A massive electric current spreads through the room, causing a short circuit that leads to a sudden blackout. The control room was plunged into complete darkness, leaving only a faint light from the screen of Ryuichi's cell phone lying on the floor.
In the main hall, panic spread through the audience as the power went out. People began whispering anxiously.
"Calm down, please!" Miku tried to calm the crowd, her voice echoing in the darkness. "This is just part of the show. Don't panic."
But her words weren't entirely convincing to Hiroshi, who was standing next to her, with a grim face.
"Miko-san, this isn't part of the show is it?" he whispered to her.
"We have to check the control room." Miko said.
"We should!" Hiroshi said looking into Miku's eyes.
"Hiroshi-sa-----" Before Miku could finish, Hiroshi gave her a stern look under the dim light of the emergency lights; "Miku-san, what are you thinking? This carelessness could destroy everything we've built!" He said in a calm but whip-like voice, charged with a tone of warning.
Miko, who usually keeps her cool, felt a little confused, but she didn't let it show on her face. "I'm sure the pit crew has already dealt with it, there's nothing to worry about."
Hiroshi wasn't convinced, and didn't give her a chance to rationalize further. He turned to the maintenance team and issued his stern orders to send someone back to check the Grand Control Room.
"Check everything, and leave no corner unexplored." He told them in a no-nonsense tone.
"Yes, sir." The maintenance team said.
Meanwhile, in the darkened control room, Ryuichi was hearing fuzzy noises. He could see flashes of light, but they were quickly disappearing. He tried to open his eyes, but they were too heavy.
"Where am I? What happened?" He muttered softly. His head was heavy with dizziness. The blow he had taken when he fell was hard, and the pain pulsed through his body. Then he suddenly remembered what had happened. He had tried to call AURA, but something had gone wrong. He felt fear and regret. "I made a terrible mistake."
Ryuichi gradually began to regain consciousness. He slowly opened his eyes, and found himself lying on the cold floor. He tried to get up, but fell back to the ground. "I have to get out of here," he whispered softly, trying to crawl away from where he had fallen.
But as he crawled, he heard footsteps approaching the room:
"Oh my God, what is this darkness? I feel like I'm in a horror movie!" One of the technicians said in a trembling voice.
"Don't worry, I'll show you the way." Another said, pointing his flashlight at the floor.
"Watch out, there might be a ghost here!" The first technician said.
"You're crazy! The only ghost here is the one that caused the power outage." The second technician replied.
"You mean..." The first technician started to speak, but stopped abruptly when he heard a strange sound coming from the darkness.
"Did you hear that?" The third technician asked in a hushed voice.
"What did you hear?" The second technician asked.
"I don't know, it sounds like someone is breathing."
"Maybe it's a mouse." The first technician said, pointing his flashlight in all directions.
"A rat? That's impossible!" The second technician said incredulously.
"I wouldn't rule anything out at this point." The first technician replied.
Ryuichi heard the sounds, and his heart began to beat faster. "Those sounds... Impossible!" He looked around the room for a place to hide, but the darkness prevented it. He tried to crawl toward the ventilation window he had entered through, but the distance was too far, and his body couldn't handle it. At that moment, Ryuichi noticed some lights creeping under the door of the room.
"I have to hide here" He decided, crawling towards the door and hiding behind it. The moment Ryuichi hid, the sounds of the maintenance team's footsteps stopped in front of the room's door, and Ryuichi looked at their shadows in panic.
"Well here we are, I hope there are no surprises..." The first technician said.
#"Here you go, hero, you're first." The third technician replied.
"What? Is it possible that you're afraid of rats? Unbelievable, haha," said the second technician while patting the first technician on the shoulder.
Suddenly, the team heard footsteps behind them. They slowly turned around, only to find Hiroshi standing behind them, his gaze piercing them like arrows. His face was pale and his eyes glowed in the darkness.
"What's going on here?" Hiroshi said in an ice-cold voice.
