Chapter 122: Group of Interest Collection

****

I sat at the Director’s Office desk and looked across to the other side. This was the person who’d said they’d resign over the recent incident. Section Chief Han.

“Section Chief Han. You’re saying you want to resign?”

“I did say something to that effect.”

Hmm.

Section Chief Han was openly chewing their fingernails, clearly nervous. They probably hadn’t even noticed they were doing it.

“Relax a little. Why?”

“The position of Section Chief of External Communications feels too heavy a burden for me.”

Section Chief Han bowed their head sharply.

“What were you doing before?”

“Support Division. I was working at team-leader level in the Group of Interest Investigation Division.”

“Group of Interest Investigation Division. If I sent you back there, would you not resign?”

“That’s right.”

I wasn’t going to send them back, though. Here’s how the whole thing went down.

When I went to catch the clockwork angel, I dropped a nuclear bomb into the sea dozens of kilometers off Taean County in the West Sea. For the record, it failed.

The result was a tsunami, and the Korea Meteorological Administration sent out disaster alerts saying an earthquake had occurred. The External Communications Division was flooded with calls.

They’d gotten burned so badly on the very first day of the operation that they’d threatened to quit — said they couldn’t take it anymore, that they’d just walk away.

I could understand it, to a point.

But it wasn’t a combat role, and I wasn’t sure it was a reason to give up so immediately. Hmm, maybe it was about the pay?

“Is your salary insufficient?”

“That’s not the issue. Though there’s no office worker in the world who thinks their salary is excessive.”

“Let me apologize for the nuclear explosion. I imagine it must have sounded like someone banging on a window in the middle of the night to the people handling that work.”

At the time, I’d thought it was the best option.

But now I knew the nuclear explosion had failed to kill the monster. I couldn’t help thinking I’d just polluted the sea and put people through pointless trouble.

“You don’t need to apologize.”

“Do you still feel like quitting?”

Section Chief Han shook their head.

“Let’s see in a bit. We’ll look at what kind of work you’ll be doing, see how many hotlines there are. And let’s also adjust the salary you’re receiving.”

“Ah. Thank you.”

Since we were establishing a new section-chief-level division, I hadn’t expected it to go off without a hitch.

Of course, I hadn’t expected the newly appointed section chief to threaten to quit within a day either — but then again, who knew a nuclear bomb was going to go off?

****

This was the Section Chief’s office of the External Communications Division.

It was no exaggeration to say that all the personnel of the External Communications Division existed to support this one room. Eleven hotlines were assigned to the division.

The Anomalous Incident Response Agency of the Ministry of National Defense.

The ROK Armed Forces Special Anomalous Weapons Tactical Unit.

The National Intelligence Service’s Abnormal Incident Investigation Unit.

The National Police Agency’s Anomaly Management Bureau.

The Ministry of Science and ICT’s Anomalous Phenomena Research Lab.

Those were the Groups of Interest affiliated with the South Korean government. The rest were Groups of Interest not affiliated with the government. There were various kinds on that side too.

The United Nations Peacekeeping Force, Korea Branch.

The Enlightenment Group, 8th Research Utilization Section.

The Society of the Ideal Guide.

Isaac’s Sacrifice.

Lotus Corporation.

Pluto LLC.

The eleven telephones in the Section Chief’s office of the External Communications Division did carry a certain sense of intimidation. Not as much as the headquarters phone in the Director’s Office, though.

“Why are there so many communication channels with the South Korean government? Those people must ultimately all be tied to a single control tower.”

I shook my head.

“Caesar said it.”

“The die is cast?”

“No.”

“Et tu, Brute?”

Was this person trying to be funny? I looked at Section Chief Han, but they wore an expression of not knowing what I meant.

“Divide and rule. The South Korean government might be able to band together and manage anomalies efficiently, but regardless, those organizations are themselves Groups of Interest. Very powerful Groups of Interest backed by state support. They need to be kept in check.”

At least, that was the answer the Foundation headquarters experts had sent me. I thought it wasn’t far off the mark myself.

“Why?”

“Here’s the thing. Well… the Bureau of Special Phenomena is under the Ministry of National Defense, so if they wanted to expand their non-commissioned officer roster, they could just hypnotize people into it.”

Section Chief Han furrowed their brow.

“Ah. I understand.”

That’s why we need to keep them in check. It’s not like it’s only once or twice that the government’s failed anomaly experiments had to be recovered.

***

“Section Chief Han, the mission you and your team will be carrying out is to communicate with these eleven Groups of Interest. You’re free to gather intelligence, and you’re free to cooperate with them within reasonable bounds.”

“I see.”

“That’s all. If you have questions or need anything, come by the Director’s Office.”

