Gift

Hesta pushed the door open, but the moment she stepped out, the entire corridor went dark, with only the light above her head remaining on.

The surveillance cameras at both ends of the corridor turned towards Hesta in unison, and the same whirring sound as before reappeared—that was the sound of the lenses focusing.

The thought that Shawn's eyes might be behind the surveillance made Hesta tense up again. Fear mixed with anger caused her to clench her fists, but her face remained expressionless.

She didn't want the other person to see her terrified or ineffectually enraged. After slightly adjusting her breathing, she went to knock on the assistant's door as usual.

However, there was no response.

"Jane—?" Liz's voice came from downstairs, and for a moment, Hesta couldn't help but tremble.

"...I'm here."

With this exchange, the light above her head quickly went out.

In the pure darkness, Hesta heard Liz's footsteps approaching rapidly until she tightly grasped her hand.

Liz panted, "Are you okay? Why did the power go out here..."

In the silence, before Hesta could even reply, they suddenly heard knocking from the restroom not far away, "Is anyone out there?"

Hesta quickly reacted, "...That's the assistant's voice."

"Is anyone there? Is anyone there? I think I'm trapped in the restroom by the automatic door."

"Please wait—" Liz began to reach for her master key, "I'm coming right now."

On the way back to the apartment, Hesta talked about her experience that night and asked Liz why she had sent that message.

Liz's expression was a little complicated, "Two weeks ago, Ms. Moly mentioned discussing behavioral restrictions for Shawn with Chiba Masaki... Do you remember that?"

"Mhm, I remember."

"This afternoon, Ms. Moly received feedback that Chiba directly rejected the suggestion—she requested the lifting of all existing restrictions and punishments against Shawn, believing it was just normal student bickering and didn't warrant such a fuss."

"...Is that so."

"Ms. Moly was very annoyed and had a video call with Chiba this afternoon; they parted on bad terms. The current outcome is that the disciplinary actions regarding Shawn's rating adjustment and compensation are internal base disciplinary measures, which Chiba has no right to interfere with. Ms. Moly will definitely insist. As for how to restrict Shawn's actions, we can think of other ways..."

"I understand."

"...Jane?" Liz looked at her with some concern, "You look really tired."

"It's nothing," Hesta reached up and lightly ran a hand through her hair, "It's just the new things I learned today; they're too difficult for me."

All the way, Hesta silently chewed over everything that had happened that night.

Clearly, this was definitely Shawn's doing. She suspected that during the past half-month when she thought things were calm, Shawn's gaze had never truly disappeared. He had been watching her from behind some screen, acting as if nothing was wrong, only revealing himself today through such a dramatic method.

The reason he chose today was likely related to the news that the restrictions failed to take effect. Liz had been right earlier; Shawn did fear the base's punishments, but his deterrence was only effective if his misdeeds were discovered.

After a brief shiver, a heavy stone in Hesta's heart suddenly fell.

Yes, her judgment was correct; she recognized the storm.

Liz analyzed from the side, "Tonight's power outage is very likely related to Shawn as well. He's also had past instances of remotely controlling smart furniture in old buildings.

"When we get back, I'll report tonight's events to Ms. Moly. Then, even if we can't firmware upgrade all the facilities in these buildings yet, we can move your daily classes underground. There, Shawn's little tricks won't be able to—"

"Liz." Hesta gently interrupted her, "My head is a little messy. Can we talk about this tomorrow."

"Okay..." Liz looked at Hesta with concern, "I'm sorry."

Hesta shook her head—no matter what, you're not the one who should apologize.

The two pushed open the apartment door and stepped into the lobby. Mrs. Lavette suddenly opened the window and smiled, waving at Hesta, "Miss Fletcher, Miss Hesta, you're back together?"

Hesta stopped, "Good evening, Mrs. Lavette."

Mrs. Lavette said warmly, "There's a package for you. Come sign for it."

"For me?" Hesta was a little surprised, "Who sent it?"

"Hmm, let me see..." Mrs. Lavette picked up her handheld gold-rimmed glasses and squinted at the large cardboard box beside her.

"Chiba Masaki."

After returning to her room, Hesta placed the package on her desk.

She gazed quietly at Chiba Masaki's name on the package for a moment; the name made her feel a bit complicated.

After a moment's hesitation, Hesta picked up scissors and began to open the package.

It was a cardboard box, about 40cm square. She used the scissors to cut through the adhesive tape on the top. To her surprise, the large box contained a smaller box, and on the small box was a handwritten postcard in Chiba's handwriting:

"I heard my ward, Miss Hesta, has been encountering some difficulties recently. After much consideration, I've prepared a small gift for you. I don't know in what setting you'll open this package, so please try to be alone. Even if someone is with you, please be mindful of your expression and don't appear too surprised.

"Can you do that? If you're ready, open the package.

"The solution lies within."

Hesta, with a sense of doubt, put the postcard aside and used the knife to cut open the seal of the small cardboard box. Opening the lid, she found the box filled with white plastic foam rollers, thick as fingers.

Hesta reached her hand into the box, trying to find what was inside. Just as her fingertips were about to touch the bottom, her expression suddenly froze.

Even though she was somewhat prepared, her breath hitched slightly when her fingers brushed against the item at the bottom of the box.

Hesta slowly raised her hand, and a Beretta 92 pistol materialized in her grasp.

At that moment, she suddenly noticed another postcard seemingly nestled within the disturbed white foam. Hesta immediately picked it up. Written in the same handwriting were a few lines:

"If you do not approve of this solution, simply reseal this carton and return it to its original location.

"If you are interested, find Sophie Moly tomorrow and book an appointment with her for this Thursday. We can meet then."

In the bottom right corner of the postcard was Chiba's rather wild signature and a self-portrait with a toothy grin.