Black Lotus

📱• • •📲

Ivelle pinched the bridge of her nose, exhaling sharply. "If one more thing happens today, I swear, I might just throw myself out of the window."

"No... You won't."

"Well if I do... I just know you and Eirik will be the first to stop me." — "While Theodore, won't think twice to join me out of the window."

A soft chuckle came from the other end of the call. "Ah... You two..." Jihye's voice warm and patient—the same voice that kept Ivelle from snapping on a daily basis. "No, please no..."

"I'm loosing my mind..." Ivelle groaned, slumping back in her bed. "I just got out of a meeting with the heads, and now I have to deal with this ridiculous 'Red Drop' thing."

"The Red Drop Mystery?" — "It's been all over the housing chat. Is it serious?"

Ivelle, letting out a tired sigh. "They think it's a prank for now, but you know how this school is. One second, it's 'just a joke,' and the next, we're putting out actual fires."

Jihye hummed in agreement. "You sound exhausted."

"I'm worn out." Ivelle admitted. "And that meeting? Both Kuroren and that new kid were something."

A pause. "Tell me more girl..."

Ivelle took a moment. Technically, it wasn't exactly public knowledgeable, possibly should be classified. Then again... this was Jihye. Her Moon Ji Hye. The one person she trusted enough to hold all her unspoken thoughts. And she was one of heads of the council—

So it wasn't really breaking a rule to spill some. Right?

Ivelle lowered her voice. "...Well, you didn't hear this from me,"

...~•~...

The conference room carried an air of quiet authority. The table, sleek and polished, reflected the holographic projections hovering above it. They sat attentively, backs straight, listening as the school heads led the discussion.

Ivelle Rowena Schwarzenberg sat beside Aegis Dmitry Zorin, the Head of Security. Across them there's Zhen Yuxuan, the Council President. Though Ivelle held the title of Deputy Head of Security, she felt out of place in this meeting. It wasn't every day that student council members were summoned to sit before the heads of the institution.

Beside Yuxuan, an empty seat glowed faintly with blue light. Katarina Vespera Iliescu, the Vice President, appeared there as a holographic projection, her image flickering slightly as the connection stabilized. She was still in her home country, Moldova, far from campus, but distance didn't mean much when technology bridged the gap. Her expression was sharp, focused—just as if she were physically in the room.

"Connection stable. Proceed," Karin's voice came through, clear despite the digital transmission.

...~•~...

📱• • •📲

🇰🇷 "Karin joined?"

🇩🇪 "Well it's 2032, technology bridged the gap..."

🇰🇷 "I see..." — "It's a good try for the new models."

🇩🇪 "Mhm, and it went well... But I didn't get to study the hologram too much, cause..."

...~•~...

"3 days ago [codename] Kuroren first notice possible signs of an intruder." one of the heads began, his voice steady and composed. "And has been observing and moving on their own since then."

The screen flickered, displaying a timestamp: 09:17 AM.

"Today, this was when Kuro first reported it,"

Aegis, Ivelle, and Katarina listened as Yuxuan nodded slightly.

"Kuro identified the threat before the council was formally informed, Code Yellow, at 15:03."

Another head, an older man with sharp eyes, tapped his fingers against the table. "For nearly 63 hours, the Black Lotus was actively tracking something—or someone—without security intervention."

Yuxuan spoke under his breath with a measured tone. "That's in character for the Black Lotus."

The holographic screen shifted, and a new timestamp appeared: 16:45 – Code Orange Initiated.

Images filled the display.

A rooftop shot. A faint impact mark on a wall. A close-up of near-invisible, dust-like hair fragments.

A murmur passed between the heads.

🇷🇺 "This is what confirmed the escalation, sir?" Aegis asked in a calm wave.

"Yes. This wasn't speculation anymore. This was physical proof of a real intrusion."

Ivelle swallowed. Her anxiety flaring up.

An intruder. That meant someone had broken through without triggering security, possibly bypassing a system that was constantly updated and reinforced.

The heads give them room to speak.

🇲🇩 "This is no ordinary trespasser."

🇨🇳 "If someone infiltrated this island without alerting our systems, they either replaced someone who was supposed to be here... or they are highly skilled beyond our expectations."

