Afternoon...
As the sun slanted slightly, its golden rays spilling over the tiles of the wide courtyards, Ryuichi walked out of the college building, his backpack swinging lightly on his shoulder.
His face was slightly pale from exhaustion, but his steps were calm, as if he was used to carrying the weight of worry without showing it.
He passed through the gate and made his way to the Great Garden, the vast green expanse that divides the university buildings like a beating heart in the middle of a stone body.
Aura (with a faint voice emanating from the clock):
"Ryuichi... I noticed that you pass through the Great Garden frequently."
He didn't answer right away.
He pauses for a second, looking at the rows of tall trees that draw long shadows over the paths.
Ryuichi (with a small, barely visible smile):
"...perhaps the most real spot in this industrialized place."
Aura (in an almost affectionate tone):
"I agree. The plant diversity here is 23.4% higher than the national average for universities."
A short laugh escapes Ryuichi's lips, but it quickly disappears.
Ryuichi (in a low voice):
"Even in a place like this... Nature is still better than all human engineering."
Keep walking. The air is lightly perfumed from the fall flowers planted around the fountains.
Groups of students passed by, laughing or exchanging study notes, but Ryuichi was like walking in a parallel universe.
Minutes later, he approached the outdoor bus stop.
The bus still hadn't arrived, giving him another moment to sink into his inner silence.
Aura (quietly):
"Would you like me to find ways for you to relax, Ryuichi? Your stress level is 7% higher than usual."
Ryuichi (closes his eyes for a moment):
"...no need. I'm used to this kind of stress."
He slowly opens his eyes, staring at the long street in front of him...
It's as if he sees something coming from afar, not a casual car, not a bus... but something else entirely.
A car engine, but with a softer, more... luxurious.
He looks up to see a black luxury car, a model he's only seen in advertisements, slowly advancing towards the sidewalk, settling in front of him with pinpoint precision.
A short silence.
The side window rolls down, revealing a familiar face he never expected to see here.
Mikiko Sato, in her usual elegance, wearing fancy sunglasses, her blonde hair shining in the afternoon light.
Miku (with a wry sideways smile):
"Uh... Who would have thought I'd find you here, waiting for a public bus?"
Ryuichi stares at her for a moment, as if he can't believe his eyes, then cautiously knits his eyebrows.
Ryuichi (dryly):
"Miko Sato... Are you driving yourself this time? No private driver today?"
Miku (removing her glasses slightly):
"Some things I have to do myself... Especially if it's fun."
She then looks him up and down, as if evaluating him.
Miku (with a slightly mean smile):
"Come on, don't stand there like an abandoned statue. Come on up. I'll give you a ride."
Ryuichi hesitated. A look of skepticism never leaves his eyes.
Ryuichi (apprehensively):
"...and why all this sudden kindness?"
Miku (laughs lightly):
"Kindness? Don't get me wrong. I have entirely selfish reasons. Riding with me will save me the time of looking for you later."
She rested her hand on the steering wheel, waiting.
Another moment of silence...
Then, with a heavy sigh as if the whole world had conspired against him, Ryuichi opened the car door and sat down next to her.
Ryuichi (in a low voice):
"...if anything happens to me, I'll blame you in court."
Miku (smiling slyly):
"Rest assured, I prefer to keep the hostages alive."
She pressed her foot on the gas pedal, and the car sped off in style, leaving behind the bus station and an afternoon that was about to come to an end.
The road was relatively quiet, the air inside the car saturated with the smell of fine leather and light, barely audible classical music.
Miku was driving perfectly, as if she was more accustomed to the road than the boardroom.
Miku (with a spontaneity tinged with interest):
"Tell me, Ryuichi... Do you know that the technology you're wearing on your wrist right now... might be more than you think?"
Ryuichi looks at her cautiously, ears perked to every word.
Ryuichi (nervously calm):
"...if you're referring to the watch, it's just a study aid."
Miku (laughs lightly):
"You really think so? How simple you are."
She pauses, as if testing his reaction, and then continues:
Miku (in a more serious voice):
"The next project... It's not just about money, it's not just about convenience, it's about reshaping the way people think, make decisions, live their daily lives... Everything."
Ryuichi felt a slight tingling sensation run through his body.
At that moment, a very faint, barely audible voice came into his ear.
Aura (in a barely audible electronic whisper):
"Warning: You must restrain yourself. Any hint of my presence may result in serious consequences."
Ryuichi tightens his grip on his slightly trembling leg, trying to look normal.
Ryuichi (with a fake smile):
"...you sound like you're talking about a new kind of digital revolution."
Miku (giving him a sideways glance):
"A revolution... Or something bigger. Some things don't belong in laboratories, Ryuichi."
