Sometimes, to destroy a system, you don't need to break it.
You just have to make it believe you're part of it.
After the meeting with the supervisor, many things became clear.
Too clear.
He wasn't just observing. He knew who was digging into the Parameter.
And he knew who was dangerous.
I had become too noticeable.
So — I disappeared.
The next day, I skipped class. Sat in the system archive in Building C.
A place students rarely went.
While the class discussed an upcoming test, I was working.
Every Parameter had a "core." A pulsing center, disguised as a security subroutine.
I didn't hack it.
I became it.
Launched a test protocol that masked my actions as administrative activity.
At minute three — the Parameter "froze."
At minute five — student analytics stopped.
By minute seven — the system initiated self-cleanup, assuming it had hit an anomaly.
I left no trace.
Not even for Aoi.
The next morning, the class felt calm.
Too calm.
Scores weren't changing. No more notifications.
The system was dead.
"Feels quiet," Reiji muttered. "Like the surveillance stopped."
"Maybe it did," I said. "Maybe it was never real."
He smirked, not understanding.
And Aoi…
She looked at me longer than usual.
But said nothing.
On the last page of my notebook, a new entry appeared:
"Parameter: deactivated.
Verification: impossible.
Cause: unknown.
Culprit: none."
No one knew.
No one was supposed to know.
That's exactly how I wanted it.