Hundreds of thousands of screens lit up across the city, across every city, at the exact moment the previous night's TV broadcasts finished uploading to the internet, at the exact moment the edited cuts of the live transmission started circulating through group chats, and at the exact moment the first person with an anonymous account on a rumor forum decided to post the uncensored video.
Uncensored.
Because television, yes, television had censored it.
Television, to comply with the content council's regulations, had put a black square over the white-haired girl's torso every time she appeared on camera, and a blurred strip over the lower part.
The black square and the blurred strip had lasted the roughly ninety seconds the girl had been on camera before she escaped.
But TV wasn't the only one who had recorded.
There had been the reporter with the tight ponytail.
There had been the cameraman with headphones.
And there had also been every bystander with a phone standing behind the police cordon at that moment.
Fifty people with fifty phones, pointed at the same scene, recording from fifty different angles, at fifty different quality levels, with zero interest in slapping black squares over anything.
And all those videos, within hours, were on the internet.
All of them.
In slow motion.
Zoomed in.
With epic music playing over them.
On the biggest forum on the internet, someone had opened a thread at three in the morning with the title: [NIGHT VIGILANTE APPEARS AT PORTAL - UNCENSORED - MEGA THREAD], and that thread, by seven in the morning, already had eighteen thousand replies.
random_user_42: Bros, my eyes aren't enough. Did you see the angle from 2:14? The one filmed from above the Channel 7 news van. You can see EVERYTHING.
RDguy: No, you can see NOTHING.
random_user_42: What do you mean you can see nothing?
RDguy: Look closely. The jacket is in shreds, yes. The shirt is blown out, yes. The shorts scorched. But at the end of the day, the clothes always fall exactly where they need to fall. They never let you see anything important. NEVER.
RDguy: I've paused the video on twenty different frames and there's not one frame where you actually see anything. It's like the universe itself is censoring her.
unlicensed_hunter: You're losing it, bro.
RDguy: I'm NOT losing it. Look at 1:47. She crouches to sweep Cya's leg. In that frame, in that pose, those clothes should NOT cover anything. And still they cover. Explain that to me.
unlicensed_hunter: You're right. What the hell?!
WhiteMoon: Guys, guys. Wait. Wait. I have a theory.
WhiteMoon: What if that isn't her destroyed clothes?
WhiteMoon: What if that IS her new look?
WhiteMoon: Think about it. The clothes always fall in the same spot. The tears fall the same way from every angle. The white strip of the bra shows up in every frame in exactly the same position. What if that's her combat outfit? What if that's an aesthetic chosen on purpose?
unlicensed_hunter: Wait. Wait, wait, wait.
unlicensed_hunter: Oh my god.
unlicensed_hunter: She's a genius.
RDguy: SHE'S NOT A GENIUS. She's a girl who was half-naked escaping from a portal.
WhiteMoon: That's what YOU think. I say it's a look.
RDguy: SHE'S A HALF-NAKED GIRL.
WhiteMoon: IT'S A LOOK.
And so, the thread kept going.
Eighteen thousand replies.
Then twenty-five thousand.
Then forty thousand.
Then the replies branched off into other spinoff threads. Themed threads. Threads by camera angle. Threads by outfit. Threads by bra color. Threads by theory.
And halfway through the morning, someone opened the thread that was going to change the direction of the conversation.
[user_lost_at_sea]: Guys, one second. ONE SECOND. Did you see the part before the transformation? The part where Cya grabs her in midair?
[user_lost_at_sea]: She wasn't in human form before. She was a bat.
[user_lost_at_sea]: A BAT.
WhiteMoon: It's true! Look at the part where Cya uses the wind technique! There was a bat floating in front of her hand!
unlicensed_hunter: Somebody zoom in on the bat.
RDguy: Already did. Zoomed in.
RDguy: [image attached]
RDguy: That bat is... okay, it's a small bat. Black. With slightly crooked wings. With little bright red eyes. And with... oh no.
RDguy: With a little face.
RDguy: With a little face that...
WhiteMoon: Right?
RDguy: It's cute.
unlicensed_hunter: IT'S VERY CUTE.
[user_lost_at_sea]: IT'S SUPER CUTE.
