BABYQUEEN's apartment was bright again when the members left, laughter echoed throughout the hallway. Serena took off her headphones and told the story of winning against Julian in an online game and then losing. Sara smiled with her eyes still a little red, Elio gently placed his hand on her shoulder to comfort her, his eyes gentle. Jennifer's hands still smelled of olive oil, pulling Layla closer:
"Layla-ya, try this. We just made garlic butter toast. It goes great with milk tea!"
Lilia's hands were still sweaty from her dance practice with Lucas, waving her take-out bag:
"Heyee, we bought roasted milk tea for everyone. There's a special portion for the Center!"
Layla smiled and took the cup of milk tea, her heart suddenly stopped for a moment. She spoke naturally, as if nothing unusual happened:
"Oh, Sofia isn't coming with us. She met her childhood friend today."
"Really?" Jennifer tilted her head. "Well, I need some alone time every now and then."
The girls chatted and then dispersed into the dressing room. The laughter still echoed, warm and familiar.
Layla walked into the private room, put the milk tea on the table, then turned on the laptop. Her fingers trembled slightly when the system displayed an unusual data segment, a symbol related to ASTRIX.
"Is it... really?..." she thought to herself, her heart pounding. The confusing code sequence had similarities to the data file she had briefly seen in the DYG archive.
Before she could open it, the door to the room opened and Sofia returned. Layla immediately closed the computer, jumped up, a smile on her lips as if nothing had happened:
"Sofiaaa! You're back? I bought you roasted milk tea!"
Sofia was surprised, her eyes shining, hugging the cup of milk tea like a precious gift:
"Awww thank you everyone. You guys are really the most thoughtful!"
They chatted for a while, then Sofia happily walked into her room.
---
The door closed.
Layla sighed in relief, her eyes quickly returning to the laptop. She opened the data again, the strange symbols were directly linked to Astrix and there were even traces related to an encrypted AI system that she had never seen before.
"Could it be... it was all arranged? Lilia, Jennifer... and me too... Behind us, there is some force spreading a net?"
The screen reflected Layla's eyes, both bewildered and determined.
---
The metal door opened, Astrix walked in one by one. The cold air surrounded them, the light from a series of blue hologram screens shone on their faces. But then the group froze at the sight before them:
On a floating screen in mid-air, Layla sat in her room, her face focused, her eyes glowing in the light of her laptop. Her fingers tapped away at the keyboard, lines of data about Vex and Astrix appearing before her eyes.
Julian raised an eyebrow:
"…What the hell? How did she…"
Rayden frowned, looking at Damien and Vex:
"When did you let her have access to this information?"
Vex laughed, his voice hoarse, echoing in the room:
"Don't be so tense, guys. Just let her find it. The deeper she digs, the closer she'll get to the truth I want her to know."
The Astrix group fidgeted. Elio crossed his arms, his eyes serious:
"But what if BABYQUEEN finds out? What if Layla tells the group? We'll lose everything."
Damien, who was sitting cross-legged on the leather chair, tilted his head to look at Layla's image. A half smile appeared on his lips:
"No. She won't tell."
The Astrix group turned to look at him.
Damien continued, his voice low but firm:
"Layla is the type of person who is curious but keeps it all to herself. If she knew the truth about me… about us… she would choose to bear it herself. She would keep quiet, but hate me. Maybe for the rest of her life."
Rayden chuckled:
"Well, if that's the case, that's good. But don't forget, she won't just hate you. She'll hate us too. And once that happens… do you think love has a chance?"
Damien leaned back in his chair, his eyes shining with arrogance:
"Let her hate. I'd rather have Layla hate me… than let her get away from me."
Lucas laughed coldly:
"The future is not so predictable, Damien. Don't be so sure."
Elio spoke slowly, his voice calm and sharp:
"You should learn to love again. Control and possession... that's not what her heart needs. Layla craves freedom, sincerity. Not shackles."
Damien just chuckled silently, his eyes still not leaving Layla on the screen.
On the hologram, Layla stopped, frowning slightly. She looked around her room as if she could feel dozens of invisible eyes watching. At that moment, Astrix also felt like the "prey" was looking directly through the screen, causing everyone to hold their breath.
Layla turned back to the computer, her lips pressed tightly together. She continued to search for the truth. Unyielding. Unyielding.
Julian whispered, his eyes not leaving the screen:
"This girl... is truly unlike anyone else."
The whole room fell into an eerie silence, only the sound of typing on the keyboard echoed in the night.
---
12am. In the dormitory, the whole building was quiet. The neon lights from the street shone through the glass windows, shimmering in long streaks of light on Layla's face.
She sat in front of the screen, her eyes heavy but her heart pounding. Her fingers gently tapped the keyboard. A strange string of data appeared: "File is hidden. Special access required."
Layla bit her lip, sighing softly:
"Maybe... I have to learn to be a real hacker."
She whispered, as if laughing at herself, then continued.
On another screen, ASTRIX and Vex were still watching, every little movement exposed before their eyes.
Rayden raised his eyebrows:
"She's so brave... she's just an idol, but she dares to mess with Vex's data."
Lucas propped his chin on his hand, his eyes filled with curiosity:
"But she has the demeanor of an adventurer... interesting."
Damien was silent, his eyes focused. He saw that the more Layla tried, the more a strange conflict arose within him, wanting to stop her and yet wanting to let her continue.
---
Suddenly! Layla's screen lit up. A long-locked website opened. On it was a half-true, half-false profile of Vex:
A genius scientist who was once hailed as the "brain of the century".
But he was also expelled from the research community because of his inhumane experiments: combining human brains with AI cores.
His ultimate ambition: turning all humans into a "new species" of half-human, half-machine, completely subservient to the system he controlled.
Layla read to that point, her hands trembling on the keyboard. She leaned back, whispering:
"It's impossible... humans... become AI? He wants to destroy us all?"
---
On the monitor screen, Vex chuckled, his eyes shining like a predator when he saw his "prey" touching the trace of truth.
"She's better than I thought." Vex smirked.
ASTRIX was silent. Their hearts sank slightly. They knew… Layla had only touched half the truth. If she went deeper, she would discover the connection between themselves and this terrible conspiracy.
Damien leaned back in his chair, his voice cold but his eyes complicated:
"Let her search. The more she searches, the more she will fall into… and she will not be able to escape the vortex with me at the center."
Lucas chuckled, but Elio frowned slightly, as if to warn:
"But you are playing a dangerous game, Damien. If Layla knows the whole truth, love will turn into hatred… And her hatred, may be stronger than love."
Layla still did not know anything. She recorded the data she had just discovered, her eyes shining brightly in the middle of the night, her heart filled with fear and strange determination:
"No matter who he is… I must find the truth."