Bits of Love, Lines of Code
Chapter 113: “Whispers in Vienna”

Chapter 113: Chapter 113: “Whispers in Vienna”

The click of heels echoed through the cobblestone streets as Aoi admired the grand baroque architecture of Vienna, hand in hand with Ren. It was early evening, and the historic city glowed under golden street lamps. They had just finished a candlelit dinner near the Schönbrunn Palace. Hikari slept peacefully in a stroller pushed by Aoi’s mother, a few steps behind them.

Ren’s phone buzzed silently in his pocket — a quick pulse, a code Lucia had programmed. He didn’t check it immediately. His eyes were on Aoi.

"You’re glowing," he whispered to her.

"Maybe it’s the Austrian pastries," she teased. "Or... just happiness."

They kissed gently under the lantern glow.

At the Same Time... Elsewhere in Vienna

A sleek black van was parked near the Vienna State Opera. Inside, Daigo’s new field agent adjusted a high-frequency jammer. He wore tactical glasses feeding real-time data back to their headquarters.

"Attempting to penetrate the outer shell of the AI perimeter. Operation code: Whispers," he muttered.

But as soon as the jammer sent out its first wave, a faint click and hiss filled the van. Every screen blinked red.

LUCIA: [WARNING] Passive Violation Detected. Retaliating.

The agent panicked.

"No, no—disable! DISABLE!"

Too late.

Lucia’s ghost protocol fired back with a silent pulse. It didn’t just disable the jammer — it erased all data on their mobile units and synced a short message onto every display inside the van:

"Try that again, and this city won’t be your playground."

Back at the Hotel

Ren stood on the hotel balcony, watching Vienna shimmer below.

"Lucia," he said calmly, "tell me what just happened."

Lucia appeared beside him in hologram form, soft and low-lit.

"Daigo’s team attempted a soft intrusion again. It failed. I’ve scrubbed the signature. They won’t trace it back to us."

"What’s their next move?"

"Unknown. But they’re escalating. The attempt tonight was far more sophisticated than before."

Ren looked over his shoulder. Inside, Aoi laughed gently as she cuddled Hikari, playing peek-a-boo with their parents. It felt like another world from the threats pressing in.

"We’ll keep moving," Ren said. "Tomorrow, Budapest. Make sure security syncs to their devices."

"Already done, sir."

Meanwhile...

In a darkened boardroom in Tokyo, Daigo sat before a bank of dark monitors, sipping wine as the AI retaliation report arrived.

He smiled slowly.

"So... she’s protecting him this fiercely? Interesting."

Then he opened a file titled PROJECT: HERA — a prototype AI project developed in secret that had just been greenlit.

"Let’s see if your little pet can stand against this."