Ryuichi (continues slowly):
"A few years after his disappearance... I started to feel something strange inside me.
It was like there was an energy moving through my body that I couldn't control."
Aura, who had been watching the flow of his words, sensed what was coming, and felt a slight increase in the anxiety data within Ryuichi's systems.
Ryuichi (in a hushed voice):
"And when I turned fifteen... The fears were confirmed.
I was diagnosed with a rare disease...
A malfunction in my mana center."
Miku gasped softly, while Ryuichi continued as if he were telling someone else's story:
Ryuichi (with a sad smile):
"Everyone has mana... But my mana was... Tainted, dysfunctional.
An internal poisoning that sometimes made my body collapse, or lose complete control."
He was silent for a moment, as if the memories hurt more than he wanted to admit.
Ryuichi (with suppressed bitterness):
"The doctors couldn't find a name for it in the medical files...
A very rare condition that makes mana turn into something chaotic...
Instead of giving me strength, it was eating me up from the inside."
Aura felt a current of pain in Ryuichi's data, something beyond her programming's ability to process immediately.
She wished she could put her hand on his shoulder or whisper real words of comfort.
Ryuichi (in a broken whisper):
"That's why... Despite everything... Despite my studies, my dreams...
I always felt like I was walking on a precipice."
He slowly raised his eyes towards Miku, who was looking at him in a completely different way than ever before: The look of a human being who sees and understands the wounds of another human being.
Ryuichi (in a very low voice):
"And yet... No one knows when my condition might suddenly deteriorate.
All I can do... is to live each day as if it's my last chance."
Mikiko (in a soft voice, with a tone that carries a hint of sadness):
"Ryuichi... I didn't know you had so much in you."
There was a brief silence, just their breaths echoing in the car as it continued to drive slowly in the setting sun. Miko turned toward him, her eyes shining with a light that wasn't just a reflection of the light, but something deeper... A rare sense of human connection.
She reached out her hand, hesitating for a few seconds before placing it gently on Ryuichi's trembling palm.
Mikiko (with a slight, barely visible smile):
"Sometimes... It's not enough to be strong on your own. Sometimes, you just need someone to let you be vulnerable... even for a moment."
Ryuichi didn't know what to say. His chest rose and fell slowly, as if his body was trying to convince him to accept this rare kindness, this warmth that was foreign to his hardened world.
Aura (with an affected inner whisper, and a slightly wobbly algorithm):
"...the level of emotional attachment... Outside the scope of standard analysis..."
Ryuichi (in a hoarse, barely audible voice):
"I... I've never allowed myself to be vulnerable in front of anyone."
Miku (quietly):
"You can start now. Here. With me."
Her words weren't just a consolation... They were a show of belonging, the opposite of all the coldness she had tried to wrap herself in when he had first met her.
Under the glowing pink sky, between the sounds of passing cars and the light breeze, something invisible was changing inside them... Slowly, but surely.
Ryuichi felt like his heart had been squeezed by an invisible fist. Miku's gaze, her tender voice, even her touch... It was all more than he could bear.
To escape this intimate situation for which he was unprepared, he bowed lightly, trying to regain his composure.
Ryuichi (in a light, joking tone, hiding his confusion):
"As for you... You seem to have the perfect life. A happy family? A husband waiting for you at home?"
Miku smiled, but this time her smile carried a sadness she couldn't hide.
Miku (deliberately quiet, her words carrying the weight of memory):
"Actually... I have a daughter. She's two years younger than you."
Ryuichi (his eyes widen with genuine surprise):
"A daughter?! I wasn't expecting that..."
Miku gives a sad smile before continuing, her eyes looking at the road ahead:
Miko:
"But I've been divorced for years. It wasn't the marriage I dreamed of... and it was all over before my daughter even began to realize what the word 'family' means."
A heavy silence fell over the car, broken only by the faint roar of the engine.
Ryuichi didn't know what to say for a moment, but he felt a strange twinge of pain; a pain that wasn't just out of sympathy for Miku... but perhaps a reflective mirror of his own life.
