Chapter 1: How Much Is the Salary?

***

A gun is a chilling thing. Even more so when you’re staring down its muzzle.

I’m not entirely sure how things ended up like this. I stared straight at the black figure pointing a pistol at me.

“Back against the wall, backs of your hands on your forehead, and don’t move. Move and I shoot.”

I did as I was told, for now.

“Um, but.”

“What.”

“Why the backs of the hands specifically?”

“…”

The black figure stared at me for a moment.

“I’ve seen all kinds of crazy people. That’s what you’re curious about? With a gun in your face?”

“Yes.”

Black pistol, black helmet, black combat uniform.

The upper half of the face of the person before me was covered by some kind of optical device, and the lower half by something like a gas mask.

The voice came out distorted, probably because of the mask.

“The gun. Not scared?”

“I’m saying this because I am scared.”

A breath of air came from behind the mask. Might have been a snort.

“Alright. You. Do you know where you are?”

I don’t know where I am.

At first glance it looks like a drab studio apartment. No windows, and the door the black figure came through doesn’t have any ordinary locking mechanism visible on it either.

A door that locks from the outside.

Compared to an ordinary prison it looks a bit more comfortable, but it’s still a prison, I suppose. A door that can’t be opened from the inside has no reason to be on an ordinary place.

More than that, though. A wave of dread washed over me — the fact that I had no idea why I was here, or where here even was.

Even if I’d been kidnapped, shouldn’t I at least remember the moment of the kidnapping, or what I was doing right before it happened?

What the hell happened.

“A room…?”

“It is a room, yeah.”

A sigh came from behind the mask.

“I told you to raise your hands so I can see them, and to show the backs because I need to check you’re not hiding something in your palms. I told you to put them on your face because I don’t want my attention split.”

“Ah. That makes sense.”

“Anything else you’re curious about?”

Yes.

I know this is a somewhat dangerous situation, but.

“What do you do for a living?”

“Take a guess.”

I thought for a moment. If they’d meant to kill me outright, I’d have died the moment the door opened.

The fact that I’m still alive, and that I’ve been given a chance to talk, probably means I can get out of this alive as long as I talk well.

I opened my mouth.

“Even if the room looks fairly cozy, there’s no mechanism to open the door from the inside, and no windows either. So it’s fair to call this some kind of prison. I heard footsteps for quite a long time before the door opened, which means there’s a hallway. And I’d conclude there’s more than one or two rooms like mine.”

“Right.”

“Which means this is a space where at least several people are being held. I don’t know why they’re being held, but it must have cost a fair amount of money, so that means there’s something important you want to get out of us.”

“Mm.”

“And since you’re carrying special-issue weaponry that looks like it runs into the hundreds of millions, you’re probably not just dealing with unarmed civilians like me.”

“That’s far too much firepower to be pointing at me. And since the gear is black rather than camouflage, it doesn’t look like equipment meant for firefights with an equal-tier enemy either.”

“For a black-uniformed special forces unit, the police come to mind first, but even the Korean police SWAT wouldn’t come after someone wearing night-vision goggles and a gas mask.”

“Which leaves the NIS, I suppose. But that’s beyond what I could possibly know, either way.”

“Right.”

“Are you Men in Black, or something?”

The black muzzle aimed at me twitched for a moment. Just slightly. Only enough that it could pierce my skull from any angle.

“What, is this an essay interview?”

“Ahaha…”

“A smart aleck, huh. Getting everything right isn’t a good thing. Didn’t it occur to you that the more you get right, the more you know, the more reasons there are to kill you?”

I nodded.

“Yes, it didn’t.”

“Hm. You got most of it right within the information given. This is the Foundation’s containment cell. You’re currently classified as an anomaly and contained. Because of the short-term amnestic, you probably don’t have any memories from the past 48 hours or so.”

That does seem to check out.

I have no memory of how I got here, or what I was doing when I was dragged in. The last thing I remember is coming home from the funeral home and going to sleep.

“Humanoid anomalies are, per Foundation rules, subject to elimination, containment, or co-option without exception.”

Now the full picture was starting to come together.

“Ugh, co-option, co-option.”

“Right.”

“But, what happens if I refuse?”

The black figure shrugged.

“That depends on your abilities and your purpose. Best case, you get contained. If you’re too strong or too dangerous to contain, you get neutralized.”

“Understood.”

Click. The muzzle withdrew from my face, and I heard the safety lock on the pistol engage. I was alive, for now. I let out a sigh of relief.

***

The situation moved to its next phase. The gun was no longer aimed at my head, but the black figure still stood before me.

“What are you doing?”

“Reviewing your file.”

“Why do you have my file?”

