"What a vibrant, youthful school life," Chiaki remarked dryly after listening to Lin recount his student days—a story he had told many others before.
Lin gazed at her face, which had returned to a state of cool indifference, and asked almost impulsively, "And you?"
He suddenly realized he was becoming a little different from before. It wasn't just how others saw him; even he felt as if...
Lin shook his head, pulled out the medicine bottle, and popped two Ritalin pills into his mouth.
"Here, have some water." Chiaki handed over the cola she was halfway through. Lin took it and swallowed the pills with the soda.
"Thank you..."
"Huh? You actually say 'thank you'?" Chiaki pulled the cola back as if she'd seen a ghost, looking him up and down. "I thought you'd scrubbed the word 'thanks' from your life the day you were born."
"...I say it often."
"Well, I haven't heard it." Chiaki clapped her hands together and shouted with mock indignation, "Oh—so you're playing favorites!"
How is this playing favorites?
Rationally speaking, Lin hadn't known Chiaki for long, and they had spoken even less. Their interactions mostly consisted of Chiaki glaring at him whenever they crossed paths in the hallways.
Even if there were an occasion to say "thank you," it shouldn't have been her turn yet, right?
"Fine. Since we're done chatting about our pasts, we can start discussing how to deal with them."
...
The icy words falling from Chiaki's lips brushed past Lin ear like a breeze, quickly turning into a much colder wind.
"..."
"Hmm? What's wrong? Oh, sorry, we're still looking for evidence, right?" Chiaki sounded slightly sarcastic, yet her expression remained entirely serious. Her pale fingers tapped rhythmically on the table. "Do you need me to hack into Mei and Kevin's communication logs or private files?"
"...No." Lin let out a long breath, ice gradually forming in his eyes. "MEI doesn't keep important matters in digital form."
She was the person who trusted network security the least; she didn't even fully trust Prometheus No. 2. Important data and design documents were kept on paper, and the most vital top-secret information was kept only in her mind.
When dealing with someone naturally suspicious, using conventional methods of probing would only backfire.
"Then what do we do next?"
At this moment, Lin seemed to have forgotten his own words about how "preconceived suspicion is a foolish thing."
No, this was something he had already reached a conclusion on...
"I'll go look for it."
After a long pause, the conclusion Lin reached made Chiaki's eyelid twitch.
"Are you joking? You want to find evidence just by looking? You're severely underestimating your two friends."
Chiaki grabbed Lin hand, stopping him from walking out.
"..."
"Fine, fine, I know what you're going to ask next. 'What should we do?' My suggestion is... wait."
Chiaki's smile flashed briefly in the reflection of Lin helmet. She pointed to a nearby seat, signaling for him to sit down.
"Even though we're almost certain it's the two of them, I still want to say... it's better to stick to the principle of 'innocent until proven guilty.' We can't think solely on the premise that they are the culprits, and we must consider the possibility that the real killer is someone else."
Chiaki noticed Lin clenched fist. Perhaps because he lacked a sense of touch, he hadn't realized he was squeezing so hard his palms were turning white; he was just applying raw force.
Chiaki tilted her head and placed her hand over his fist.
"Let go."
Lin glanced at his hand and slowly opened his palm upward.
"It seems we shouldn't talk about this for now. Why don't we continue with a more interesting topic? For example... romance?"
Why is it the romance topic again?
Even with his mind highly focused and his nerves taut, Lin felt a sense of helplessness upon hearing Chiaki's words.
"Girls love gossip. Besides, even if I weren't a girl, I'd still be very interested in things I find fun." Chiaki observed Lin reaction, her smile full of hidden meaning. "For you, what kind of woman do you like?"
Seeing Lin freeze, Chiaki knew she had asked the right question.
"It's hard to imagine even you have a 'type.' What is it? Passionate and cheerful? Gentle and virtuous? Dignified and elegant? Tsundere and proud?"
Chiaki's questioning was like a barrage of heavy punches. Attempting to defend solely with silence didn't seem enough to stop her offensive.
But she was right; even if Lin didn't "feel" love, there were certain appearances and personalities that made him feel "joy" on a functional level.
"Let me think... the girls around you... Vil-V, Hua, MEI, Elysia, Eden, Mobius, PROMETHEUS..." She rattled off a string of names, seemingly knowing the people around him better than he did.
Chiaki quickly settled on a name: "Mobius... hmm... Mobius."
This time, even Lin couldn't help but stare at her with a peculiar gaze.
How did she... deduce that? Just from the names?
"Don't underestimate me. Just by looking at your performance at the ball, I could roughly guess the depth of your relationships."
"..."
"That Dr. Mobius—it seems like whenever she's within sight, she never gives you a kind look. Yet your interactions are the most 'in-depth' aside from Elysia. And unlike Elysia active approach, you are the one coordinating with Mobius. See? It's not hard at all, is it?"
Lin had underestimated a hacker's grasp on the human heart. After just one night of observation, Chiaki could see details that even Lin and Mobius hadn't noticed themselves.
"So the type is: long hair, tall stature, and a mature appearance. Personality-wise: tsundere, proud, unique. And the clothing... it's stockings, right?"
Lin didn't want to talk to Chiaki anymore—not just about this topic, but because he was desperate to find the truth. He had no time to waste on such meaningless things—
"Hey, do you want to try it with me?"
"..."
"You've seen it, right? No matter what role I want to play, it's effortless. Even if my height and build can't be disguised, I can replicate everything else one-to-one."
Chiaki's cold sneer reached Lin ears.
"How about it? This fits the identity of a villain, doesn't it? Treating one person as a substitute for another, thinking about pleasure even in the face of a major crisis."
"Of course, if you still want to continue being a 'good person' and go investigate right this instant, I won't stop you. However... I won't help you anymore either."