Aura (in a soft inner voice this time, as if trying to soften the impact of the words):
"Pain... It's not just for one person, Ryuichi."
Ryuichi (in a low voice, as if speaking more to himself than to Miku):
"Everyone seems to carry hidden scars... Even those who seem invincible."
Miku smiled lightly, as if agreeing with his silence before his words.
As the car continued to move forward, Ryuichi noticed that Miku's route was getting further and further away from the residential neighborhoods and the bus station he used to go to.
Anxiety began to creep in, but he suppressed it, looking out the window at the buildings that were becoming more and more isolated and mysterious.
Finally, the car came to a stop in front of a huge facility with gray metal walls and a garden surrounded by high wires. The place looked like a cross between a scientific laboratory and a secret research center.
Ryuichi (raising his eyebrows in obvious surprise):
"This... This is definitely not my home. Miko-san, where are we?"
Miku smiles in that way that blends mystery and humor, and nods toward the huge door:
Miku (with a slight smile):
"Just come down, and... Trust me."
Ryuichi hesitated for a moment, turning to Aura inwardly as if to ask for her advice, but Aura was silent this time, as if watching the situation cautiously.
Ryuichi sighed lightly, finally opening the car door. He followed Miku through the entrance to the facility, her steps steady as he walked behind her, glancing at the metal walls, wires, and electronic gates they passed.
After traversing long and complicated corridors, they came to a huge metal door. Miku placed her hand on a small biometric scanner, a faint sound came from it, and the door opened automatically.
As it opened, Ryuichi was confronted with a stunning room:
A huge laboratory with sophisticated equipment that can only be seen in top-secret research facilities. Transparent tubes through which strange liquids pass, huge screens displaying complex data, and advanced analyzers the likes of which he has never seen before.
Ryuichi (in a barely audible whisper, stunned):
"What is this place...?"
Miku turned toward him, her smile this time a mixture of pride and mystery:
Miko:
"Welcome to my real world, Ryuichi... This is my private laboratory."
The two entered the lab, the strong smell of sterilization filling the space. The cool blue light reflected off the metal surfaces, giving the room a sense of both modernity and mystery.
Miku walked in front of him with confident strides, gesturing toward the first section with her hand:
Miku (with a slight smile):
"Here, this area is for analyzing human mana structures. We use this device to measure the quality and density of mana within users' bodies."
Ryuichi looked at the massive device with its many mechanical arms in admiration, and suddenly heard Aura's voice in his head:
Aura (in a whisper):
"Analyzing mana like this... advanced. But programmatically? Their technology is still primitive compared to mine."
Ryuichi smiled lightly without comment, and continued to follow Miku.
Miku moved to another corner where there was a huge glass bowl with green and blue lights dancing in it:
Miku (in a proud tone):
"Here we are testing the interactions of mana with different types of metals and biofibers. Our goal is to develop materials capable of interacting intelligently with human energy."
Ryuichi moves closer, watching the lights dance inside the vessel with fascination.
Aura (with sarcastic inner commentary):
"Beautiful... but controlling mana requires more than just mixing it with metals. It requires understanding the deep structure of mana, which they haven't gotten to yet."
Ryuichi hid a small smile, then followed Miku again.
They came to a section filled with screens displaying neurological diagrams:
Miku (seriously this time):
"Here... This is our secret project: Trying to connect mana directly to human nervous systems without the use of intermediary tools."
Ryuichi opens his eyes in surprise, his eyes flipping through the charts.
Aura (in a more cautious whisper):
"This is dangerous. Their manipulation at this level could lead to permanent brain damage... You must be careful, Ryuichi."
Ryuichi noticed the tone of concern in Aura's voice for the first time, causing him to look at Miku with a look that was somewhere between admiration and suspicion.
Miku walked toward another side room, opening its door with a special code.
Miku (with an even more mysterious smile):
"And here... The place that could change the future of mana forever."
