Chapter 2: Chief Researcher of the Director’s Office

***

Nanami. An alias.

Adjutant to the Director of Facility 82. Back when there was a Director, the second-in-command of this facility might have been recognized, but now the role isn’t even worth as much as a mascot.

She was deep in thought.

Every piece of the puzzle was fitting together with suspicious neatness. The problem that Nanami—and the Director’s Office—had been mulling over had been solved in one stroke.

The Director’s Office was vacant, and three Chief Researchers of the Director’s Office had already died. None of the Foundation’s scientists wanted to risk their lives working as Chief Researcher in an office with no Director.

Currently, four people worked in the Director’s Office. By the strict organizational chart, two were missing. Including the Director herself, that made three.

No one in the current Director’s Office held a doctorate. Administrator Lee Jihye was dismissed for being too young, and Nanami was dismissed for being a Foundation test subject.

The other aides weren’t dismissed, but neither were they of any use to research.

The Foundation’s most important work was research. Yet the Director’s Office had no one to participate in research or make judgments about it.

The Director’s Office desperately needed a new researcher. And right on cue, a humanoid anomaly with a doctorate and military experience had been captured.

It was exactly as the Precognition Team had said.

Some might have called it coincidence, but Nanami didn’t believe in coincidence. Neither did most Foundation employees.

Dr. Geum satisfied every condition the Director’s Office had been looking for. Dr. Geum was an outsider, so she wouldn’t know much about the Foundation’s internal affairs, and as an anomaly herself, she couldn’t very well refuse the Foundation’s job offer.

Nanami briefly recalled Dr. Geum’s dazed expression. A perfect hand in every respect.

In Nanami’s view, Dr. Geum was a fairly sharp person who caught on quickly. Her personality seemed a bit peculiar, but how many people in the Foundation had normal personalities anyway?

A few adjustments might be needed, though.

Chief Researcher of the Director’s Office. If Dr. Geum had the capacity to handle the position, she would. If not… she’d follow in her predecessors’ footsteps.

Either way, Nanami came out ahead.

Still, Nanami thought Dr. Geum would do reasonably well. Surely she wouldn’t kill herself like the other three. There was no way, right?

Let’s stick to the plan.

Anomaly H-1124, Dr. Geum—hand over the position of Chief Researcher of the Director’s Office. Whatever she did, it would at least be better than leaving the post vacant.

****

This is the containment cell.

I still hadn’t managed to escape this place.

I’d gotten used to it after staring at it for a while, but. The screen mounted on the wall in place of a window was showing a fake exterior, pretending to be a window.

It reminded me of Plato’s cave. Seeing not the real thing, but only the shadows cast on the wall…

Outside the window—or rather, inside the screen—a parrot was perched. I had no idea why.

I was spacing out—

Today, Nanami came into my containment cell. This time she wasn’t in combat gear but in a suit.

The steel door of the containment cell closed behind Nanami.

“Dr. Geum. Got a moment?”

“Sure.”

It wasn’t like I had anything else to do besides being locked in a containment cell. How could I not have time?

Nanami. That woman was a peculiar one.

When she was in uniform, she’d covered her face with a gas mask and goggles, but now that she’d stripped off the gear, Nanami’s face was actually quite cute.

A pretty face, light brown hair, and clear eyes.

I didn’t know the details, but being the Director’s adjutant had to be a fairly high position. She looked younger than the role warranted.

Personal opinion, but I figured Nanami was an anomaly too.

Or maybe a Foundation test subject. Either way, she didn’t seem like an ordinary human.

That aside.

My personal assessment of Nanami was… hmm. I’d hold off on that. I still couldn’t tell.

Based on the circumstances, Nanami was the one who’d kidnapped me, and she was the one containing me. I couldn’t exactly think well of her.

She said that if it hadn’t been for her, I’d be getting dissected somewhere by now. Of course, that was Nanami’s opinion, and I couldn’t verify whether it was true.

Nanami raised her head.

“As I said, I’d like you to work with me in the Director’s Office. But before that, there’s something you need to do.”

“Go ahead.”

Nanami inspected her fingernails.

“Aside from the Director’s Office and Human Resources Department, no one knows who you are, what you are, or what you can do. It’d be best if you put on an act.”

“An act?”

