Friday – 3:00 PM – Orientation Room 4B
A dull projector screen.Chairs in neat rows.Aya sitting backward on hers, arms crossed on the backrest, grinning.
Instructor: "Today's orientation covers workplace behavior, privacy protocol, and proper boundaries."
Aya: "Cool. I've broken all those already."
The instructor sighs.
Kazuki, seated beside her, whispers, "Please. Just this once. Behave."
Aya grins.
"No promises. Especially not when I'm technically staff now."
The instructor turns around again.
Aya holds up a laminated badge that reads:'CIVILIAN SUPPORT – DO NOT TRUST'
Elsewhere – Class Zero Introduction Room
Kazuki is brought into a quiet circular room.
Three chairs.
One already occupied.
A boy around his age, feet on the table, eyes tired and unblinking.
"Yo," he says. "You the new brain-leak guy?"
Kazuki sits slowly.
"You a Class Zero too?"
"Yep. Name's Riku. My thoughts don't become real—but my doubts do."
Kazuki: "…That sounds like a nightmare."
Riku smirks.
"Yeah, imagine doubting if someone's human and watching them morph into a lizard."
Pause.
Kazuki: "You need therapy."
Riku: "I've broken three therapists."
Meanwhile – Aya's Evaluation, Continued
The instructor shows a flowchart.
"This is how you should respond when a Subject has a mental event."
The flowchart ends in "Report to Staff."
Aya crosses it out and writes: "Step 4: Make Tea."
The instructor sighs again.
"Miss Aya, you can't just resolve catastrophic reality incidents with snacks and sarcasm."
Aya raises a brow.
"Have you met him?"
Slide changes.
"In case of total cognitive collapse, evacuate immediately."
Aya, whispering: "Unless he's about to confess something spicy, then I'm staying."
Kazuki – Internal Field Containment Test
They place him inside a glass dome.
Around him: neutral dreamspace.
The node Yume left inside him pulses.
It activates.
Suddenly, he's somewhere else.
A field of sunflowers.A girl with short white hair, laughing.His hand in hers.
He blinks.
"I'm glad I met you before it all went bad," the girl says.
He stares.
"You promised you'd forget me. So this must be goodbye."
Kazuki tries to speak—But the memory ends.
Post-Test Room
Kazuki slams open the door.
Aya, waiting with two drinks, blinks.
"Test over already?"
He looks shaken.
"I saw someone."
Her face softens.
"In the test?"
"No. In my head. She knew me. She said I promised to forget her."
Aya slowly hands him a drink.
"Was it… Yume?"
He shakes his head.
"No. Someone else."
Pause.
"Someone I've never met."
Elsewhere – Riku's Observation Room
Riku reviews Kazuki's data on a monitor.
Next to him, a masked woman with a monotone voice says,"He's syncing faster than expected."
Riku shrugs.
"Because he's not fighting it. Not really."
The woman tilts her head.
"You think he'll last?"
"I think…" Riku sips canned coffee."…if he remembers that girl too soon, he won't."
Final Scene – Aya and Kazuki, Walking Back
The sun is setting.
Kazuki is quiet.
Aya finally says, "Wanna talk about it?"
He exhales.
"I think there's more to me than I remember."
Aya nods.
"Yeah. But lucky for you…"
She taps her own forehead.
"…I remember everything. Especially the embarrassing parts."
He smiles.
"Great. So if I go insane, you'll narrate it?"
"Dramatically. With snacks."
He bumps her shoulder.
She bumps him back.
The node flickers.
And somewhere far away, someone whispers:"He's waking up too early."