Chapter 27: Returnee (４)

****

Pop.

A black sphere of spacetime singularity opened in the Foundation’s basement. Two people in black coats walked out of the singularity.

The woman withdrew her outstretched hand.

“Foundation bastards, what did they do to this facility that teleportation magic won’t open inside the building? We struggled for ages because of that.”

“It opened, so that’s what matters.”

“Is this really a good idea? I heard that if the Foundation catches you, you get dissected alive.”

“Hmm… As long as we do what we’re told, they won’t kill us. Though that’s after we get caught.”

The woman frowned.

“Ugh.”

“That’s for later. For now, we need to think about not getting caught. The target is An Yuri. We don’t know exactly where she is, so we need to be careful—”

The man stopped walking.

“Tin cans.”

“Do they know we’re here?”

“No idea. We smash the unmanned machines. If we take out those machines, we can reach the target.”

The man pulled out a compass.

“Look, right ahead. So—”

Bang!

A silenced pistol aimed at the killing machines. The steel spiders were wrecked in no time.

“How did you do that?”

“Bullets inscribed with rune characters. I know you’re curious, but we need to move fast right now.”

“The target seems to be here.”

“Get the thermite out of the bag.”

The man attached a thermite bomb to the containment cell door. The device on the door activated, and an orange blaze of molten metal began eating through the door.

“Shotgun.”

“Yes, sir.”

Bang!

The containment cell’s locking mechanism fell away, shattered. The two walked into the cell, and the woman extended a hand to the Returnee.

“…”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss An Yuri. We are the caretakers of the Temple of Knowledge. My name is Cosmos. That man is Kairos.”

“What the hell is this—”

The Returnee blinked.

She had thought that returning to her home world would mean getting her life back, but reality was just an endless string of baffling situations and suffering.

“We come from a human rights organization for humanoid anomalies. We’ll rescue you from the Foundation’s hands. Escape with us.”

The woman reached out her hand again, and another black sphere appeared in the corner of the containment cell.

“We can’t keep it open for long.”

“Miss An Yuri. Come with us quickly. If you’re caught trying to escape, they might put a bomb collar around your neck. You have no choice.”

The Returnee deliberated.

“Hmm, fine… I understand.”

The Hero’s sigh.

The sound of Foundation soldiers’ boots filled the corridor. Before they could reach the containment cell, the three vanished through the dimensional gate.

****

This is more serious than I thought.

A dimensional gate to the Garden had opened and a reality bender had occupied the museum, killing several civilians. And today, someone had stolen a humanoid anomaly under the Foundation’s management.

It was a crisis, but if I played my cards right, I might be able to steer the situation in our favor. I wet my lips.

The reception room was silent.

I leaned back in my chair and propped both feet up on my desk. Everyone gathered in the reception room was quietly watching me.

“We know nothing about this. What is the meaning of this?”

I let out a sigh.

“On the day the Management Organization sent their negotiators, two wizard-type anomalies attacked the Foundation and made off with one of our anomalies.”

“We have absolutely no knowledge of—”

“I’ll take this as a declaration of war against the Foundation. I don’t see any other way to read it. Nanami. Please escort these prisoners to the containment cells.”

I rose from my seat.

“We’ll conduct negotiations directly with the Peacekeeping Force. And just like any other anomaly under our management, if you resist, you will be neutralized.”

This was within expectations anyway.

The Returnee could open dimensional gates, and she’d torn the containment cell door off with her bare hands. It was obvious she could break containment whenever she wanted.

Nanami took the Management Organization staff away.

****

“Is the Head of Support in the command center?”

[Yes.]

“Can you confirm the target’s location?”

[Ready. We’ve attached 13 tracking devices to the target’s body. We’re tracking the target through 11 available methods.]

This is war.

This is the command center.

The Returnee and the two intruders had escaped, and three Peacekeeping Force staff were locked in the Foundation’s containment cells. All of the Foundation’s executives at Facility 82, Seoul Branch, were gathered in the command center.

“If we find the enemy’s facility, what options do we have? What can we do?”

“Realistically, we could drop anthrax or sarin gas on the enemy facility.”

I don’t want to call headquarters. And those strategic weapons seem like a stretch anyway.

“Is neutralizing all of them the right call?”

“If all the recent incidents are connected to them, neutralizing them all wouldn’t be nearly enough. There’s also intel that something big is coming from behind the veil.”

