THE ORBITAL BONDING SYSTEM (OBS)

—Detective Reiya Solen & Doctor Arvan Elric

[Elric Orbital Medical Institute | Observation Chamber – 03:47 Standard Time]

The walls buzzed low with energy-saving current.

A soft bioluminescent strip traced the floor's edge, marking safe zones around surgical bays.

Detective Reiya Solen had been standing for almost an hour. She didn't mind.

Waiting was easier than dreaming.

She leaned against the glass partition, eyes fixed on Carlos Mendez's stasis pod, watching the slow rise and fall of his chest under the regeneration dome.

"You never get used to seeing someone this still," she muttered.

Behind her, the door hissed open.

[Enter: Doctor Elric]

He looked like someone who hadn't sat in twelve hours.

Collar loose. Gloves hanging from his pocket.

A thin layer of data ash on his coat—residue from drone interfaces.

But his voice? Still clinical.

"Detective Solen, I was told you were… insistent."

"I need to speak to Carlos Mendez. Now."

"He's stabilized, not recovered," Elric said. "Waking him prematurely risks neural compression and memory dislocation."

Reiya crossed her arms. "With all due respect, Doctor, a cargo of high-grade ORBs—potential G-ORBs—vanished on a route that should have been secure. And the only man who saw the attack is in your hospital."

Elric sighed and leaned against the rail.

"We pulled out four microshards from his chest cavity. One nicked the pulmonary artery. You want him conscious, but I want him alive."

Reiya hesitated. Then, softer:

"I went to the route myself. Nothing. Clean. Cleaner than military-grade. This wasn't just some hijack. It was orchestrated by a professional who planned not to leave a shadow."

[Aegis Activates]

A low hum signaled the presence of Aegis, Elric's G-ORB.

The orb floated closer, sensing Elric's frustration.

Aegis: "Would consultation aid in investigative strategy?"

Elric blinked. "You're not designed for detective work."

Aegis: "True. But historical memory nodes exist within ancestral logs. Cross-referencing with legacy thought matrices may yield analogous models."

Solen raised an eyebrow. "In English?"

"I might have someone in my bloodline who could think like a detective," Elric translated, tiredly.

[The Ghost Within the Core]

Without further instruction, Aegis pulsed—then emitted a soft chime.

From its iris, a holographic projection bloomed into the space beside them:

A woman in old-gen surgical robes, braided hair coiled tight, eyes sharp as lasers.

Aegis: "Dr. Maren Elric. 3rd Generation. Specialist in neurological mapping and sub-quantum tissue memory. Known for abstract diagnostic synthesis."

Elric's eyes widened.

"She's... speaking?"

"Not quite," Aegis said. "This is a predictive logic frame built on her recorded methods and problem-solving heuristics. Essentially, she's thinking based on what she would think."

The projection turned toward the stasis pod, then toward Reiya.

Dr. Maren (Holo): "Patterns hide in unlikelihood. Where organic trauma maps end, emotional residue remains. Trace the intention, not the data."

Reiya blinked. "Wait—emotional residue?"

Elric turned to Aegis. "Do any of the recovered ORBs—Mendez's Luna included—show neuro-feedback oscillations during the attack?"

Aegis: "Yes. Luna's echo memory spiked during 00:41:16 to 00:42:03. No audio. But residual sensor noise aligns with high-adrenaline patterning—likely emotional imprint."

Solen leaned forward. "Can that be rendered?"

"Not visually. But... we can project the motion pathways Luna recorded while syncing with Mendez. From her position during the event."

[The Trail of Emotion]

Aegis dimmed the room.

A soft map appeared—lines of shifting light in mid-air.

Like wind patterns or trails of heat. But each thread moved with intention—a rhythm of panic, defiance, reaction.

The projection formed a ghostly image:

—A figure diving left.

—Another retreating in practiced steps.

—And finally: a glimmer. A flash of retro-reflective material—likely a stealth suit, just visible for 1.3 seconds in Luna's optical spectrum.

Reiya whispered: "They were cloaked. Partial invisibility tech. No wonder we saw nothing at the site."

She glanced at Elric. "Can we isolate that flash frame?"

"We already did," Aegis replied. "It contains a symbol."

The projection adjusted—bringing the shimmer into view.

A white mark, jagged, curved.

Reiya's breath caught.

"Splicer Ren…"

[Exit Scene — Alliance Formed]

Reiya turned, now fully focused.

"If your G-ORB can project ghosts of geniuses past, and mine can track emotional imprints, we might just have a fighting chance."

Elric smirked, weary but impressed.

"Then we work together. But we don't wake Mendez. Not yet."

She nodded once.

"Let the ghosts guide us."