Hesta opened the door and went out, but the moment she went out, the entire corridor darkened, and only the lamp above her head remained bright.
The surveillance cameras at both ends of the corridor turned to Hesta at the same time, and the same twisting sound as before appeared again - that was the sound of the camera focusing.
When she thought that it might be Sean's eyes behind the surveillance, Hesta's whole body tensed up again. Fear and anger made her clenched her fists, but her face was expressionless.
She didn't want the other party to see her panic or incompetent rage. After adjusting her breathing for a moment, she knocked on the assistant's door as usual.
However, no one responded.
"Jane——?" Liz's voice came from downstairs. For a moment, Hesta trembled involuntarily.
"……I'm here."
With this question and answer, the light above her head quickly went out.
In the pure darkness, Hesta heard Lizzie's footsteps approaching quickly until she squeezed her hand tightly.
Liz was panting, "Are you okay? Why is there a power outage here..."
In the silence, before Hesta could reply, they suddenly heard a knock on the door from the bathroom not far away, "Is anyone outside?"
Hesta quickly reacted: "...it's the voice of the assistant coach."
"Is anyone there? Is anyone there? I seem to be trapped in the toilet by the automatic door."
"Wait a minute -" Liz began to reach for her public key, "Here it comes."
…
On the way back to the apartment, Hesta talked about what happened tonight and asked Liz why she sent that message.
Liz's expression was a little complicated, "Two weeks ago, Ms. Morley once said that she would discuss Sean's behavioral restraint order with Chiba Masaki... Do you remember this?"
"Yeah, remember."
"This afternoon, Ms. Morley received feedback that Chiba directly rejected this suggestion - she requested that all existing restraining orders and punishments against Sean be lifted. She believed that this was just a normal verbal friction between students. , there is no need to go online like this."
"……Yeah."
"Ms. Morley was very angry. She had a video call with Chiba in the afternoon, and the two broke up on bad terms. The current result is that the adjustments to Sean's rating and allowance compensation are disciplinary actions within the base. Chiba I have no right to interfere. Ms. Morley will definitely insist. As for how to restrict Sean's movements, we can think of another way..."
"Understood."
"...Jane?" Liz looked at her worriedly, "You look very tired."
"It's nothing." Hesta stretched out his hand and gently grabbed his hair. "It's something new I learned today. It's too difficult for me."
Along the way, Hesta silently chewed on everything that happened tonight.
Obviously, this must be Sean's work. I'm afraid that in the half-month period when she thought everything was calm, Sean's sight never really disappeared at all. He had been looking at himself from behind a screen as if nothing had happened, but it was only today that he showed up in an overly dramatic way.
And the reason why he chose today is probably related to the news that the restraining order failed to take effect - Liz was indeed right before, and Sean was indeed wary of the base's punishment, but this punishment was a deterrent to him. , only exists on the premise that his evil deeds will be discovered.
After a brief tremor, a heavy stone suddenly fell to the ground in Hesta's heart.
Yes, she was right, she recognized the storm.
Liz analyzed on the side, "Tonight's power outage is probably related to Sean. He has also remotely controlled some smart furniture in the old building before.
"When I get back, I will report tonight's events to Ms. Morley. By then, even if we cannot upgrade the firmware of all the facilities in these buildings for the time being, we can adjust your daily classes underground, where , Sean’s little trick will no longer—”
"Liz." Hesta interrupted Liz gently, "I... my mind is a little confused. Can we talk about these things tomorrow?"
"Okay..." Liz looked at Hesta with concern, "Sorry."
Hesta shook her head - in any case, you are not the one who should apologize.
The two pushed open the apartment door and stepped into the apartment hall one after another. Mrs. Lavitt suddenly opened the window and waved to Hestad with a smile, "Miss Fletcher, Miss Hestad, are you back together?"
Hestad stopped and said, "Good evening, Mrs. Lovett."
Mrs. Lavitt said warmly: "There is a package sent to you. Come and sign for it."
"For me?" Hesta was a little surprised, "Who sent it?"
"Well, let's take a look..." Lavitt picked up her hand-held gold-rimmed glasses and squinted at the large paper box at hand.
"Chiba Masaki."
…
After returning to the room, Hesta placed the package on his desk.
She stared quietly for a while at the name Chiba Masaki on the package. This name made her feel a little complicated.
After a moment of hesitation, Hesta picked up the scissors and began to unpack.
This was a 40cm square carton. She used scissors to cut open the tape on the upper layer of the carton. Unexpectedly, there was a small box inside the big box. There was also a handwritten postcard on the small box, with Chiba's handwriting on it:
"I heard that my ward, Miss Hesta, has encountered some difficulties recently. After careful consideration, I specially prepared a small gift for you. I don't know on what occasion you will open this package. Please try to stay alone. , even if there are people around you, please control your expression and don't let yourself appear too surprised.
"Can you do it? If you're ready, open the package.
"The solution lies within."
Hestad put the postcard aside suspiciously, and used a knife to cut open the seal of the small carton. After opening the paper lid, there was a box full of white plastic foam rollers as thick as a finger.
Hesta put her hand into the cardboard box, trying to find what was inside. When her fingertips almost touched the bottom of the box, her expression suddenly froze.
Even though she was prepared, her breath still froze slightly when she touched something at the bottom of the box.
Hesta slowly raised her hand, and a Beretta 92 pistol suddenly appeared in her hand.
At this time, she suddenly discovered that there seemed to be another postcard sandwiched in the pile of white foam. Hesta immediately picked it up and saw a few lines written on it in the same handwriting:
“If you don’t agree with this solution, just reseal the carton and return it to its original location.
"If you are interested, go to Sophie Morley tomorrow and make an appointment with her for my time this Thursday, and we will have an interview."
In the lower right corner of the postcard is Chiba's rather wild signature and a toothy self-portrait.
