Chapter 84

Episode 84. Leaving for Jeju Island (2)

****

Hasti finally managed to get up with crutches. Even though some monster brat had shattered every bone in his body.

Ugh, damn those white coats.

But Hasti was still alive.

Hasti was sitting in the Humanoid Research Department’s isolation room with a deck of cards. With Ahn Yuri.

“Hasti. Did you come to rescue me?”

“No… I got caught too.”

“I thought it was a disguise.”

“Nope. I got beaten like a dog for real.”

Hasti pondered for a moment.

“What do you guys usually do here?”

“Nothing.”

“Really?”

Well, there was something.

“Periodically, the Foundation’s psychiatrists or counselors come to talk to us. Sometimes they open the door so we can talk to others.”

“Really?”

“The Foundation periodically gives us toys. We have to work every Monday, and on the same day, we can convey one wish to the Foundation staff.”

“What kind of work do you do?”

“Cleaning, attaching doll eyes. Mostly tasks that aren’t dangerous but seem to have some value.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. I guess they think we’d go crazy if they didn’t give us anything to do.”

Last week, they attached doll eyes, and the week before that, they cleaned the hallway. Hasti wasn’t sure what the Foundation wanted.

They just did as they were told.

“So, the wishes… why?”

Ahn Yuri shrugged.

“We’re not here because we did something wrong. Whether they grant our wishes or not is up to the Foundation staff. But they do grant reasonable ones.”

“What did you ask for last time?”

“A nutcracker.”

“Did they give it to you?”

“They made it out of stiff paper.”

Ahn Yuri pulled out a brown object from under the desk. The nutcracker the Foundation had given her.

“That? Well, what can you do.”

“I didn’t really expect them to give me a real one.”

Hasti thought for a moment.

“What kind of people are the Foundation? Evil rulers? Stuffy scholars? Religious fanatics?”

Ahn Yuri shook her head.

“Just people. You’ve met Director Kim, right?”

“Yeah, he hit me in the back of the head with a hammer.”

“Well… he did that. But the Director isn’t an evil person. I don’t want to admit it, though.”

“Really?”

Ahn Yuri closed her eyes.

“That’s what makes it scarier. It’s not evil born of malice, greed, or sadism. They’re the kind of people who could cut out your heart and convince you it was for your own good.”

“There are people like that.”

Hasti sighed.

“The Foundation did that. I attacked their stuff first, took civilians hostage. I didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Did you?”

“Just… this isn’t a world where people like us can exist.”

A brief silence.

Ahn Yuri shuffled the deck of cards again.

“Is it true that the Foundation will release you? Who promised that?”

“The Director himself.”

“Hmm, that’s a relief.”

“But the Dimensional Exploration Machine is broken. They said they can’t send me back until it’s fixed. They don’t know how long it will take.”

“They’ll fix it soon.”

Until the Foundation fixes that damn machine, until they send me back, I’ll have to stay here for a while. Hasti scratched his head.

“Have you ever tried to escape?”

“Yeah.”

“How did it go?”

“It was a miserable failure. The Foundation sent out fighters and caught up to us faster than teleportation magic. I almost died from anthrax.”

“Sorry to keep asking, but what’s anthrax?”

Ahn Yuri sighed.

“It’s a curse from the Foundation. A kind of plague. The Foundation doesn’t get infected, but it kills anyone outside the Foundation within a day.”

Hasti put down the deck of cards.

“You said this was a world without magic, right?”

Anthrax isn’t exactly magic.

“That was a lie. The Foundation monopolizes magic for various reasons and hides its very existence from the people of this world.”

Bang. Hasti slammed the table.

“Evil bastards. No, we can’t just sit here eating their food. We have to fight back, don’t we?”

“Well. Does getting your back of the head smashed twice help anyone? What’s the point of us losing everything for no reason?”

“……”

“They’re going to dissect us alive.”

“But there must be some resistance, right? They must have looked into escape methods.”

There’s nothing like that. Even if you escape, the Foundation will chase you down with dozens of methods. They did it before, and they’ll do it again in the future.

“So, you’re just going to wait?”

Ahn Yuri nodded.