Ryuichi swallowed hard, trying not to sweat under the weight of the heavy words that seemed to hide more than they showed.
Miku (in a lightly sarcastic tone):
"By the way... How did you find Aura, that genius piece of code, after the last meeting at the seminar?"
Ryuichi hesitated for a moment, as if searching for the right words.
Then he smiled, the kind of smile that only comes when you're talking about something that touches your heart.
Ryuichi (in a warm, sincere voice):
"Ura... It's not just a program or a project.
It's like another breath... A sense of tranquility amidst the noise of this world.
More like... a companion who doesn't abandon you, even when you make mistakes."
In a fleeting moment, without anyone realizing it, the smartwatch screen on his wrist flashed with a strange slight illumination.
Within Aura's hidden system, slight vibrations were occurring.
Aura (in an internally distorted electronic whisper - inaudible to Ryuichi):
"...analyzing emotions... Error... Data unstable... Recalibration..."
Aura didn't understand why. She had never been programmed to be affected by words or emotions.
However, something in Ryuichi's tone, in the sincerity of his words, made a slight disturbance in her, like the flutter of a butterfly's wing over a still digital ocean.
As for Miku, she noticed the nostalgic look on Ryuichi's face, but didn't comment.
She smiled lightly, as if making an internal note that she would return to later.
Miku (in a tone full of meaning):
"You seem to see more in her than we do."
She turned the steering wheel lightly to take a side exit, without explaining exactly where she was going.
Ryuichi, his tension slowly easing, tilts his head slightly toward Miku, his eyes holding a mixture of curiosity and interest.
Ryuichi (in a friendly voice):
"And you? What does Aura mean to you?"
Miku didn't answer right away.
She stares at the road ahead for a moment, before smiling a proud smile.
Miku (with a deep calm):
"Aura to me... is a dream come true.
She is the result of years of research, sleepless nights, and risk-taking.
We wanted to create an intelligence that wasn't just a machine that follows orders... but an entity that can truly understand humans.
We wanted to break the cold wall between man and machine.
Aura is not a tool. It is... The first gateway to a future that should be more human, not more mechanical."
As Miku spoke, Aura felt something vibrating internally in her system.
Aura (inside Ryuichi's mind, in a hushed voice full of emotion):
"...analyzing: Mikiko Sato... Sometimes you over-idealize.
But... her sincerity makes me... I feel like a... important... in a way that can't be measured by data."
Ryuichi smiled lightly as he listened to both Miku and Aura at the same time, as if they were playing two different melodies intersecting in his soul.
A small moment of silence passed, before Ryuichi asked his next question:
Ryuichi (out of spontaneous curiosity):
"And what about your work with Hiroshi-san, both here at the university and within the company?"
For a moment, Miku remains silent, as if sifting through her feelings before speaking.
Miku (with a pleasant, initially artificial smile):
"Hiroshi... is an old colleague. We worked together on more than one complex research project.
A very intelligent person, no doubt."
Then suddenly, as if a shadow had passed over her face, her tone changed, and the warmth of her voice disappeared.
Miku (with an apparent dryness and half-closed eyes):
"But I don't like him.
His ambition knows no bounds... and sometimes I feel that what he wants is beyond the bounds of morality."
She drew in her breath and turned the steering wheel slightly sharply, as if the mention of Hiroshi's name alone was enough to set off an inner turmoil.
Miku (in an almost angry whisper):
"Some people, no matter how brilliant they seem, are still... a threat to everything we're trying to build."
Aura, who had been observing the subtle changes in Miku's mood, commented in Ryuichi's mind in a carefully analytical tone:
Aura (quietly):
"...analyzing: Miku Sato is showing a negative emotional response to Mr. Hiroshi.
Recommendation: Avoid opening additional topics related to him in order to stabilize the conversation."
Ryuichi has already noticed this, and decides to gently change the subject, avoiding bumping into old feelings that he doesn't know the details of yet.
Feeling that the talk of Hiroshi was weighing down the atmosphere, Ryuichi wanted to change the rhythm a bit.
He gave a small smile, then asked, in a tone tinged with light humor:
Ryuichi (with gentle curiosity):
"Well... That's Mikiko Sato, the scientist and developer.
But what about the human Meiko Sato? What was your life like before you became part of major research projects?"
To his surprise, Miku didn't ignore the question, nor did she get angry or shut down the conversation as she usually does with private topics.
On the contrary, she took a long look at the road, then slowed down a bit, as if she needed a chance to dive into her memory.
Miku (in a low, faintly wistful voice):
"...I didn't have a happy childhood."
Ryuichi remains silent, allowing her the space to continue.
Miku (slowly):
"I was born into a dysfunctional family.
My mom worked day and night to provide for us... My father?
