Evening light slanted through the room at an angle. Diagonal. Sharp. The Miku poster glowed orange. Yuuma stood with arms crossed at the desk. Watching Kasumi's screen. Only the sound of Kasumi's fingers on the keyboard filled the room. Tap. Tap. Tap. Memoria Trace was running. Kasumi's custom tracking program. It hunted for "heat marks"—burned traces left by deleted data passing through deep-net servers. One search consumed three days of power for an average home. Today, her laptop fan screamed. The numbers stopped. "[serious]Got it" Yuuma leaned forward. Coordinates on the screen. Map app opened. Minatomirai. A massive building by the water. Yuuma's voice died. Pacifica Dome. Yokohama Minatomirai. Capacity: 45,000. The site of the 8.15 Incident. One year ago. Everything ended there. Now sealed. Guarded 24/7 by Gard Sec. "[serious]Second fragment. Memory node. Pacifica Dome, basement level 2. Old server room. Still there" Yuuma didn't move. Staring. That place. One year of trying to erase that day. The flash. The explosion. 45,000 screams. Miku's hologram vanishing. Yuuma just stood there. Frozen. Gripping the seat back. Helpless. "[serious]Analyzed Gard Sec's patrol pattern. Two guards. 2 to 3 AM—gap in coverage. We slip through then. Emergency passage to the basement" Kasumi explained flatly. Pointing. Showing routes. Technical voice. Emotion stripped away. Yuuma opened the drawer. Resonance Key. Silver USB. Peeling cyan sticker. Warm in the palm. Pocketed it. "Going" Short. That was all. Kasumi looked at him. Started to speak. Stopped. Closed the laptop. ── 1:45 AM. Yokohama Minatomirai. Even at night, salt air. Street lamps spaced far apart. Distant ships blinking on black water. Pacifica Dome was dark. No light reached it. Black mass. Towering. Fence around it. "No Entry" signs at intervals. Kasumi pointed. Rusted bolts. Both pushed. Metal groaned. Gap opened. They slipped through. Emergency door. Steel. Kasumi opened her laptop. Signal sent. 40 seconds. Click. Door moved. Inside: darkness. Red emergency lights. Dust smell. Forward. Deeper. Door opened. Yuuma stopped. Arena seating. Vast. Darkness made it bigger. Stage. Wreckage. Collapsed frame. Burned lights. Scattered seats. Overturned. One year untouched. Ruins. Light exploded in Yuuma's skull. Flash. White. Eye-searing white. Explosion sound. Floor vibration. Screams layered into a wall. Pushed Yuuma. Smoke smell. Staff shouting. Then—silence. Miku vanishing. That silence. Knees shook. Couldn't move forward. An arm grabbed him. Kasumi. Silent. Eyes forward. Just pulling. Strong grip. Thin arm. Impossible strength. Yuuma's feet moved. One step. Another. Eyes away from the stage wreckage. Following where Kasumi pulled. Stairs. Down. Underground. Breathing returned as they left the arena. Neither spoke. ── Basement level 2. Heavy door at the corridor's end. Metal. "Server Room" on a rusted plate. Emergency power only. Pale blue light leaked from ceiling. Server racks in rows. Most dark. One row at the far end—pilot lights flickering weakly. Kasumi hacked the lock. Yuuma pulled the Resonance Key from his pocket. USB port. Inserted. Click. Memoria Trace started. Progress bar appeared. 0%. 3%. 8%. Kasumi connected her notebook. Monitoring. Yuuma stood beside the rack. Watching numbers climb. 22%. 31%. Something on the screen edge. Didn't notice at first. But as numbers rose—clearer. Video. A window opened on the notebook. Kasumi didn't open it. Fragment data leaking out. Bright footage. Stage. Massive lights. Rehearsal. Staff running. Adjusting equipment. Hologram on stage. Cyan hair. Twin tails. Miku. Moving. No sound. But mouth moving. Talking with staff. Laughing. Pre-show calm. Yuuma leaned closer. Video cut. Packed audience. 40,000 voices outside the frame. Concert day. Miku on stage. Then—video glitched. Static ran through. Screen shook. When it returned, Miku's expression changed. Just before the accident. Yuuma knew. Miku screaming on stage. Mouth wide. Facing forward. Toward the audience? The camera?