Chapter 111

Episode 111. Angel (3)

****

“Well, I understand for now. So, there are some measures in place to suppress the Foundation, right?”

“Other than begging, not really…”

“Then we should start by begging enthusiastically.”

“No, what are you talking about? The Foundation must have weaknesses or areas we can negotiate. We should demand what we can first—”

Click, click.

Everyone gathered in the room looked up at the sound of footsteps coming from somewhere. A door darker than coal appeared on the meeting room table, and—

A pair of bright brown eyes looked down at the Director of the Ministry of Defense’s Anomalous Phenomena Response Bureau. A single person stood in the meeting room. The black door disappeared after a few seconds.

Tap, tap.

The black shoes tapped the meeting room table twice. The door to the meeting room was firmly closed, and the Director opened his mouth, but no sound came out. The air conditioner in the room, or anything else, made no noise.

Except for one entity.

“Ah, don’t be nervous. I just came by because it sounded like someone was talking about me.”

A woman in a vest suit with a lab coat draped over it. Several gun barrels were instantly pointed at her, but she didn’t seem to care.

“I was pondering over the fact that there are multiple national agencies researching and responding to supernatural phenomena, and it just so happens you’re all gathered here. Saves me some trouble.”

No response came.

“Well, let me give you some advice… Does anyone not know where the Ministry of Defense building is? You should’ve set up a proper place with protective barriers to prevent magical intrusions like this.”

“And. Do you really think those pea-shooters will work? Those guns can’t even pierce my lab coat.”

I looked around.

Why is no one saying anything?

“Ah, right. I forgot to turn the sound on.”

With a wave of my hand, people started murmuring. The sound of the air conditioner, rustling clothes, and chairs moving returned.

I moved to the opposite end of the meeting table. So no one would sit behind me.

“Director.”

“Yes, hello.”

And then, silence returned. This person is the Director of the Foundation’s Seoul Branch. The rumored Dr. Kim.

****

The black door was something I learned from Yustitia, and I borrowed some of Cosmos’s power. It’s not actual teleportation, though—this is a doppelganger.

A doppelganger under my direct control. I pushed myself a bit to do this, but I wanted to make a strong first impression to show the overwhelming difference in power.

“A few days ago, there was an attack on my life. Given the nature of our work, life-threatening situations are common, but this one was different because it was a well-planned operation targeting me.”

“Yes.”

“In 1948, wasn’t it, the UK started the National Health Service. To quell the dissatisfaction of communists and socialists within the country.”

“What does that have to do with us?”

“Some factions inside and outside the Foundation want to use the power of supernatural phenomena to create a better world. Well, the principle is that the power of supernatural phenomena should only be used for their management…”

I, or rather my doppelganger, trailed off.

“I’d like to hear your opinions.”

“But. What do you mean by a better world—”

Sigh.

“That’s always the problem, isn’t it? For whom is it a better world, and what are we allowed to do?”

“Wait a minute. Are you saying that some factions inside and outside the Foundation want to use supernatural phenomena to create a better world, and to appease them, you’ll accept some of their demands?”

I nodded.

“Not exactly. We’re keeping all options open. If the Foundation and its allies act together, we can reduce casualties.”

“Understood.”

The gathered officials were busily writing something on paper and showing it to each other. It seems they’re still too scared to speak.

“For now, the plan I’m considering is this: create a new department at the director level to coordinate with groups friendly to the Foundation.”

“……”

The Director of the Ministry of Defense’s Anomalous Phenomena Response Bureau looked at me.

“Are we one of those groups?”

“Ah, yes.”

That might be a bit rude. But it’s the truth.

“At Facility 82, a director-level position is quite high, right? We’re taking this seriously.”

“We’ll consider it.”

“Those damn things are right.”

I pressed my temples.

“The Foundation has the power to solve all the world’s problems, yet it doesn’t even try to solve these issues… Doesn’t that just mean all the world’s problems are our fault?”

