[34th Chapter]
“Alright. Let’s check.”
Siera, who logged into the account, was given a window to view the data and moved aside, so I sat in her seat and began checking the data that had been uploaded since the first time I came to Earth 20 years ago.
The amount of accumulated data over a long period was enormous, and it took quite some time to turn the pages to verify the data from 20 years ago. Siera watched me click the mouse to flip through the pages next to me.
“You guys are in charge of HunterKillers, right?”
“Yeah.”
“But you’re looking for old data about hyper-humans instead of HunterKiller power data? Why?”
I could have ignored her and moved on, but since she lent me her account, it would be better to explain a little reason.
“I’ve found that focusing too much on power data has led to a lack of understanding of how hyper-humans are perceived socially and what kind of impact they have now.”
“Then why not just look at recent data? You should be able to access recent data too.”
“I might as well start from the past and go all the way through.”
Siera sat next to me and looked at the screen with me. Eventually, we reached the page containing the earliest data related to hyper-humans. Considering it would take a considerable amount of time to check all of this, I let out a sigh first.
The first data was about the appearance of the hyper-humans. The records showed that the Spacystro unit was defeated when the first hyper-human appeared in the United States, and it indicated that people were very favorable towards hyper-humans at the time.
“Don’t you know anything?”
Thinking that Siera, as a team leader, would have more information than me, I asked her.
“I know about recent stuff, but I need to see this older data firsthand.”
It’s a riddle. Given that she knows I’m looking for past data, asking her if she knows anything about information from 20 years ago wouldn’t make sense. Moreover, at that time, Siera wasn’t even the team leader at the Seoul Branch, so she couldn’t have detailed knowledge.
While flipping through the pages, I found the first record of a hyper-human appearing in Korea. Similar to the previous case, the Spacystro unit was defeated, and people’s reactions were favorable.
“This is different from what I knew.”
I initially thought that people weren’t particularly friendly towards hyper-humans from the beginning, but surprisingly, many people were initially favorable towards them. This could be seen in the next piece of data.
“People saw hyper-humans as their hope.”
When they first appeared, hyper-humans were seen as beings with superior physical abilities compared to humans, and many people placed great expectations on them. It was only shortly after the Spacystro attack that people believed they could quickly drive us away.
“Check this out.”
Siera said while looking at a document, and I clicked on the document she was pointing at.
It contained an article about the first negative public opinion against hyper-humans.
“The Earth Defense Union is a coalition formed by various countries coming together, primarily to counter the Spacystro. However, concerned about the prolonged conflict with Spacystro, they decided to pay the funds to the Earth Defense Union from each country’s taxes to stabilize its operations. What is this?”
The content of the data was as follows: Originally, funds were paid from the Earth Defense Union’s budget to each group within the union, but as the battle with Spacystro prolonged, funds were paid from each country’s taxes rather than from the Earth Defense Union’s integrated budget.
Just reading the content, one could wonder why such a decision would satisfy anyone given the differences in culture and values across countries.
Even though the funds used by the union come from each country’s contributions, ultimately, these funds are still derived from the taxes of each country’s citizens. However, the fact that it was reported as being paid from national taxes seemed to unnecessarily stir up public opinion.
From this point on, public opinion towards hyper-humans started to decline. The decision to change the funding method to national taxes, under the pretense of stabilizing operations due to concerns about prolonged conflict, occurred just two years after the invasion by Spacystro began.
“Hold on a moment?”
While examining issues related to budgets, I discovered a list of hyper-humans affiliated with each region and noticed something unusual.
“Is this… changing constantly?”
It seemed Siera had found the same thing.
Hyper-humans appeared and members were replaced within a short span of 1 week to 1 month for nearly 15 years, and the frequency of replacements slowed down only 5 years ago.
“Check the article from 5 years ago.”
Seeing Siera actively checking the data, I verified the data from 5 years ago as she suggested. What I found was a record about the youngest hyper-human.
A hyper-human, aged 14 in Korean age, first appeared five years ago, and the record stated that he had significantly stronger physical abilities than previous hyper-humans. His name was still listed among the current members.
“Do you know how hyper-humans first appeared?”
“No. There are no external records about that, so it hasn’t been figured out yet.”
After experiencing many things over 20 years on Earth and being assigned to the Seoul Branch, I had seen several hyper-humans, but I had no information about how they initially appeared. Even Siera, as the team leader, didn’t have any information on this.
“Let’s summarize.”
Opening a text file, I began organizing the data I had checked so far.
The first appearance of hyper-humans was 20 years ago when Spacystro invaded Earth, and there’s no knowledge about how they appeared or what led to their appearance.
Hyper-humans were continuously replaced within a short span of 15 years, and the frequent replacements slowed down only 5 years ago.
Originally, the funds for hyper-humans were drawn from the Earth Defense Union’s budget, but during the second year of the invasion by Spacystro, due to concerns about prolonged conflict, the funding method changed to drawing from each country’s taxes rather than the Earth Defense Union’s budget.
This is also when public opinion towards hyper-humans started to decline.
“Tax thieves.”
As they were funded from taxes, public opinion began to criticize them as tax thieves, apparently because they hadn’t completely driven away the invaders despite the ongoing battles and were surviving on their own funds.
“It’s unfair, but we shouldn’t be criticizing those who stepped forward to protect us.”
Siera added a comment next to me, and I nodded in agreement, continuing to check the data.
“Monsters.” They drew a line, completely separating themselves from those who were different.
The dissatisfaction towards hyper-humans turned into anger and then into hatred. According to the records, many articles about hyper-humans contained numerous negative comments.
“There aren’t many negative records from the middle onwards?”