“We have everyone’s file. Whether someone ever gets around to opening it is another matter.”

“Ah, I see.”

“Let me see. You’re a veteran. You spent several years at Seoul National University for grad school, and you have a few computer-related certifications.”

“That’s correct.”

“The reason you’re classified as a humanoid anomaly is that you’re judged to have altered your appearance through anomalous means at least once.”

“That’s… you’d know better than I would.”

“No idea why it changed?”

“My advisor passed away a few days ago, so I was under a lot of stress, but I don’t think something like that would change me. Isn’t that your area of expertise?”

“Ah, that… actually, under extreme stress, it can happen.”

“Really?”

“Really? Use your head a little, anomaly.”

The black figure turned its gaze back to me.

****

Click.

The optical device attached to the helmet, which had been covering the upper part of the black figure’s face, lifted up, and the gas-mask-like apparatus covering the lower face came down.

“What’s your name?”

“Nanami.”

I hesitated for a moment. Should I ask, or not?

“Nanami as in the Nan family?”

“The Nan family? What… it’s an alias.”

The face was far younger-looking than I’d expected. Still, now that I could see the expression, it felt much more human.

****

Nanami let out a deep sigh.

“Okay. By my standards, you pass. What I’m about to say, you must not disclose to anyone. Even if it’s another Foundation employee.”

“Yes.”

“There’s something I want you to help with.”

“If I say no, I die, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Understood.”

“I want you to work in my Director’s Office. We’re short on personnel right now. The Director’s Office normally uses external hires, and we have quite a few vacancies at the moment.”

“Uh, I don’t know what that is.”

A moment of silence.

“I already know what you’re going to say. The Foundation’s remote-viewing team confirmed your present, the Precognition Team confirmed your future, and the intelligence team confirmed your past. All you have to do is nod.”

I kept my mouth shut. I couldn’t answer easily. I didn’t know what they wanted me to do, and my life might be at stake.

“You’re a scientist. Aren’t you curious?”

Of course I’m dying to know.

But more than the immediate danger to my life, this facility itself was suspicious of my existence, and if it came down to it, they wouldn’t hesitate to kill me. For now, I needed to hold out—

“Ten million won a month.”

*Hah.* I straightened my collar.

“I’ll bury my bones in the Foundation. When do I start?”

***

Nanami let out a sigh.

“That’s out of my hands. Human Resources Department and the Medical Department will decide after they see you in person.”

“Speaking of which, what did you say the Foundation does? Specifically, I mean.”

I watched Nanami’s reaction.

Nanami seemed to be thinking it over for a moment.

Honestly, I had a rough idea of what the Foundation was. A group involved in the management of anomalies, probably. The problem was that right now, I was the one being managed.

“It’s a bit complicated to explain… You. This isn’t your first day working for the Foundation. It’s only natural you don’t remember.”

Huh?

****

[Anomaly Discovery Report]

[Filed by: Nanami]

[Filed: 2016/01/08]

[Provisional Designation: Geumbari]

[Serial Number: Pending]

[Risk Class: Safe]

[Classification: Humanoid Anomaly]

[Humanoid Anomaly Classification Code: Gray]

[Security Clearance: Access restricted to the Director’s Office, Human Resources Department, and Medical Department only.]

[Fuck, took forever just to fill out the codes.]

[Oh. Guess this doesn’t get erased.]

[Sry]

[This instance is believed to have been affected by an anomaly, but there appears to be no evidence that it is itself an anomaly. Specifically, this anomaly claims that its own body has been changed.]

[This anomaly appears safe for now. However, it may not be that the body was changed—it may have imitated or stolen the appearance of someone else.]

[It could be an anomaly such as a doppelganger or a mimic, so a thorough examination seems necessary. However, we have received a promise that it will cooperate with the Foundation’s work. Excessive caution does not appear necessary.]

[The anomaly has been secured safely. Next time, I’d appreciate helicopter support so operations can proceed more smoothly.]

***

[Re: Anomaly Discovery Report]

[Filed by: Support Department]

[Launching a helicopter costs a considerable amount of money. We would appreciate it if matters that can be handled by vehicle were handled by vehicle.]

[Additionally, the Foundation recommends activating the Twin-Killer Protocol for all copycats, persons suspected of being copycats, persons who have been in contact with copycats, and all persons suspected of having been in contact with copycats.]

[Please minimize contact with Foundation personnel and undergo an examination by the Medical Department’s Anomaly Inspection Team within 12 hours.]

[P.S. The Head of Research is curious as to why the Director’s Office is managing this anomaly directly, rather than other relevant departments or the Containment Division. We would appreciate it if you could provide a brief explanation to the Head of Research.]