Chapter 146. Special Forces Science Officer Scope (3)
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Special Forces ‘Moon of Seoul’ Science Officer.
Operator ‘Scope’.
Real name: Yang Sun. 29-year-old male.
It’s been days since I arrived in this underground space. I can’t tell exactly how long. Just guessing.
It feels like three days, but there’s no solid evidence. My mechanical watch is smashed. Electronic equipment is dead. The pounding headache makes it hard to rely on my internal clock.
I’ve eaten about ten times, so maybe it’s been three days. The last thing I remember is falling into a pit due to the call of the Abyss.
Ah.
After the battle at Poi Station, the Special Forces went missing. We were supposed to retreat, but Dr. Kim insisted on investigating the 8th basement level of Poi Station, so we went in.
And then we fell. Deep, deep down.
What happened after that, I don’t know. Did I teleport? Did I die and go to the afterlife or reincarnate? Or is there something else going on?
I’m not sure where this place is. Scope picked up a knife and drew two eyes and a small mouth on his canteen. Now it has a face.
“Alright. Your name is… let’s say Minji.”
Minji didn’t respond.
Scope chuckled. If I ever hear a response, I’ll have to kill myself. Having a goal and a deadline made him feel a bit better. Having someone to talk to, even if it’s just a canteen, seemed like a decent coping mechanism.
“Minji, what do you see around you?”
The canteen rattled a bit.
“Right, you don’t see anything. Most of the observation equipment is broken. I can tell there’s water pooled around, but it doesn’t smell rotten, so it’s probably cave water.”
Scope looked around again.
“This must be an underground cave. The ceiling is pretty high, so it’s probably not the basement of Poi Station. Since there are no cave creatures, it’s either a very deep cave or some kind of subspace.”
“Minji, what do you think?”
“You don’t have to answer. There’s almost no light, but I have night vision goggles, so it’s fine. The lens is a bit cracked, and the augmented reality function is dead, though.”
“Hmm, I think I see some kind of structure. Is that a ship? A warship? Why would there be a ship in a cave? Maybe someone used a supernatural phenomenon to bring it here.”
“Even with supernatural phenomena, there’s a limit to the scale of power. You’d need a god-like being or a superpower’s advanced science experiment to shove a warship into subspace. Minji, don’t you think so too?”
For some reason, in the middle of the wide cave with stalactites and stalagmites climbing the pillars, there was something that looked like a ship. Scope walked up onto the rusty deck of the warship—
There wasn’t just one ship in the cave. Dozens of ships, big and small, were lying in the shallow water on the cave floor.
The rusty debris on the ship’s deck crunched under Scope’s feet. He didn’t pay it much mind.
“Wow… I never imagined this.”
He’d seen too many supernatural phenomena to be surprised anymore. But what could have created such a horrifying yet beautiful sight?
Are there people inside those ships?
But most of the ships were too rusted and crumbling to be intact. No one could have survived the time it took for the ships to decay like this. Even if there were survivors, there’s no guarantee they’d be sane.
Come to think of it, if I see any survivors, I should just shoot them on sight. Didn’t I fall here while fighting a Mimic?
Trying to talk to things that might not even be human, sane, or capable of communication is just asking to get stabbed in the back.
To other survivors, Scope probably looks the same. It’s the Black Forest Theory.
“Minji, do you think there’s a ship here that’s still intact? Maybe with food, shelter, or even electricity. What do you think?”
The canteen didn’t respond.
“Fine. I’ll look for it myself.”
Steel is surprisingly fragile. Once the paint peels off and it’s exposed to water or air, it corrodes and breaks within a few years.
Most of the derelict ships lying around the cave were like that. Well, some of them looked like they’d been chewed up by monsters.
Why is that?
Ah, no way. It’s probably just rust and decay making them look like that. There’s no way monsters actually chewed up the ships, right?
“Minji, what do you think? Are those marks from monsters chewing on the ships, or is it just saltwater rust?”
The canteen, of course, didn’t respond.
“Let’s move. There’s something over there that looks a bit unusual. It might mean something.”
****
The structure Scope was walking toward was long and black. It didn’t look like a typical ship.
