The socially awkward villain's furry superpower

Athena woke up in the perfect sleeping position, with her arms at her sides and her stomach flat against the mattress kindly provided by her older sister Sienna.

The only problem with sleeping like this is that her other sister took advantage of the situation.

At this moment, one arm is draped over Athena's back, one leg is on top of her leg, and the head with furry ears is stuck between the mattress and Athena's shoulder.

This is so annoying!

Sienna was pacing back and forth in the room, undoubtedly preparing for the long school year ahead.

Athena, relying on her wisdom, decided not to disturb her.

She lay there quietly, comfortably nestled next to the warm teddy bear, listening to her older sister Sienna bustling around the house.

After a while, Sienna stopped beside the mattress. "Hmm," she said softly, "is either of you awake?"

Athena turned her head completely and looked up at her older sister Sienna.

"I'm awake," she replied softly.

Sienna's face paled slightly, but after a moment she nodded. "Okay—alright. I have to go to class now. You two be good, okay?"

Athena nodded, her neck already stretched to its limit, so her movements were minimal. "Okay."

A moment later, Sienna picked up her bag and left.

After Sienna left, the room felt much quieter.

Then Teddy started snoring in Athena's ear.

Athena sighed and began to struggle to break free from Teddy's embrace, which took quite a bit of effort because Teddy was holding on very tightly.

She eventually had to lift Teddy's arm and roll it out from under it, but even then, the little bear girl's arm still reached out as if trying to grab something.

Athena, quick-witted, grabbed a pillow from Sienna's bed and shoved it next to Teddy, who immediately grabbed it and hugged it tightly.

Her younger sister—who is shorter than her in terms of height—is really quite a handful.

She looked down at Teddy, who was biting the corner of Sienna's pillow, and thought the scene was rather cute.

Athena found her glasses neatly folded on the floor near the mattress, put them on, and then found her jacket to put on, so that she could be wrapped in the jacket's warm and soft lining.

She was wearing teddy bear pajamas, so they were a bit loose around the hips, and the length only reached mid-calf. Her T-shirt also didn't fit very well, so it felt good to be able to wear clothes that fit her again.

Then she found herself with nothing to do.

She was all alone in the room, at least until Teddy woke up. There was no computer to plan her evil schemes, and no books to read…

Athena decided to go for a nice walk.

Walking is good for heart health and overall health, and if she happens to meet someone, she can also showcase her extraordinary wisdom in a more public setting.

As the smartest of the sisters, she felt that locking herself out of the room was not a wise move.

So she took a stack of loose-leaf paper from Sienna's school supplies, pulled out a sheet, and found some tape.

She used these two items to cover the keyhole of the door lock so that the door wouldn't lock itself behind her.

She was certain that if her older sister Sienna saw her doing this, she would be full of praise for her exceptional intelligence.

Athena stood up, closed the door to their dormitory, and wore a smug smile.

But when the makeshift device she had placed in the crack of the door to block it slipped off and the door clicked shut, her smile vanished.

She tried turning the doorknob.

The door was locked tight.

She turned the doorknob a few more times.

Then she started knocking on the door, "Teddy! Teddy! You lazy bear, wake up!"

"Hmm." Athena stopped halfway through her tapping and looked around.

There was a woman there, a tall young woman with mocha-colored skin, wearing a stylish shirt and jeans.

"Are you alright, kid?" she asked.

Athena steadied herself, pushed her glasses up, and straightened her back.

"I'm fine, but I might have locked myself out of the room."

The girl looked up at the room number. "This is... Sienna's room? The blonde girl's room?"

“It’s Sienna, that’s right, that’s my older sister.”

"Oh, right. I'm Sam, I live in room 505."

She pointed behind her and said, "You, um, are you planning to live here long-term? Because you know these dorm rooms were originally only meant to house one person."

Athena found herself in a dilemma. "I'm sure my older sister Sienna has permission, I think."

“Hmm,” Sam replied, “Do you want to come with me? I’m sure there are staff downstairs, at least a cleaner, who might be able to open the door.”

If you opened the door, you'd see Teddy on the mattress. "No need, I'm fine," Athena said.

"Come on, I can't just leave you here unattended."

Athena frowned slightly, then carefully composed herself and put on a smile.

She activated her ability as easily as flipping a dimmer switch.

"I don't know. To be honest, I don't trust the staff here."

“You don’t trust the staff,” Sam said expressionlessly, one hand on her hip, looking increasingly impatient.

“Yes,” Athena replied simply, then increased the intensity of her power. “If it were you, would you trust them? You don’t even know who they are or what they’ve done.”

“Uh,” Sam said, her gaze passing over Athena and looking toward the elevator at the end of the corridor.

"How much did you pay to rent this room? It shouldn't have been much, right? Have you considered that there might be a reason why it's so cheap?"

"Hmm, I haven't really thought about it."

Athena increased the power level by another tier.

She observed Sam closely, noticing that she kept shifting her weight and letting her hands hang down, her once confident posture now resembling that of a mouse scurrying across an empty field.

But throughout, Sam never considered the smiling Athena a threat. "Do you really think I would live here without permission? Of course not."

Sam licked his lips. "Yeah, I thought so too."

"And if you go to the staff... you don't want them looking around, do you? What if they find... something?"

Now, even though it was quite cool in the hallway, Sam started sweating.

She looked warily into the shadows and the corners of the wall, then frowned, as if she were struggling with herself.

She knew perfectly well that there was nothing there, nothing to be afraid of, and the staff clearly had no intention of causing her any trouble.

But the idea itself is absurd enough.

But Athena's power compelled her to ask that simple question, "What if?"

What if the staff had malicious intent? What if they actually checked her room? What if something was lurking in those dark corners and shadows?

Athena stabilized the power's intensity, keeping it steady.

This is enough to make Sam suspicious of everything; there's no need to apply any further pressure.

“I’m fine,” Athena said.

After nearly a minute of silence, these words startled Sam, making him shudder. "Huh?"

"Won't you be late for class?" Athena asked, while weakening the intensity of her power.

"Oh no. Right, I have to go. Are you sure you're okay here?"

"no doubt."

"Okay, then be careful. Also, um, if any of the staff do anything, please let me know, okay?"

“Of course, thank you, Sam.” Athena waved to the girl.

She could have continued to pressure Sam, making her doubt her friends and family, and filling her with fear of the world, the government, and everything lurking around.

In the end, the only person Sam wouldn't doubt was Athena herself.

But that would take a lot of time, and Athena didn't want to do that right now; she still needed to figure out how to get back to her room.

Just then, the door clicked open, and Teddy poked his head into the hallway. "Hey!"

“Theodora,” Athena called out.

The bear-like girl yawned. "Why are you up so early, Tina?"

"Sienna has woken up too."

"Yeah, but the boss always gets up this early." Teddy rubbed his nose. "Are you coming in?"

"Okay, anyway, there's nothing else to do."

Teddy shrugged. "You can sleep in her bed when your older sister isn't around."

That sounds like a good suggestion. "Do you have any books to read?"

"Yes, I have."

Now it was Athena's turn to shrug. "Okay, then."

She was certain that her older sister Sienna would assign her all sorts of important tasks, so she could relax a bit before that happened.