Thursday Morning — Aoi's Office
The hum of office chatter melted into the background as Aoi entered the building, her heels tapping gently across the polished marble floor. Her long brown-blonde hair shimmered under the LED lights, and the silver necklace Ren gifted her—Project Kurobara—rested softly against her collarbone.
She was radiant, despite the slight tension under her eyes.
"Morning, Aoi-san!""Wow, is that a new necklace? Looks expensive!"
Aoi gave a polite smile. "It's… from someone special."
As she reached her desk, a black envelope stood out like a shadow on fresh snow. It wasn't there the night before. No label. No stamp. Only a gold-embossed seal: N.
She blinked, cautious.
Inside the envelope was a glossy black card:
You are cordially invited to a private industry networking party.Venue: Hotel Jūmonji Sky Garden, Top FloorDress Code: Elegant.Time: 7:30 PM.Special Guest: You.
Aoi's brow furrowed. No sender name. No contact info. Only her name printed in the bottom right.
"What… is this?"
She looked around. Nobody else seemed to have gotten one.
She folded the card into her bag and sat down, heart slightly uneasy.
Same Time — Countryside AI Lab
Ren stared at the main server screen. Lucia's soft voice crackled to life from the overhead speaker.
"Ren. There's a breach attempt in SubNet-42."
He spun his chair.
"Details."
"The system intercepted a ghost ping — external surveillance. Someone is scraping metadata at random intervals. They don't want files. They want patterns."
Ren's eyes darkened. "Saki…"
"Possibly. But there's another source.""Metadata signature overlaps with Naruse Corporation's domain activity."
He rose to his feet, pacing.
"So now both of them are sniffing around."
Lucia pulsed a gentle red.
"Shall I deploy deception packets?"
Ren shook his head. "No. Let them think they're ahead. I want to see where this leads."
Evening — Aoi's Apartment
Aoi looked in the mirror, holding the card in one hand, and a pearl earring in the other. Her instincts whispered don't go.
But her curiosity whispered louder.
"Ren's been busy… maybe I should at least see what this is about."
She texted him:
"Working late again tonight? Just making sure :)"
Ren replied seconds later:
"Yeah, something came up. Sorry, Ai. I'll make it up to you tomorrow."
Aoi sighed. "One hour. I'll go in, have a drink, and leave."
She didn't tell him about the card.
At Lucia's Core Terminal
The AI's eye pulsed again. A blip appeared on the map — Aoi's location sync had begun moving toward the city.
Lucia said aloud, even though no one was there:
"Unknown destination detected. No calendar match. No appointment. Why wasn't I informed?"A moment passed.
"Beginning passive trace."
As the elevator doors opened to the Sky Garden's private lounge, Aoi stepped into a room filled with elegance and shadows.
Naruse was already waiting — drink in hand, smirk carved into his flawless face.
"You came."