Same old chaos. Her comfortable, messy chaos.
But then she stopped dead in her tracks.
Right on the center of her desk—amid the messy piles of code printouts, half-soldered circuits, and her beloved cracked keyboard—was a flower bouquet.
Fresh. Impossibly soft. Entirely out of place in her sterile, tech-heavy sanctuary.
Roses. Deep, velvety crimson, the petals looking almost wet under the blue LED glow. They were bound perfectly with a thick, dark velvet ribbon.
A small, elegant card tucked delicately between the lush petals bore a name, scrawled in confident dark ink. As she read it, a sudden, electric chill shot down her spine, making the fine hairs on her exposed shoulder stand up.
'From your beloved Cruxius... my Lulu.'
'!?!'
Hero Association Headquarters, Hero City