“We don’t know the situation. Let’s wait.”

But everyone gathered here knows.

Things never proceed after you’ve grasped the full picture. When anomalies are involved, you can’t control every variable.

“If the target is still within Korea, the Foundation can track and pursue within 15 minutes. I’ll launch fighters now.”

Even without all the information, we’ll have to make a decision when the moment comes. After all, doing nothing is also a decision.

The command center was loud. Everyone in it had their own opinions, and all of those opinions were being voiced.

“Give the order. We’ll launch the Foundation’s fighters to the site immediately.”

“Launch them. Any objections?”

The Foundation’s soldiers gathered in the command center. Moments later, the Foundation’s fighters finished their takeoff preparations.

“Please confirm the target’s location.”

“Tracking the target. Signal acquired.”

“The fighters took off a moment ago.”

“Director. The Peacekeeping Force is contacting us right now. What should I tell them?”

This is a mess.

“Tell them we’ll return their personnel once the situation is explained. And I’m not the Director.”

The Head of Support shook his head.

“This isn’t the time for that, Director. What we need right now is a strong chain of command.”

“Understood.”

The situation is too complicated.

Let’s think calmly. Killing the hostile instances inside the enemy facility won’t be hard. We have plenty of means at our disposal.

But gathering intel on the Peacekeeping Force’s involvement and the recovery of Miss An Yuri won’t be easy. That’s a far more delicate operation.

“Wait a moment. What weapons are loaded? You mentioned sarin gas and anthrax earlier.”

The Foundation soldiers tilted their heads.

“We’re dropping Nanami into the combat zone. We didn’t mount chemical or biological weapons due to concerns about civilian casualties in Gyeongju.”

“Ah.”

“Nanami is the most powerful weapon we can deploy to the field.”

“Target location precisely identified!”

“Where?”

“Near Gyeongju, on the east coast. An abandoned school outside the city. Dropping Nanami now.”

The Foundation’s fighter arrived at the site.

“Elimination?”

Now is the moment of decision.

Should we eliminate those who spirited away Miss An Yuri, or simply show force and return? Should we kill the target this time?

“Nanami. This is an order. Recover the target. Do not use chemical or biological weapons. You may neutralize anyone who resists.”

Operation start.

“Drop.”

****

Being dropped from a fighter moving at subsonic speed isn’t a pleasant experience.

But it’s possible.

If the fighter gets shot down, the pilot is prepared to eject via the ejection seat. Nanami falling from the fighter and moving to the target point isn’t outside the realm of possibility either.

—Or so Nanami thought.

The Returnee had escaped 25 minutes ago.

Nineteen minutes for Nanami to gear up and the fighter to launch. Four minutes for the fighter to reach the target. One minute to confirm the drop point.

And two minutes to fall.

The Foundation is strong.

No matter how capable a humanoid anomaly with teleportation might be, it doesn’t seem likely it can cross the country every thirty minutes. The Foundation can, though.

The old Foundation wouldn’t have hesitated to authorize anthrax and sarin gas deployment.

This operation banned them outright.

Dr. Geum has a soft heart.

Nanami’s parachute deployed. About one minute remained until landing at the target point.

Nanami checked her gear.

Night-vision goggles, helmet, gas mask.

Two Foundation special-issue pistols, a gauss sniper rifle, a meteorite-iron greatsword. Smoke grenades. A strength-assist suit. The anthrax canister—not using that this time.

But she brought it anyway.

[Nanami. Can you hear me?]

Dr. Geum’s voice came through the radio. Nanami scanned her surroundings.

“Loud and clear.”

[The target is an abandoned school on the outskirts of Gyeongju. The people who kidnapped Miss An Yuri appear to be nearby. Secure the objective.]

“Got it.”

[And, if you can secure evidence that the Peacekeeping Force was involved in this kidnapping of the Hero, that would be ideal. Or evidence to the contrary, even.]

Nanami frowned.

“Understood. Landing now. I’ll link up the camera, so try not to talk to me unless you have to.”

Nanami shrugged off the parachute from her back.

Combat entry. The goggles covered Nanami’s face, and the safeties on both pistols clicked off.

The door to the abandoned school’s rooftop was locked. Nanami shot out the hinges and kicked it in. Killing the people inside the building wouldn’t be hard.

Firing a gun only takes a twitch of the finger. What mattered was securing the objective and finding evidence of Peacekeeping Force involvement.

“Alright. Moving in.”