And in that exact instant, in some corner of the internet, an anonymous artist opened their drawing tablet and started sketching the first kawaii version of the Night Vigilante's bat. And in another corner, another artist started making the first chibi version. And in another corner, another one started putting the bat's little face onto messaging stickers.
And by noon, a post on the country's most popular social network had two million reactions.
The post said:
[DID YOU KNOW A TEENY-TINY BAT LIKE THIS COULD BE A HOT GIRL? Science still can't explain the phenomenon of the Night Vigilante. Here we have an image of the bat (real) taken by a civilian from angle A, and on the right, an image of the human form (also real) taken by Channel 7. Both are the same person. Nobody knows how. Nobody knows why. But it's real. Sources: you can verify it yourself with the newscast broadcasts. #NightVigilante #BatGirl #TuesdayTheories]
The comments were chaos.
"I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT ADORABLE LITTLE THING IS A GIRL!"
"I'm adopting her. I don't care that she's also a girl. I'm adopting her in any form."
"Somebody make a plushie of the bat ALREADY."
"I'm already making one. Three colors. Preorder on my profile."
"Is the girl single?"
"BRO, SHE'S A FUGITIVE HUNTER."
"So? Is she single?"
"..."
"Answer."
The memes weren't just about the human body anymore. Now the memes also included the bat. The bat with a tie. The bat with glasses. The bat drinking coffee. The bat with a "didn't come to work today" face. The bat hanging upside down from a branch, with a little sign that said "good morning."
A phenomenon.
A total, absolute, unstoppable phenomenon that had exploded in less than twelve hours and that at this point nobody could shut off anymore.
◇◆◇
In the biggest suite on the top floor of a very expensive hotel in the city, sitting on a blue velvet armchair, with her legs crossed and a tablet lit up on her lap, was Cya.
Cya was wearing a bone-colored silk pajama set. Her black hair fell loose over her shoulders, without the tight ponytail she'd worn during the press conference, and her red eyes shone faintly in the light of the screen.
And she was giving likes.
Very slowly. Very methodically. With the calm of a person doing important work.
Cya slid her finger.
A photo of the Night Vigilante mid-leap over the asphalt, with her white hair flowing back and her shredded clothes fluttering dramatically. The photo was a side shot from Channel 4's camera, with high contrast and an angle that gave the girl's figure a fairly noticeable silhouette.
Cya looked at it for a full second and gave it a like.
Tap.
She slid her finger again.
A photo of the bat, zoomed all the way in, with its bright little red eyes and its wings slightly open. The bat had a face so tiny, so round, that it looked almost cartoonish.
Cya looked at it and gave it a like.
Tap.
She slid again.
A short video, three seconds long, of the moment the girl had stopped and turned to face Cya. In the video, the girl had ragged breath, her white hair falling over one eye, and her lips slightly parted. The video was in slow motion.
Cya watched it.
She watched it twice.
And gave it a like.
Tap.
And like that, without hurry, without exaggerated gestures, with a flat face and with her fingers moving barely at all, Cya was making her way down the main forum thread, leaving her trail of silent approval on every post where the Night Vigilante looked especially good.
Tap, tap, tap.
And there, in the silence, someone knocked at the door.
Knock, knock, knock.
Cya didn't put down the tablet. She lowered it slightly, onto her lap, with the screen still lit and still showing a zoomed-in photo of the bat.
"Come in," she said, in a flat voice.
The door opened and in came a young girl, roughly Cya's age, with the Hogwarts guild uniform perfectly pressed and a leather folder tucked under her arm. She had her chestnut hair pulled up in a tight bun, and small glasses resting on the bridge of her nose.
"With your permission, Leader Cya," the girl greeted, tilting her head slightly in a brief bow. "I bring the report from the reconnaissance unit."
"Go ahead, Elena."
Elena walked to the center of the room, stopped three paces from the armchair, and opened the leather folder with an efficient motion.
Cya, meanwhile, still had the tablet lit on her lap. She slid her finger while Elena spoke.
Tap.
"The team entered the portal at four-fifteen in the morning," Elena began, in that calm, clear voice she had practiced for years. "The interior corresponds to a frozen world, with minimal vegetation and reduced visibility due to fog. We didn't detect any structural anomaly in the immediate environment around the portal. No traps or visible hostile presence in the first two hundred meters of the perimeter."
