Time flew by. The lights went out, and tangible darkness transformed the room into an artificial night.
Qi Si curled up under the covers, silently counting the seconds.
After about another two hours, judging that the night was deep, he got out of bed and stuffed a pillow beneath the sheet. Then he gathered the edges of the blanket into a shape that looked like someone wrapped up inside.
He felt his way into the washroom attached to the Observation Room and flicked every switch in a row. Only the small light beside the sink came on, illuminating the entire mirror embedded in the wall.
The pale night-light cast a faint glow over his figure, leaving parts of his reflection bright and others dark. His face was pale, and his black pupils filled his eye sockets, leaving almost no visible whites—a look that fit right in with the inhuman creatures in horror films.
After using the toilet, Qi Si went over to the mirror and tried several angles, even baring his teeth in a grimace. But however he looked at it, the figure in the mirror could have been any humanoid creature; it definitely didn't look human.
Qi Si gave his reflection a slightly mischievous smile and said humorously, "Looks like the first thing I'll do after getting out is buy some colored contact lenses."
He pulled the IV cannula embedded in the back of his left hand free and held it in his right. Using the washroom light to see, he went to the door and inserted the needle into the keyhole of the mechanical lock.
Accustomed to using thin wires, he wasn't very deft at picking a lock with a needle for the first time. It took him two minutes to force it open.
Then he pushed the