[Fifth floor
Chiba main police department
Evidence vault
The girls
12th August
7:23 pm, evening]

The air inside the evidence vault was thick with tension. The dim overhead lights flickered slightly, casting eerie shadows against the rows of locked shelves lining the walls. The girls stood in a tight circle, their breaths shallow as they sealed the small pouches in their hands. Each pouch contained the very thing they had risked everything for-crucial evidence, locked away because the twenty-year statute had not yet expired.

Sebiki's fingers trembled slightly as she pressed down on the seal of her pouch, forcing herself to focus. They had come too far to let a mistake cost them everything now. The others did the same, their masked faces betraying nothing, but she could sense their nerves, their urgency.

The locked shelves had been a hurdle, but Saira had managed to retrieve the keys from an officer's belt as she had slipped past him unnoticed. It had been an excruciatingly tense moment-her fingers grazing the heavy set of keys, slowly tugging them free without the officer stirring. A single wrong move, a misstep, and this mission would have ended in disaster.

Now, with everything gathered, Sebiki was just about to signal for them to leave when her earpiece buzzed to life.

"You have three minutes before it auto-resets. The backup alarms will ring otherwise."

Ren's voice was sharp, urgent, sending a fresh wave of panic through her veins.

"Three minutes?" she thought, her stomach twisting. That was nowhere near enough time.

She snapped her gaze to the others, her voice tight. "Three minutes."

The reaction was immediate. Miyasi stiffened, but she was the first to speak, her voice a quick, hushed whisper. "The vault will auto-lock if we don't leave now. My hacking can only last so long."

Sebiki swallowed hard and nodded. They had to move.

No hesitation. No second-guessing.

They broke into a sprint towards the vault's exit, their movements as silent as shadows.

Saira reached the rotatory lock first, gripping it tightly as she prepared to turn it open-

Then, footsteps echoed down the corridor.

Loud. Near.

A sharp curse came through the earpiece.

"Shit."

Sebiki froze. Ren's voice crackled in her ear, rapid and panicked.

"Two officers incoming!"

Saira jerked back from the lock like it had burned her, her breath hitching as she turned to look at Sebiki. The others tensed, their muscles wound tight with dread.

Miyasi, however, was the only one who didn't panic. She turned slowly, flashing a quick, steady look at Sebiki and Himeko. Her voice was a barely-there whisper. "Check."

Himeko nodded immediately, scanning the shelves, the small desks, every single surface they had touched. Everything had to be exactly as they had found it. There could be no sign they had been here.

As she swept her eyes across the room, her gaze landed on the surveillance camera in the corner. A small red light blinked at its base.

Her stomach plummeted.

"The camera," she whispered hoarsely.

Sebiki's earpiece buzzed again.

"The camera will turn on soon!" Ren's voice was tight with alarm.

Sebiki pressed her fingers against the device, whispering back fiercely. "Do something."

"I can't!" Ren's panic was palpable now. "Causing a power outage will only raise suspicion. You don't have extra costumes with you, and there's nowhere to hide in the vault-"

Then, before Ren could finish, another voice cut in.

"Take Plan B."

Sebiki's breath hitched. The voice was new. Different.

Her fingers clenched around the earpiece. "Plan B?"

Saira whipped her head toward Sebiki, her eyes widening. "Quick, the officers will be here any minute now."

Sebiki's heart pounded in her ears. "Who is this?" she whispered sharply.

"Kavei here."

Kavei.

Sebiki sucked in a breath. Kavei had been in the morgue room the last time she had spoken to Ren. He must have asked Ren to connect him to her earpiece when he realized they were in trouble.

"What is Plan B?" she whispered urgently.

"There's a window there?" Kavei asked.

Sebiki's gaze darted around the room. Window? She saw nothing but the thick concrete walls, locked shelves, and the heavy steel door.

"No."

"Then what do you see?"

Sebiki's eyes swept the room frantically. Then she spotted it.

"A vent," she whispered.

Kavei didn't hesitate.

"Okay. Get in. Now."

[Morgue room
Chiba local hospital
12th August
7:25 pm
Kavei]

The air in the morgue was heavy, thick with the sterile scent of chemicals and the faintest trace of something metallic beneath it. The dim overhead lights cast long shadows across the cluttered space, illuminating the countless metal storage compartments stacked against the walls.

Kavei exhaled, running a hand through his dark hair as he glanced at the mess in front of him. The past two hours had been grueling-only one box found in all that time. He had barely made a dent in the work assigned to him as well, and it was frustrating. But his mind had been elsewhere. His attention had been split between the tedious task and the live feed in his earpiece, connected to Sebiki.

For the last ten minutes, he had done nothing but listen, his hands moving on autopilot as he worked through his volunteer shift. The cold steel of the morgue cabinets pressed against his back as he leaned against them, stacking a few more boxes into place. He had only half an hour left of his work and he had to erase suspicion if any arouse. The weight of the boxes pressed into his arms, grounding him.

Then-

A scream tore through his earpiece.

Sebiki.

The sound sliced through the quiet room like a blade.

Kavei's blood ran cold. His fingers slipped, and his phone clattered to the floor with a sharp thud, its flashlight flickering against the ceiling.

"Hey!" His voice was urgent as he pressed two fingers against the earpiece. "Hey! Is everything okay? What is going on? Sebiki??"

Nothing.

Silence.

The stillness was worse than the scream. His heart pounded against his ribs, the seconds stretching unbearably long. His breathing grew shallow.

No response.

The tension in his muscles coiled tighter. His mind raced through possibilities, each one worse than the last. He grabbed his phone from the floor with shaky hands and immediately dialed Ren.

The phone rang once. Twice. Then a click.

Ren answered.

"Ren-nii!" Kavei's voice was sharp, frantic. "What is going on?"

Silence.

Kavei's stomach twisted. He could hear Ren breathing on the other end, but the silence was suffocating. His patience snapped.

"Ren-nii!" he shouted this time, desperation lacing his voice. "What is going on?! Tell me!!"

Finally, Ren spoke, his voice eerily calm but with an edge of uncertainty.

"I have no clue." A pause. "My hacking disabled, and now I can't see them on my screen."

The words hit Kavei like a gut punch.

"What...?" His breath caught in his throat.

Gone. The feed was gone. No visuals. No sound.

A chill ran down his spine. Something had gone terribly wrong.