Cya nodded without looking up.
Tap.
"However," Elena continued, "the team found several beast corpses within a short radius of the portal. Twelve giant wolves, with signs of injuries from a cold blade, from explosive magic, and from blunt impact."
Tap.
Cya raised an eyebrow, barely, without taking her eyes off the tablet.
"The wolves were dead before our team arrived," Elena continued. "The experts calculate the deaths happened approximately thirty to fifty minutes before the team crossed. And the wounds are... consistent with the combat patterns of the Night Vigilante. Very consistent."
Tap.
Cya nodded again.
"Also," Elena continued, "the experts tracked a second signal. Approximately one kilometer from the portal, in a northeasterly direction, they found the remains of a fire that had been improvised against a dead tree. When the fire burned out on its own, it left ash marks pointing precisely toward an area of the terrain we hadn't explored."
Tap.
"We sent a group to that area," Elena said.
Cya slid her finger. Another like.
"And they found a large quantity of useful resources. Mineral veins, slow-growing medicinal plants, some minor creatures that can be used for lab testing, and... a very dense energy trail much further in. The sensitive hunters on the team identified it as a possible presence of the portal boss."
Tap.
"Our estimate is that in two or three weeks, with proper preparation, we can execute a full operation. Extract the resources, defeat the boss, and seal the portal with minimal losses."
Tap.
Elena closed the folder.
"Those are the updates, Leader Cya."
Silence.
Cya was still looking at the tablet. She slid her finger one more time, very slowly, gave another like, and only then raised her red eyes to Elena.
"Good," Cya said, in that flat voice.
Elena nodded, waited two seconds in case there was any immediate order, and when she saw Cya didn't say anything more, she asked the official question.
"Any other instruction on your part, Leader?"
Silence.
Cya lowered the tablet to the side of the armchair, onto the blue velvet, with the screen still lit up, now showing a photo where the Night Vigilante appeared vaulting over the railing at a particularly favorable angle.
Cya looked at it a second longer, with an expression that wasn't a smile but wasn't entirely her usual flat face either.
And she answered.
"Yes."
"Go ahead, Leader."
"I want the hotel kitchen to prepare as many sandwiches as possible."
Elena blinked.
"...Sandwiches, Leader?"
"Sandwiches."
"...What kind?"
"All kinds. Vegetarian. Chicken. Ham and cheese. Roast beef. Tuna. Egg. Vegetable. Have them prepare a large quantity for a person with a big appetite."
Elena nodded slowly, without taking her eyes off Cya.
"...Understood, Leader. And by when do you need them?"
"Now."
"...Now?"
"Now."
Elena blinked once more.
"...If I may ask, Leader Cya. Just to make sure the logistics are appropriate. Who are the sandwiches for?"
Silence.
Cya looked at her with that flat face and answered, with the most neutral voice Elena had heard in her entire career at the guild leader's side.
"I'm going to pay a visit to someone."
Silence.
"...Understood, Leader Cya. Who are you visiting? It's to coordinate the vehicle, the accompanying team, and the corresponding security measures."
Cya tilted her head slightly to one side. She moved her left hand slightly to tuck a strand of black hair behind her ear.
And she answered.
"It's confidential."
Elena blinked.
"...Confidential?"
"Confidential."
"...Understood, Leader Cya."
Elena did a slight bow, closed the folder with a professional gesture, and turned to head for the door. When she already had her hand on the knob, she stopped for a second. Just a second. And without turning fully, she asked, in a much lower voice than the one she had used throughout the whole conversation.
"...Shall we also prepare something to drink?"
Cya, without taking her eyes off the tablet she had already lifted back onto her lap, answered.
"Yes. Have them prepare juice. And water. And some sweet cookies too, just in case."
"...Understood, Leader."
Elena opened the door and walked out. The door closed behind her with a soft click.
And Cya, alone again on the blue velvet armchair, in the silk pajamas and with the tablet lighting up her face with that bluish glow, slid her finger across the screen one more time.
Tap.
Another like.
Tap.
Another one.
Tap.
And in the silence of the room, so quietly it was almost inaudible, Cya smiled.
A little.
Just a little.