Chapter 23: Mirror, Mirror

****

Since joining the Foundation, I had collected several anomalies. Those anomalous instances were helping me and the Director’s Office in one way or another.

Anomaly H-1124, me.

Anomaly O-2370, the Crystal Clock.

Anomaly O-714, the Ordinary Laptop.

The Crystal Clock held the soul of Dr. Lee, a Foundation veteran, and the Laptop in question could communicate with Foundation staff from a destroyed dimension.

And today, another anomaly had entered the Director’s Office. This time, a fresh anomaly that didn’t even have a serial number yet.

The Parallel Mirror, which had been shoved into a storage room of some museum in Gyeonggi Province.

If what the Laptop said was true, this mirror would let me see beings from other dimensions. Or was it supposed to show the future?

Right now, at the center of the conference room, hung the anomaly “Parallel Mirror.” It hadn’t shown any signs of activation or supernatural properties yet.

Still, the Research Department said they’d confirmed supernatural properties. I suppose I should take a look.

Aide An, Aide Cha.

Administrator Lee.

Nanami.

The Crystal Clock.

The Laptop.

And me.

Seven of us were gathered in the conference room. All seven were chattering noisily. My Crystal Clock ticked in my pocket.

“This is the Parallel Mirror.”

The fruit of this operation.

****

“This is that mirror?”

[So that’s it? Was it a mirror that sees the future or a mirror that sees the multiverse?]

“The Safe Artifact Management Division inspection results are right here. Aside from occasionally seeing people inside, no supernatural features could be confirmed, and it’s believed to pose no danger.”

[So you brought it from that museum?]

“Is it a hostile group’s work? I heard ‘Portrait of Reality’ is a group of artists who make dangerous pieces. Couldn’t that one be dangerous too?”

“The Research Department confirmed it.”

“They only tested it for a few days, didn’t they? Couldn’t there be elements the Research Department failed to confirm, or things they missed?”

[I believe this is the anomaly I mentioned. It may be able to reflect your self from another dimension. It will help prevent annihilation.]

“Oh, is that so? I didn’t know Dr. Geum did so well in the field. Nanami, do you think so too?”

“Dr. Geum did very well.”

“Administrator Lee, have you ever seen something like this? It’s my first time. I feel like it’s been quite a while since I’ve seen an anomaly without a serial number.”

“I haven’t either, Aide Cha.”

“Oh, wait a moment. I think I can see myself in the mirror—or no, is that just me?”

“Looks like it’s just reflecting. Look again.”

“Dr. Geum, do you have any observation equipment for this? Or has the Research Department already done all that?”

“Dr. Geum, are you all right?”

****

I was fine, but my head hurt.

“Let’s get to work now.”

I stood up from my seat. My colleagues in the Director’s Office were, frankly, no help at all. At least when it came to this matter.

I needed time to think.

I shook off my colleagues, then picked up the Parallel Mirror and headed to the lab. Maybe it would be different if I looked at it alone.

An antique mirror about a meter in size. Someone had wrapped it in plastic wrap so the mirror wouldn’t break.

I sat down, then stared at the mirror for a moment. The reflection looking back at me was quite different from what I remembered.

No need to go to another dimension. I myself was an anomaly. Even that figure reflected in the mirror was abnormal, fitting for an anomaly.

The appearance of a woman who hadn’t fully shed her youthful look. Naturally, that wasn’t my face.

It was merely the result of an anomaly.

I waited for a long while, but no particular effect appeared. The anomaly I’d risked my life to recover was a dud. A bit disappointing.

Especially when I thought about how many people had fought for their lives at that museum.

“Hey.”

“…?”

I stopped mid-rise and turned my head.

“Anomaly H-1124. Look at me.”

The voice coming from the mirror was mine. Not entirely identical, though. Looking closely, the emblem on the lab coat’s shoulder and the round silver-rimmed glasses were different from mine.

But that was unmistakably me.

“Nice to meet you. Shall we talk a bit?”

***

The me beyond the mirror had a different personality from mine.

Very different. Louder, more cheerful, more boisterous than me. Watching her act like that with my face was more than a little irritating, though.

