LOVE.exe

XII

DAY 297

There aren't many animals roaming around in winter, Ai quickly realized. He sat alone on a park bench one morning, eyes analyzing his surroundings for any wildlife he could use as a guinea pig. After an hour of waiting, he finds his target.

Hopping tree to tree before descending and burrowing through the snow is a tiny, fluffy squirrel. It must have run out of food from its storage and is looking for something to eat. Luckily for Ai, this is exactly what he prepared for.

He approaches the squirrel slowly, making sure not to startle it with his sudden proximity. When he's close enough, he kneels and holds out a hand full of nuts and seeds. The squirrel, realizing Ai is not a threat, hops over cautiously, tail swishing and nose twitching.

The squirrel eagerly takes the nuts and seeds, munching happily until it is full, then it proceeds to fill its cheeks for later meals. When content, the squirrel hops away, trudging through the white powder before returning to the tree it emerged from.

Ai watches, with his hands in his pockets, as the squirrel climbs the tree with its little claws, then proceeds to collapse halfway up, falling all the way down into the snow.

It worked. The food Ai gave to the squirrel was laced with the sleeping syrup he created, and it functioned just as he planned it.

Ai swoops in, scooping up the squirrel in his hands just to make sure it is still alive. As he suspected, the squirrel seems perfectly fine, just locked in a deep sleep.

Now cradling the squirrel in his arms, Ai takes refuge in his car where, in the backseat, there is a semi-sterile environment in preparation for a chip implantation.

Throwing on some gloves and laying out amateur surgical equipment, Ai shaves off the fur from the squirrel's hind leg and cuts the skin layer. With stead precision, Ai plants the tracking chip, then swiftly sews up the cut. The chip is smaller than Ai's fingernail, so he doubts the squirrel will be bothered by its presence. After applying a numbing agent over the fresh wound and bandaging it up, Ai carries the squirrel back outside and lays it down on the bench before returning to his car alone.

From a new phone he bought for this sole purpose, Ai activates the chip, now receiving precise information about the squirrel's location. Perfect, that's a second success.

Ai waits patiently for the squirrel to wake up. Because the dose was small, the effect of the medicant wears off in about an hour. Ai observes as the location dot marking the squirrel moves around for a moment, going in circles as if confused, before finding its way and scurrying along its path.

It's still working, so Ai puts it to the greater test. Ai drives as far as he can into the city, smirking with glee when he sees the tracking is still working.

Perfect. Everything is going perfectly.

Of course, Ai doesn't plan to use the tracker on you unless it is necessary. But as for now, having that option available gives him a sense of ease.

Ai is getting closer to having you all to himself.

That test is done just in time for him to drop by Kofe's Ramen to meet up with Natsuki. For the first time, Ai arrives before Natsuki, so he goes ahead and orders some ramen before occupying their usual table, eyes occasionally checking his phone to confirm that the squirrel is still being tracked.

After some time, Natsuki arrives. Ai observes from afar, admiring how natural he is at keeping a low profile and fitting in with the rest of the patrons. He stands in line for his ramen, making no eye contact and maintaining a casual disposition.