Section Chief Han hesitated for a moment.

“Um, wait. Sorry, but there are a lot of Groups of Interest whose hotlines I don’t clearly know either. What exactly does the Research Utilization Squad do?”

So they didn’t even get a briefing?

Well, there was no predecessor, after all.

“The 8th Research Utilization Section is the Enlightenment Group’s Praetorian Guard. They hold several useful anomalies in their possession. They operate for corporate profit—dangerous, but not to the point where dialogue is impossible.”

“What about the Society of the Ideal Guide?”

The “ideal” in their name is written with the character for “vision,” not “ideal.” Their goal is, literally, to use anomalies for humanitarian purposes.

“People who use anomalies to help others. We don’t go out of our way to eliminate them, but…”

Suspicious bastards, as expected.

There are several problems surrounding these people, but one issue is that their ethical standards are ambiguous depending on the operator.

The fastest way to explain why these people are dangerous is this: in some countries, particularly the West, quite a few of them have been eliminated for being tangled up with communists.

“That’s dangerous.”

“Groups of Interest—the problem isn’t the specific ideology they hold. It’s the arrogant attitude, the worldview: if we just find the Holy Grail, we could solve all the world’s problems; there must be an anomaly out there that could solve all our problems for us. That’s what makes them a problem.”

This is a problem shared by nearly all anomalous humans and all Groups of Interest.

They expect magic to solve their problems, but… magic doesn’t grant such wishes.

If anything, reality is the opposite. Problems caused by magic are complex, and it’s common for the very existence of a solution to become unknowable.

But magic nonetheless has the power to draw people in. Today, someone will attempt self-immolation out of curiosity, someone will hire a shaman to meet a lost family member… and if the world beyond reality responds to that prayer.

***

The conversation went on for a long while.

“Isaac’s Sacrifice… I’ve never seen these guys before. Why are they on here?”

Simple.

“Think of them as a church. They receive support from us, like Vatican exorcists.”

“Oh, really?”

A group that collects, manages, and studies anomalies of Christian—often Jewish and Islamic—origin. For reference, they’re a cult.

Actually, given that they deal with the “real thing,” it’s only natural they’d look like a cult. It’s also why there are over thirty self-proclaimed Second Comings of Jesus in Korea.

They’re unpleasant too, but they’re in an awkward position to eliminate. Legally as well—the police can’t forcibly disband a group just because it’s a cult.

“What about Lotus?”

Same as Isaac’s Sacrifice. A group that collects, manages, and studies anomalies of Buddhist origin.

Section Chief Han wrote something else in their notebook.

“What about Pluto LLC?”

“People who make money trading anomalies. A notable detail: they never touch anything other than anomaly trading and their own amusement. They say the added value isn’t there.”

Pluto LLC. They operate worldwide, but have only about 200 members. How they maintain the organization, I have no idea.

“I see.”

“Anomalies that are dangerous, useless, or have no buyers get sold or transferred to the Foundation. The reason they’re a problem is…”

Like the Foundation, they work to maintain the Veil of Ignorance, and they observe a certain line of conduct out of consideration for their clientele. But here’s the problem.

They sell anomalies to the Foundation’s enemies fairly often. And they abduct humanoid anomalies to use them for something somewhere.

“Rather than them actually causing trouble, it’s that they’re unpleasant, so we check every time whether there’s a case to track and eliminate them. Usually they hide their tracks well.”

Section Chief Han made another note this time as well.

“Thank you very much, Director. With this much, I think I can do my job properly.”

I’m curious.

Is he saying that because he feels his life is threatened, or does he genuinely think that way? It’s a relief that he doesn’t seem likely to quit on the spot.

****

[Regarding Humanoid Anomaly Outings]

[Filed by: Humanoid Division Section Chief Kang Cheon]

[It will double as training for close protection of key figures, surveillance, tailing, assassination standby, and so on.]

[In any case, a plan has been established for the outings of high-output humanoid anomalies.]

[However, the handlers for the humanoid anomalies are the problem. We need someone who can physically subdue the high-output humanoid anomalies in question, while also being sensible and humane.]

[Hmm.]

[Nanami: Has a record of spraying weaponized anthrax and threatening to catch a humanoid anomaly. Cannot be trusted.]

[Head of Research: Cannot be trusted. Do I really need to give a reason?]

[Dr. Ahn: Lacks physical force.]

[I won’t list any more than this. The people who seem fit to serve as handlers are Dr. Chae and the Director. I apologize, but would either of you have about half a day available?]

****

[Re: Regarding Humanoid Anomaly Outings]

[Filed by: Paper (Secretary)]

[That’s possible. Let’s coordinate schedules.]