There’s a somewhat peculiar psychological theory about UFOs.
UFOs have appeared throughout history, and some Jungian psychologists believe they symbolize salvation or power descending from the sky.
The archetype of salvation descending from heaven. These psychologists thought such records weren’t unrelated to the bizarre depictions of archangels. A fantasy created by the human brain.
The UFO the Foundation encountered recently seemed to affirm this theory. A modern civilization’s belief manifesting as salvation or catastrophe descending from the sky. A fantasy created by the human brain.
Except, this fantasy became real. Anyway, the Jungian psychologists were right.
The reason Scope thought of this is as follows. Those psychologists believed that UFOs being cigar-shaped or saucer-shaped wasn’t unrelated to human subconscious desires.
What nonsense, you say?
Look at it from a Freudian perspective. From a Freudian perspective, the long cigar shape is obviously a phallic symbol, and the saucer shape is obviously a maternal breast symbol.
Well. This structure was also cigar-shaped. A thick, black, and long cigar. Is there a ship that looks like that?
Or is this also a delusion created by Scope’s brain, stemming from Freudian fantasies?
The Science Officer pulled out a crowbar and tapped the massive black structure. It should’ve made a metallic clang, but the surface had no shine, no rust, and no metallic sound.
Instead, the surface was scratched. Did they make this ship out of rubber…?
Weird.
****
The mystery was quickly solved.
Nuclear submarines are usually covered with rubber panels on the outside. To prevent detection by sonar or sound. That’s why it looked like it was made of rubber, and why this bizarre cigar-shaped ship was lying here.
Scope let out a sigh of relief.
The inside of the nuclear submarine should be safe. Probably.
Ah, radiation.
I should’ve thought of that before coming in. But the Geiger counter showed no significant reaction. It doesn’t seem like there’s a radiation leak.
I hope there’s something useful inside the submarine. Food, communication equipment, or even dirty magazines the crew read.
Probably not.
There was food, but no dirty magazines.
Most of the writing inside the submarine was in Cyrillic. It’s probably a Russian or Soviet submarine. The interior was covered in dust.
Scope sat down in the submarine’s bridge.
“Well, at least I found a decent shelter. Hey, Minji, using a nuclear submarine as a coffin is pretty badass, right? A man’s gotta do this much.”
Of course, the canteen didn’t respond. The Science Officer took off his gear and chuckled.
“Attempting communication.”
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[Operation Name: ‘Tuna Slayer’. Attempting to locate Soviet nuclear submarine ‘Komsomolets’.]
[Author: Nanami]
[Written with Director’s authorization. Not a personal opinion or stance.]
[Yesterday morning, a communication believed to originate from the Soviet nuclear submarine ‘Komsomolets’ was relayed through an unknown intermediary to the Foundation’s Seoul Branch. As such, Foundation assets have been deployed to locate its source.]
[First objective: Confirm the origin of the communication.]
[Second objective: Confirm the current location and status of the nuclear submarine ‘Komsomolets’.]
[Third objective: Determine whether this incident is beneficial or detrimental to the Foundation.]
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[Tuna Slayer. Reply.]
[Author: Research Department Head]
[How did the operation name end up being ‘Tuna Slayer’.]
[This is an interesting research topic. Investigating what kind of research the Komsomolets was conducting.]
[Or perhaps what kind of supernatural phenomena they were utilizing in their operations might provide clues. Or maybe not.]
[Soviet technology is quite peculiar. Why does this work? Why did they make this? There are so many things that make you wonder.]
[My guess is this.]
[The Russians were conducting some kind of experiment. As a result, a nuclear submarine got caught in a spacetime anomaly.]
[If we deploy magical assets, we should be able to find it quickly. No, considering it wants to be found… finding it shouldn’t be too difficult.]
[Did you see the Precognition Department’s report yesterday?]
[It gave me chills. Suddenly, coin tosses, chicken blood, and tarot readings unanimously pointed to the coordinates of the problem area.]
[‘It’ is waiting for us to arrive. The reason… honestly, I’m not sure. We’ll just have to see.]