Zenless Zone Zero: Reawakening.

POV: Belle and Wise

The moment Jin's signal went dead, the room turned colder. Not a word passed between them, but Belle felt it - like gravity had shifted, a crushing weight anchoring them both to the floor. The faint static in the comms line hissed, then cut off entirely.

Belle stood still for a moment, eyes locked on the screen that once bore Jin's vitals. "He's gone dark."

Wise was already typing, pulling up emergency protocols, satellite positioning, BangBoo tracking systems. "Not gone. Just-silent. There's still time."

She watched his hands tremble.

"I can send the Boo," Wise muttered, voice low, almost to himself. "Track movement. Maybe even find the signature of the suits that took him. Could tail them back to wherever they're nesting..."

Belle sat back in her chair, tapping her heel anxiously against the floor. "That's assuming they don't fry the BangBoo on contact. It's a recon Boo, not a miracle worker."

"Still faster than gathering a crew. We send the Boo now, we get answers within the hour. No waiting, no deals, no bodies." His words were sharp, logical. Calculated.

But Belle wasn't convinced.

"Or we do what we know will work." Her voice was firmer than usual. "We gather a strike team. People we trust. People who know how to handle this level of mess. You and I both know how serious this is if Cyn is involved."

Wise paused, hand hovering over the terminal. The cursor blinked, waiting for his next command.

He hated this-choosing between risking time or risking lives. But this wasn't just any operation. This was Jin.

Belle stood up and crossed the room to him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Wise... He's not just some client. He's our friend. We don't leave him in the hands of the monsters who did this to him."

He looked up at her, eyes tired and heavy. "...Nichole?"

Belle nodded. "We call her. We bring in Billy, Anby, and Nekomada too if we have to. We make a plan. Then we send the Boo - to get eyes on the inside before the breach."

Wise leaned back in the chair and exhaled. Slowly.

"...Alright. No half-measures."

He began typing again, this time unlocking the secured comm line.

Belle cracked her knuckles. "Good. Because if Project Cyn thinks they can just snatch him away like a lab rat..."

Her expression darkened.

"...Then they've got another thing coming."

The secure line clicked with a few pulses before stabilizing. On screen, a familiar face popped up-half-shadowed, half-grinning. Nichole.

"Well, well," she said, twirling a pen between her fingers. "Didn't think I'd hear from you two again so soon. Let me guess-this is about your little crystal friend?"

Belle stepped forward, crossing her arms tightly. "Jin's gone dark inside the Hollow. Last thing we heard, he was holding his own. Now? Nothing."

Nichole's grin thinned. "You think he's been grabbed?"

"We don't think. We know," Wise said, pulling up the image of the Project Cyn logo from the hazmat suits-grainy, but clear enough for those who knew what they were looking at.