Chapter 25: Returnee (２)

****

The Returnee, An Yuri.

She was staring into empty space.

She’d said it as a joke once—that if she ever went home, she might get snatched up by the government or some research institute. She never thought it would actually come true.

The Hero smashed the drone that had been chasing her, grabbed a piece of the wreckage, and said: I don’t know what you people are, but send the one with the biggest head.

Honestly, she’d just been talking out of her ass.

An Yuri thought it over.

What if those soldiers she saw earlier came into the apartment? Should she attack? Could she win? If they came to negotiate, what should she say to stay alive?

What happened if she killed soldiers? Even if she killed them all, wouldn’t helicopters come after her later? Like in some video game.

“Uh…”

The Returnee pricked up her ears.

The sound of a window breaking. Footsteps. And the sound of a gun being cocked. Someone was coming.

****

I leaned against the doorframe, askew.

The Returnee sat in the corner of the room, clutching her sword. Aside from the sword, she just looked like an ordinary woman.

“I’m Dr. Geum, Director of the Foundation.”

“No. Don’t come near me.”

I let out a sigh.

“Miss. What’s your name?”

“An— why should I tell you that?”

“We came here knowing everything about you. A lifetime of GPS records, financials, internet history. Academic records, personal relationships—all of it.”

Actually, we don’t.

The Returnee had only appeared today. There wasn’t enough time to look into all of that. But most of it could probably be confirmed if I asked the intel team.

The Returnee didn’t answer.

“Ah…”

“Miss. I’m going to make you one offer. Cooperate with the Foundation’s work, and I promise you won’t be harmed.”

“And if I refuse?”

“I don’t know.”

I’d seen it before. How the Foundation handled hostile humanoid anomalies.

A reality bender. They dissected it while pumping it full of enough anesthetic to put an elephant to sleep, and when it opened its eyes, they cut its spinal cord and pulled out its brain.

If this one kept resisting, she’d meet a similar end.

“You’re going to kill me.”

“If you cooperate with the Foundation’s work today, nothing will happen to you.”

The Returnee narrowed her eyes.

“What happens if I don’t cooperate?”

To be honest.

A quick death would be the better option.

“I’m sorry, but we’ll dissect you. Even if it means sacrificing everyone in this area. Alive, or as a corpse.”

“You people are villains.”

I had no rebuttal.

“I suppose so. Anything else to say?”

“No. Get out of my house before I kill you.”

She wasn’t going to listen. I tossed the valve cap from the pressure vessel to the Returnee. She caught it reflexively.

“What’s this?”

“One last piece of advice, miss. I’ll tell the researchers you’ve agreed to fully cooperate with the Foundation’s work, so when you wake up, declare that.”

“Wh—”

“Sweet dreams, Returnee.”

The sound of gas escaping.

The pressure vessel I’d brought was rapidly venting gaseous anesthetic. After the cap, I tossed the empty canister to the Returnee as well.

The target collapsed.

“Ah, ah—is the recovery team still on standby?”

[On standby. This is Science Officer Min.]

“Target is down. Recover the target and clean up the scene. I’m pulling out.”

[Huh, already? We’ll prepare to move in right away. Are you sure the target is neutralized?]

I gripped the submachine gun and looked down at the fallen Returnee. Her eyes were half open, but she didn’t seem to be conscious right now.

“She’s on the ground right now.”

[Understood. Director, please take cover.]

I picked up the sword the target had been holding. The weapon she’d carried was a greatsword about a meter long, with a leather scabbard decorated with ivory. Definitely not something you could easily come by.

Very likely an anomaly.

****

This is the containment cell.

Right now, a fresh-faced Returnee is locked inside the Foundation’s containment cell. A task force is standing by beside me, and we’re ready to inject tranquilizers into the cell in case of emergency.

The weapon is in a separate containment cell.

“This is your last chance.”

“You lied to me.”

“If you declare now that you’ll cooperate with us, you can walk out of here alive.”

“You—”

*CRUNCH.*

The iron door of the containment cell began to groan. Looks like she’s planning to tear it open by force. I crossed my legs and watched the iron door.

“Should we open fire?”

“Wait.”

