As Helios strolled through the quiet streets of Radiant Garden, the sun had dipped low, casting an e-pink glow over the city. He was lost in thought about his ret enters with Isa, Lea, and Cid, sidering how his new bonds were slowly tying him to Radiant Garden, when something small and fast barreled into him. A soft gasp and a stumble, and he looked down to see a little girl sprawled on the ground, looking up at him with wide, teary eyes.

  The girl was young, with striking violet-blue eyes and dark red hair, the kind of hair that looked like fire in the waning light. She wore a simple white shirt with tiny blue flowers and a delicate pink skirt that swayed with every movement, plete with rge, round shoes that seemed to swallow her small feet. She looked ready to cry, her lip trembling as she rubbed one scraped knee.

  Helinized her instantly. This was Kairi, one of the Princesses of Heart, the same girl who would one day be closely tied to Sora, the keybde wielder whose journey would eventually intersect with Helios's own. Knowing how much of an impact she would have on future events, he k down beside her, extending his hand in a f gesture.

  “Hey there, are you okay?” he asked gently.

  Kairi sniffled, looking up at him with watery eyes before nodding, though her voice wavered as she answered. “Y-Yeah. I’m okay… I just wasn’t looking where I was going.”

  Helios offered her a reassuring smile, taking her hand and helpio her feet. “That’s alright. You just have to be careful, or you might end up hurting yourself.” He brushed a few specks of dust from her apron. “Are you lost? Do you need help getting home?”

  Kairi shook her head, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. “No, I know where home is,” she said softly, her small voice sounding both determined and shy.

  “Well, that’s good to hear,” Helios replied, his tone light. “Just be careful on your way, alright? It’ll be dark soon.”

  Kairi gave him a grateful smile and nodded. “Thank you, mister.” She started to turn, theated, looking back. “Um, sain for bumping into you!”

  With that, she started running again, this time more cautiously, her little feet pattering against the stoh. Helios couldn’t help but smile as he watched her, and when she looked bace more, he raised a hand, reminding her with a grin, “Watch your step!”

  Once Kairi disappeared around the er, Helios tinued his walk back toward Merlin’s cottage, but Kurai’s voice sounded in his mind almost instantly, its toinged with mild reproach.

  “You simply let her go?” Kurai inquired, a touch of disappoi evident. “That girl is a Princess of Heart. Why not make a stronger e to the girl of light? It could be… advantageous.”

  Helios shook his head slightly. “Kairi might be important, but she’s pretty useless until the endgame. There’s nothing to be gained from her right now. Besides, a e to her Nobody, Naminé, would be more useful in the long run. Besides, Kairi’s just a kid. I’ll gain nothing by cozying up to her now.”

  Kurai hummed thoughtfully, though there was a note of quiet approval in its silence.

  As Helios resumed his walk, he mulled over the fact that Kurai was talking to him this meant he was free to act. It was a rare opportunity, and it gave him the ce he o make his move. He stopped a few blocks just short of the cottage and gnced around to ensure no one was near, then opened a Dark Corridor, stepping through its swirling darkness and arriving instantly at the very boratory where he and Cid had retly repaired the puter sole.

  The room was dimly lit, with only the soft hum of maery to break the silehe puter sole loomed before him, its ss dark and waiting. Helios moved swiftly, searg for any bnk drives or ste devices. His eyes fell on a sleek, unused hard drive on a nearby shelf—perfect for what he needed. He quickly ected it to the puter.

  The s flickered to life, prompting him for a password. Helios smirked, typing in the password he knew well: the names of the seven Princesses of Heart, carefully entered in a specific order. It worked, and he was granted full access to the system.

  His fingers flew across the keyboard, log and initiating the download of the program he sought: Space Paranoids. inally designed as aing system created by EN and adapted by Ahe Wise, Space Paranoids was used to store vital data for Radiant Garden’s maintenance as well as Ansem and his pupil’s personal research. But it was much more than just a system—within it, Helios knew, y the means to access all of Ansem and Xehanort’s most sensitive research, including data on the creation of Emblem Heartless and other secrets stored within this digital world.