"That voice..." Ryuichi said to himself.
The three technicians were horrified and immediately stopped laughing. The second technician couldn't tear his eyes away from Hiroshi's gaze and muttered to himself: "No... It can't be, it can't be Hiroshi-san..."
The third technician remained helpless before Hiroshi's question. "Idiot! Now we'll pay for this."
The first technician approached with hesitant steps, his eyes filled with fear, then stopped and grabbed the second technician's head, trying to pull him down: "We... We're sorry, Hiroshi-san." He said, swallowing hard.
Hiroshi didn't respond to the first technician's apology, but stepped inside. Every step he took made the technicians feel even more intimidated. Silence reigned supreme, then Hiroshi said in a stern tone: "Look carefully, and don't miss anything."
"Yes, sir." The maintenance team said and the silence was broken.
Ryuichi's heart pounded and sweat dripped from his brow as he looked at the technicians' lights through the room's door. "Shit..." He whispered to himself, cursing his bad, bad luck.
"I have to get out of here," Ryuichi thought, but he couldn't move. He was afraid that he would be discovered and punished.
Meanwhile, Hiroshi wandered around the room, his eyes scanning every nook and cranny, pointing with his flashlight. He was focused on the giant device, AURA, as if trying to read his thoughts.
"What happened here?" He asked in a whisper, touching the control panel. "Why did this sudden outage happen? Did someone try to hack into the system?" Then he felt his phone vibrate, he pulled his phone out of his pocket, it was Miku, she had sent him a message: "Did you find anything?" Miku asked worriedly
Hiroshi wrote back: "No... We haven't found anything, but we're still looking."
#Voice of the messenger#
But at that moment, a technician's voice was heard calling out:
"Hiroshi-san, I found something strange!"
Hiroshi quickly turned around and headed toward the voice. He found the technician standing next to the supercomputer, holding a cell phone. "This phone... I think it fell from here." The technician said.
Hiroshi took the phone from the technician's hand and examined it carefully. The phone was hot, and the screen was cracked. "This phone... Where did you find it?" Hiroshi asked in a hushed voice.
"On the floor, near this computer." The technician answered. Hiroshi looked at the computer, then at the phone, then at the door behind which Ryuichi was hiding. A strange sense of anxiety began to creep into his heart.
"Could there be a connection between this phone and the sudden power outage?" Hiroshi wondered to himself.
"This phone looks suspicious." The technician said.
"Bring in the surveillance camera recordings." Hiroshi ordered the first technician, when Ryuichi heard Hiroshi's words, his heart almost stopped. "Shit, how did I forget about those cameras? What should I do?" Ryuichi asked desperately.
Within minutes, the surveillance cameras were turned on, and Hiroshi began examining the recordings. But his eyes settled on a person inside the room. "That's impossible!" Hiroshi suddenly exclaimed, pointing at the screen. "How did this person get in here?"
The recording clearly showed someone sneaking into the room, but the image was blurry and indistinct. "It must be one of the workers here." A technician said.
"I don't think so." Hiroshi replied. "This person was not detected by the surveillance cameras in the corridor leading to the room, he entered without leaving a trace."
"But where did this brat come from?" Hiroshi wondered to himself.
At that moment, Ryuichi felt his heart pounding. He knew he was about to be discovered. He tried to remain calm, but he couldn't. He began to sweat and feel dizzy. "I'm doomed." He thought to himself.
The maintenance team began searching for the intruder, but without a trace. "I don't see any sign of an intruder here," said one technician, dusting off a piece of equipment.
"I don't think so," said another, shining his flashlight into dark corners.
"I don't think so," Hiroshi said in a sharp tone, "There's something strange going on here."
Hiroshi looked at the cell phone the technician had found. "This phone... It can't be just a coincidence."
#Hiroshi's cell phone ringing#
Hiroshi: "What is it, Miku?"
Miku: "Hiroshi-san, the audience is getting restless. We need to calm them down immediately. Can you come over immediately?"
