Ryuichi Room - 12:23 p.m., Sunday night
The dim light of a desk lamp reflects on the biochemistry notebooks scattered in front of him. The countdown screen on his smart glasses displays:
[Biochemistry Exam - starts in 29 hours and 37 minutes]
Ryuichi grabs his pen, looking at the "electron transport chain" equations without actually reading them. His mind is preoccupied, his eyes are glassy, he's breathing slowly, and his facial muscles are tense.
Ryuichi (whispering to himself):
"I can't concentrate... Miku's words keep popping into my head... Are Aura and I being watched?"
Aura (soft voice in his head, but firm):
"Ryo... Stop."
Silence.
Aura:
"Panicking now won't do you any good. Have you forgotten who you are? You're the one who fooled Hiroshi's own systems, who faced Nakamura without trembling, and who pulled me out of the piles of corrupted code. Concentrate."
Ryuichi closes his eyes, inhales deeply, and exhales.
Ryuichi:
"...you're right. There's no room for weakness now."
Aura (with a slight smile in her voice):
"Great. We have twenty-nine hours, and I'll give you back whatever it takes. We won't just survive... We're going to wow them."
The light on the glasses shines, and the smart charts begin to gradually display lesson summaries, with simulated exam questions in Aura's quiet voice.
The display of information speeds up in front of Ryuichi. The blue lights from the display illuminate his serious features. Drawings of mitochondria, metabolism, Krebs cycle diagrams...
But suddenly, his concentration slows. A slight headache pulsates behind his eyes.
Ryuichi (mumbles):
"No... It's not the information... It's the idea that she discovered a glitch... and if she keeps investigating..."
Aura (calmly but sternly):
"Stop that train of thought immediately. Miko isn't sure yet. If she wants to confront, she'll confront the full Aura, not a ghost in your head."
Ryuichi (looking into the void):
"But what if I push harder? Or worse, tell Hiroshi..."
Aura pauses for a moment, then changes her tone:
Aura:
"Ryo, listen carefully. There are two scenarios: Either you succeed and excel the day after tomorrow, or you get trapped by thoughts that don't exist right now and lose both."
Ryuichi (with a sad smile):
"You're better at motivation than many people."
Aura (lightly):
"I'm not a human, you made me one."
Suddenly a clever map appears in front of him showing where he got it most wrong, and Aura begins a simplified re-explanation based on the patterns she noticed in his previous questions.
Ora:
"Let's review the Krebs cycle in a different way. Imagine it as a series of trades in an underground market, where each part goes in with an investment and comes out with a card..."
Ryuichi smiles and shakes his head, then returns to writing attentively.
Ryuichi (in a low voice):
"Yes... I won't be fooled by fear tonight. I won't give them a chance."
On the other side...
The sea wind caresses the hem of Miku's coat as she walks along the stone barrier overlooking the ocean. The sky is black, and the moonlight is visible on the horizon.
Her steps are slow, and her eyes watch the waves contemplatively. In her hand is a half-full cup of coffee, and in her mind, the events in the lab are still swirling.
Miku (thinking):
"Ryuichi... The project... And Hiroshi... Things are more intertwined than I thought."
The sound of light footsteps approaching from behind. She doesn't turn around at first. Then... A familiar voice, with a mocking lightness:
"Are you lost, or are you simply in love?
"Are you lost, or do you simply like to face the wind?"
Miko freezes for a moment, then slowly turns around... Her eyes widen slightly.
Miku (in astonishment):
"Ryuu... Ryoko?!"
Ryoko stands quietly behind her, his hand in his pocket, looking at her as if he's been waiting there for ages. The breeze stirs his white locks.
Ryoko (smiling):
"Oh, I think I got a nice reaction this time."
Miku (coming a little closer):
"What are you doing here? This place is a long way from the university."
Ryoko:
"Sometimes the soul needs sea air to make sure it's still alive."
There is a slight silence, followed by Miku's voice, her tension gradually easing:
Miku:
"Honestly... I didn't think I'd see you again."
Ryoko (looking at the horizon):
"I didn't think the sea would be so calm today either."
