such intense events, she felt both physically and mentally exhausted. Without realizing it, it seemed like she was about to doze off into a deep slumber. However, she still remained a little wary, not daring to fall asleep completely. While she was drifting in and out of sleep, she seemed to have heard a click from the door of her room. Although Reese felt sleepy, she was immediately jolted awake upon hearing the sound, afraid that something bad was about to happen.

Her almond-shaped eyes grew wide as saucers, and she watched with a guarded expression as the werebear nurse entered her room. Her slightly relaxed demeanor immediately switched into full vigilance.

Nurse Werebear pulled a long face and started operating the display screen beside the hospital bed. Reese could only see her own profile picture and a bunch of words on it. Unfortunately, she couldn't read anything clearly, but she guessed that it was probably information about her that was automatically detected by the system since her admission into the hospital.

"H89, come out quickly. It's recreation time for everyone. Hurry up!" The nurse hastened Reese loudly. H89 was probably the serial number randomly assigned to Reese by the hospital.

Without saying a word, Reese walked out of her room cautiously. Immediately, she noticed that there were both werebeasts and humans, standing at the doors of the rooms on both sides of the corridor. They were dressed in the same hospital gown as her, and some of them were standing in groups of two or three, probably because they were patients of the same room. Of course, there were also those who stood alone at their door, just like herself. She guessed that they were also single-room patients.

What stood out was that there were really all kinds of patients here. Standing in front of Reese was an old man who seemed to be human. He had ashen white hair and his back was a little hunched. Although she could only see his back view, she could somehow feel that he had an imposing aura and that he didn't seem like an ordinary person. He must have been tall and sturdy like King when he was a young man.

Suddenly reminded of King, Reese quickly shook her head around, trying to clear his image from her mind.

After a few moments of silence, she began her speculations again. This old man was also staying in a single room, so he had either received help from a certain someone too, or his family was rich and powerful.

If she could build a connection with him, perhaps he would be of help to her escape plan in the future!

Reese did not dare to look around openly as there were many different species of werebeast nurses around, and she wasn't sure of who was standing behind her.

Meanwhile, there was another one on her right―a male werebeast who looked very ordinary. He wasn't tall and he looked very scrawny, but the occasional shifty look in his eyes made it clear that he wasn't an honest person.

He didn't have any features that stood out. Other than a tuft of brown hair on his face, nothing else was particular. Reese speculated that he might be a jackal werebeast, cunning and sly but not exactly capable, and would likely be a difficult character to get along with.

But little did she know, while she was secretly observing those around her, they were also silently observing her.

She was just a small, skinny human being, but in spite of the varying beauty standards of the different races, all of them, humans and werebeasts alike, couldn't deny that she had a beautiful face. Furthermore, combined with her alluring figure—curvaceous despite being petite—she roused obvious desire in the eyes of most males.

Everyone who was observing Reese thought of her as a yummy piece of cake, but it was unfortunate as everyone wanted a bite.

Reese realized that the groups on both sides of the corridor were facing different directions. Each werebeast nurse was standing at the front of the area she was responsible for as she did a headcount. At the same time, they were also checking that each patient matched their pictures on the door's virtual screen.

Reese imitated their manner and stood obediently at the door of her room, waiting for the werebear nurse in charge of her area to give the next instruction.

Not long after, the loudspeakers in the entire corridor made a beeping sound. The werebeast nurses in charge then began to walk. Accompanied by gentle and soothing music, the groups shifted bit by bit. Patients on both sides followed the footsteps of the people in front of them. They moved forward slowly, towards a certain unknown destination.

Reese brushed past a "person" on her right whom she hadn't noticed, and she heard a voice say repulsively, "Little beauty, come play with me later."

Reese frowned. She hadn't expected this to happen again, but she didn't turn around. There were too many people in the corridor. She wouldn't be able to tell who said those words and she wouldn't know how to deal with them either. Besides, she suspected that even if she told the nurses about this and requested protection, the callousness of this place probably meant that no one would be able to help her anyway.

She had no choice but to follow the group in moving forward. The rooms along both sides of the corridor were almost identical, and there was an electronic eye monitoring them live from three to five meters above. There was just no way that Reese could remember the entire way out. She could only try to remember some of it, drilling it in and replaying it over repeatedly in her head, in hopes that she would remember more clearly, and more permanently.

After about five minutes of walking, the group on Reese's side lined up in a square and stopped in front of a dark blue door.

Ding!

The door opened, and Reese thought, 'So this is an elevator. And a huge one at that.'

For about two minutes, Reese could feel the elevator moving during their ride. Not only was it descending, but it felt like it was also moving left and right. However, there wasn't a way for her to know for sure, as the elevator was basically like a large, sealed metal box.

Finally, the door opened and the first thing Reese saw was the courtyard itself—the location for her all her recreation time for the foreseeable future.