The man scoffed softly and muttered,
"If you keep standing there like an idiot, we don't have much time, you know,"
snapping Rei out of his trance, and he blurted,
"Wait—what were you going to tell me, and how will my life be put in danger?"
The man rolled his eyes and sighed,
"The government is after me. I will only say this once, so pay attention,"
before lowering his voice and explaining that the Morphyx virus had been deliberately spread by the government of Taured, that their plan had been to infect thousands and mold them into an altered army, but the infected had soon gone out of control and begun spreading it further, forcing five of the world's greatest minds to gather and attempt to engineer a cure, though it had already been too late, the lab overrun, his friends lost, and after a long pause he murmured,
"It doesn't matter anymore,"
just as two blinding headlights appeared in the distance, prompting him to add,
"Your ride is here, kid. This briefcase contains everything you need—documents, voice notes, even samples—so try not to drop it,"
leaving a baffled Rei to whisper,
"What am I supposed to do with this?"
to which the man replied with a thin smile,
"You have to deliver this briefcase to the final engineer. Don't worry—she'll find you before you find her,"
letting out a dry laugh before turning away,
"I have to go. I can't stay in one place for too long,"
and vanishing into the night, leaving Rei gripping the cold leather handle and realizing this was no fever dream as the cab arrived, forcing him to collect his mother and Koma and climb into the green vehicle while his thoughts spiraled between fear and guilt, wondering whether delivering the case would endanger the people he loved or whether refusing would doom the entire planet, his anxious spiral breaking when the driver announced,
"We are here,"
and Koma hurried forward to pay the fare, prompting Rei to think bitterly that he should have been the one paying as Koma suddenly hugged him tightly, drawing a teasing smile from his mother as she said,
"Hmm, Rei, you never told me about your girlfriend. Do you mind introducing me?"
causing Rei to blush furiously and protest,
"Mom, she isn't my girlfriend—she's my good friend, Koma Hoshino. Do you remember the model who used to help us with money? That's her,"
trying desperately to suppress his embarrassment as Catherine introduced herself politely, thanking Koma and noting that Rei spoke fondly of her, which only made his ears burn further while Koma smirked, soon leading them inside to her dimly lit house where she apologized for the low lighting, explaining their sensitivity to light at night, introduced her cook and maid Stephenie, and insisted on giving Rei and his mother separate rooms despite his protests, declaring they were family to her, feeding them fried chicken before everyone finally went to sleep except Rei, who locked his door and carefully opened the briefcase to find stacks of research papers and two glowing tubes hidden beneath a false bottom, reading until his head spun and slowly piecing together the truth—that the Morphyx cure had been discovered aboard Taured Space Station, that Novaline, a lubricant for spacecraft machinery, became a powerful cure when superheated into gas, a discovery made accidentally during an engine malfunction that killed nearly all aboard, leaving only one surviving engineer, the man who had given him the case—yet the glowing tubes were neither Morphyx nor Novaline, leaving him confused and unsettled as he finally shut the case, whispering to himself that he would simply deliver it and be done, before curling up in the soft bed and drifting into uneasy sleep.