Ten days since the part-time job started. That morning, the 2F rehearsal studio at Sonic Bay Studio hadn't even begun setup. Ren was alone. Organizing equipment cases. Returning stands and cables from yesterday's rehearsal to the wall. Wiping the floor. No one else. Quiet. Footsteps echoed. Down the stairs. Hard shoe soles striking the hallway. Ren stopped moving. A man appeared in the corridor. 41 years old. Black hair. Thin glasses. Three times, he adjusted his suit collar with his fingertips. Gray eyes looked at Ren. Top to bottom. One second. Appraising. Like pricing merchandise. Segawa Toshiya. Manager on the 3rd floor. The man who threw away Ren's letter without reading it. "[cold]You're the new errand boy, correct" Ren stood up. "[serious]Yes" "[cold]We've received reports. You've been loitering around Miku lately" No warmth in his voice. Reports. The phrasing assumed Ren had done something wrong. "Loitering, you mean——" "[cold]I'm still speaking" Cut off in one sentence. Ren closed his mouth. "[cold]Miku is an asset we manage. Personal contact by janitorial staff is prohibited by regulation. Do you know DP Law? The Digital Person Rights Protection Act" He knew. Nonomura had mentioned it too. "[cold]If unauthorized access occurs, we report immediately. Three years imprisonment or fines up to three million yen. For a part-timer, those numbers change lives" Segawa paused. He pushed his glasses up by the bridge with one finger. "[cold]Do you understand" Ren couldn't speak. He wanted to argue back. I'm not loitering. I'm just worried about Miku. I don't want her to disappear——but how would that sound. A seventeen-year-old on day ten of his job, what could he say to a manager. The moment law became a weapon in someone's hand, all words turned to air. He looked down. "[cold]Good. Return to work" Footsteps faded. Up the stairs. The hallway went silent. Ren was left alone. Cable still in his hands. He couldn't move for a while. --- Evening. He went down to B1. Through the control room door, equipment sounds. Someone was there. Ren knocked. "[serious]Excuse me. I'm here to transport equipment——" A man looked up. 34 years old. Silver short hair. 182 centimeters. Facing the workbench. Connecting fine cables. Fingers fast. Checking each one. Moving to the next. Scars on his arm visible from under his sleeve. Sharp eyes looked at Ren. Endo Keisuke. Resident engineer. The man who silently left coffee. No response. Ren stepped inside the door. Endo immediately looked away from Ren. Back to work. No sign of kicking him out. Just. Nothing said. "[serious]Um, I had a question about equipment handling" "[serious]……What" Low voice. Blunt. But willing to listen. Ren moved forward. Error logs from his phone data. Unexplained anomalies repeated over six months before the disappearance. Did this studio's internal team know about it——he asked carefully. Endo's hands stopped. "[serious]……Who told you" "[serious]No one. Just from the data——" Endo stood. Toward the door. Closed it quietly. Click. Locked. He turned. His voice dropped lower. "[serious]Miku's internal data has unexplained anomaly logs. Started six months ago. Confirming——you're talking about that" Ren nodded. "[serious]I reported it. Told Segawa" One beat. "[cold]——It affects the performance schedule. Keep quiet, he said" Cold spread through Ren's core. Buried. The confirmed anomaly was buried. Ren's phone data. Endo's report. Segawa's decision. They connected in Ren's mind into one line. The disappearance wasn't coincidence. Something was happening. Someone tried to stop it. That person was already here. "[serious]I can help" Endo looked at Ren. Silent. Long silence. "[serious]What are you" "[serious]Just a part-timer. But Miku——" "[serious]……Understood" Endo sighed. Turned back to the workbench. "[serious]Help with equipment transport. That's the cover" --- Night came. B1 control room. Endo checking equipment. Ren handing cable bundles. Recording notes. Two people. Working silently. Few words. But breathing in sync. Endo reached for the next rack. The door opened. No sound. No knock. A man in a suit stood there. Segawa. "[cold]……What is the errand boy doing" Frozen voice. Lower temperature than morning. Eyes on Ren's hands. The cables. Then the notepad. Endo opened his mouth. "Transport——" "[cold]I'm not asking you" Cut off. This time Endo went silent. "[cold]I explained this morning. Control room access by janitorial staff requires authorization. Did you submit an application form" He hadn't. He'd never heard of any application process. "[cold]Effective tomorrow, you're banned from this studio" One-sided. No room for argument. Before Endo could say anything, Segawa pointed Ren toward the hallway. Go. That's what it meant. Ren placed the notepad on the workbench. Looked at Endo once. Endo's eyes said sorry. Words couldn't form. Couldn't come out. That alone showed how high the Segawa wall was. Everything. Escorted to the entrance. Automatic doors opened. Night wind hit his face. Behind him, the door closed. Shibuya's night spread out. --- He walked. Nowhere to go. Neon signs reflected on the road. People flowing. Convenience store light. Izakaya signs. Happy voices. All distant. Past the main street. Into a small park. Sat on a bench. Took out his phone. Looked at the screen. ——Battery 23%. 31% at the end of episode three. Now 8% less. Battery drains even powered off. Consumed on startup. This phone model was from three years later. Charging standards didn't match. No compatible cables anywhere. 23%. Screen showed Miku's disappearance news article. Only read the headline. Couldn't delete it. Felt like deleting it meant really deleting it. How much was blocked today. Morning. Segawa hit him with DP Law. Evening. Finally connected with Endo. Night. Lost the place entirely. "Gain an ally. Lose the location."——This was Ren's situation in this era. No ID. No registry. Only this phone as proof anyone would believe. That phone's battery steadily draining. Held his head in both hands. In front of the bench, a happy couple walked by. Laughter approached. Faded. What now. Endo couldn't come out. Even knowing all that, people inside organizations have limits. And Ren had no organization. No place. Nothing to prove except 23% on a screen. Park lighting hit the bench. Phone screen auto-dimmed. Miku's disappearance headline. Black screen. Only night light reflected. Gone. Endo reported it. Evidence exists. But one person can't move alone. Ren knows three years later. But can't prove it. Both. Alone. Both powerless. Lifted his head from the bench. City sounds continued far away. Shibuya's night never sleeps. But tonight, Ren had nowhere. 23%. Before this number reached zero, he had to find every hand that could move.