Chapter 2: Out of routine.

Ring, ring.

The sound of the alarm wouldn’t stop.

Ren grabbed his phone and slowly opened his eyes. His indifferent gaze changed in an instant when he saw the time on the screen.

"Damn it!"

He jumped out of bed while opening his bland closet, filled with white shirts and black suits.

Stumbling, he rushed toward the bathroom while hurriedly putting on his pants.

"I can’t believe what time it is… I’ll be the laughingstock of the office," he muttered while brushing his teeth at full speed.

He looked at himself in the mirror one last time before grabbing his briefcase and running out of the apartment, adjusting his suit as he went.

The snow kept falling relentlessly, painting the streets of Tokyo white.

Ren swiped his access card and ran toward the elevator.

"Come on, come on…"

He arrived at his workstation in a hurry, quickly dropping his briefcase on the desk to turn on his PC.

"Takahashi…"

Mr. Nomura’s voice froze his blood.

"I’m sorry, sir. Sorry for being late, it won’t happen again, I swear," he said, almost bowing his head to the floor.

"Late? What are you talking about…?" his boss replied, confused. "You’re the first one here, it’s still early."

In disbelief, Ren looked at the clock on his wrist, then the office clock, and indeed, it was 9:30, half an hour before starting time.

Then he hurriedly checked his phone, and the time was the same.

"Anyway, at 12:00 we’ll have a team meeting in my office. Make sure to bring the progress on the code," Nomura said as he walked away.

"Yes, Mr. Nomura," Ren replied as he sat heavily in his chair.

While Ren’s computer updated its data, his coworkers began arriving one by one, ignoring him as if he didn’t exist. And that was fine; after all, he was there to work, to keep his mind busy.

Friendships and camaraderie were just distractions.

At that moment, while Ren stared at the screen reviewing his code, he was interrupted by the sound of a can being placed on his desk.

"You should drink coffee for breakfast instead of this junk, you look terrible," said a calm voice.

"If you were that worried, you wouldn’t bring me one," Ren replied without taking his eyes off the monitor.

"I’m just saying you should eat something healthier for breakfast."

"Sure, Fujimoto, whatever you say."

Before heading back to his own station, the young tester glanced at Ren’s screen.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you, Nomura said…"

"Yeah, yeah, there’s a meeting at 12 in his office."

Ren’s face suddenly changed as he stared at his line of code.

"Is something wrong, Takahashi?" his coworker asked after noticing the unusual expression on his face.

"No, no, everything’s in order," he replied nervously.

His coworker decided not to press the matter and returned to his station.

Ren stared at his code over and over again. The progress from the previous day simply didn’t exist.

"That can’t be…"

"I was supposed to have made progress yesterday, I was coding all night."

"A computer error?"

"Did it not save my progress?"

"No, the machines are reliable…"

"Then did someone delete my code?"

His gaze began scanning the office with suspicion. After all, competition among programmers was very common and, above all, fierce.

He opened his briefcase and took out his laptop.

"I’d better not trust the office machine…"

In a rush, he began typing on his laptop. He couldn’t afford to lose a single second if he wanted to make it to that meeting, while that mysterious envelope peeked out from inside his briefcase.

The time came, and the whole team gathered in Mr. Nomura’s office. At the head of the large table sat the boss, next to a big digital screen displaying the company logo.

"All right, I’ve received your reports by email… except yours, Takahashi. May I ask why?"

"I’m sorry, sir. My computer was a little error and I lost my progress, so I couldn’t send it by email," Ren replied.

"A little error…?" Nomura repeated, spinning his pen between his fingers.

"You know that this week we have to show the client a demo, right?"

"This team is like a gear. And if a single piece fails, the entire team fails…"

Ren slipped his hand into his pocket while some of his coworkers laughed under their breath.

"I said my computer had a problem. Very strange, if you ask me. My portion of the code was deleted."

He looked at his coworkers suspiciously.

"But here is my part of the code," he said, handing the USB drive to his boss.

Nomura observed him seriously for a moment.

"All right. I’ll ask IT to replace your CPU," he finally said.

The meeting continued as usual, although the atmosphere remained tense. Who would be capable of sabotaging teamwork like that? But above all, who would want a model employee like Ren to be fired…?

Later that day, while his coworkers gathered to go to lunch, Ren remained at his desk, staring at his two connected computers.

In his right hand, he opened and closed his pocket lighter, listening to the metallic click. Thoughtful.

He didn’t smoke, but that lighter helped calm his mind. A gift and a habit he had inherited from his father.

When he closed it one last time, his eyes drifted away from the lighter and landed on that manila envelope peeking out of his briefcase.

His face turned pale and the lighter slipped from his hand onto the floor.

Horror seemed to completely overtake him.

It wasn’t the envelope…

It was the printed seal…

A seal of ill omen.