The son of Pandora Corp.’s CEO was hastily searching through his father’s desk for the keys to his Golden Jaguar aerocar when something crashed through the windows.

His father’s office was on the topmost floor of the building and had laser-proof windows, so it was supposed to be extremely sturdy. But, the windows were easily broken by the intruder.

The first thing he had thought of was that a terrorist had attacked. Or perhaps it was one of those activists that rejected the company’s modus operandi.

The sixteen-years-old boy’s eyes widened as he took notice of the pure white figure standing in the middle of the room, unhurt.

The figure turned around, glancing at the mess she had made.

With a wave of her hand, the windows which had originally been broken were put back together, as if nothing had happened.

The girl, who was now in full view, looked awfully youthful to be a terrorist. Or even an activist, for that matter. She was dressed head to toe in white, and the only thing that was of colour was her pair of golden eyes and petal-like pink lips. Her snowy white hair framed her face perfectly, making her look ethereal.

The boy gaped.

He had never seen someone so beautiful.

Not even those A-list movie actresses and singers were as gorgeous as the girl before him.

Appearing so white and so pure, as if nothing in the world could taint her with their dirty touch.

He was instantly captivated.

“Oh?”

A sweet, tinkling voice sounded.

“How quaint. There is someone here, hm?” The girl directly made eye contact with the frozen boy, smiling faintly.

The boy opened and closed his mouth like a fish. He wanted to speak but nothing came to mind, so he simply stood there, gaping at the ethereal girl.

“Who are you?” The boy finally said. “What are you?”

“Well, now, isn’t that a mystery you’d like to solve.” The girl was still smiling, a tinge of amusement in her eyes. “Have your parents not told you that it is proper manners to introduce yourself first before asking for another’s identity?”

“I-I’m Joseph. Joseph Pandora.”

“Well then, Joseph. Mind if I ask you a favour?”

“W-what is it?”

“Do you know the way to the laboratories?”

“The labs? Yes, I do. But what do you want to do…?”

“Nothing much,” the girl said, giggling. “I just want to borrow it for a bit.”

Joseph who became entranced by the girl’s short laugh nodded absentmindedly, tacitly agreeing to show her the way. He was also curious as to what she wanted to do, anyways.

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Besides, it was after work hours, so not many people was around. He, as the scion of the company, also knew the dangers of bringing an unknown person into the highly confidential lab areas, so he simply planned on bringing her to one of the empty labs that have yet to be cleared out.

There was a lab room on the 50th floor. An experiment was being conducted there for a few years but it did not yield any optimistic results, so his father had ordered the discontinuation of the experiment. Now, the place was closed, but could still be used due to the expensive materials and equipment that was left in the room. Just throwing them away would be a waste, so no one had bothered to do anything about it.

Joseph was one of the few non-workers with the highest authority in the company, so no one questioned what he was doing.

As it was late at night, not many people wandered in the hallways, so they were able to reach the lab quickly.

Joseph pressed his palm against the automated-lock scanner next to the door, successfully accessing the room.

“We’re here,” Joseph whispered with a trace of breathlessness. As the heir of the company, he had never needed to be so secretive inside the company building, but he thought that being sneaky every once in a while was not bad at all; it was rather exhilarating.

Joseph pressed the ‘on’ switch, making all the equipment inside whir to life.

“So, what do you want to do?” Joseph asked, gazing starry-eyed at the white-haired girl.

She answered his question with another question, “do you know how to use these things?” She scanned the room. As expected of a huge corporation; the lab room was like every scientist’s wet dream. All sorts of high-end scientific equipment was loaded into the room.

“I can try,” the boy shrugged. He had seen some of them at school and in his father’s personal lab, so he could probably operate them if he tried.

“That won’t do,” the girl shook her head. “I need a specialist. Do you know anyone who is familiar with these machines?”

“I’m sure there are, wait!” Joseph panicked. He did not want the girl to leave. He still did not know the girl’s name and contact info, so he did not want to part with her yet.

Joseph began to think deeply. Some of the currently-active experiments required 24/7 observation, so there should be some staff who were currently working the night shift. He tapped his bracelet, which doubled as a communication device. Quickly, he dialled the company’s helpline.

Click— “Mr. Joseph, how can I be of your assistance?”

“Uh, yes. I would like to know who’s on night duty. Limit the search to the lab technicians.”

“Alright,” the person on the other line began typing, then stopped. After a few seconds, a list of names had been prepared. “Shall I send it to your bracelet?”

“Yes, please.”

The list was successfully uploaded into his bracelet.

“Is that all, Mr. Joseph?”

“That is all.”

“Please do call again if you need anything. Good evening, Mr. Joseph.”

“Good evening.”

The boy held out his bracelet, then a hologram image of the name list appeared.

“Hm…” He scanned the name list, searching for a familiar name.

“Ah!” Finally, the name of a rather competent technician appeared. A bright orange dot was next to the name, signifying that the person was on break. “Um, this person, you see, is someone I know. He’ll definitely come if I ask.”

Airi nodded, waiting.

Immediately, Joseph directly made a call to the man.

“Young master? Why are you calling me at such a late time?” The other voice asked.

“Fergus, I need your help.”

“Help? Is young master in trouble?!”

“Not exactly…” He glanced at the girl who was currently looking around the room. He saw the girl crash into the CEO’s room and erase any traces of trespassing, as if it was magic. He firmly believed that while it seemed like a dream, she was certainly capable of doing more than that.

Suddenly, the girl in question began to float, inspecting the machines that she could not reach while on ground.

“…!” His heart almost dropped, and he even forgot to answer Fergus’ incessant questions.

“Fergus, I want you to come to Lab No. 503 right now. As soon as possible!” Then, he hung up.

“Wh—“

Fergus, who was on the other line, began to panic at the boy’s urgency. He wondered if something terrible happened, such as someone from a rival company taking the young master hostage…

He shivered. He did not dare to imagine the possibility of that happening. The CEO would raise hell if he knew that his only son was hurt.

The CEO of Pandora Corp., Jude Pandora, was an impossibly intimidating man, after all.

Scared shitless, Fergus who had been eating his overdue dinner abandoned it immediately, rushing towards the appointed location as if he was being chased by rabid dogs.