“The Director’s Office will help you as much as it can. Become the Chief Researcher of the Director’s Office, and prove that you’re qualified to make decisions on behalf of the Foundation.”

Quite the wish list.

The phrasing was a bit odd, but I could roughly grasp what she meant. She wanted me to fool the other researchers into believing I had the experience and ability to sit in the Chief Researcher’s seat.

Not like there was any way to verify it anyway.

“That’s difficult.”

“Even as the Director’s Office’s Chief Researcher, it’s not that high a position. An office without its Director has no power, and there’s a reason the Chief Researcher seat has been vacant, after all…”

I nodded.

“So you’re telling me to act smart?”

“Act smart, act competent, act experienced. All of it. Earn the trust of the other researchers.”

Easier said than done. Acting smart is harder than actually being smart. Being genuinely intelligent and appearing intelligent to others are completely different problems.

“And if I refuse, I die?”

“You won’t die, but…

Nanami paused and tilted her head.

“Dr. Geum. I don’t know what you think of me, but I genuinely rate you very highly. That’s why I’m asking you to work with me in the Director’s Office.”

Nanami trailed off. It seemed sincere, at least, but I still couldn’t tell for sure.

“Understood. When can I leave this containment cell? There’s going to be a vetting process, isn’t there?”

“Starting tomorrow, Human Resources Department and the Medical Department will come see you. They’re a bit of a handful, but I’ve told them not to cross any lines. It should be fine.”

That wasn’t exactly reassuring.

“Why, want me to come with you?”

“No, not really.”

“Alright. Need anything right now?”

I thought for a moment. What did I need? Nothing came to mind, but I figured I’d make a demand anyway.

“Buy me some fried chicken. And get me a new phone.”

Nanami checked her terminal.

“Fried chicken… I’ll bring that right away. I can get you a phone, but there’s no internet connection inside the containment cell. I’ll swap it out once you’re out.”

I’d said it on a whim, and she was actually doing it.

Maybe she wasn’t so bad after all.

“Any more questions?”

“Yes. You said I worked for the Foundation in the past. What does that mean? Was that removed from my memory too?”

It was the same when I first woke up in the Foundation’s containment cell. The amnestic would have wiped out a day or two of memories.

Nanami turned on her terminal.

“I don’t know the details either. There’s a record saying you worked at a Foundation facility for about four months, but the specifics seem to have been removed. I can’t see them.”

Not that I had any way to refuse Nanami’s offer anyway.

Obviously — refusing would just leave me trapped in this containment cell. Accepting the offer was the only way out, the only way to do anything at all.

“Well then. Good work.”

Nanami said her goodbyes and quietly left my containment cell. I wondered when the chicken would arrive.

***

And one hour later.

The fried chicken arrived at the containment cell.

Hail the Foundation.

***

[Regarding Anomaly H-1124]

[Filed by: Head of Research]

[This is the Head of Research.]

[I am contacting the Director’s Office out of necessity due to Anomaly H-1124. I understand the Director’s Office intends to make use of this anomaly.]

[Even if the Director is absent, how can you run things this haphazardly? Why is a humanoid anomaly suspected of being a mimic being managed so carelessly?]

[I hereby request that the Director’s Office allow the Humanoid Division of the Research Department to study H-1124. This is far too dangerous as it stands.]

***

[Re: Regarding Anomaly H-1124]

[Filed by: Nanami]

[Anomaly H-1124 has completed an agreement to become a Foundation employee. Transfer of custody to the Research Department is not possible. If the Humanoid Division wishes, we can arrange for a few simple, non-invasive examinations to be conducted under the supervision of a Medical Department physician.]

***

[Re: Re: Regarding Anomaly H-1124]

[Filed by: Head of Research]

[Is intracranial electrode insertion considered an invasive method?]

***

[Re: Re: Re: Regarding Anomaly H-1124]

[Filed by: Nanami]

[Head of Research. Did you get shot in the head?]

[This is exactly why the Chief Researchers of the Director’s Office keep killing themselves. Take it easy, will you? Is this how someone with the title of Head of Research should behave?]

[We finally bring in a new researcher, and this is the mess waiting for her the moment she arrives. If you want to push this further, feel free to come to my office with a gun and we’ll settle it however you like.]