As Quill was lost in his own thoughts, Rocket Raccoon suddenly turned his head to the side of the road and let out a scream.
"What is that?"
He asked, but, before Quill could answer, Rocket jumped off his shoulder and ran across the street. Quill had to chase after him, breaking away from his thoughts, because Rocket was the only animal companion he had left.
After running across the street, Quill was surprised to gradually come to a stop. Near Central Park, New York, he saw a little girl by the roadside trees - golden hair, brown eyes, not particularly attractive, but girls of this age are always cute.
"Oh my god, a living person!" Rocket turned his head towards Quill, but pointed at the little girl and said: "A survivor!"
The feeling of seeing one of their own kind here was exhilarating. Quill swallowed hard, forcefully suppressing the impulse to rush over to her, because this scene seemed eerie and he couldn't believe such a fragile little girl could survive this disaster.
He quickly grabbed Rocket Raccoon's tail, threw him back on his shoulder, and started to slowly approach the girl. When he got close, she finally noticed him and expressed first confusion, then shock.
The girl took a few steps back, seemingly wanting to flee. Noticing she still had awareness, Quill didn't hold back any longer. He rushed over, grabbed the girl's shoulder, and she began to struggle. Just as she turned around, Quill released her in fear.
There were two clusters of tentacles on the back of the little girl.
Slightly below her shoulder blades, on either side of her spine, these wing-like tentacles sprouted. Yet, for some reason, they seemed undeveloped, the number of tentacles was fewer, they didn't move, and they lacked the disgusting viscous fluid.
The still tentacles didn't look better, still revolting, but Quill was gradually adjusting. The girl seemed speechless, just screaming in terror, trying to break free from Quill.
Quill saw his reflection in her innocent pupils, but they were filled with fear. The girl struggled more violently. Quill murmured a curse, then said, "She's probably freaking out... Rocket, help me. We must calm her down, nevermind!"
Only after realizing his small companion couldn't help, did Quill remember he had evolved another hand. Up until now, he had been holding the girl with the only visible hand he had.
But when that invisible hand touched the little girl's shoulder, a type of communication that didn't belong to human interactions was established. Quill saw images flooding into his mind.
It was a very novel communication experience, absolutely terrifying but also seeming to be in order, like speaking and listening, as if it were his innate ability.
Quill shook his head and let go, but the little girl didn't run. She stared at Quill with wide-open eyes, her gaze filled with confusion.
"It seems like she wants to talk to you." Rocket Raccoon poked Quill's cheek, then turned to the girl and said, "I'm afraid it's not the communication method we typically use."
Quill took a deep breath and recollected himself. He stretched out the hand that didn't really exist and once again firmly laid it on the girl's shoulder.
Memories poured in like a flood. Yet not every time this phrase appears, does the flood bring pleasant moments with it. Quill thought such and yet still managed to find a touch of warmth amidst all the terrifying scenes.
Jennifer Maw, the little girl believed that was her name. Then one day, half her father's body turned into a tumor, her mother's head and waist sprouted tentacles.
Jennifer thought she was going crazy, although she had already been insane. At about the age of five, she was diagnosed with juvenile depression and an extremely rare form of insomnia.
She could only sleep about four hours a day, and the sleep was always fragmented. Each time she could only manage to nap for about an hour. Rather than sleep, it was more like a fuzzy power nap with eyes shut.
The doctor said it might have been due to damage in a certain area of her brain. The disease caused her great suffering. She felt fatigue and sleep deprivation, but couldn't sleep. The disease tormented not only Jennifer but also her parents.
At last, Jennifer went crazy. She thought so about herself. Even though she was young, she was already capable of some fuzzy independent thinking. Hence, when she saw that her parents were having the same symptoms as their neighbors, she thought she had gone mad since there had already been signs.
Jennifer's messy thoughts filled Quill's mind. He truly wished he could crack open the girl's head and tell her "You were wrong", yet felt the truth was too cruel.
Jennifer accepted the crazy sight of the world at an unimaginable speed and agreed with her parents' decision to lock her in the house, because she thought that seeing more monsters on the streets would make her even madder.
Yet her parents still loved her. Every Monday afternoon, when everyone was at work, they would let her go outside and bask in the sun.
When the memories reached this point, Quill saw a familiar figure. This figure usually appeared in the interstellar travel accident forbidden zone – he was sitting in Yondu's pirate ship, looking out of the porthole and observing a demon god being thrashed using a special telescope.