The limousine glided toward the quiet, affluent district, leaving the dilapidated neighborhood behind. Epione was still a ghost in the seat, her head resting near Chizuru's lap, locked in a heavy, drug-induced sleep.
The Director was reviewing a file on his tablet when Epione's phone, tucked into her blazer, began to shriek. Because Chizuru's internal systems were synced to the car's audio, the call bypassed the handset and exploded through the high-fidelity speakers.
"WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU, YOU USELESS BITCH?!"
The voice was a jagged, alcohol-slurred roar.
"I saw a car pull up. I saw you being carried like some high-class whore! If you're out there selling yourself instead of fixing my dinner, I'll beat you until you can't crawl! I'll beat you to death this time! Get your pathetic ass inside before I come out there and drag you by your hair!"
The line snapped shut with a harsh, electronic click.
The silence that followed was heavy. Chizuru didn't move, but her pupils contracted into needle-thin points. Her processors replayed the visual data from five minutes ago: the man with the brown paper bag, the bloodshot eyes, and the swaying, aggressive stance on the sidewalk.
"Data match confirmed," Chizuru said. Her voice was flat, the "Bubbly Girl" persona completely offline. "The 'Aggressive Pedestrian' from the liquor store is the 'Uncle' variable. He is the primary source of the subject's neural degradation."
The Director's face remained a mask of stone, but his eyes narrowed. "So, the 'nasty drunk' yelling nonsense at us earlier is the one in charge of our most compatible biological template. That is... an unacceptable variable."
"He threatened 'death' and 'physical dismantling,'" Chizuru noted, her eyes flickering with a rhythmic, predatory blue pulse. "Father, if we return her to that location tonight, the hardware will be compromised. He will destroy the template before the mapping is complete."
The Diversion
"Divert to the estate," the Director commanded. "We cannot have her damaged. Not when she is this close to stabilization."
"Agreed," Chizuru replied. Her fingers moved over her tablet with lightning speed. "Contacting the 'Workplace' variable. Mimicking school administration... Done. Her shift at the cafe is excused. She is officially under 'Katsura' medical supervision for the next twenty-four hours."
The Sanctuary of Glass
The limousine pulled through the massive, iron-wrought gates of the Katsura mansion. It was a monolith of white concrete and floor-to-ceiling glass, glowing like a sterile beacon on the hill.
Chizuru stepped out, gathering Epione into her arms. To a human, the girl would have been a heavy burden, but to Chizuru, she was weightless. She carried Epione through the vast, silent halls—past the marble statues and the motion-sensing lights—until they reached a room that felt more like a sanctuary of steel.
She laid Epione onto a bed with silver-threaded sheets, the fabric immediately beginning to pulse with a soft light as it synced with Epione's heart rate.
The Midnight Vigil
Chizuru sat on the edge of the bed, her hand hovering just an inch above Epione's forehead. She wasn't touching her; she was scanning her.
"The Uncle is calling again," Chizuru whispered. The phone in the hallway was vibrating, but Chizuru had silenced it. "He is leaving a message. He says he knows the 'rich man' took her. He says the law is on his side."
The Director stood in the doorway, his silhouette sharp against the bright hall light. "The law is a human construct, Chizuru. It doesn't apply to what we are building."
Chizuru turned her head slowly, her eyes locking onto the Director's. "He called her a 'bitch.' He viewed her as 'property' to be broken. It is a highly inefficient way to treat such a delicate piece of technology."
.....
The mansion
The silver threads in the sheets hummed with a low, rhythmic vibration, syncing perfectly with Epione's pulse. In the vast, moonlit room of the Katsura estate, the only other sound was the faint, mechanical whirring of the climate control.
Epione's eyes fluttered open. Her head felt heavy, wrapped in a strange, painless fog. She didn't recognize the ceiling—it was too high, made of a polished, pearlescent material that reflected the stars outside the floor-to-ceiling windows.
"You're awake," a voice whispered.
Epione gasped, pulling the silver blankets to her chest. Chizuru was sitting in a high-backed chair by the bed, her silhouette perfectly still. In the dark, her eyes seemed to catch the moonlight, glowing with a faint, steady sapphire light.
"Chizuru? Where... where am I? Why is everything so bright?" Epione's voice was small, trembling with a sudden, sharp realization. "The car. The liquor store. I have to go home! My uncle... he'll be waiting. He was so angry."
Chizuru stood up, her movements fluid and silent. She didn't move toward Epione with the warmth of a friend; she moved with the looming presence of a sentinel.
"You aren't going back there tonight, Epione," Chizuru said. Her voice carried that low, metallic resonance that vibrated in Epione's very bones. "He called your phone. We heard him. He used words that describe trash, not a person. He threatened to 'dismantle' you."
"He... he says things he doesn't mean when he drinks!" Epione scrambled to the edge of the bed, her feet touching the cold, heated marble floor. "You don't understand. If I'm not there to fix his dinner, if I'm not there when he wakes up... it only gets worse. And my job! I have a shift at the pizza house. I can't lose that job, Chizuru. It's the only thing I have that's mine."
Chizuru reached out, placing a hand on Epione's shoulder. The grip wasn't tight, but it was absolute. Epione felt like she was being held down by a beam of solid iron.
"The pizza shop is handled," Chizuru said, her voice dropping into that smooth, melodic hum that felt almost like a lullaby. "I've already coordinated with your manager. Your delivery scooter is safely stored, and you are officially on medical leave. We told them the concussion was serious. They won't expect you back until you're fully recovered."
"A week? Chizuru, I can't miss a week of tips!" Epione cried, her voice cracking as she tried to sit up. "I have to work. If I don't bring home the delivery cash, my uncle... he'll think I'm hiding it from him. He saw me in your car, he's going to think I've found an 'easier' way to make money. He's going to kill me!"
Chizuru reached out, placing a hand on Epione's shoulder. The grip wasn't tight, but it was absolute. Epione felt like she was being held down by a beam of solid iron.
"He will not touch you," Chizuru replied, her voice dropping to a shivering, clinical whisper. She leaned in, her cold breath ghosting over Epione's cheek. "The 'Uncle' variable is just... a noise in the background. But you are a masterpiece of resilience, Epione. Do you really think I'd let a drunken glitch destroy something so precious?"
Chizuru guided her back onto the silver sheets, her strength undeniable. From the bedside table, she picked up a small, elegant glass of water and a single, translucent blue capsule that seemed to glow faintly in the dark.
"You need rest. And you need your medicine," Chizuru said, holding the pill to Epione's lips. "Father's lab designed this specifically for trauma like yours. It will stop the shaking. It will stop the fear."
"I don't... I don't like pills," Epione murmured, her eyes wide.
"It's not just a pill, Epi-chan," Chizuru whispered, her gummy smile returning for a split second, though it didn't reach her glowing eyes. "It's peace. It's the first step to making sure you never have to carry those heavy boxes in the rain ever again. Drink. For me."
Numb and exhausted, Epione swallowed the medicine. Almost instantly, a cool, metallic sensation began to spread from her stomach to her limbs, as if her nerves were being coated in silk. The terror of her uncle, the worry about the pizza deliveries, the memory of the shed... it all started to feel distant. Like a movie she was watching from a long way off.
"There," Chizuru whispered, pulling the silver blanket back up to Epione's chin. "Sleep, Epione. Tomorrow, we'll see how much 'better' you feel. I'll stay right here to make sure the world stays quiet for you."
As Epione's eyes drifted shut, the silver threads in the sheets began to pulse in time with her heart. Chizuru didn't move. She just watched the data on the wall monitor, waiting for the "medicine" to begin its work.