  As the files transferred, he looked around, ensuring that he remained ued. With the hard drive slowly filling with data, he knew he’d be standing here for a while, vulnerable to being discovered. He held his breath every time a distant sound echoed down the corridors, his mind sharp and senses heightened. After nearly an hour, the final file was copied, and the transfer was plete.

  Helios immediately disected the hard drive, cheg it briefly to ehe files were intact before accessing the puter’s security systems. He brought up the footage from the b’s security cameras aiculously deleted every frame that showed him, making sure his presence remained a secret. Satisfied, he powered down the sole, restored everything to its inal state, and teleported back to the spot he had been before entering the Dark Corridor.

  As he walked away from the se, feeling a surge of satisfa at his successful infiltration, Kurai’s voice sounded again, brimming with curiosity.

  “What exactly did you take from that pce, Helios?”

  Helios gnced around, still alert despite the success of his mission. “A program, and some rather iing research data. Space Paranoids holds more than just maintenanformation—it’s a record of Ansem’s research, the same research that eventually led to the creation of Heartless. That data alone will be invaluable.”

  Kurai’s voice was silent for a moment, then it spoke again, intrigued. “And urpose does that serve in your pns?”

  Helios smirked, enjoying the opportunity to expin his fht. “It’s a part of the bigger picture, Kurai. If I uand how Emblem Heartless are created and use that knowledge, I’ll have more trol over the darkness wheime es. Besides, having Ansem’s research is a major advantage. No one else will have access to what I now possess for quite a while.”

  Kurai hummed with approval. “Ah, a calcuted move indeed. Information is always an asset that could prove quite useful in the days to e.”

  As Helios approached Merlin’s cottage, he took a steadying breath, shifting his expression to one of casual calm. He couldn’t afford to raise suspi if there were any lingering wards or spells that might detect his dark magic. Satisfied with his facade, he ehe cottage aled down at Merlin’s puter to review the data he’d stolen. It was funny that a wizard had such a thing but he did; most likely Cid installed it despite his reluce.

  Over the few hours, Helios meticulously bed through the files on the hard drive, anizing and skimming through the vast database Ansem had piled. It tained everything from blueprints for various maes to formus and logs, the tter detailing each experiment with uling precision. Some of the entries hi Xehanort’s hand iain experiments, and though Helios already knew what this research would lead to, seeing it doted in such ical detail made it all the more real.

  “Fasating, isn’t it?” Kurai’s voice murmured, its tone sharp with intrigue. “This Ansem’s work is quite ambitious, b on the monstrous to his fellow ma he and his apprentices plow forward with little regard for the sequences especially sihey’re being maniputed by this Xehanort person. Ohey succeed their creation will be a bea drawing the darkness here.”

  Helios nodded, aowledging Kurai’s point. “Power and knowledge often blind people to the cost of their as. But that same blindness be useful to us. If we py this right, this information will give us an edge.”

  Helios's gaze drifted to a particur file beled “Project Grid.” He k was the bridge to the digital world Ansem had copied and altered, a world that held its own dangers and opportunities. However, accessing it would require specialized equipment that was located in the castle’s deeper boratories.

  “Once I build those maes, we’ll have the means to enter Space Paranoids itself. A virtual spa which I alter the programming as I please; it might be useful as a headquarters,” he mused aloud.

  Kurai responded, its voice smooth. “Indeed. A digital world would be quite a fortress in which most wouldn’t be able to access.”

  Helios shut the hard drive down and tucked it safely into a hidden partmeh a floorboard in his room, a precaution he deemed necessary. His gaze shifted out the window, where the night had fully taken hold of Radiant Garden. With Merlin gone, he had mao take another critical step forward in his pn.

  He would o start earning some moo buy something like a chest in which he could pce the hard drive in. While it was somewhat hidden he would feel safe until he pced it inside a chest and locked it with the keybde. Doing so would seal it away until opened by another keybde. He leaned back, closing his eyes briefly to gather his thoughts. Each piece was falling into pce, yet he remained mindful of the dangers.