—desperate to communicate something. Noise intensified. Audio corrupted. Unreadable mouth movements. But her face—visible. Not afraid. Not crying. Trying to tell someone something. Yuuma's voice broke out. "Miku. What were you trying to say" Talking to himself. But it came out. Kasumi watched the screen. Silent. Miku's image reflected in her glasses. Progress bar passed 90%. 94%. 97%. Sound in the hallway. Footsteps. Yuuma froze. Flashlight beam through the door gap. Thin line of light on the floor. Early. Irregular. Kasumi didn't hesitate. Ran to the power panel. Grabbed the breaker. Pulled. All light died. Complete darkness. Emergency power too. Notebook screen flickered on battery—then off. But Kasumi's program ran offline. Had to. Footsteps stopped at the door. Flashlight beam entered through the gap. Yuuma found Kasumi by feel. Sleeve pulled. Pressed against the server rack. Kasumi's shoulder against Yuuma's arm. Breath held. 30 seconds. Still. Voice beyond the door. "[whispers]...Malfunction?" Low. Male. Silence again. One minute. Kasumi's breathing shallow. Yuuma felt it. Killed his own breath. Stared into darkness. Nothing visible. Rack outline blurred. Footsteps receded. Slow. One step at a time. Down the hallway. Waited until gone. Kasumi exhaled quietly. Yuuma released air slowly. Bit by bit. Kasumi restarted the notebook. Screen returned. Program logs scrolled. "[serious]Complete" Fragment. Memory. Recovered. ── Back in Yuuma's room past 3 AM. Convenience store bag on the table. Two instant noodles. While Kasumi boiled water, Yuuma opened the notebook. Light particles floated at the monitor's edge. Different, Yuuma thought. Not like before. The particles formed shapes. Small. Round. Outlines like eyes and mouth. Faintly—smiling. Chopsticks in hand. Yuuma stared. Something moved in his chest. Not pain. Not warmth. But something moved. Kasumi spoke while sipping noodles. "[sad]My father said he couldn't work with music anymore. Locked himself in his room right after the incident" Yuuma looked at her. Kasumi kept her eyes on the container. Her father was a Digital Tuner—state-certified specialist who adjusted and maintained AI artist voice data. He'd worked on Miku's tuning for years. Passed the 12% acceptance exam. Proud of his work. But after 8.15, he left the industry. Locked in his room. Just eating. Still there. "[whispers]I think I loved Miku's music because my father's work was cool. But after what happened to him, I never said that out loud" Yuuma set down his chopsticks. "You loved Miku too" Quiet. Not accusing. Not confirming. Just saying it. Kasumi didn't answer. Eyes on the noodle container. Motionless. That silence was the answer. Neither spoke for a while. Kasumi looked up. At Yuuma's right hand. "When did you cut that" Yuuma looked. Dried blood streaked his palm. Cut on the server rack edge when he fell in the ruins. Hadn't noticed. Kasumi stood. Got the first aid kit. Cotton swab with disinfectant touched his palm. Stung slightly. Bandage applied. Her fingers moved with practiced ease. Warm. The warmth stayed more than the pain. Someone's body heat in a room that was alone for one year. Just that. But Yuuma couldn't speak. "Thank you" "[cold]Don't say obvious things" Curt voice. But she delayed releasing his hand. Yuuma watched the monitor. Light particles glowed in a small face shape. Quiet. Steady. ── Kasumi opened her laptop at the door. Checking Memoria Trace logs. Standard work. Narrowing the next fragment's location. Her hands stopped. "[surprised]...It's moving" "What is" Kasumi turned the screen. Third fragment—emotion node. Should have been static. Coordinates changing. Continuous movement. Data doesn't move itself. Kasumi knew that best. Direction: Shinagawa. Toward Trifolium Tower. Verde Music Technologies. 62% AI music market share. Led the Digsafe Law lobbying. Servers on floors 42 through 48. Kasumi's face went blank. "[serious]Someone's accessing it" Yuuma watched the monitor's light particles. The small face seemed to tremble. Night wasn't over. The next battle already started.