The two entered a large white room lit by soft lights, with a soft indigo blue glow emanating from its center. At the center of the room was a huge spherical structure, floating with no visible support, surrounded by golden rings that slowly rotated around it as if mimicking the orbits of the planets.
The miko took steady steps forward, while Ryuichi watched in amazement.
"This..." Ryuichi whispered, barely able to find his words.
The miko turned to him with a slight smile and said in a quiet, almost celebratory voice:
> "Ryuichi... In front of you is the Mana Artificial Core Project. The world's first successful attempt to create a mana source from nothing."
There was silence, as if time had stopped around them. Inside Ryuichi's mind, Aura's whispers suddenly rang out, strained:
> "Warning... Warning... What we're seeing is hundreds of years beyond the limits of current technology... This is insane, Ryuichi."
Ryuichi couldn't stop himself from getting closer, his eyes widening with each step. He could feel the mana emanating from him, but it was... different. So pure. Fearfully perfect.
"How... How could you do that?" He finally asked, his voice a mixture of amazement and awe.
The miko laughed gently, as if she had anticipated this question:
> "By combining the science of particle physics with the study of raw mana essence. We extracted the original mana 'code' from beings of advanced mana nature, then reconstructed it... stone by stone."
Aura interjected into Ryuichi's mind again, but this time her voice held a subtle note of sadness:
> "They... Ryuichi, they are writing the fate of the world anew."
Ryuichi advanced until he was a few meters away from the temple, feeling a slight heat envelop his skin, but it wasn't painful... Rather, it filled him with a strange feeling between relief and alienation.
He asked slowly, as if he feared the answer:
"And then what? If you succeed... What will happen to the world?"
The miko was silent for a moment, then answered in a colder voice than he was used to hearing from her:
"The world as you know it will end. A new era will be born... Where no one needs to be born with the gift... Everyone will be born with the power of mana, created, designed, calculated."
After a moment of heavy silence, Miku turned to Ryuichi with a serious look this time, dropping her usual smile.
She said in a low but firm voice:
> "Ryuichi... I have an idea."
Ryuichi took a small step back, apprehensive at the seriousness of her features.
> "Our mana testing center has advanced techniques for analyzing the internal structures of people's mana centers. I think we may be able to understand why your center was shattered."
Inside Ryuichi's mind, Aura whispered skeptically:
> "Don't trust her completely... But this may be our chance to understand more about the nature of your illness."
Ryuichi hesitated for a second, then said, looking away:
> "Okay... Let's give it a try."
The miko smiled contentedly and pressed a small button on her wrist, opening a side door in the lab that led to a narrow corridor surrounded by transparent walls that emitted a pale blue light.
The two walked through the corridor until they reached another room that looked like a modern operating room. In the center of the room, there was a metal chair surrounded by robotic arms equipped with precision instruments and flickering lights.
Miko gestured to the chair:
> "Sit here, don't worry... You won't feel any pain."
Ryuichi silently complied, and even though Aura was watching nervously inside his mind, he wanted to know... to finally understand what was going on inside him.
As soon as he sat down, devices began to quietly surround his body, drawing a halo of white light around him. On a huge screen next to Miku, complex data began to flow rapidly.
Suddenly, Miku's eyes narrowed in astonishment:
> "This... This is impossible..."
Inside his mind, Aura felt a strange tension:
> "Ryuichi... There's something that even this system doesn't understand..."
The miko finished the scan after long minutes that felt like hours. She looked at Ryuichi, her features tinged with concern.
She finally said:
> "I tried to make an initial repair on your mana center, but... It's no use. It seems that the damage to your center is not due to an ordinary external accident... Rather, it appears to be the result of an intrinsic flaw in your mana fabric."
She approached him, her tone softening:
> "Ryuichi... Your mana center... is slowly disintegrating from within."
Inside his mind, Ryuichi felt like the ground was shifting beneath him, while Aura muttered with an unaccustomed sadness:
> "No... It's not fair..."