Monday morning brought a new box to Kaito's desk. Black. No sender. No note.
He opened it.
Inside: a headset. Old-fashioned. No network connection. Just a note:
"Want to understand what you are? Put this on."
He did. Then: darkness. Not the kind behind closed eyelids. But digital emptiness. And inside, a voice:
"You are offline, Kaito Arasaka. But we can change that."
"Who are you?" he asked.
"An update. But not for you. For the world."
"And what do you want from me?"
"Nothing. Not yet. But soon."
Then it was over. He awoke on the floor. The classroom was empty. A new message flickered on the smartboard, visible only to the others:
[System Notice: Unauthorized entity has entered Room 2B.]
Kaito didn't know if he was going crazy.
But he knew: This was no ordinary school day anymore.