The air in Yuki's small restaurant grew heavy, charged with the threat of the notification. The sentence "A summoning portal will be opened at your location shortly" wasn't a warning; it was a sentence. "Shortly" meant now.
The space in the middle of the restaurant, between the counter and the door, began to distort. It wasn't like the chaotic, colorful portals Leo was used to. This one was different. Silent. Precise. A perfect circle of absolute darkness began to form in the air, soundlessly, absorbing the light and heat around it. It looked less like a portal and more like a surgically cut hole in the fabric of reality.
Yuki acted. Her usual calm shattered, replaced by a fierce urgency. She grabbed Leo by the arm, her strength surprising.
"The key," she hissed, her dark eyes fixed on the growing portal. "The one Persephone gave you. The guest room. Use it. NOW!"
Leo's brain was frozen. Fear was a wall of ice that kept him from thinking, from moving. He could only stare at the expanding circle of nothingness, feeling a pressure build in the air, as if the vacuum itself were trying to get into the restaurant.
"LEO!" Yuki's shout made him flinch. She reached into his pocket, snatched the dark iron key, and pressed it hard into his palm. The cold metal was a shock that brought him back to reality. "Think of the room! Think of a safe place! The key guides you to the nearest door when you're in danger!"
Leo looked around, desperate. The street door? No. The kitchen door, behind the counter. He gripped the key, his heart hammering a frantic rhythm, and focused on the image of the grey, windowless room. A sanctuary. A hideout.
The portal solidified, its edge now perfectly sharp. A figure stepped out of it.
It wasn't a monster. It wasn't a warrior. It was an average-looking man, dressed in an impeccably pressed grey suit. He wore thin-rimmed glasses and had an expression of bureaucratic boredom. He held a digital clipboard that emitted a faint light. He didn't look dangerous. He looked like an auditor. And that, somehow, was much more terrifying.
The Compliance Agent looked around, his eyes passing over Yuki without interest before settling on Leo. His voice was calm, monotonous, devoid of any emotion.
"Courier Leo. SIN 777-M-LEO-NA. Your mandatory performance review is about to begin. Please come with me."
It wasn't a request. It was an order.
The Agent took a step forward. That was the trigger.
Leo ran. He vaulted over the counter, landing awkwardly on the other side, and sprinted for the kitchen door. The Agent didn't seem rushed. He simply raised a hand, as if hailing a cab, a casual gesture that contrasted terribly with the situation.
Leo grabbed the kitchen doorknob. It wasn't the familiar wood. It was cold, heavy iron, the same texture as the key in his other hand. The key in his palm glowed with a faint light. He pulled the door open.
Instead of Yuki's kitchen, with its pans and the smell of spices, he saw the grey, silent room. His sanctuary.
He didn't hesitate. He threw himself through the door.
The instant his body crossed the threshold, he heard a hissing sound behind him. A thin beam of silver light shot from the Agent's hand, striking the door the moment it swung shut.
The door slammed with the force and sound of a bank vault door locking. The sound of the restaurant, the hum of the neon lights, the distant fire alarm of the city... everything vanished. He was back in the absolute silence of his hideout.
He fell to the floor, gasping, his heart threatening to explode. He was safe. He had escaped.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
Leo froze. The sound came from the door. It wasn't a bang. It wasn't an attack. It was a polite, calm, professional knock.
The Compliance Agent's voice came through the door, muffled but perfectly clear, its tone still perfectly monotonous.
"Interesting. An Underworld Sanctuary. Noted in your file, Courier Leo."
There was a pause.
"Evasion of a performance review is a serious infraction. This elevates your status from 'knowledge threat' to 'renegade agent'."
Another pause. Leo held his breath.
"Enjoy your... break. Doors don't stay locked forever. We'll be waiting."