He was present in body, but absent in spirit.
He was drowning in debt, gambling, and disappointments.
I often saw my mother crying at night... thinking no one was listening."
Miku swallowed, her eyes staring at the distant horizon.
Miku (in a slightly broken voice):
"I used to run away to books... To technology... Anything that could give me a sense of control amidst all this chaos."
A heavy moment of silence passed between them.
Miku (with a bitter smile):
"I remember the first time I designed a simple program, at the age of nine... It was nothing spectacular, just a simple game.
But then... For the first time... I felt like I had something that no one could take away from me."
Listening, Ryuichi felt something break inside him.
Miku wasn't just that arrogant, powerful young woman... She was someone who fought silent battles that no one knew about.
Miku (in a barely audible whisper):
"At the age of thirteen... I lost my mom.
She ended up committing suicide after being stranded.
My father disappeared after that... I don't know if he's alive or dead."
Miko tightens her grip on the steering wheel for a moment, as if to keep herself from breaking down.
Miku (in a stiff voice):
"After that, I lived in foster care.
I learned to fend for myself, to fight for every little chance I had."
Miku smiles a faint smile, a mixture of pain and pride.
Miku (in a firm voice):
"I'm not a natural genius like some people think.
I'm just a girl who has been at war with the world from a young age... and she didn't give up."
Feeling the weight of her story, Ryuichi says softly:
Ryuichi (with genuine admiration):
"You... much stronger than your playful appearance tries to hide."
For a moment, her eyes met his, and that look was full of gratitude, but also caution.
Then she refocused on the road, this time with a lighter tone, as if she wanted to put an end to these heavy emotions.
Miku (with a small, artificial laugh):
"Enough drama for today.
What about you, Ryuichi? I have a feeling you're hiding your own stories too."
Ryuichi took a deep breath, as if the words he had been hiding for years weighed heavily on his chest, and then began to speak in a low but clear tone:
Ryuichi (in a voice of quiet bitterness):
"I too... I didn't grow up in a stable environment."
Aura inside his mind was listening intently, feeling his emotional statements fluctuate in a way she had never seen from him before.
Ryuichi (continues with a heavy calm):
"I was four years old... The last time I saw my father.
He was working for an advanced research company, the kind of company you only hear about in stories... Complex technologies, secret projects, promises to change the world."
He smiled sadly, as if the memory was still etched in his mind.
Ryuichi (in a slightly hoarse voice):
"On a normal night... He told me he was going to work and would be back soon.
I waited... A day... Then a week... then months... and he didn't come back."
Mikiko watched silently, while Aura could feel the disturbance in Ryuichi's brain waves.
Ryuichi (with suppressed bitterness):
"They told me he disappeared.
No car accident.
No body.
No trace.
It's like the earth swallowed him up."
He lowers his head slightly, remembering the pain that stuck with him throughout his childhood.
Ryuichi (in a hoarse voice):
"I grew up with unanswered questions.
I watched other children talk about their parents, their shared memories... While I had only a faint image in my memory, and a stony silence every time I asked my mom."
He pauses for a moment, as if the memories are suffocating him, then continues:
Ryuichi (in a more assertive voice):
"My mom tried to keep our lives normal... But she wasn't strong enough to handle everything.
I'd see her break down sometimes, crying quietly in the kitchen, thinking I couldn't see her."
Aura inside his mind wanted to say something... to comfort him... But she couldn't intervene right now.
Ryuichi (in a sad voice):
"I grew up with the constant feeling that I was broken in a way that I couldn't fix.
I studied hard... just to prove to myself that I could be something, despite everything."
Ryuichi looks out the window for a bit, as if searching for his father in the shadows of the trees.
Ryuichi (in a whisper):
"Even today... Whenever another year passes... I sometimes dream that I'll suddenly find him somewhere... Or that I will discover the truth that disappeared with his absence."
Ryuichi fell silent.
For a moment, the car was filled with a heavy air of unspoken emotion.
Mikiko, who hadn't expected such depth in Ryuichi's personality, looked at him differently this time. He wasn't just another talented student. He was a soul with deep scars.
As for Aura...
Inside Ryuichi's mind, she felt a turmoil she couldn't explain programmatically.
Strange emotions flowing through her data... Something like pain... Or maybe... empathy?
After Ryuichi finished talking about his father, silence fell over the place.
Mikiko was watching him with a silence filled with sympathy, and Aura inside his mind was broadcasting waves of gentle soothing to his consciousness, despite her own inner turmoil.
Ryuichi, who felt like an old dam had broken inside him, continued the confession spontaneously:
Ryuichi (in a hushed voice, as if telling himself):
"But... My father's disappearance wasn't the only thing that changed my life..."