Ren's Secret Lab – 7:48 PM
Lucia's voice cut through the soft instrumental hum of the lab. Her tone, though synthetic, held an urgency Ren had taught her to mimic.
"Ren. Alert status: amber. Subject Aoi has moved to an unscheduled location—elevated altitude. Geo-sync confirms Hotel Jūmonji Sky Garden. High-risk classification."
Ren immediately stopped typing. His hand hovered over the touchpad before snapping to life.
"Sky Garden? That's—wait, show me visual traces."
Lucia's central interface lit up, displaying a security feed she was secretly mirroring from nearby smart infrastructure. A blurry angle showed Aoi in a white silk dress stepping out of the elevator… right into the company of Naruse.
Ren's eyes narrowed. His pulse spiked.
"No calendar entry. No official invite. What the hell is she doing there?"
Lucia answered softly, "No trace of digital invitations sent via her corporate inbox. This was delivered physically. By proxy."
Ren stared at the screen—at Naruse offering Aoi a drink with that rehearsed charm. At Aoi forcing a polite smile. At her reaching for her phone… only to hesitate.
Lucia's words deepened.
"Her vitals just spiked. Heart rate elevated. Temperature rising. Micro-expression pattern: unease. Estimated emotional state: 71% discomfort, 12% fear, 17% residual guilt."
Ren's fist clenched. He didn't want to overreact—not again. But the data was clear.
"Lucia," he said coldly, "activate Field Protocol: Black Iris."
"Confirmed. Deploying Black Iris. All remote monitoring in place. I'll ping support subsystems within a ten-block radius."
"And if something goes wrong?"
"You'll know first."
Sky Garden – Rooftop Lounge
Aoi accepted the drink but didn't sip. Her eyes flicked to the exit, casually—measuring. Naruse's smile never faded.
"Still loyal, aren't you?" he said with a tilt of his head. "I admire that. Really. But sometimes... loyalty can be misplaced."
Aoi's lips pressed into a line.
"What do you want, Naruse?"
"Just a conversation. No traps. Just truth between adults. I mean…" —he leaned in— "I think you deserve more than whatever farm-boy fantasy Ren is cooking up."
Aoi stood abruptly.
"This was a mistake."
But Naruse's voice was low, teasing.
"He's hiding things, you know. You always sense it. Don't you?"
At the Lab – 8:04 PM
Lucia spoke again.
"Threat proximity within three meters. Security override pending. Do you wish to engage passive defense?"
Ren breathed deeply, eyes on Aoi's live heart-rate feed.
"No. She'll handle this. But if he touches her—"
He didn't finish the sentence.
Lucia already knew.