Hiroshi took a deep breath and tried to adjust his tone: "Miku, we're about to find out what happened here. I can't leave it now."
"That's not a request, Hiroshi. You are the only person who can speak with enough authority to calm the situation. Please, let the technicians handle the rest and come immediately."
After a short silence, Hiroshi said with a sigh, "Okay, I'll head over to you but this room needs to be fully checked."
He closed and took one last look at the room.
"Keep combing the room, don't let any corner go unchecked. I want a detailed report on my return." He ordered the technicians in a stern voice, then turned to leave, but paused for a moment and placed the phone he found on top of the main control panel.
"He left the phone... Above the control panel? This is my chance," he thought as he watched Hiriguchi walk out of the room: "You heard what he said, let's finish this job and get out of here. The place is making me uncomfortable."
Ryuichi himself pressed further into the dark corner he was hiding in, trying to hold his breath, feeling sweat dripping down his forehead, his mind working quickly to determine his next steps.
"If I could just get to the phone... But how do I get past them?" He wondered silently.
Meanwhile, one of the technicians stepped up to his corner: "What do we have here?" He asked, shining a spotlight on the floor.
Rewitt stopped breathing, his heart pounding like crazy: "If he finds me now, I'm finished..."
But the technician suddenly turned around after hearing a cry from another colleague, "I found a severed cable here!"
"That could explain the power outage..." The second technician said, distracting everyone's attention and allowing Ryuichi to continue hiding.
Ryuichi quickly thought, "I must take advantage of this distraction... But one wrong move could mean the end." He stared at the technicians gathered around the severed cable, then fixed his gaze on the phone above the control panel. The dim light from the technicians' company made shadows play across the room, providing him with limited cover.
He crept quietly, using the shadows as a barrier, advancing toward the back of the console. The surrounding sounds were distorted, as the technicians debated the cause of the malfunction "The cable may have been damaged by an electrical short" said the third technician.
"Are you stupid? That doesn't explain how the phone got here!" said the first technician. I think it's the work of that intruder." He replied in a worried tone.
When Ryuichi reached near the control panel, he could see the phone more clearly He just had to reach out and pull it out without making a sound "That's it... One chance, just one more step..."
At the moment he was about to grab the phone,...
His hand hit something metallic on the floor. "Damn," Ryuichi whispered in an almost muffled voice. The second technician, who had picked up the sound, started moving toward its source. Lights are moving, and the shadows of engineers are playing on the walls.
"I heard something here, I think there's someone." The second technician said cautiously, holding up his flashlight.
Ryuichi froze in place, his mind working like crazy. "If they catch me now... It's over. It's all over!" He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down.
The first technician, who was busy examining the severed cable, shouted: "Forget it! Maybe it's just a mouse! Let's finish fixing the malfunction!"
"But the sound was so close..." The second technician replied, hesitating as he slowly moved towards the source of the sound. The light from his flashlight almost revealed Ryuichi hiding behind one of the huge machines.
At that moment, the third technician's radio buzzed with a sudden sound. "We found a malfunction in the main network. I need a backup team now!"
"Okay, we're coming!" The third technician shouted. The others looked at him hesitantly.
"This will take up our precious time." The second technician muttered, but agreed, and ordered the third technician to leave, except for the first technician: "You stay here to complete the inspection."
The first technician: "Am I alone here?"
Technician 2: "Of course, you're the best rat scarer."
Technician One: "Oh, thanks for the great confidence. If I disappear, tell my mom I was a hero!"
The second technician leaves smiling: "If you disappear, we'll tell everyone that you fell victim to the revenge of a sophisticated rat."
The first technician remained alone in the room, moving with hesitant steps. Behind one of the huge machines, Ryuichi holds his breath, while the technician begins to look around, feigning bravery.
The first technician talks to himself out loud to fight his fear: "Well, if you're a mouse, just show up and I won't hurt you. But if you're something else... Maybe I should call the emergency team?"
