Chapter 18: The Museum ((１)

****

The siren blared loudly through the corridors of the Director’s Office. I’d only ever seen it in the manual—the Code Red siren, signaling an emergency on the scale of war.

I walked out of my office.

A Foundation soldier in uniform was waiting in front of my office, whatever the matter was.

“Dr. Geum! This is an emergency!”

“What is it?”

“The Precognition Division just foresaw a major incident. Intelligence reached a similar conclusion. Six hours from now, a major incident will occur at a small museum in Gyeonggi Province.”

I wasn’t sure about this.

Do task forces and the Recovery Division normally move on the Precognition Division’s predictions alone? Is their reporting really that reliable?

I thought for a moment.

The experts must have their reasons for saying so.

“Understood. I approve the operation.”

“Thank you.”

“Next time, it’d be better to go to Nanami or the Recovery Section Chief for military matters.”

“Understood.”

Actually, there was another reason I approved so easily.

A museum—just as the laptop had said. I might be able to obtain an anomaly that can foresee the future or communicate with beings from another dimension.

I made my decision.

“May I participate in the operation?”

“By all means. We depart in two hours.”

****

I’d asked Nanami once.

Most anomalies don’t die or get neutralized when shot with bullets, so why do Foundation personnel go out armed with guns every time?

Nanami had said that wasn’t true at the time.

‘Why would you think that? There’s not a single fool in the Foundation who can’t hit their own temple.’

That remark was half a joke, but.

Nanami explained the reasons.

First. A fair number of anomalies are neutralized by gunfire. No matter how powerful an anomalous is, it’s rare for them to be able to kill several people from 500 meters away with just a twitch of a finger. The same goes for lifeform-type and object-type anomaly.

Second. Obviously, guns help control civilians, hostile groups, or people at the scene.

Third. Guns give you confidence. No matter how bad the situation gets, you can at least decide when you or your comrades die.

What should I bring this time?

I didn’t know what I’d need yet. I looked through the equipment in the Director’s Office storage, and Nanami watched me packing a bag.

“You’re going too? You don’t need to.”

“The Parallel Mirror is an anomaly I asked you to find. People are risking their lives fighting because of me—I can’t just sit back.”

“Fine. Stick with me until we reach the operation zone. What are you bringing?”

“An assault rifle, anomalous space observation equipment, and some recording gear. We don’t know what we’ll run into.”

Nanami nodded.

“There’s a new AI helmet in the Director’s Office storage. Take that one.”

“Yes.”

“Oh, and if a dangerous situation comes up, run first. Nobody’s going to blame you.”

****

Five helicopters were prepared in total.

Two assault helicopters from Recovery Section 1. One assault helicopter from the task force. One science vessel from the Mechanical Division. And one helicopter from the Support Department.

Before boarding the helicopter, Nanami stopped me.

“I know you’re busy, but listen to the briefing first. Overall command of the operation goes to the Section Chief of Recovery Section 1.”

I nodded.

“Before we start, the Mechanical Division’s toys will enter the building first, and the recovery team will follow twenty minutes after the machines finish their work. We’ll fly up in the helicopter and breach with the task force from the rooftop. You said you’ve done fast-rope training before, right?”

How many times do I have to say I haven’t?

But I can do it.

“Yeah. First objective is recovery of all anomalies. Second is neutralization of all hostile instances. Third is protection of civilians in the area.”

“Do we really need that museum? Can’t we just destroy the whole building from here?”

Nanami shook her head.

“It would be nice if we could, but… we don’t know how many civilians are inside. Destroying an anomaly outright isn’t the Foundation’s way either. And you said we need the mirror, didn’t you?”

“That’s true.”

“Dr. Geum. I can tell what you’re thinking. You don’t need to worry too much. Recovering anomalies is our job, and everyone who works at the Foundation knows full well how dangerous it is.”

I nodded.

I may value their lives, but they’re prepared to give theirs for the Foundation. If I said anything more, I’d just be the strange one.

“Pack a first-aid kit. They’ll all appreciate it.”

***

The helicopter’s rotors whirred.

Noise loud enough to drown out everything. But this time, I had a solution of my own.

The tactical headset on the AI helmet had noise-canceling functionality, and it was set up so I could radio other people too.

Shame I didn’t bring one last operation.

“Ah, ah. Can you hear me?”

[This is Nanami. I can hear you.]

“What’s the order of operations?”