Negative articles and data gradually disappeared, and while checking these records, I felt that public opinion towards hyper-humans was becoming calmer and more positive. However, upon reviewing the data, I realized my previous thoughts were wrong.
Public opinion was indifferent towards them. The confrontations between hyper-humans and Spacystro always followed the same pattern. Media outlets, which sought sensational stories to attract interest, stopped paying attention to hyper-humans, and people’s vigilance faded as we continued to appear steadily in the city center.
We fought without causing damage to the surroundings or casualties, and did not cause any negative social issues. This perception of Spacystro had been fixed for a few years.
In this situation, hyper-humans, who seemed to be taking tax money without completely driving away Spacystro, were not exposed by the media, but they remained as unwelcome figures in people’s minds.
“What a troublesome planet. Just like here.”
“Only here? Everywhere is troublesome. This is the first time for such a prolonged conflict, so it feels unfamiliar.”
Siera was right. All the planets we had invaded were always full of troubles. But it was the first time the invasion had lasted 20 years, and we were struggling to adapt to the changes in public opinion.
The negative public opinion towards hyper-humans started to reappear relatively recently. After the emergence of the youngest hyper-human 5 years ago, hyper-humans underwent a sudden generational shift, and they became the source of the current negative public opinion.
“Violence, harassment, theft, rape… all sorts of crimes.”
Once the generation of hyper-humans changed, they committed various crimes within Earth society. Of course, not all of them did, and the records I was reading were likely only part of the story.
But in public opinion, it doesn’t matter if it’s just a part. Multiple articles had already been published under the title of “hyper-humans,” and the anger towards those who committed crimes spread to all hyper-humans.
“We weren’t hiding our identities from them.”
Until now, I thought that hyper-humans hid their identities in society to avoid being discovered by Spacystro. While that wasn’t entirely wrong, hyper-humans hid their identities to avoid being discovered by ordinary humans, not Spacystro.
Was it because they were hated that they committed crimes, or did they commit crimes because they were hated?
I couldn’t tell which came first. Although there had been underlying hatred towards hyper-humans, the level of crime committed was unprecedented after the generational shift.
“No.”
A brief mutter escaped me, and Siera, who had been watching the monitor, turned her eyes towards me.
The hatred towards hyper-humans persisted, and those who were replaced within a short period before didn’t engage in such extreme behavior until now. Even if they were driven to such extremes, they didn’t act on it for some reason. What could that reason be?
“Hold on. Where did all these hyper-humans go?”
The most fundamental question arose. Before the members stopped changing, where did the hyper-humans who kept changing every short period go?
“There are no articles, and we don’t have any separate reports.”
Even if there were records, they would only indicate that their whereabouts were unknown.
“Did they die?”
Hearing Siera’s words, I felt a sudden rush of heartbeats. If all the hyper-humans who kept changing for some reason were dead, how many hyper-humans had died in 20 years? And why were they killed?
I am an invader, not a monster. Though I came from another planet, as a human, hearing that someone kills another person makes me feel anger and disgust.
“Could it be that they were restricted in their activities even if they didn’t die?”
“Like tools?”
She spoke with a calm gaze, even though I hadn’t mentioned it. It’s better to be clear, as it helps in investigations.
“There are no records, and even if we make hypotheses, nothing will come of it. Let’s just check the existing data.”
Three hours had passed since I started skimming through the data, and feeling fatigued, I stretched.
Considering it was late, it was time to head back. Getting up from my seat, I saw Siera watching me intently.
“Let’s go home. Can I borrow your account again tomorrow?”
“It’s fine to borrow it, but what are you going to do with all this?”
“Just data investigation.”
“You’re better off doing nothing.”
I almost blurted out a frustrated remark. The reason I find Siera uncomfortable is that she is my peer and a long-time friend, but there’s a rank difference. More importantly, there was another reason—her words.
Since her academy days, she had always said this to me.
Initially, I dismissed it lightly as a joke, but over time, it became a trigger for my frustration.
“Unfortunately, I can’t sit idle; I’ll come again tomorrow.”
After a casual farewell, I left her room without showing my irritation. Standing in front of the elevator, I pondered the data I had reviewed.
‘What’s the reason for hyper-humans to receive such treatment?’
I had said it several times, but to me, hyper-humans and ordinary humans are the same Earthlings. Of course, racial discrimination exists anywhere, but to discriminate and hate a specific race to this extent is new to me. Why didn’t I notice the reactions of people in the city center during the battles? Could it be that they were sending hateful glances at the HunterKiller team members even during the battles?
Continuing to think about a problem without immediate answers won’t help.
They say that sometimes thinking leads to answers, but not now. Only more concrete and clear data can provide the correct answer, and my thoughts alone are merely hypotheses.
Stepping outside the building, I was greeted by the cool summer night air. It felt like ages since I last experienced such pleasant weather in mid-summer.
Feeling the urge to walk, I headed in a direction other than the station and recalled meeting Green at a park recently.
I was wondering. Although I knew it was unlikely, I wondered if Green might still be at the park.
Walking for about ten minutes, I arrived at the park and spotted Green sitting in the same pose as before, looking at the trees under the park’s streetlights.
The first thought that came to mind was how she must feel being treated with such disdain and what her mindset was while engaging in HunterKiller activities.
Standing at the park entrance, I watched her, and noticing my gaze, Green turned her head, and our eyes met.
“Hello.”
I nodded in response to her gentle greeting and approached her.
“I saw you here again yesterday, so I thought you didn’t go home.”
“That can’t be. I came out again.”
Despite her nonchalant response, I noticed a bruise on her left cheek. It wasn’t there just two days ago when I last met her. She hadn’t been injured during the confrontation. Then, where could it have come from?
