It all happened in less than seven minutes.
Aoi was walking back from lunch, her phone in one hand and a smile tugging at her lips after texting Ren.
She had no idea that her necklace—the nanotech shield Ren had painstakingly crafted—was still sitting on the bathroom counter at ho, left behind that morning in her rush.
And that was the window they’d been waiting for.
A sleek black van with no plates pulled up to the alley beside her office building. Before she could scream, sothing sharp jabbed her neck. The world tilted. Everything went dark.
anwhile — Ren’s Lab
Lucia’s tone broke through the air like ice.
"Sir, Aoi has not returned to her desk. CCTV blackout. I believe she’s been taken."
Ren was already suiting up.
"No signal from the necklace either?"
"It’s offline. Left at ho."
Ren stood still. A mont passed. His jaw clenched.
"...Naruse."
He turned to Lucia.
"Prepare the core duplicate. Make it emit the sa signals as the real one — but mask a volatile compression module. In short..."
"A bomb. Understood."
Ren nodded. He took the prototype core in hand—shaped exactly like the real AI’s reactor—and placed it in a thin tal briefcase. He then stepped into the transporter pad.
"Lucia, keep comms open. The mont I’m near Aoi, activate her nanotech remotely. But don’t blow the core... unless I say so."
"Confird."
Naruse’s High-Rise Tower – Private Floor
Aoi was seated in a cold, tallic chair in the center of an all-glass room—hands tied. Her eyes slowly opened, blinking against the white LED lighting.
Naruse stood across from her, drinking wine.
"Good morning, beautiful. Or... shall I say, Mrs. Genius?"
Aoi didn’t answer. She stared him down, fury in her gaze.
"I didn’t want it to go this far," Naruse continued, walking toward her. "But you... you refused to see how ordinary he is. Even with that suit."
He knelt down beside her, placing a hand gently on hers. She flinched.
"That AI, that reactor. They belong in my hands. Not so countryside drear’s fantasy."
Suddenly, the elevator doors pinged.
Ren stepped out—his black suit coat flapping slightly, tal briefcase in hand.
Naruse turned, grinning. "Right on ti."
Ren raised both hands. "I’m not here to fight. I brought what you want. Just don’t harm her."
He opened the case. Inside was the glowing core. Lucia’s voice ca through—barely audible.
"Duplicate active. Tir synced. Awaiting manual trigger."
Naruse’s eyes lit up.
"You see? You do know who the real genius is," he said, approaching the case like a man enchanted.
But one of Naruse’s goons moved toward Ren, cracking his knuckles.
Ren didn’t flinch.
The man threw a punch. Ren dodged and sent a brutal right hook straight into his jaw, sending him flying into a wall.
In that instant, tallic plates sprang from Ren’s sleeves, locking into place on his arms. His boots clanked. A chanical hum began to pulse across his back as the suit deployed piece by piece.
"Wrong move," Ren muttered. "Lucia — full deploy."
"Suit deploynt initiated. Detonation locked. Aoi’s signal reacquired — nanotech activating remotely."
Aoi’s eyes widened. Her restraints lted as the nanotech swirled around her from the bracelet hidden on her wrist. She stood up in shock.
"Ren...?"
Ren was already moving — a blur of light and tal. He took down three guards with precision strikes before lunging toward Naruse.
Naruse stumbled backward. "Wait, wait—!"
Ren caught him by the collar, lifted him off his feet, and slamd him into the glass wall.
"You thought I wouldn’t see this coming?"
He leaned in close.
"You lose, Naruse."
Hours Later – Ren’s Basent Containnt Room
Naruse woke up, chained to a magnetic panel in an underground holding cell.
Across from him, Lucia’s projection floated like a quiet specter.
"You’re lucky my protocol forbids permanent elimination. But we will be watching you."
The lights dimd. Ren and Aoi stood outside the reinforced door.
Aoi leaned into Ren, her voice shaking. "I thought I’d lost you."
Ren gently rested his forehead against hers.
"You won’t. Never."
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