"Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes. That way, you’ll be a mile from them, and you’ll have their shoes." — Jack Handey.
As he looked around, his eyes fell on the lamp placed outside the small windows close to the roof. The small windows were already too small for his body to fit through, but someone also barred them with wood for good measure.
"I guess they really don’t want the occupants to escape. I wonder why," he thought, amused.
He did not doubt that a window that barely fit his head wouldn’t be enough to stop him if he was intent on escaping. As long as he was willing to break a few bones, he would be able to worm his way through the windows.
Clearly, the people who designed this prison for people like him knew that. Not only did they make the windows too high to reach, but they also restricted passage through them for good measure.
Light from the lamp outside the window cast a ray into the room, making visibility barely acceptable. But because his consciousness was withdrawn closer to the Life Forge, the world appeared as if he was looking at it through a layer of fine gauze.
The distance between his mind and his consciousness also seemed to separate sensation from perception, blurring the world. This also made the gluttony worm’s noise palatable.
By now, the gluttony worm had stopped whining about being forced to experience the pain of being shredded to pieces. But it was still complaining about other things.
"So hungry. Need food. Give me," it said again and again.
It had become listless, as if it was tired. But his stomach was still active, moving around, demanding food and plaguing him with hunger pangs.
This time, Alex agreed with the worm. He rubbed his stomach and said, "You’re right. We need food."
He agreed because he needed food to grow stronger and to supply the Life Forge with energy. Both of these reasons were important, but the energy need of the Life Forge was the most important thing to him currently.
The energy to build Life Anchors didn’t come from thin air. It came from his body and general existence, which is why the stronger he is, the more energy he can supply to the Life Forge.
Without food, the Life Forge will stop producing the fourth Life Anchor, which isn’t something he wants to see happen. Unfortunately, he could do nothing to solve the food problem.
He could only say in encouragement, "Don’t worry. They should let us out soon.
The worm didn’t listen to him and continued to complain, "Need Food. Give me. Give me."
It even took his agreement as encouragement to increase the pressure of the hunger pangs. As Alex touched his stomach, he felt a large python moving inside.
Through the skin of his abdomen, it felt as if one large python was coming from his throat down to his anus. Everything else that used to be in his lower abdomen, including his intestines and liver, was gone.
That large python was moving around now, making a general ruckus. It was a weird feeling that made him shudder in disgust.
"Stop doing that," Alex said in irritation.
"Never! Need food," the worm replied.
"Making me suffer won’t bring food. We’re locked in here. I can’t go out to get food until someone opens the door," he urged, trying to be reasonable.
"Besides, we need all the energy we have, and you’re wasting it moving around like that. So stop doing that!"
In response, the worm said, "Never!"
Then it intensified the contraction in his stomach.
It couldn’t consider complicated concepts like being locked into a room. All it knew was that it was hungry and Alex wasn’t getting it food.
Instead of feeding it, Alex was sitting around daydreaming. It couldn’t accept Alex’s laziness, so it ramped up the pressure to motivate Alex into getting busy.
Since being reasonable hadn’t worked, Alex could only say, "If you don’t stop, I will sleep and dream again."
The worm paused when it heard this threat. Then it slowly resumed moving around.
"I’m serious. I’ll do it. You know I can," Alex threatened again, being more serious this time around.
The worm finally stopped moving. But it was still complaining in Alex’s mind, saying, "Food. Food. Need food."
"How many times do you want me to say it? I am hungry too. I want to eat, but I can’t get us food in our current situation."
The worm said, "Food. Food. Food."
This made Alex roll his eyes and say, frustrated, "It is like talking to a toddler."
Just then, a noise came from the door. Upon hearing it, both he and the worm snapped their attention in the direction of the noise. Their four eyes focused on the door, and the three-headed worm came to see if there was finally something to eat.
As they stared, the door opened with a creak, and the light of a lamp brightened the room. Then Big Boss Tessa appeared in the doorway.
She was still wearing her armor. The scar on her face was prominent. But all of that paled in comparison to the sight of her four eyes and the three exposed jaws in her mouth.
The giantess looked at him, squinting and moving the lamp around to examine him carefully. When he didn’t move, she said, "It seems you’re still sane."
Her voice was full of loss as she said, "What a pity!"
Alex was irked by her words, but he didn’t respond. By this point, he knew his place, and he had seen what she was capable of, so he didn’t want to give her any excuse.
When she saw that he was sulking, she rolled her eyes at him and said, "I was kidding."
"I don’t actually want to beat you. I was only pressing your buttons to see if you would lose control."
He didn’t seem to believe her, so she shook her head and said, "I’m not that kind of person. I don’t enjoy beating weaklings. I am a titan, so I enjoy eating. So as long as you show me the proper respect, you have nothing to worry about."
At the mention of food, the worm in Alex’s mouth became restless again. It began swaying about, looking for food.
She chuckled when she saw this. But she didn’t address it.
Instead, she said, "Now that you have survived quarantine, you’re halfway there to becoming an official member of the Meat Brute Order."
"The first order of business is having your bath. You stink. Now follow me."
Then she turned around and walked away.
Alex didn’t need to be told twice. He withdrew his consciousness from the Life Forge, stood up from the straw bed he had been sitting on, and marched after her.