Risu stood across from an officer's desk, hands resting lightly on the file he had just handed back to her. The demolition notice did not feel accidental.
"The contract was amended this morning," the officer said evenly. "Preliminary demolition begins at sunrise tomorrow."
She frowned. "It was scheduled for next month."
"Private investors accelerated the timeline. Concert complex construction moves fast when funding is secured."
A faint smile that did not quite reach his eyes.
"If there's anything beneath that foundation, you'll have tonight. Once machinery starts, access will be restricted."
Risu closed the folder slowly.
"Understood."
She didn't notice the way he watched her leave.
At Arcane Academy's campus, in one of Cronos' classrooms, Kaga laid the folded paper on the table.
Taren, Tenshi, and Haruka stood around it in silence.
"It's detailed," Haruka said.
"Too detailed," Tenshi added.
Taren scanned the terminology again. Sector labels. Structural mapping. Operational notes.
Then he shook his head once.
"They mixed classification formats," he said. "New Order never combined them like this."
Kaga folded her arms. "So it's fake?"
"It's reconstructed," Taren corrected. "Someone pieced it together from incomplete sources."
"And wanted it to look authentic," Haruka said.
Taren's expression hardened slightly.
"Call Vega."
Minutes later, Vega entered with Deneb and Altair.
The paper was already open when he approached.
Taren slid it toward him without explanation.
Vega scanned it.
His eyes paused on the insignia printed faintly in the header.
Mirrored again.
"It's fabricated," he said.
"You're sure?" Deneb asked.
"Yes."
Taren leaned back slightly. "The one who did this knows enough to be convincing."
"But not enough to be precise," Altair observed.
Silence settled over the group.
"If he suspects we're searching for New Order," Haruka said slowly, "he'd want to test us."
Taren nodded once. "He suspects we're looking."
"He doesn't know we were part of it," Vega added quietly.
That was their advantage.
Kaga looked between them. "Then why divide it into two locations?"
"To split us," Altair replied.
"And measure response?" Deneb added.
Taren exhaled slowly.
"We don't move as one. That's what he expects."
Everyone waited.
"Three groups," Taren decided. "Vega and Altair check the redevelopment site. If that's where he anticipates movement, they'll draw attention."
Vega didn't object.
"Deneb," Taren continued, "go to the station. Quietly. Find out where Risu is going, and if there is anything else."
Deneb nodded once.
"The rest of us take the second coordinate," Taren finished.
Tenshi tilted his head slightly. "Uniforms?"
"No," Taren said immediately. "Civilian clothes. No academy insignia, this might be bigger than playground troubles."
Haruka understood first. "If this escalates, it's better to leave Cronos and the academy out of it."
"And we don't advertise who we are," Altair added.
They dispersed without further discussion.
The redevelopment site felt hollow under artificial light.
Temporary floodlamps illuminated fenced perimeter lines and unfinished foundation work. Construction signage flapped in the night breeze.
Risu stepped beneath the caution tape, badge clipped visibly at her collar.
She inhaled once and projected her voice clearly.
"Police inspection. If anyone is on site, identify yourselves."
Her voice echoed faintly through the skeletal structure.
No response.
She advanced carefully across fractured concrete and descended toward the lower foundation level marked in the fabricated directory.
"Police," she repeated, firmer now. "This area is under active review."
Still nothing.
Her aura remained restrained but present beneath her skin.
She reached the marked coordinate.
There was no access hatch.
No reinforced substructure.
No lab entrance concealed beneath flooring.
Just poured foundation and steel reinforcement rods.
Her gaze sharpened.
Wrong.
The air shifted behind her.
Not loudly.
Not clumsily.
Intentionally.
She turned.
Ryuu stood at the far end of the corridor.
Not hidden.
Not rushed.
Composed as ever.
By he wasn't alone, someone else stood slightly to his right, posture relaxed but ready.
Risu's aura ignited fully this time, energy tightening around her frame.
"You fabricated the records," she said.
Ryuu regarded her calmly.
"I adjusted incomplete information."
Her eyes hardened.
"Why?"
A faint pause.
"To observe outcomes."
The corridor lights flickered once overhead.
And the foundation level fell into a silence that felt deliberate.