The woman in the grey suit, the Auditor, didn't move. She simply adjusted her glasses, and the air around her began to hum with a mathematical precision. Every speck of dust in the room seemed to align itself into perfect rows.
"Asset #4092," she repeated, her voice cutting through the silence like a razor. "You have diverted 40% of your allocated essence to 'repair' this unauthorized girl. According to the Great Blueprint, she was scheduled for 'Total Structural Collapse' by the end of the month. You are interfering with the market value of suffering."
Hana felt a chill that had nothing to do with the temperature. To this woman, her life, her pain, and her dreams were just... numbers.
"Hana is not a statistic," Sora growled, his black ink-like patterns glowing with a fierce indigo light. "She's the cornerstone of a new reality. I've already balanced the ledger. I used my own essence."
The Auditor opened her briefcase. Inside, there were no papers—only glowing golden strings that looked like fibers of light. "Your essence is already depleted, Sora. You are operating on a deficit. If you continue to support her, your own foundation will crumble. Is one 'Broken Doll' worth the erasure of an Architect?"
Sora didn't answer. He looked at Hana, his eyes softening for a fraction of a second. Then, he turned back to the Auditor. "In the world of accounting, sometimes you have to take a loss today to build an empire tomorrow. I'm betting everything on her."
The Auditor sighed, a sound devoid of any emotion. "Very well. Since you refuse to liquidate the asset, we will perform a Stress Test. If she survives the night, we will reconsider her status. If not... she becomes part of the void, and you return to the Department for recalibration."
With a snap of her fingers, the Auditor vanished, leaving behind a ticking sound that seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere. The walls of the room began to vibrate, and the blue neon lights turned a warning shade of red.
"Hana," Sora said, his voice urgent. "The Stress Test has begun. They're going to hit your mind with every failure you've ever feared. You have to stay focused. Remember the CA exam prep? Remember the discipline? Use it. Balance the internal ledger, or they'll tear you apart from the inside."