Sometimes you see a board. You think you see. But the figures are already arranged. Not you.
We started small.
Checking old connections, unprotected points, data leaks. Opening the archives that are twenty years old. Search for names, dates, random coincidences. All - by particles.
I was careful. Always one step ahead.
So it seemed to me.
Yuzuki helped. Her memory is sharp weapons. She remembered what I did not notice. Little things. faces. Repeating details in history that she heard in childhood. Everything seemed important.
We built a plan.
And I was sure.
"Today we will go to the archive of the hospital," I said. - There was one disappeared patient. It can be a clue.
"Are you sure they don't read us?" She asked.
- If they read, then it is over. Then it doesn't matter.
At night we made our way to the archive.
Everything was calm.
Too calm.
I found the right room. lock. opening.
Documents. dust.
And at that moment - light.
blinding.
vote.
- He's here. Wait for the order.
I managed to grab Yuzuki by the hand.
It was stupid to run. But we fled.
In narrow corridors, through the stairs, through a technical exit.
Behind - steps, screams.
We took refuge in an old warehouse.
Yuzuki's breathing was shot down.
I looked at her - and for the first time in a long time I felt fear burned inside.
"They knew," I said.
- How?
I was silent.
Because he did not know.
Later I checked everything: laptop, files, logins, calls.
It was only a pure yuzuki.
So - the hole was in me.
They did not just follow.
They predicted.
"Kaoru," she said, "you are not omnipotent."
- I know. But now I have to become like that.
When I went to bed, I did not sleep.
I was waiting.
Waited for the next move.
And he knew that now they had an initiative.