“The Foundation promised. You don’t know what the Foundation’s promises mean. Dr. Kim could make it snow tomorrow with one phone call, or he could kill us all.”

“So, you’re just going to sit still because you’re scared?”

“I want to go home. I don’t want to start a war for the sake of the ordinary people living in this world.”

Hasti sighed.

“I want to meet the Director again. I want to confirm what these people want.”

“He’s on a business trip. You’ll have to wait a few days.”

The Director had gone somewhere. Only the scientists from the Humanoid Research Department were present.

“By the way, Hasti. Can you still use magic?”

“Huh? I can, but the Director said he’d blow my head off if I tried anything…”

****

Jeju Naval Base Conference.

I briefly flipped through the list of presenters. It was more boring than I thought. The science officers and soldiers under Admiral Furani had dull research topics and simple content.

“Then, our first presenter is Dr. Na, a marine geologist and Foundation naval science officer.”

Dr. Na stood at the front of the auditorium.

****

“The first presentation is about the abnormal climate and geological phenomena in the seas around Korea. Since the Pohang earthquake, research on this issue has been actively conducted in Korea.”

“The Pohang earthquake was an accident caused by a secret experiment by the Korean government. Drilling operations disturbed something underground, causing the incident.”

“This is just the most famous case. There are also well-known cases like North Korea’s nuclear tests and China’s artificial rainfall experiments.”

“If this much is known to the public, you can imagine how many such incidents actually occur. In Jeju Island, magnitude 3.0 earthquakes are happening continuously, but most people can’t feel them, so they’re hidden.”

“Most people blame the abnormal climate. But it’s also true that all kinds of climate anomalies are caused by experiments by the Foundation and the government.”

****

“The second presentation is about the research on supernatural creatures found in Jeju Island. Supernatural creatures are not easily found.”

“But their frequency is increasing.”

“We believe that the land of Jeju Island has been contaminated by experiments. Too many experiments have been conducted, and the quarantine work has been too lax compared to the intensity and scale of the experiments.”

“Let me report. There have been 112 mimic sightings in Jeju Island over the past year, and the Foundation’s marine exploration team brings in more variants and supernatural creatures every year.”

“A solution is urgently needed. Just because there aren’t many people in Jeju Island doesn’t mean we can hide things indefinitely. Some of them are quite large.”

“In the end. Until the causes of these phenomena are properly understood, we need to focus on quarantine and research of these phenomena.”

****

Abnormal climate, and abnormal creatures. But the Foundation has shut down 14 facilities in Jeju Island. What are these people hiding?

Even if I ask, I won’t get an answer.

It won’t be pleasant.

I’m kind of an inspector, after all.

I glanced at my phone. The naval base scientists were still talking. It seemed Nanami was texting.

– Did you meet Admiral Furani?

I didn’t.

– What’s with that attitude? A Director-level person came, and they won’t even meet you?

Yeah.

Why didn’t Admiral Furani come to see me? Only Furani’s aide was staring at the back of my head from behind. I don’t know why Furani didn’t meet me.

Is he scared?

– Try asking to meet once. If he’s deliberately avoiding you. Even if Admiral Furani refuses, you can at least see his reaction.

****

I looked around the naval base.

It’s a Foundation facility, but it’s much more militarized than Facility 82. The buildings are bunkers, and Foundation warships are stationed at the port.

Well, that’s that. I headed straight to the research lab. Specifically, the research lab headquarters.

“Hello, Director Kim.”

“Who are you?”

“I’m Dr. Chloe, the chief researcher and science officer under Admiral Furani. I’ve heard a lot about you, Director, and it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Ah, yes. Nice to meet you.”

Admiral Furani’s aide was a sturdy young man. But the chief researcher of this facility was wearing some kind of mask.

Her voice sounded like a woman’s, but it was a bit strange, maybe because of modulation or the mask.

She might be a good person… but I didn’t feel like shaking hands with someone whose face I couldn’t see. Dr. Chloe extended her hand to me, but I kept my hands in my pockets and pretended not to notice.

“Ah. Is it because of this?”

Chloe took off the mask. It was some kind of electronic device. I don’t know why she was wearing it.