suspicion

Well... hello everyone again...

"Uaah..."

Lately, I’ve been waking up completely exhausted every morning, as if something or someone were subtly draining my energy while I sleep.

But the truly weird and unsettling part about all of this is that I actually feel surprisingly good...!

It's this sort of pleasant, lingering weakness flowing through my whole body.

However, no matter how good it feels, a mystery is still a mystery!

And in this crazy world I live in, an unsolved mystery almost always translates to an unknown danger lurking in the shadows.

Furthermore, this bizarre phenomenon also seems to be affecting (possessed) mom and Sara (the doll)—though, from what I can tell, it doesn't seem to have a negative impact on them.

How should I even put it?

Is it just me, or do both of them look abnormally more radiant in the morning?

I mean, in a normal everyday situation, (possessed) mom acts like a bitter old man loudly complaining about having to go to work; but now, she merely clicks her tongue with mild resignation as she walks out the door.

On the other hand, Sara's perverted behavior is completely normal for her, since she came pre-programmed with those commands set by Kim before I acquired her (or rather, stole her).

And please, don't think I left those commands in place because I wanted to!

I tried with all my might (I truly swear!) to erase every single one of those instructions, or at least tone down the most extreme ones!

But it didn't work at all.

As it turns out, the commands set by her original owner possessed a much higher hierarchy level than mine, even after I formally became her permanent master...

So I eventually gave up. And not having managed to get her to live a common life, she ended up staying right here, living in my room with me.

But I’m getting way too off-topic!

Getting back to the main point: even with everything I just mentioned, it feels like her expressionless face has been glowing brighter lately... Though the most suspicious one in this entire house is still Echidna.

When I first met her, she was nothing more than a tiny snake made of faint, floating shadows.

But now she looks a thousand times darker, sharper, and far more tangible!

"Echidna, do you have any idea if something strange has been going on around here lately?"

So, armed with all the mistrust in the world, I went to confront her directly.

<"Something strange?">

But in response I only received one question instead...

"Yeah, like... I don't know, some kind of danger or threat lurking around at night?"

However, for that reason alone I will not give up on inding looking for answer!

<"If you were truly in any danger during the night, I would wake you up immediately or handle it myself, you know? After all, you are my soul partner.">

However, listening to such a serene answer made me feel somewhat guilty because of the loyalty of Echidna's... But my gut keeps screaming at me that something extremely fishy is happening behind my back...

"..."

I have no other choice.

"I WILL INVESTIGATE THIS MYSTERY MYSELF!!"