Reichi stood there, his face showing signs of extreme exhaustion, some old wounds still unwashed, his jacket torn at the shoulder. Next to him stood Erika, her clothes dirty and her hands still bearing the marks of the ropes that had bound her.
Miko furrowed her brow, her face showing shock mixed with deep concern.
She said quickly,
"What on earth happened to you? Were you attacked? Is anyone hurt?"
Reichi looked at her, then sighed slowly, as if carrying a mountain on his chest.
"It's a long story, but I'll tell you everything, in detail..."
The three sat down in the living room, and Miko prepared a cup of hot tea while Natsumi watched them silently from behind the hallway, her gaze focused on Erika more than anyone else.
Reichi began to tell the whole story:
about Erika's kidnapping, about the mysterious masked man, about the battle in the basement, about Takero and his bleeding, about Sigma who saved them at the critical moment, and about Erika's ability, which she finally unleashed using the mirrors. Every detail came out heavily, but without exaggeration or excitement, just the truth as he had experienced it.
As he spoke, Miko listened in complete silence, her eyes shifting between Erika, who sat quietly, and Reichi, whose tone was a mixture of exhaustion and despair.
When he finished, there was silence for a few moments.
Miko finally said, in a somewhat cold tone:
"It seems that everything has changed since we last met, hasn't it?"
Before he could reply, Natsumi entered quietly, looked at Reichi, then at Erica. She said nothing, but her eyes conveyed something else... something like jealousy, and perhaps... disappointment.
Reichi noticed her gaze, but decided to ignore it for the moment. He didn't have the energy to explain or justify himself right now. As for Erika, she sat without saying a word, as if she felt she was the cause of all this new tension.
As the daylight faded, it seemed as if the house had swallowed a new secret... and the traces of the battle were not only on their bodies, but also on their hearts.
Reiichi sat on the edge of the sofa, while Erica remained standing near the window, watching outside with wide eyes, as if searching for an escape from the intense tension inside. Miko returned with a glass of water and bandages and began carefully cleaning Reichi's wounds, but her eyes moved between him and Erica, while Natsumi remained motionless.
"Were you with him the whole time?"
Natsumi finally said, her tone more accusatory than questioning, her gaze fixed on Erika.
"He was... kidnapped..."
Erika replied calmly, without looking at her, as if she knew that the suspicion would not easily leave Natsumi's eyes.
"But you were very close to him, now... just like you were in college, and just like you were in the basement."
Natsumi said, taking another step closer, until she was only a few steps away from Erika.
Reiichi finally intervened, in a firm but exhausted tone:
"Natsumi... this is not the time for this conversation. What we went through today is enough pain for weeks.
But Natsumi didn't back down. On the contrary, what he said seemed to increase her agitation.
"No, this is exactly the time. I don't want to live in the shadows or behind a curtain. Tell me, Reichi, who is Erika? And why... Why do you always take her side? Even after everything that's happened?
Erica turned around this time and said in a calm but heavy voice:
"Maybe I should leave."
She got up from her seat and headed for the door, but Riichi suddenly stood up, despite his pain.
"No one is leaving tonight. We are not enemies here."
Silence fell again.
Miko looked at everyone and said, in a calm but clear voice:
"Tonight... we have all been through something unforgettable. Let's calm down a little. Tomorrow may bring answers or even more questions. But for now... just rest."
Erica finally sat down a little further away and nodded. Natsumi just stared at Reichi for a few seconds, then quietly turned around and went into her room without saying another word.
Whispers lingered in the air.
Reiichi stood quietly, then looked at Miko with a confused expression before saying in a polite but hesitant tone:
"Excuse me, Miko, but... can I use Natsumi's room to rest tonight? I used to always sleep there before, and I think I need some peace and quiet."
But before Miko could reply, the door suddenly opened, and Natsumi stepped out onto the threshold, her gaze stern, her arms crossed in front of her chest.
"No sleeping in my room tonight, Reichi. Go to another room."
Ryuichi froze in place, then exaggeratedly contorted his face, furrowing his brow and puffing out his cheeks like a child who had been denied candy, and said in a comical tone:
"Aaah... Even my old room is rebelling against me today!"
Miko laughed lightly despite the tension, then walked over to him and said:
"Come with me, I'll get the guest room ready for you. Don't worry, the mattresses there won't kick you out."
Ryuichi followed her, sighing loudly and joking:
"At least the mattresses don't hold grudges..."
Erica remained seated, watching the scene in silence, before closing her eyes and breathing deeply. It seemed that the night would be a long one, but at least it ended with only one battle... between hearts.
---
Miko quietly closed the door behind her and stood for a few seconds without speaking. The room was simple, dimly lit, with a clean mattress and a quiet gray carpet. Reiichi sat on the edge of the bed, still bearing the marks of the battle on his features.
