Kira did not take another break that day.
She remained welded to her desk, eyes glued to the screen, fingers flying through numbers as if spreadsheets were the last remaining safe species on Earth. Her lunch box stayed buried inside her bag, silently judging her from the dark.
She wasn't hungry anymore.
Fear, it turned out, was an excellent appetite suppressant.
Every sound made her flinch. Every footstep sounded closer than it had any right to be.
She did not look toward Milo's office again.
She absolutely did not look toward the corridor.
She focused. Aggressively.
By the time her system announced the end of the workday, her head ached and her eyes burned like she had personally offended them. Still, she finished everything assigned to her.
Every file.
Every report.
Perfect.
When she finally shut down her computer, she released a long breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding.
Just leave, she told herself. Go home. Eat something normal. Watch something stupid. Forget today ever happened.
"Kira Ellis."
She froze.
Oh no.
That was Milo's voice.
Kira turned slowly.
Milo stood outside her office, posture straight, expression calm in the unsettling way of someone who never panicked and probably caused panic for a living.
"Yes?" Kira asked, already bracing herself.
"You are to come with me," Milo said. "Mr. Leo wishes to see you."
Her stomach dropped somewhere near her shoes.
"Did I do something wrong?" she asked carefully.
"That will be discussed upstairs."
Which was corporate language for yes, but with suspense.
Kira nodded, grabbed her bag, and followed.
The elevator ride felt longer than usual. The floor numbers climbed higher. The air grew colder, heavier, like the building itself had opinions about her life choices.
When the doors opened, Kira stepped onto a floor that felt… offended by her presence…too quite. Like even sound had signed a non-disclosure agreement.
Milo stopped in front of a large glass door.
"Wait here," she said, and went inside alone.
Kira stood straight, hands clasped in front of her, heart pounding so loudly she was fairly certain it qualified as workplace noise pollution.
After a moment, the door opened again.
"You may enter."
Leo sat behind his desk.
Neat suit, perfect posture. No blood. No violence. No evidence of hallway-dragging incidents. If not for memory, Kira would have assumed she'd hallucinated the whole thing.
"Is… is something wrong?" she asked, though she already knew the answer.
"Yes," Leo replied calmly. "Several things."
That was somehow worse than yelling.
"Sit."
She sat.
"You entered a restricted area today," Leo said. "You ignored direct instructions."
"I know," Kira said quickly. "I'm sorry."
"That is not an apology," he replied. "That is a fact."
She swallowed. "It was not deliberate. I just wanted to help"
"That was not your responsibility."
"He was bleeding," she said softly.
Leo's jaw tightened.
"You put yourself in danger," he said. "This building is not safe for someone like you."
"Someone like me?" she asked.
"You are not staff. You are not trained. You do not understand how things work here."
Her hands clenched in her lap. What does that even mean? she wondered. Are they some kind of corporate mafia? Do they… eliminate people?
"I understand," she said carefully, "but someone was injured."
Silence followed.
Leo leaned forward slightly, resting his hands on the desk.
"You should have left," he said. "You should have called security."
"There was no one around," she replied. "And I couldn't just walk away."
"That instinct will get you into trouble," Leo said flatly.
She looked up. "Is that a threat?"
"No," he replied. "It is advice."
She met his gaze. "Then why keep me here? Why bring an outsider into a place where people get hurt and no one explains anything?"
Leo looked away briefly.
"You are here to audit accounts," he said. "Nothing else."
Another silence.
"You will not speak to Kobi again," Leo said.
Her eyes widened. "I didn't go to speak to him. I found him by mistake, injured and helpless."
"That is not for you to judge." He said blankly.
"I can't leave people helpless," she said before her brain could apply the brakes.
Leo's expression hardened.
"You talk too much," he said. "I warned you earlier. I don't like interruptions. And Kobi is not what you think."
"But I just wanted to help," she asked quietly. "Was that wrong?"
The question hung in the air.
"Yes," Leo said.
That single word hit harder than a full lecture.
She nodded slowly.
"You will finish your audit," Leo continued. "You will remain on assigned floors. You will not wander. You will not interfere."
"And if I see someone hurt again?"
"Then you leave," he said. "Immediately."
Her chest tightened. "Just like that?"
"Yes. Understand?"
"Yes," she said.
"Good. This is the last time we discuss this. I do not like repeated faulty behavior. You may leave now."
Kira stood and turned..still shaken, still unbalanced and took one step too many.
She did not see the vase that had apparently been sitting there since the dawn of civilization.
She absolutely did not plan to meet the vase.
Her foot clipped the base.
Cling!
Thump!
The sound echoed beautifully.
The vase shattered.
Kira followed it to the floor.
Silence.
Her small, soft body lay sprawled like a fallen hero whose only enemy was gravity.
Leo stared.
How… how did she manage to do this in under a second?
The door opened.
Milo entered.
She looked at the broken vase.
Kira on the floor.
Kira attempting to sit up and recover dignity that had already exited the room.
Milo folded her hands and waited, expression blank, as if this were part of the daily schedule.
Leo rubbed his temple.
Kira scrambled to her feet, face red like a ripe apple. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to. I'll pay for it. I swear. I'll…."
She bent down to gather the broken pieces and promptly cut her finger…."ahhh"
Perfect, absolutely perfect.
"You may leave now," Leo said calmly but firmly. "It's enough for one day."
"Yes, yes," Kira nodded frantically. "I'm really sorry."
"I'll pay for the vase," she added.
Milo said flatly, "Then you will have to give your entire life."
Kira froze.
Leo sighed. "Milo, please take her outside. I am getting a headache and send someone to clean it up"
"Understood."
Kira left hurriedly without looking back.
⸻
Later that evening, Kobi lay stretched across a couch in one of the company's private medical rooms, staring at the bandage tied by Kira.
Leo said lazily, "can you stop looking at it like that? Just throw it."
"She is just a clumsy human," Leo replied.
"So are we," Kobi grinned.
Leo did not respond.
"The smell of blood didn't affect her," Kobi continued. "She didn't faint. Didn't scream."
"She interfered," Leo said.
"She cared," Kobi corrected.
"Stay away from her," Leo said. "She is not normal."
Kobi laughed. "You sound worried."
"I have to," Leo said.
"For her?" Kobi asked. "Or for yourself?"
Leo said nothing.
⸻
That night, Kira sat on her bed, shoes still on, lights off.
She felt cold. Nothing helped…not the blanket, not logic, not breathing exercises from questionable internet articles.
How did this happen?
Oh God.
I just want to dig a hole and live there forever.
How am I going to pay for the vase? Should I call my boss? Should I confess before they complain? What do I even say….."Hellooooo, sir, today I tripped into corporate doom"?
Her thoughts spiraled.
Why me? Why always me? What crime did I commit in a past life to earn this?
"They're just people," she told herself.
"Powerful, strange, dangerous people… but still people."
Yet the memory of blood, strength, and silence refused to leave her.
She lay back and closed her eyes.
Tomorrow, she thought. Just survive tomorrow.
I'll call Mr. Lucas in the morning.