“Ah, that laptop. The laptop does communicate with another dimension too, but that’s not me, is it. Can’t be the same, I suppose.”

“I suppose not.”

“Anything you’re curious about?”

I thought for a moment.

“Let’s start with the emblem on your shoulder. You’re not with the Foundation? If not the Foundation, where do you work?”

“I’m a science officer in the Peacekeeping Force of the International Anomaly Management Organization, a body under the UN. And from the way you talk, you seem to be with the Foundation.”

I’d thought about this before.

If hostile groups existed in the world, then friendly groups naturally could too. Even if the Foundation was large, it would need some kind of agreement with the Korean government to operate here.

An anomaly management organization under the UN existing in another dimension wasn’t strange at all. At least no stranger than the Foundation’s existence.

“That’s right.”

“The Foundation is the villain. I don’t know if the Foundation’s methods are the strongest or the most efficient. But the Foundation’s methodology isn’t right. You know that too.”

It was a thought I’d had a few times, but that wasn’t what mattered now. I needed to verify the information about the destruction the laptop had mentioned.

“The laptop said you might be able to help prevent the destruction. Do you happen to know anything about it?”

“Hmm. Here’s the thing. Interdimensional communication or travel is difficult in principle. There are subspaces that serve as waystations, like the Garden or the Library. But the fact that communication with another dimension is possible at all means the barrier of reality has thinned.”

“Really?”

“That’s what the Theoretical Physics Department and the Thaumatology Department used to say, though I don’t know if it’s true. But from experience, multidimensional communication does tend to come from dimensions that are dying.”

“Ah…”

“Same goes for this one.”

“What happened?”

“The reason my world was destroyed—”

The counterpart beyond the mirror looked back over her shoulder.

“Hey, sorry, but I have to go. I might be able to pass along some useful information. Make sure to bring a recording device next time.”

I nodded.

“Right. I don’t know what you want to achieve, but if you’re with the Foundation, ask Anomaly L-393, the Wishing Well. It might not know what you desire, but it’s worth asking.”

The Wishing Well?

An anomaly with a name that felt familiar, for some reason.

The mirror went dark again.

The questions only multiplied. Discussing with others yielded no easy answers. No matter how much I dug, my curiosity wasn’t satisfied.

Where did the multidimensional laptop connect to? What about the Parallel Mirror? Who were the hostile groups, and who were the humans I’d seen at the museum? And then there was the destruction that beings from other dimensions kept mentioning.

Of course.

There was one solution. Go to the vacant Director’s office, then ask that damn phone connected to headquarters.

[You’re going to ask the phone?]

The Crystal Clock asked back.

[There is quite a lot to do. I need to recheck Popo, and I should wrap up the museum operation report as much as possible. Sorry I can’t help you more than this.]

“It’s fine.”

[All right, but let’s start by looking into the past first. You said this wasn’t your first time working at the Foundation, so there must be records somewhere.]

Riddles like this — you just solve them one by one, starting with what you can.

If I kept searching one by one, a day would come when I’d reach the truth.

***

[Anomaly Discovery Report]

[Filed by: Dr. Geum]

[The Parallel Mirror]

[Classification: object-type anomaly]

[Risk Class: Safe]

[It is an antique-looking mirror.]

[If you gaze into this mirror, the reflection of yourself within it may move on its own. Through this, one can communicate with a version of oneself from another dimension.]

[Discovered in a museum in Korea, and believed to have ties to a specific anomalous group. However, the connection has not been proven.]

[A newly discovered anomaly, with little experimentation conducted thus far. The experiments performed on this anomaly are as follows.]

[The Safe Artifact Management Division took custody of the anomaly and began experimentation. No reality alteration, no spacetime distortion, no tachyon response.]

[This mirror does not properly reflect any object other than a person. It appears to possess most of the physical properties of a mirror, but confirmation is impossible without resorting to destructive methods.]

[Communication with something believed to be an entity from another dimension has been successful. No meaningful information has been obtained yet, but it appears likely soon. This entry will be updated as new findings emerge.]