Ryuichi almost laughed at his own grumbling, but the slight sound he made made made the second technician freeze.
"Okay, that's not funny!" The technician exclaimed in a shaky voice, but then turned back and said sarcastically: "Maybe I'll write a horror movie about it later."
Finally, the technician decides to head toward the sound cautiously, but before he gets close to Ryuichi's location, his radio rings again. "We need you here immediately, the malfunction is expanding!"
The technician hesitated, but then breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Fine, I'll let the hero mouse save himself. I don't have time for this." Then he left in a hurry.
When Ryuichi made sure the room was clear, he came out of hiding quickly, heading for the phone. But even as he fled, he couldn't suppress a smile: "This guy should be in comedy instead of engineering." But this was no time to relax. "I have to get out before they come back or notice anything else."
He cautiously crept towards the phone, this time more careful not to make any sound. Finally, he managed to grab it, but its cracked screen revealed multiple unfinished messages... He left it unopened. Looking around, he noticed a nearby air vent that he had used to enter. But it had become too high due to his lowered position. "This is the only option..."
He tried to push his exhausted body towards the opening, putting all his strength into climbing one of the nearby pillars. It was extremely exhausting, and any sound would have exposed him. Still, he finally made it to the opening. He sat inside it for a moment, panting with fatigue.
Ryuichi began to crawl inside the vent, each step making a slight metallic sound. His eyes were on the distant light, which was pointing to the exit. But his voice filled the space... The first technician, who was still close to the room, heard him and stopped abruptly. He strained his ears, then stared in the direction of the air vents. "What's that?" He asked as he approached with cautious steps.
He reached for his radio, hesitating for a moment before speaking. "We might have something here, I'll check." Ryuichi, who heard the rustle of footsteps approaching the opening, stopped dead in his tracks. His breath was ragged, sweat beading on his forehead. At that moment, it wasn't the distant light that mattered... It was the silence.
"Maybe it was the wind..." The first technician whispered to himself.
But Ryuichi knew he was running out of time. He took a deep breath and tried to slow down, trying to keep crawling, but each step was an additional burden. Still, the exit was more visible in front of him than ever before.
"Did you find anything there?" One of the engineers said over the radio to the first technician.
"No, it looks like I was delusional." The first technician said and left the room. Ryuichi began to slowly crawl towards the light, but his phone began to vibrate in his pocket, Ryuichi took out his phone and looked at the screen in front of him, noticing that the data displayed on the screen was changing rapidly and unexpectedly. There was something strange about those numbers and symbols: "What's going on here?" Ryuichi whispered to himself, trying to decipher the data.
The numbers were changing rapidly, and he pulled the phone closer to his eyes, placing his finger on the screen in an attempt to read the fine details. But he felt something strange, and when he pressed the screen, there was no response.
"What is it?" he whispered to himself, trying again to no avail. "Why isn't it responding?"
He pressed again, harder this time, trying to press the rapidly moving numbers. But he only got a blank response, as if the phone was dead. He exhaled in frustration, staring at the increasingly blurry screen in his eyes.
"Come on, respond... No time to procrastinate now." He said as he pressed the screen hard, but nothing happened.
The symbols are changing illogically, as if they are trying to say something, something he can't understand yet. "Is there a glitch in the system? Or is there something blocking the phone?" As he watched the changing numbers, he felt like time was slipping away from him. "No time to wait... I have to get out of here, no matter what."
Finally, Ryuichi reached the exit, but he couldn't get off easily. In front of him was a staircase leading to the main hall, where the audience and Hiroshi would be. He decided to wait, sneaking behind one of the huge curtains.
As he watched, he saw Hiroshi with Miku, who looked very distraught. "Everyone is talking about the incident, we need to calm things down right away!" Miku said.
"Don't worry, they'll think it's part of the show." Hiroshi said coldly.
Taking advantage of their preoccupation, Ryuichi crawled through the crowd silently, finally managing to escape.