"You... who exactly are you?"
Saki's voice sounded slightly trembling, but her gaze was very determined. She stared sharply at Darius, trying to find a gap in the face covered by the raincoat hood.
Darius didn't immediately answer.
He only stared at her in silence, as if evaluating the value of an item. The night wind blew, lifting the edge of his raincoat and revealing the neat school uniform beneath.
This silence felt more oppressive than any words.
Yukino stood beside them, her palm gripping the broom already wet with cold sweat. She wanted to speak up to explain that this was all just absurd misunderstanding, but her brain couldn't give the command. She had a premonition that once she spoke, she would only be dragged further into chaos by Darius's far more absurd logic.
Meanwhile, Yui stared at Darius's back with full admiration. In her eyes, this silence symbolized a figure very mysterious and unpredictable.
Finally, Darius moved.
From the inner pocket of his raincoat, he slowly pulled out a folded piece of paper and presented it before Saki.
It was a scrap of paper torn from a notebook, on it was a table drawn haphazardly with red marker, and in the header column were written several capital letters: SCP Sobu High Branch D-Class Personnel Registration Form.
"What's this?" Saki took half a step back warily, not accepting it.
"Your new identity." Darius's voice sounded flat without emotion. "Kawasaki Saki, age seventeen, second-year Sobu High student. Due to family reasons, you falsified your age to work part-time at various entertainment venues. Your identity has been completely exposed, and your trail has been locked by many organizations. Now, only we can give you protection."
Saki's pupils suddenly contracted.
(Falsifying age... how does he know?!)
This was her biggest secret. To avoid being fired by the bar, she lied about her age. If the school found out about this, the consequences would be very fatal.
This madman in front of her... no, the other party clearly wasn't a madman.
(He could make that slippery bar owner bow in fear, and now he's exposing my biggest secret in one sentence. The nonsense words he said earlier were really just disguise. He and the "organization" behind him have been watching me all along.)
Fear, mixed with shame from her secret being exposed, instantly gripped her heart.
"Wh-what do you want?" Her voice now carried unbearable trembling.
"It's not what we want, but you who need us." Darius pushed the "registration form" slightly forward. "This world is more dangerous than you imagine. The 'Angel Ladder' you touched is just the tip of the iceberg. A virus is spreading, and you've been marked as 'High-Risk Contact'. If you don't join us, your fate has only two options: 'Cleaned' or 'Assimilated'."
Saki's brain spun rapidly.
"Cleaned"... does that mean reported to school then losing everything?
"Assimilated"... does that mean being completely dragged into the dark world by people like that bar owner until unable to escape?
Either option was an end she couldn't bear.
She stared at the seemingly ridiculous "registration form," but she felt that object weighed a thousand tons. This wasn't a registration form, this was an ultimatum.
"I..." Saki spoke with difficulty, her lips feeling dry, "What do I have to do?"
Beside her, Yukino closed her eyes in despair.
(One more. One more victim ensnared by his words.)
Darius looked satisfied with that answer. He withdrew his form, as if the other party was already considered to have signed it automatically.
"Very simple." He said in a tone like conferring a position. "Starting today, you will become external monitoring personnel for this branch. Your task is to monitor all abnormal energy fluctuations within Sobu High, and report to me at any time."
He paused, then observed Saki from top to bottom.
Today Saki wore her personal clothes, a black shirt and jeans, with a school jacket on the outside. Perhaps due to work requirements at the bar, she wore a pair of long socks with black lace trim.
Darius's gaze rested briefly on her socks.
"Good. Starting today, your codename is 'Black Lace'."
"Huh?" Saki was truly stunned.
"Codename?" Beside them, Yui suddenly became excited, her eyes full of envy. "Wow! A cool codename! Commander, what about me? What's my codename?"
Darius turned to Yui.
The girl today wore casual clothes all in pink, even her dango hair tie was pink. Her entire body looked like a large strawberry daifuku cake.
Darius pondered for a moment with a serious expression.
"Your very existence is a high-energy, unstable phenomenon with mass destruction potential." He said in a tone like defining a scientific term. "So, your codename is 'Pink Hazard'."
"Pink... Hazard?" Yui tasted the word. Although she didn't understand its meaning at all, it felt very "pink" and cool, instantly making her very happy. "Yay! I have a codename! I'm Pink Hazard!"
Seeing Saki petrified by the embarrassing codename "Black Lace," and Yui dancing with joy over the strange title "Pink Hazard," Yukino felt her stomach starting to hurt.
She turned around in silence, using the broom in her hand to support her nearly collapsing body. She just wanted to go home.
"Alright, personnel organization complete." Darius clapped his hands and announced, "Phase one of the infiltration operation was a great success. We successfully locked the virus source and recruited one key internal personnel. Now, dismissed."
Finishing speaking, he pulled his raincoat hood and turned to disappear into the night's darkness, as if he had never been there.
Three girls were left at that spot.
Yui was still excited about her new codename. Saki stood frozen, the word "Black Lace" continuously echoing in her brain, her cheeks feeling hot enough to fry eggs.
Yukino took a deep breath then exhaled slowly, as if wanting to expel all the chaos in her chest.
Just then, her phone vibrated. A notification appeared from the class group.
[Attention everyone, next week midterm joint exams will be held. Please prepare to study—Hiratsuka Shizuka]
Yukino stared at the text on her phone screen, suddenly an unrealistic hope emerged.
Exams.
Perhaps, only exams—the last bastion of the modern education system, logic, and order—could make that madman calm down for a while?
That was her naive thought.