*BANG.*

The iron door was hurled to the floor, and the Returnee escaped her containment cell. She walked out and looked down at me, sitting in my chair.

Strange. There’s no way a containment cell should be breached this easily. The task force members aimed their guns at the Returnee and formed a wall in front of me.

I raised one hand.

“Do you know what you’ve just done? Taking civilians hostage to threaten the Foundation, destroying facility property, and picking a fight with Foundation personnel.”

“So what?”

“Take one more step, and the Research Department will turn you into a brain in a jar. And this time, I won’t have any way to stop them.”

At that threat, the Returnee stopped in her tracks.

I slowly rose from my seat. The Returnee flinched at my movement.

“Go back into the containment cell. That’s right.”

I gestured for the prisoner to retreat, and the Returnee backed her way into the containment cell again.

The Returnee slumped onto the chair inside the containment cell with a dazed expression, and I leaned for a moment against the doorframe where the iron door had been. The door itself lay helpless on the floor.

“Look at that screen over there. It’s not a real window, but sometimes you can see parrots.”

The Returnee squinted.

“On the screen?”

“I’ve spent a few days in a containment cell myself, so I know. If you have nothing more to say—I’ll be on my way. Let me know if you need anything.”

Situation over. I turned my back on the containment cell and started walking.

“Dr. Geum. What about the door?”

A task force member asked.

“Just leave it. If the target tries to leave the room, you’re authorized to neutralize.”

Containment seems to have succeeded, for now.

But the situation isn’t over. I need to confirm whether there are any additional threats from this incident, and whether there’s anything to be gained.

If she’s someone who can open dimensional gates at will, she could be extremely dangerous to the Foundation’s operations.

They might even raise a fuss about killing her before she becomes a problem. I headed to the research lab assigned to containment cell 5.

“Who’s the researcher in charge of this incident?”

“Ah, that’s me.”

I don’t remember very clearly, but it’s the young doctor I met at the Humanoid Containment Division last time. I bowed my head to the doctor in greeting.

“Dr. Geum from the Director’s Office. Report the current situation and objective in ten words or fewer.”

“Target no dangerous pathogens. Psychological state unstable, no hostile behavior. Returnee’s other dimension, anomalous weapon, Returnee herself designated as research subjects.”

“That’s seventeen words. Thank you anyway.”

****

Let me organize.

First, I need to confirm which other dimension the Returnee came from. Headquarters likes that sort of thing, though I don’t yet know why.

Second, I need to research the Returnee’s weapon. Even at a glance, it’s a toy the Research Department would love.

Third, I need to conduct research on the Returnee herself. It’s important work, but also the most difficult and laborious.

I thought it over. Even if we can verify and handle the rest on our end, the matter of the Returnee’s other dimension requires contacting headquarters.

“Director!”

The siren in the Director’s Office began to wail.

****

[Anomalous Weapon Analysis Report]

[Filed by: Safe Artifact Management Division]

[An analysis was conducted on the anomalous weapon recovered from the Returnee’s hands.]

[The anomalous weapon is a European-style greatsword, one meter in length, inscribed with unknown characters. No anomalous properties could be identified.]

[This is speculation, but the anomaly appears to manifest only when in the patient’s own hands. If you grant permission for cross-verification, we will confirm.]

****

[Returnee Examination Results Report]

[Filed by: Cheon Gyeongchae]

[She was somewhat hostile at first, but once the examining physicians treated her kindly and accommodated a few of her requests, she quickly calmed down.]

[That aside — we did administer a sub-threshold suggestion-enhancing agent in the food provided to the patient.]

[We are unable to determine the source of the patient’s abilities. There appears to be some kind of anomaly — a mana circle or the like — in her heart, but to properly understand it, we would need to dissect the patient.]

[Naturally, we will not be doing that.]

[We ran everything — ECG, echocardiogram, transesophageal echocardiogram, MRI, CT, angiography — but all we could confirm is that the mana circle is located in the heart. Nothing beyond that.]

[The mana circle does register on the ECG. At first we thought it was an acute myocardial infarction pattern, but it turned out to be the mana circle.]

[I have seen many humanoid anomalies, but cases where the source of the ability is even roughly identifiable are rare. This one has research value.]