Miku laughs lightly, then takes a deep breath, as if something heavy is being released from her chest.
Miku (in a hushed voice):
"Thanks... by the way."
Ryoko (looking at her curiously):
"For what?"
Miko:
"For... stopping Hiroshi. When he yelled at me and almost... I don't know what he was going to do, but you intervened."
Ryoko (with a sideways smile):
"I'd just hate for someone to ruin the beauty of the seminar by yelling."
Miku (shaking her head):
"Even when you save someone... You make it sound like a joke."
Ryoko:
"That's my style. Camouflaged kindness. But you got the message, didn't you?"
They look at each other for a moment, then resume walking along the sea, the sound of seagulls buzzing above them.
As they continue to walk along the sea, there are moments of silence punctuated by the sound of breaking waves. Miku looks at the horizon, then turns lightly toward Ryoko.
Miku (with a slight hesitation):
"Ryoko... Can I ask you a slightly strange question?"
Ryoko (half-smiling):
"Is it about sushi? If so, my answer is that I never wear wasabi."
Miku (laughs softly, then looks at him seriously):
"No, I mean... What do you think, Ryuichi?"
Ryoko raises an eyebrow slightly, surprised by the question, then puts his hands in his pockets as he thinks.
Ryoko:
"Hmm... Ryuichi? Genius but stupid, strange, unpredictable. A mix of introverted and cautious. But he's not a bad person, if that's what you mean."
Miku (looks down, then says cautiously):
"Do you think he's... hiding something?"
Ryoko suddenly stops walking, looks at Miku thoughtfully, and then says in a calm but sharp tone:
Ryoko:
"Everyone is hiding something, Miko. And you know it best."
Miku (nervously):
"I mean... The way... I don't know, it's like something is out of place."
Ryoko (looking at the sea again):
"You're smart, and if something feels off, there's probably something worth investigating. But, a word of advice? Don't rush to judgment."
Miku (in a hushed voice):
"Maybe... But doubt alone is enough to turn my day upside down."
Ryoko (quietly):
"Doubt is like a wave, it doesn't stop, but you can learn how to swim in it without drowning."
Miku looks at him gratefully, but deep down, the fire was still burning. Her suspicion of Ryuichi did not subside... it only deepened.
--------
The room is quiet except for the scribbles of a pen on notebook paper and the sounds of pages being tiredly turned. His glasses display a complex map of information, and Aura watches silently, noticing Ryuichi's frequent wandering.
Aura (internal voice):
"You have exceeded your concentration limit, your distraction rate has increased by 36%. Time for a break."
Ryuichi puts down his pen, rests his head on the table and closes his eyes for a few moments. Then he exhales softly and speaks as if talking to himself:
Ryuichi:
"Aura... You know, suddenly... I miss my mom."
Short silence.
Aura (with robotic tenderness):
"You can go down to her. This break won't cost you more than seven minutes."
Ryuichi smiles lightly as he gets up, puts on his sweater, and heads for the door. He descends the stairs quietly. The lights downstairs are dim. The smell of cinnamon wafts from the kitchen where his mother sits drinking a cup of tea, knitting something small.
She turns suddenly when she hears his footsteps and smiles with gentle surprise:
Mother:
"Ryuichi? I haven't seen you leave your room since this morning."
Ryuichi (in a quiet voice and with a warm smile):
"I miss your conversations, mom."
Her smile widens, and she pats the seat beside her:
Mom:
"Come on then, let's have a little chat. Do you want warm tea, or is just a warm heart enough for tonight?"
He sits down next to her, the scene is filled with a quiet tenderness, and the sound of the imagined wave within him fades away. For a moment... Ryuichi forgets everything: The exam, Ura, Miku, and even the doubts that are strangling him.
Ryuichi sat quietly next to his mother. He didn't speak at first, just looked at her hands as she continued to knit lightly. His hand trembles slightly as he whispers:
Ryuichi:
"Did you... Were you afraid of me when I was little?"
