Deviant: No Longer Human

Tap...

Tap...

The sound of Wang Xiao\'s determined footsteps echoed through the sterile corridor of Gaia\'s Facility.

His approach grabbing attention, the rhythmic tapping sharp against the quiet hum of the medical equipment.

As he neared the critical ward where Anran was being held, a pair of guards instinctively moved to intercept him.

Their hands hovered near their rifles, bodies tensed for confrontation.

"Sir, you can\'t go in there," one guard asserted, stepping forward with a hand raised to block Wang Xiao\'s path.

However, before the situation escalated, another guard tugged at his colleague\'s sleeve, leaning in to whisper urgently.

"!"

Whatever was said made the first guard pause and then step aside, his expression conflicted but yielding.

Ignoring the guards entirely, Wang Xiao pushed open the door of the ward with a force that caused everyone inside to turn sharply in his direction.

Click!

Inside, Li Zhiming was by Anran\'s bedside, his posture one of deep sorrow.

The sudden intrusion caused him to straighten abruptly, anger and surprise flashing across his face.

"What do you think you\'re doing here?" Li Zhiming demanded, moving instinctively between Wang Xiao and the bed.

Wang Xiao, driven by raging emotions, responded with cold fury. "Get away, I don\'t have time for you," he stated flatly.

Without waiting for permission, he attempted to push past Li Zhiming, who blocked his path.

Li Zhiming, "Wait!"

The physical altercation escalated quickly.

??

Wang Xiao, overwhelmed by frustration and a desperate need for answers, struck Li with the back of his hand.

Bam!

"Agh!"

The force of the slap sent the larger man stumbling backward, crashing against the wall with a thud that reverberated through the room.

Boom!

Dr. Rebeca, who had been adjusting the life support equipment, turned around sharply at the commotion. "This is a hospital, not a battlefield," she exclaimed sharply.

Li Zhiming, rubbing his jaw, steadied himself against the wall. "What has gotten into you?" he growled, his voice low and pained.

Wang Xiao, glanced but offered no verbal response.

Dr. Rebeca stepped between them, her presence commanding and decisive. "I will not allow this kind of behavior in my facility. Whatever your grievances, they will not be settled here. Not at the expense of my patient\'s safety," she declared firmly, meeting the gaze of each man.

??

Wang Xiao\'s eyes narrowed as he assessed Dr. Rebeca, who stood before him with an air more akin to a scientist than a typical doctor.

"You want to stop me...?" His voice was low and steady, as he measured her.

Rebeca, feeling a chill run down her spine, met his gaze with a intensity of her own. "No matter who you are, you need to follow my rules here," she asserted, her voice wavering slightly under the weight of his scrutiny.

Whoosh!

Without another glance at the woman, Wang Xiao turned and walked towards Anran\'s body. "Good luck enforcing those rules," he muttered dismissively over his shoulder, his comment leaving Rebeca visibly perturbed.

"..."

Li Zhiming frowned as he watched Wang Xiao press his hand against Anran\'s body, inspecting it closely.

"..."

Rebeca, feeling somewhat scolded and foolish with embarrassment, stood by with a flushed face.

Wang Xiao was taken aback by the preservation of Anran\'s body; her skin and hair were still fresh, indicating that not much time had passed since.

Strands of her silver hair cascaded around her lifeless form, framing her delicate features like a bygone portrait.

As he ran his hand gently over her cold face, a deep realisation touched him—the stark reality that death spares no one echoed in the chill he felt.

"Are you done? We need to move her to the facility in the underground facility!" Rebeca interrupted his thoughts with a sharp hiss, pulling him back to the present.

"Underground facility.... for what?" Wang Xiao, taken aback, turned around, his expression confused as he sought an explanation from Li Zhiming.

"The underground facility is equipped with advanced cryopreservation technology," Li Zhiming explained, his voice heavy with a mix of hope and despair. "It\'s our best chance to preserve her long enough to safely extract the babies. It\'s the only way they might survive."

Wang Xiao, processing this new information, glanced back at Anran\'s serene face, then at the tense figures of Rebeca and Li Zhiming.

______

Fifteen minutes later...

Wang Xiao stood near the window of the now empty ward, the room quiet except for the soft hum of medical equipment winding down.

Outside, the medical team was busy transporting Anran to the underground facility, leaving him alone with his thoughts.

Leaning against the cold glass, Wang Xiao caught his faint reflection staring back at him.

He half-expected some cinematic flashback to play through the glass—something dramatic or revealing.

Instead, all he got was the chill of the faint cold air brushing against the pane, prompting a deep, resigned sigh from him.

"What\'s the day?" he finally asked, his voice barely more than a murmur.

Yin Yue, who had been silent up until now since he woke, responded with a flat tone tinged with slight worry. [It\'s the 27th of December, not even a day has passed.]

Wang Xiao let out another sigh and shifted his gaze back to the outside view.

[What happened, Xiao? You are acting weird], Yin Yue probed, her soothing voice echoing slightly in his brain.

Wang Xiao remained silent, his eyes lost in the distant memory playing in his mind.

It was from May 18th, 2026—a date etched deeply in his memory.

That was the day Anran, that over-energetic girl, had run away and announced her pregnancy to him like a bombshell.

But what haunted him was not the announcement itself but the reason she had given for her flight—that he would, in fact, get rid of her.

And even if she died, he wouldn\'t care, would he?

Thinking about it, Wang Xiao felt a cynical laugh building up inside him because, in a twisted way, her words had somehow proven right...

He had tried to touch her face earlier, to see if there was any trace of life, any sign of the vibrant spirit he once knew.

But deep down, he realized he really didn\'t care.

His own detachment baffled him.

He knew even at that moment, that she was right, but how had she spotted it?

He hadn\'t given off many signals; for a normal human to detect such subtleties should be hard. It was almost like she had predicted the future...

Wang Xiao had always taken pride in the workings of his mind.

His thoughts, deeply shielded, allowed him to operate with a level of detachment that even he sometimes found disconcerting.

Whether dealing with Josephine or anyone else, he had honed the ability to conceal his tracks meticulously, convincing even himself in the process to leave no stone unturned.

This deep understanding someone might possess of him was unsettling... Terrifying to an extent, something that he would never agree to...