[We’ll land at the forward command post first. Once the Mechanical Division finishes the first phase of the operation, we’ll launch the helicopter and enter the operational area.]

“Understood.”

[You’ll be moving with the task force during the operation. Their science officer is out with an injury. I’ll be moving separately.]

I nodded.

***

The helicopter landed a short distance from the museum. With Nanami at my side, I got off the helicopter with the task force.

According to plan, we’d watch the Mechanical Division move from the forward base, then head to the museum.

“The question is, what the Mechanical Division is going to do.”

At that moment.

The operation-wide radio began to ring.

[Ah, ah, microphone test. Hello!]

What kind of nonsense is this now. As I listened, a cheerful woman’s voice came through the radio. This person seems a bit unhinged.

[I’m Kim Iseo, Mechanical Section Chief. It’s been decided that the Mechanical Division will remotely clean up the operational area before you all move in.]

[We’re currently trying to launch drones into the operational area. It should take about an hour, but if we find anything unusual, it might take longer.]

[Lastly. Staff from the Director’s Office, please come to the Mechanical Division’s science ship. That concludes the operation-wide broadcast.]

Anyway. They’re calling for me.

I went with Nanami to the Mechanical Division’s helicopter.

***

The Mechanical Section Chief felt like a strange person.

Kim Iseo, Mechanical Section Chief of the Research Department. In both appearance and personality, she was a similar character to the Head of Research.

But the Mechanical Section Chief wasn’t the type to achieve her goals by grinding other people down. The biggest difference from the Head of Research was that she seemed to enjoy her work.

Apparently she found building and piloting robots fun. Even in a stressful situation like this, she was smiling kindly. Just as I thought — a madwoman.

“Hello! You came to find me. Do you know how the first phase of the operation will proceed?”

“I don’t.”

“It starts now.”

“From here, we can see all the feeds the robots are sending at once, and direct the situation. But we’re not soldiers, so… you can just observe from behind.”

“Understood. What kind of machines are you sending to the site?”

“Nine steel spiders from Hyundai Rotem, and multiple reconnaissance drones from Hanwha Aerospace will scout the facility. Just wait a moment.”

Names I’ve heard somewhere before.

“Hold on, I need to focus.”

“Yes.”

The Mechanical Section Chief turned her head back to the screens.

***

Section Chief Kim Iseo was frowning hard. The other Mechanical Division researchers were gathered at the site too.

“Spiders advancing.”

“Drones advancing.”

“Steel spiders, beginning facility entry.”

“Recon drones, beginning facility entry.”

“Walking robots have arrived inside the facility. We’ll begin searching floor by floor.”

“Recon drone—”

The Mechanical Section Chief froze.

“Recon drone, entry failed.”

I scratched my head.

“If we do it this way, won’t the hostile instances inside the building catch on to the situation?”

Nanami shook her head.

“No. We don’t even know if there are hostile humans in that building right now… and if hostile humans do run into the robots, that’s actually a good thing.”

“Ah.”

“Don’t worry too much. I don’t think there are any hostile humans in the building. Probably.”

Section Chief Kim Iseo took off her glasses.

“Hostile instance spotted. Opening fire.”

And so much for a few seconds of peace.

Gunfire was ringing out from beyond the screen. I couldn’t clearly see what she was shooting at, but something was getting blown apart by the bullets.

“Section Chief. How can you open fire without even confirming what it is? There could be civilians in there.”

“Sorry. It wasn’t a person.”

“I know. Explain the situation, Section Chief.”

The Section Chief let out a sigh.

“I’m sorry. To explain what just happened… the target we spotted is a non-human hostile instance. It’s been recorded in the Foundation’s database. I can’t recall the number right now, but it’s a registered anomaly case. That’s why I opened fire.”

The Mechanical Section Chief was rambling a bit. Was she nervous?

Still, the gist came through.

“Yes. Continue.”

“Right now, a large portion of the museum’s interior is blocked by obstacles. Those monsters are in the way too. Reconnaissance is going to take some time.”

“Understood.”

“It’s probably the Wooden Doll. I can’t remember the number, but it’s an anomaly frequently used by a specific hostile group that tends to cause problems. I’d recommend looking it up before they enter the facility.”

I quickly opened my laptop.

“I’ll send a request to the Intelligence Team. They can do encrypted communication with the Foundation from the field, right?”

Nanami nodded.