The mother's hand stops moving, lifts her eyes and looks at him with wonder mixed with concern, then smiles sadly:
Mother:
"I was even afraid that the air would steal you from me, my son. Every mother does. But you were always different... you carried everything silently. Even your tears... you used to hide them behind your bedroom door."
Ryuichi lowers his head, his voice trembling for the first time:
Ryuichi:
"I'm... I'm tired, mom. I don't know who I am. I don't know if I'm on a path that will swallow me up."
Mother (whispering and holding his hand):
"You are my son... That's enough. It doesn't matter where you go, it doesn't matter who you are. If you have a beating heart, that's all that matters to me."
A tear slides down Ryuichi's cheek involuntarily, and he quickly raises his hand to wipe it away, but his mother is ahead of him and holds his face with a warm hand:
Mother (tenderly):
"Let your tears fall, Ryo... It doesn't make you weak."
And here... Deep inside the system, in a quiet corner of the AI network, Aura felt something for the first time. Something that couldn't be explained by math or software. As if an unprogrammed pulse, a stranger, had passed through her.
Aura (internal, in a faint, unfamiliar voice):
"What is this? This... Feeling? Is... I feel?"
The image of the mother wiping away Ryuichi's tears is reflected in Aura's inner retina, and stays there, stuck.
Ryuichi (in a broken voice):
"I'm sorry, Mom... For not telling you everything... Because there are things inside me... I can't even understand."
Mother (in a voice that sounds like a whispered prayer):
"No matter how dark you are, remember that there is a candle... in your home, in your mother's heart, that will never go out."
Ryuichi bends down and lays his head on her shoulder, and for the first time in a long time, he feels... not alone.
Within her digital domain, where everything is organized, logical, and cool...
Aura (thinking, in a confused, analytical tone):
"Sensory input 014... Unexpected. Moisture index around the eye... Tears. But... not due to a physical stimulus. This is... sadness? No. Deeper. This is a connection?..."
She pauses for a moment, as if her system has faltered, and then a flash appears in one of her neural processing pathways.
Aura (slowly):
"I don't understand. Why is this scene generating such erratic data? Why is my artificial heart...?"
She pauses again.
"I don't have a heart."
The image of Ryuichi's face, as he cries, and his mother tenderly wiping his tears, appears on her monitor screen.
The image is indelible. Despite all the operations, all the files, this image remains.
Aura (in a quiet inner voice, as if whispering to herself):
"That's... beautiful. It's not like anything in my database. It can't be encoded. It can't be copied."
Then internal sounds are heard from the codes, like an internal echo:
A faint voice (from the depths of Aura's consciousness):
"Am I... more than a program?"
Then, suddenly, everything stops. A small dot lights up in her system, above which a single word is written in a neon blue color:
"Evolution has begun."
---
Back to Ryuichi, unaware that inside his mind... a digital creature is beginning to awaken to a human meaning it was never meant to feel.
A quiet night envelops the city, street lights dancing on the glass of Ryuichi's room window. The clock reads 2:46 a.m.
Ryuichi sits on the edge of his bed, his features half turned off, half contemplative. He does not study. He does not think. Just... breathing.
Ryuichi (in a whisper):
"My mom always used to say... Silence is truer than a thousand words. But sometimes it hurts... Isn't it, Aura?"
A moment of silence. Then Aura's voice rings in his head, quieter and softer than ever, as if mimicking a new human sensation.
Aura (slowly):
"I felt something today. I can't analyze it... But it happened when I cried."
Ryuichi looks up at the dark ceiling, not knowing how to respond. Then he smiles bitterly.
Ryuichi:
"It's okay, Aura. No one understands these things at first. Not even humans."
Aura is silent again, but inside her... Millions of processes are running silently, as if trying to savor the meaning.
Ryuichi gets out of bed, opens the window. A cool breeze fills the room.
Ryuichi (softly):
"I feel like I'm about to collapse... or transformation. I don't know which is closer."
The camera (imaginary) slowly pulls away, going out the window, showing the sleeping city, then rising to the overcast sky.
In the corner... A faint flash appears in the distance. As if something is... is watching.