Miko took a step forward, then spoke in a soft tone, almost a whisper:
"Reichi... Are you okay? I mean... Why did you get yourself into all this? Didn't the doctor tell you that any combat engagement could cause your mana center to completely collapse?"
Reichi raised his head, his eyes expressing a mixture of determination and regret. Then he replied in a soft but firm voice:
"There was no other choice, Miko. If I hadn't acted, everyone would have been in danger. I couldn't just stand by and do nothing."
She moved closer to him and sat down on the chair opposite him, her gaze still fixed on him, and he continued:
"I don't know how to describe it to you... When I'm with Ora, when she merges with me... I feel something strange, a feeling of excitement... a feeling that makes me want to fight more, to advance more... as if something inside me is moving.
Miko's features creased, and her voice softened even more:
"And that thing... Do you think it's normal? Or is it you... or Aura?"
Reiichi was silent for a moment, then turned his gaze to the table where Aura's glasses were placed.
"I don't know... But what I do know now is that Aura has run out of power... She's been completely silent since the end of the battle."
Miko looked at the glasses and reached out to pick them up. The right lens was slightly cracked, as if it had been hit indirectly. She held them in her palms and said:
"Even she... couldn't bear this burden."
Reichi looked back at her, his eyes flashing with concern:
"I'll fix it... I promise. I won't let Ora fade away."
Miko remained silent, staring intently at the small crack in the AI lens, as if she could see something deeper than just a crack in the glass... another, larger crack inside Riichi himself.
Miko gently set the glasses aside, then looked up at Riichi and said in a firm but gentle tone:
"I'll fix it. The crack in the lens may cause visual interference for Aura when she reconnects... but that's not all. If Aura is going to remain a part of you in future battles, I need to make some fundamental adjustments.
Reichi blinked hesitantly, then asked her:
"Adjustments... of what kind?"
She replied confidently as she got up to look for her tools in the small bag near the door:
"I'll rework Aura's command core. This will enable her to handle more commands at the same time without getting bogged down in analysis or crashing. And I'll rewrite part of the processing system... I'll make it consume less energy, so she can last longer during the merger."
Reiichi looked at her with surprise mixed with admiration:
"Can you do all that... tonight?"
She smiled quietly without looking at him and began taking out precision tools and chips from her bag:
"I don't need a whole night. Just some quiet... and for you not to do anything else stupid anytime soon."
Reichi smiled slightly, then fell silent again, watching her open the back cover of the glasses and begin to carefully examine their circuits. Her fingers moved with precision and confidence, as if she knew Ora as well as she knew her own pulse.
Then she said without looking up:
"Reiichi... I know you're trying to protect everyone, but every time you forget to protect yourself first."
He didn't reply. He just looked at the floor, then whispered in a barely audible voice:
"Because I don't know how... I don't know how to protect myself when others are in danger."
Miko paused for a moment, then continued her adjustments in silence. There was no need for words at that moment... only the quiet of the room, the beeping of the machines, and the sound of two hearts heavy with what was to come.
As Miko was about to open the back cover of the glasses, her hands moving steadily over the delicate circuits, she suddenly sensed an unfamiliar stillness behind her. She turned quickly to find Riichi swaying in place, his eyes half-closed, his face pale.
"Riichi?!"
He didn't respond, and suddenly his body collapsed forward. She rushed to him before he fell completely, reaching out her arms to catch him. His breathing was slow but steady, and his eyes were completely closed.
She leaned him against her shoulder and whispered anxiously as she checked his pulse:
"You fool... You pushed yourself too hard."
She looked at his exhausted face, his features still bearing the marks of the fight, then sighed softly as she dragged him toward the bed in the corner of the room.
Carefully, she laid him on the bed, then pulled the blanket over his exhausted body. She looked at him for a moment, then muttered to herself:
"All these past days, you haven't rested for a moment... It's as if you think the whole world rests on your shoulders alone."
She sat on the chair next to the bed and held the cracked glasses to her chest, as if making a silent vow to protect them both, him and Ora.
Then she whispered in a voice so soft that only the air could hear her:
"Rest now, Reichi... We have a lot to face ahead of us."
Miko sat on the edge of the table, placed the cracked glasses in front of her, and began to prepare the repair tools, her eyes focused intently on the tiny cracks that had crept through the frame and the display lens. She reached for the miniature screwdriver, but stopped suddenly, remembering that the semiconductor microscope—necessary for examining the tiny nano-circuits inside the processor—was still in her room.
"I can't finish the job without it..." she whispered to herself.
She got up quietly and headed for the door, careful not to make any noise that might disturb the sleeping Riichi, and opened the door gently. But as soon as she opened it a few centimeters, she found a familiar face standing behind it, her hand raised as if she were about to knock.
