Amy changed into something practical, tied up her hair, and grabbed the keys.
"Let's go, girl," she muttered to herself as she slid into the Lilac Ghost. The dashboard glowed gently to life, soft violet against the afternoon sky.
She set the coordinates for Halveth Industrial Zone. No security detail, no guards, no excuses. She needed to see it with her own eyes.
The city blurred past, glass and smoke and scattered people, until the buildings grew older, taller, quieter.
Eventually, the Lilac Ghost slowed to a silent halt outside the old Nymira Research Complex, still standing like a sentinel in forgotten time — untouched, unscathed, and waiting.
Amy parked, stepped out, and stared at the structure.
The door creaked open with a hiss of vacuum-sealed air.
Inside, the abandoned Nymira Technologies building was pristine — eerie, almost surgical in how untouched it remained. Dustless surfaces. Silent elevators. Emergency lights blinking in slow, sleepy rhythm.
Amy stepped inside and let the door close behind her. The Lilac Ghost waited quietly in the lot, as if unwilling to disturb the stillness.
She walked through the front lobby. Chairs stacked neatly. A reception desk with an old biometric terminal still glowing faintly blue. The Nymira logo etched into the glass above it shimmered against the light.
"Still breathing," she murmured.
The corridors ahead opened into empty offices, labs stripped of most equipment, glass panels still intact, server rooms cold and humming behind locked doors. She passed a training room, then a forgotten lounge with faded branding on the wall: "Innovation lives here."
She took the stairs, floor by floor, counting without thinking — reflex from a time long gone. Third. Fifth. Eighth. Some floors were dark. Others, the motion-sensor lights blinked awake as she passed.
It wasn't until she entered the top floor executive lab that the silence finally started to settle like a weight. This place had potential. Structure intact. Systems responsive. Hidden subfloors still locked — and familiar.
She was about to step into the reinforced core of the lab when her pocket buzzed.
Amy blinked, startled.
Then came the second vibration — longer. Her phone screen lit up:
📞 Risa Hirano — Incoming Call
Amy stared. She hadn't even noticed the time.
She swiped to answer.
"Amy?! Finally— Where are you?! Lumi and I have been messaging since morning, you didn't reply at all, and its already past noon!"
Amy's heart jumped. She looked at the top corner of her phone.
12:14 PM.
Unread notifications: 27.
"…Right," she said softly, her voice distant. "Sorry. I was… busy."
She turned slowly to face the quiet hallway behind her, the strange peace of the building settling back into place.
...
The faint hum of silence still clung to the building's empty halls when her phone finally buzzed to life. Amy blinked, startled by the sound, and fished it from the pocket of her coat.
📞 Risa Hirano — Incoming Call
She tapped to answer. "Hey."
"Finally!" Risa's voice burst through the speaker, full of theatrical outrage. "Do you even know what time it is?"
Amy winced, instinctively glancing at the status bar. 12:14 PM. She had completely lost track.
"I was busy," she said sheepishly, stepping away from the dusty stairwell and back toward the light of the cracked front windows.
"Oh, we know," Risa said, dragging out the words. "Which is why Lumi's been blowing up your messages since 9:00 AM. Did you even read them?"
Amy sighed and swiped open her screen. Twenty-seven unread messages.
All from Lumi.
All variations of:
- "We need details."
- "Don't leave me hanging like this."
- "Is she as pretty up close?"
- "Amy. Amy. AMY."
- "I'm going to Risa's. Be there."
"Yeah," Amy muttered, scrolling with a small smile. "I'm reading them now."
"Good. Because we're waiting. You're coming over, right?"
Amy leaned against the railing, watching the light streak across the floor. "Where?"
"Risa's place. Same spot as always. We already ordered food, so no excuses."
"Fine," Amy said, already moving toward the exit. "Give me twenty."
"That's the spirit." Risa paused. "Oh, and wear that smug face you get when something goes really well. Lumi wants to analyze it."
Amy laughed softly and ended the call.