From her listening post in the Clock Tower's quiet residential wing, Hikari monitored Kuro's conversation, a proud, slightly nervous smile on her face. The gardener's plan was working. Kuro, in his own blunt, transactional way, had extended an invitation.
But her work was far from over. Bringing Maya into their world was like introducing a new, exotic element into a stable ecosystem. It had the potential to create something beautiful, or to cause a catastrophic, chain-reaction failure. Hikari's job was to be the moderator, the control rod in this delicate experiment.
She sent a message to Berger. *Subject: Asset Acquisition. We have a new variable. Codename: 'Daedalus.' I need a full, deep-level identity protocol. Blank slate. Top priority.*
She was building a ghost identity for Maya before Maya even knew she needed one. It was a preemptive measure, a safety net. If things went wrong, if Maya was ever compromised, the Syndicate would have a way to make her disappear completely, protecting both her and them.
Next, she began a new project. She started weaving the first, subtle threads of Maya's existence into the Syndicate's network. She created a low-level access credential for her, linked to a firewalled research-only section of their servers. She added her name to a list of "external consultants," a designation that would give her a legitimate, explainable reason for receiving large, untraceable payments.
This was the art of her work. Renji conquered territories. Kuro conquered systems. Hikari conquered people, not through force, but through a gentle, invisible process of integration. She was making a place for Maya in their world, a place that felt so natural and logical that by the time Maya realized how deep she was, she would already feel like she belonged.
She looked at the screen, at the comms feed showing Maya staring at Kuro, a look of stunned, exhilarating disbelief on her face as she processed his offer. Hikari felt a genuine sense of warmth. She had started this as a game, a way to help her awkward brother. But it had become something more. She was building a team. She was expanding their family.
For the first time since their parents' death, their small, fractured unit of three was about to become four. And Hikari knew, with the unshakeable certainty of her empathy, that this was just the beginning. The world was changing, and the architects of that change needed all the brilliant minds they could find.