"Erica?!" Miko's eyes widened in surprise.
Erica seemed calm, but her gaze was a little confused, a mixture of concern and curiosity:
"Ah... I'm sorry to disturb you. I just wanted to check on Ryuichi... Is he okay?"
Miko looked at her silently for a second, then stepped aside slightly, trying to close the door quietly, but before she could do so, Erica's eyes had involuntarily turned toward the table inside the room... where Ora's glasses lay, cracked, surrounded by some electronic devices.
A brief moment of silence hung over the room.
Miko noticed Erika's gaze and quickly replied in a gentle but firm tone:
"He's fine... but he just needs some rest. Thank you for your concern, Erika."
Then, with a warm smile, she gently reached for the door and continued:
"I'll make sure to tell him that you stopped by to check on him."
She closed the door quietly.
Then she stood there for a few seconds, regaining her composure before quickly walking to her room to fetch the microscope, still thinking about the look in Erica's eyes.
Miko returned to the room, carefully carrying the specialized semiconductor microscope. She closed the door behind her silently, then placed the microscope on the table in front of her and looked at Riichi, who was sleeping peacefully on the bed, breathing quietly, his face still showing signs of exhaustion.
"You've overworked yourself again..." she whispered, as if gently scolding him.
She sat down on the chair in front of the table and began to concentrate on her work. She fixed the glasses under the microscope and began examining the microcircuits inside the built-in processor. She ran her fingers over some burnt nanowires inside the power units, then took out some very precise tools and began to repair the malfunction, while her other hand opened the control interface on the laptop next to her.
"Aura will need an adjustment to the command core. Her excessive response to combat was too taxing on the processor... I'll reprogram her to conserve power and increase execution efficiency."
She began typing rapidly, lines of data scrolling across the screen in front of her. Then she re-soldered one of the micro-connections and adjusted the built-in display lens. She worked meticulously, every movement calculated, every adjustment measured.
Then she muttered:
"The thermal endurance unit also needs to be improved so that it is not affected by any increase in battle heat."
She replaced two internal chips and inserted a new power regulation unit into the processor. She felt that the process was nearing completion.
She looked at the glasses, then at Reichi, and whispered to herself:
"Ora is a part of you... I'll make her stronger, but in a way that doesn't consume you."
She finished the repairs, wiped her hands of the solder residue, then sighed with relief as she placed the glasses back in their case. She approached the bed, stared at it for a moment, then covered it again with the blanket.
Before turning off the light, she whispered softly:
"Sleep now... Tomorrow will be different."
Then she left the room and quietly closed the door behind her.
---
In a semi-dark hall, lit only by dim lamps hanging on the walls, the masked man stood in front of a circular table surrounded by screens displaying data flowing with symbols and energy spectra. Behind the table sat a man whose features were hidden in the shadows, but whose voice was sharp, steady, dripping with authority and cunning.
Without looking up from the screen in front of him, the man said:
"How did Ryuichi look?"
The masked man stepped forward, his voice steady despite the obvious effects of the confrontation on his body and a thin crack running across his mask near his eye.
"It was amazing... truly amazing for a boy with such a fragile mind, on the verge of collapse."
There was silence for a few seconds.
Then the man asked, in a less neutral tone:
"And Ora?"
The masked man lowered his head slightly, as if reviewing what he had seen:
"Beyond all expectations. Her response was not just a defensive algorithm... but something else. It was as if she was... breathing."
There was no exaggeration in the response, just a rare hint of surprise that sometimes crept into the masked man's voice.
The man in the shadows smiled faintly, a smile that was only apparent in the edges of his voice as he said:
"Yes... and that's even though she only used 0.000000000000001% of her capabilities."
The masked man paused for a moment, his eyelid twitching involuntarily, but he remained silent.
The man continued:
"Continue to monitor him from a distance, and do not interfere again until I have finished the preparation. What I want from him is not yet ready."
The masked man bowed slightly in respect, then turned and disappeared into the shadows as he had appeared.
After the masked man left, silence filled the room except for the faint sound of monitoring devices working in the background. The "boss" remained seated, staring at the screen in front of him displaying the unstable heartbeat of a digital model... It was Ora.
He whispered softly, as if talking to himself or to something invisible:
"Aura... just 0.000000000000001%... and yet, you were able to stand up to those who created you."
The camera (in the cinematic visualization) zoomed in on his eyes, which reflected the glare of the screen.
"This entity... is not just artificial intelligence... but the beginning of the rebirth of legacy."
He paused for a moment, then added:
"When you reach just 1%... nothing in this world will remain the same."
Then he let out a deep sigh, tinged with fear and fascination, and whispered in the shadows:
"Let's see... who will be saved first? Ora... or Ryuichi?"