Morning had already come.
Kaito lay awake, staring at the giant branches above him.
At some point during the night, he had stopped trying to sleep.
Every time he closed his eyes, another question appeared.
Taro.
The threads.
Claire.
This place.
Elena's words.
"You weren't brought here by chance."
The sentence refused to leave his mind.
A soft knock came from the door.
Before he could answer, the door slowly opened.
Elena stepped inside carrying a small tray.
"You look terrible."
Kaito looked at her.
"I didn't sleep."
"I can tell."
She placed the tray on a nearby table.
For a moment neither of them spoke.
The room was quiet except for the distant sound of leaves moving outside.
Finally Kaito broke the silence.
"What did you mean yesterday?"
Elena looked at him.
"You know exactly what I mean."
"You said I wasn't brought here by chance."
A strange expression crossed her face.
Not fear.
Not concern.
More like uncertainty.
As if she still wasn't sure what to think about it herself.
She pulled a chair closer and sat down.
"I don't know everything."
Kaito remained silent.
"But I can tell you what happened."
She folded her hands together.
"The night we found you, my team was working near the eastern forest."
Kaito listened.
"We weren't looking for people."
"What were you looking for?"
Elena hesitated.
Then she shook her head.
"I honestly don't know."
Kaito frowned.
"You don't know?"
"Our orders come from above. We collect data. We record things. That's all."
That answer only confused him more.
Elena continued.
"Everything was normal."
She paused.
"Then every machine stopped."
Kaito blinked.
"What?"
"Every machine."
"The scanners."
"The sensors."
"The communicators."
"Everything."
Kaito stared at her.
"Broken?"
"No."
Elena slowly shook her head.
"Just... stopped."
The room became quiet.
"That has happened before?"
"No."
Her answer came immediately.
"Never."
She looked toward the window.
"Then something stranger happened."
Kaito waited.
"The machines started working again."
"That's good isn't it?"
"No."
Elena's voice lowered.
"Because they weren't showing normal readings anymore."
A chill ran through Kaito.
"What were they showing?"
Elena laughed softly.
"The reason nobody believed the results."
She looked back at him.
"The machines kept pointing at the same thing."
"What thing?"
"You."
Kaito froze.
Elena continued.
"But you weren't there."
"What?"
"The machines were tracking something moving through the forest."
Kaito's heartbeat quickened.
"It moved for hours."
"Then disappeared."
"Then appeared somewhere else."
"Then disappeared again."
"It was impossible."
Elena leaned back in her chair.
"The team thought the system was malfunctioning."
"And then?"
"And then Claire pointed at the forest."
Kaito swallowed.
"She said someone was coming."
The room became silent.
"We thought she was guessing."
Elena smiled slightly.
"But she kept pointing in the exact same direction."
A long pause followed.
"When we finally reached the location..."
Her gaze settled on him.
"...we found you."
Kaito opened his mouth but no words came out.
"The strange part wasn't finding you."
Elena's expression slowly became serious.
"The strange part was what happened after."
"What happened?"
Elena looked away.
"All the readings vanished."
"Immediately."
"As soon as we touched you."
Kaito felt his chest tighten.
"What readings?"
Elena slowly shook her head.
"I don't know."
"Nobody does."
"The report was sent away before we could study it."
Kaito stared at her.
"So that's why I'm here?"
Elena nodded.
"Partly."
"Partly?"
She looked directly into his eyes.
"The official reason is because you were injured."
Kaito wasn't convinced.
"And the real reason?"
For the first time since entering the room, Elena looked genuinely uncomfortable.
"The real reason..."
She hesitated.
"...is because whatever the machines detected that night..."
Her eyes narrowed slightly.
"...they've been searching for it for over twenty years."
The room fell sile