“Why are you saying this?”

“There are a few variables we use to track the frequency of supernatural phenomena. And you have similar things, right? Dispatch counts, UFO sightings, activity in occult or supernatural science communities.”

Everyone knows this.

“The situation is getting worse every day. This isn’t an era where we can handle every supernatural phenomenon or every hostile group. We need to start with the most malicious ones and work together to eliminate them.”

“……”

A soldier from the Military Intelligence Command raised his hand.

“That’s a good point, but is the Foundation’s internal stance the same? Didn’t the Foundation’s leadership commit suicide, and a few days ago, wasn’t there a civil war on Jeju Island? It feels like we’re being treated as spare change, which is a bit unsettling.”

I shook my head.

“There was no civil war. I faced the rebel forces and crushed them.”

“Ah.”

“As for being treated as spare change… Well, there are over 200 countries in the world. The number of groups managing and researching supernatural phenomena is at least in the hundreds. Isn’t that right? Even here, there are nine agency heads.”

I sighed.

“I’ll take that as everyone’s agreement. Soon, the Seoul Branch’s control tower for hostile groups will contact you.”

The black door opened again, and I turned to leave the meeting room. The people behind me started murmuring and raising their voices.

****

Professor Mayer kept gagging. A doctor from the medical unit rushed over.

“Are you okay?”

“Ah, I’m fine. Just feeling a bit sick.”

“Do you know why you were quarantined? After meeting the angel, your speech patterns changed. We suspected a language-mediated infection.”

“Ah. So I’m fine now?”

“There’s no sure way, but you seem mostly fine. We administered a small dose of memory erasure agent to suppress the activity of the informational pathogen.”

Professor Mayer opened his eyes with difficulty.

“Dawkins said it. Cultural genes, or memes, move from person to person like organisms reproducing, undergoing natural selection. I didn’t know it was real.”

The doctor pondered.

This patient. Did they hit their head?

“Dawkins did establish the possibility of information-mediated pathogens. It’s like Pasteur discovering bacteria.”

“……”

“Anyway, it’s good that you seem fine.”

****

[Regarding the Visit to the Korean Control Tower]

[Author: Lee Se-ah]

[I’ve seen the Director’s opinion. For now. Whether you torment or kill the Korean officials, do as you please. It’s not like it’ll cause any problems.]

[There aren’t many people left in the Seoul Branch who can voice opposing opinions to the Director’s thoughts. Please handle this carefully.]

[Bringing in the Foundation’s allies and supporting their positions is a nice idea. But you know there’s a reason we haven’t done it, right?]

[I know what you mean. Given the Director’s personality, it’s a bit much to hold such power and do nothing about the world’s problems.]

[But you should know that this kind of thinking was the cause of the 6th Supernatural War. Wasn’t it the Foundation’s involvement and management that caused the conflict?]

****

[Regarding the Discovery of a Foundation Ship]

[Author: Support Department Head]

[Normally, issues like this are reported by director-level staff, but this case seems special, so I’m reporting after organizing it in the department head’s office.]

[During World War II, it’s estimated that around 50,000 ships, including warships and transport ships, were sunk due to military activities.]

[The problem is, there are too many sunken ships, and too many erased records, so this issue is completely unmanaged.]

[Chinese salvage ships are scraping the western Pacific, salvaging these ships. The bigger problem is that we don’t know what’s on these ships.]

[There might be people after pure steel not contaminated by nuclear explosions. Japanese warships that attacked the US or China might have biochemical weapons on board.]

[There are probably many ships carrying supernatural phenomena. It’s a historic issue, right? From the East India Company’s special cargo transport units to World War II artifacts, it’s even worse.]

[The Foundation and hostile groups have lost over a hundred ships in the Pacific alone. If this continues, who knows what incidents might occur.]

[This is also mentioned because of the angel.]

[For now, let’s search a couple of places and see what sunken supernatural phenomena we can find. We don’t know what we’ll find yet.]