🇷🇺 (exhaled) "And now, we have a confirmed physical altercation."

...~•~...

A tense silence filled the room as the latest update flashed across the screen.

Timestamp: 17:13 – Last Report Received.

"None of the dispatched teams found any more trace of the intruder.”

🇨🇳 "So... we had every boy security team deployed, and we still have nothing?"

One of the school heads, a sharp-eyed woman, spoke. "This confirms two things. First, the intruder is either exceptionally skilled or already gone. Second..." she paused, looking at them carefully, "this was a valuable test run."

🇷🇺 "Of course. Kuroren knew the teams wouldn't catch the intruder."

🇩🇪 "Right." — "The Black Lotus set them up."

🇲🇩 "He played the situation out to its best possible use. Dispatching teams—not as a capture mission, but as a real-world test. A training exercise in the middle of a crisis."

Their first emergency deployment after training. They were all still new. No matter how much they trained, how much they studied... this was the first real thing.

Ivelle glanced down at her hands, tightening into fists in her lap.

This wasn't a test-run in a controlled environment. This was real, and if the real thing ever happened again, it might not be as "manageable" as today.

🇷🇺 Aegis exhaled. "Kuroren was calculating."

🇲🇩 Katarina nodded "Even with an unknown threat, he's still thinking two steps ahead."

🇨🇳 Yuxuan leaned back, arms crossed. "That's why the Black Lotus is the Black Lotus."

...~•~...

Another set of images appeared on the screen.

Yuxuan, Katarina, Aegis, and Ivelle leaned in slightly as the sharp, grainy footage played—a boy walking calmly through the area that now had been marked as a Code Orange zone.

🇲🇩 "That's... a new student?"

🇩🇪 "Kusuma?"

The head of security nodded, fingers interlocked.

🇷🇺 "Edward Aryasatya..."

🇨🇳 "...Kusuma." Yuxuan completes. "The new ones shouldn't be underestimated."

🇷🇺 "Indeed."

🇲🇩 "You know him? Zorin?"

🇷🇺 (nods calmly) "A young prodigy."

...~•~...

Edward moved through the scene with too much awareness for a random bystander. His posture, his gaze, the way he walked—measured, calculated.

The same footage replayed, zooming in on Edward's subtle movements. He wasn't just passing by.

🇩🇪 "He was analyzing," she murmured.

🇲🇩 "Looks like he found something... He's sampling it."

🇷🇺 "...Making deductions."

🇨🇳 "Looks like it." — "And we don't know how much he saw." — "But from the way he moved, he was already putting things together."

A brief silence.

🇨🇳 "If the info I got was valid, his mother is an active private investigator."

"True." The lead of the meeting simply replied. "And he's been involved in cases for a long time."

🇨🇳 "That explains his actions."

🇷🇺 "So, do we keep an eye on him?"

"Children..." A soothing wise voice cut through the tension in the room. "We already are."

...~•~...

📱• • •📲

🇰🇷 "Wait... GP was in the room!?"

🇩🇪 "No, not really." — "GP monitored the meeting from afar." — "We didn't notice until it's almost the end of it...I feel like a fool for not noticing earlier."

🇰🇷 "Okay, this is either that serious... Or very intergueing if GP involves himself."

🇩🇪 "That's why my brain is melting!" — "Between council duties, school work, intruder on the run..." — "And don't get me started with the whole 'Red Drop' thing again."

🇰🇷 "You've handled worse, Evie..."

🇩🇪 "Barely..." — "Cause I had you. My parents... That annoying Theodore you named Hyundae—"

🇰🇷 (chuckles)

🇩🇪 "And now..." (looking at the big jar of paper stars beside her) "Eirik too."

🇰🇷 "And we're all still here for you, Evie." — "Always."

...~•~...

Jihye was still focused on steadying Ivelle when her phone buzzed again. She glanced at the screen—A message from her little sister.

"Hold on," Jihye muttered, pulling the phone away from her ear for a second.

Ivelle, still on the other end of the call, frowned. "Hye? Something up?"

🇰🇷 "I just got some messages... from Jisoo. About the Red Drop thing." — "You think it's related?"

🇩🇪 "I don't know," — "Keep me updated."

Before Ivelle could say more, her phone rang an urgent notice.