In front of the mirror.
"And what else?"
Juno looked at Adam.
"Nothing."
Adam smiled. "Just think of it as me chasing thrills. Don't worry, I won't get addicted.
I'll only step in for your high-risk, high-difficulty targets.
Usually, I don't have the time. I still need to keep working hard to treat illnesses and save lives."
There were now two system attributes that required effort.
One was speed.
The other was intelligence.
But beyond that, Lifespan remained a goal Adam pursued tirelessly.
His first small goal after becoming inhuman was to live to a thousand.
No matter where one was, time was the most precious resource.
Adam had no worries about ever getting tired of living.
"All right."
Juno glanced at Adam without asking further. She nodded and smiled. "I understand. Pack up and let's go. Paige is still waiting in Washington."
"Mm."
Adam nodded and, with Juno's help, sped up the removal of his makeup.
Washington.
The Grossman Family home.
Early morning.
In a second-floor bedroom.
A little girl stood by the window and looked through the glass at the fountain downstairs. An orange tabby lay dead inside it. The corners of her mouth lifted slightly as she drew the white curtains, then turned toward the small bed.
Three sets of clothes had been neatly laid out on the bed.
The little girl walked over, picked one up, and changed into it.
She went to the calendar on the wall, took out a red pen, and circled the eighteenth.
The first through seventeenth had all been marked with identical red circles.
Eighteen red circles, nearly identical in size and shape.
After finishing the circle, a faint smile appeared once more on the little girl's exquisite, pretty face.
Then she walked over to the display cabinet, which was filled