In her cafe across the street, Hikari felt a cold dread wash over her. She had seen the file transfer. She had seen Maya's reaction. She had heard, through Kuro's comms, the final, devastating question.
The matchmaking game was over. This was now a matter of Syndicate security.
Her first instinct was a cold, protective rage. Kuro's carelessness had put them all in jeopardy. The girl, Maya, was now a loose thread, a variable she couldn't control. Her training, the lessons from the Glass Cage, whispered dark solutions in the back of her mind. A minor accident. A sudden, unexplained mental breakdown. There were a hundred ways to silence a person that left no trace.
She took a slow, calming breath, forcing the ruthless calculus of her W.A.O. past back into its box. She was not that person anymore. She was the Syndicate's emotional anchor, its heart. And the heart could not afford to be cold.
She re-evaluated the situation. Maya was not a threat. Not yet. She was a witness. But what kind of witness?
Hikari's fingers danced across her tablet. She pulled up everything she could find on Maya Williams. Academic records (flawless), social media presence (minimal), personal history (an orphan, raised by a loving but scientifically illiterate grandmother, a scholarship student who worked two jobs to get by). There was no indication of any connection to government agencies or rival organizations. She was brilliant, driven, and utterly alone.
*She's like us,* Hikari realized. An outsider, a mind that operated on a different level from everyone around her.
This changed the equation. A threat had to be neutralized. But a potential asset? An asset could be cultivated.
Hikari watched the scene in the library unfold. She saw Kuro's panic, his social paralysis. She saw Maya's intense, unyielding curiosity, which was not accusatory, but hungry for knowledge. She didn't see a threat. She saw a kindred spirit.
A new plan began to form in Hikari's mind, one far more complex and subtle than simple matchmaking. Kuro had opened a door into his world, and Maya had walked through it. Closing that door was no longer an option. The only choice left was to invite her further in.
She sent a new message as "Athena9" to one of Maya's friends, a girl in her study group.
**Athena9:** *Hey, weird favor. My friend is trying to get a message to Maya Williams but doesn't have her number. Can you tell her someone left a book for her at the campus coffee shop? It's called 'Theories of Everything.'*
There was no such book. But Hikari would be there, sitting at a corner table, a cup of tea in her hand and a warm, disarming smile on her face. It was time for the gardener to meet the new, rare flower that had just unexpectedly bloomed in her quiet, dangerous garden. She needed to read Maya in person. She needed to know if this girl could be trusted with the secrets of gods.