Chapter 43: Recommendation for Disposal of Humanoid Anomaly (３)

****

It goes without saying, but the Foundation is a prison.

The thing worth considering is… The wardens who have guarded this prison for hundreds of years are becoming increasingly indistinguishable from the prisoners they manage.

The Foundation’s leadership watches its own employees more closely than the anomalies that exist for the very purpose of being managed.

Within the walls of this building, there are many anomalies. Many peculiar humans.

Some are locked in containment cells, some in offices, some in barracks. But in the end, they’re all equally in the palm of the Foundation’s hand.

The Head of Research is now my pawn.

There are no second chances. The Research Department staff can’t be unaware of what it means that their Head was dragged to a containment cell and came back.

As long as Lee Seah sits in the Head of Research’s chair, no one in the Research Department can afford to be uncooperative with me. Ironic as it is.

****

There’s still much unfinished business.

I looked at Kairos, seated beyond the containment cell. Nanami and Bishop Oh stood beside me.

“Mr. Kairos.”

“Hello, Director Geum.”

“Do you know why I’ve come to see you?”

Kairos shook his head.

Well, even if he did know, he’d insist he didn’t. Unless he’s a fool.

“Tens of thousands of people died in the Group of Interest’s terror attack. You and your organization are among the prime suspects.”

Shock.

“What?”

“Of course, I know that isn’t the case. But you need to tell me everything you know, as much as you can, right now.”

Kairos let out a sigh.

“What is it you wish to know?”

“Mr. Kairos. Do you know anything about the process of summoning a divine entity?”

“The Temple of Knowledge records most knowledge known to humanity. Extremely occult matters like divine entity summoning are no exception… But calling forth beings is generally against our means and methods.”

So he came for a different reason, then.

“So, do you know anything or not?”

“Yes. Only a very small number of divine entities can be summoned, and even those are each summoned by different methods. I only know that it’s possible.”

I recorded Kairos’s words in my notebook.

Several cameras were recording this situation from all angles, but electronic devices are more vulnerable to cognitohazards than paper.

“Is the Mahogany Door a passage that connects to the Temple of Knowledge?”

“I’m not sure what that is.”

“It’s a door hidden in the library of the abandoned city. It seems the anomaly was created using a real-world library as a medium.”

This time, Kairos thought a bit longer.

“The Temple of Knowledge is not a place just anyone can enter. It would be best to give up on it.”

I had never stated or mentioned my plans.

“Give up on what?”

“The Garden, and other subspaces too — I’ve seen it many times. Doesn’t the Foundation want to mobilize its military and occupy the subspace?”

I shook my head.

“I apologize if that sounded rude.”

“If the disciples of Knowledge had been in the abandoned city, they would have been on site to help civilians or preserve knowledge.”

I’d like to believe that’s true.

But the odds are against it. If the disciples of Knowledge knew this situation was coming and still didn’t inform the government or the Foundation, that’s what it means.

I folded my notebook.

“Let’s stop here for today, Mr. Kairos. Is there anything uncomfortable or anything you need?”

“Where is Cosmos?”

I tucked my pen into my coat pocket.

“Don’t worry. The child will be brought here this afternoon. But… I’d appreciate better answers next time we meet.”

Kairos nodded.

****

I flopped down into my office chair.

Kairos and his organization didn’t cause this incident. That’s the conclusion I’ve reached.

Then who did? I skimmed the list of anomalies recovered from that city once more. The answer has to be in there somewhere.

A mahogany door recovered from the library.

Several black altars.

A strange bag stained with the blood of a god.

The corpses of numerous humanoid anomalies.

Corpses?

This might be a lead.

Most of the bodies found at the scene in that city were incinerated. But some corpses with research value were frozen and stored.

When in doubt, consult the Crystal Clock.

I took the Crystal Clock out of my pocket.

“Dr. Crystal Clock. Among the research methods the Foundation can mobilize, is there something like psychometry? I’m trying to see the past of objects.”

[I don’t know. Not when I was working. I’ve never heard of such a thing existing in this facility.]

“I see…”

[It’s been five years since I worked here, after all. The Foundation might have acquired something new. But if you don’t know about it, it probably doesn’t exist.]

“What about outside experts?”

[Outside experts? I doubt a humanoid anomaly outside the Foundation would help you. They’ve spent their whole lives being chased by the Foundation.]

“You know, those kinds of people. Spirit mediums, tarot readers, shamans.”

The Crystal Clock ticked.

[Humans not even worth containing? They’d be useless. They’re probably under surveillance, though.]

“If we gathered them, we might produce some results.”

[So. Your plan is. To gather a bunch of shamans, then use psychometry to uncover the past those corpses experienced?]

“That’s what I’m thinking.”

Psychometry.

The common method is touching an object to obtain information about it, or about the people who touched it in the past.

Though, given that the Foundation doesn’t use this method, it seems to be held in low regard.

It’s not like the Precognition Division or Remote Viewing Division always produced meaningful results, either.

[Right, there’s something you need to know that you don’t yet. Regarding the Groups of Interest.]

“What is it?”

[The most important of the Groups of Interest, the Foundation’s most powerful enemy. The ‘Colorless Orchestra’.]

The Colorless Orchestra.

Where have I heard that expression before?

The Black Orchestra was a German organization that resisted the Nazi regime, and the Red Orchestra was a communist organization that resisted the Nazi regime…

The Colorless Orchestra would be an organization that resists the Foundation’s activities. Whatever the cause may be.

[That’s my opinion. If there’s no one else among the Groups of Interest to blame, then that’s the problem.]

“This is the first I’ve heard of it.”

I had investigated hostile groups almost every day since the incident at the museum.

A group that exists to kill as many people as possible, using people as material, driving people mad. Isn’t that terrifying?

But nowhere in the documents I could access without a permission request was there any mention of the Orchestra. Could matters concerning the Orchestra be classified?

[Most things related to them are classified. There are also many conspiracy theories within the Foundation about whether they even exist.]

This is complicated.

I blinked. The Foundation’s very existence would be a conspiracy theory to most people. This is a conspiracy theory within a conspiracy theory within a conspiracy theory.

[There’s talk that it’s a lie the Foundation’s upper echelon uses as a pretext for purges, and talk that it’s a scapegoat outsourcing firm that handles problems too troublesome for the upper echelon to deal with directly.]

That’s entirely plausible.

The Foundation strives to uphold a minimum standard of decency in its work, but it’s not always possible to uphold both decency and the protection of humanity.

[There’s also talk that they’re a hypothetical enemy assumed for training scenarios, and talk that they’re the ones you call when there’s no one else to shift the blame onto.]

I let out a sigh.

“No, Dr. Crystal Clock. Why is it that mysteries never get solved? It’s like an onion made of onions. I peel and peel while crying, and I still don’t reach any conclusion.”

[You know the Foundation has cast the Veil of Ignorance over the world, right? The Foundation always prepares three or more solutions. There are probably at least two Veils of Ignorance blinding the employees too.]

“Understood, for now.”

A proposition that cannot be falsified is an unscientific proposition.

It wasn’t a very satisfying explanation. We had failed to find an explanation, and we’d shoved the responsibility onto a group we knew nothing about.

We’ll find a clue eventually.

****

[Remote Viewing Results]

[Filed by: Remote Viewing Division]

[Pain. Oblivion. Death.]

[An undying reptile. An omnipotent spider. The Deicide of darkness. The Guardian of the Garden. The Black God. The Black Altar. The Pitch-Black King. They are the rulers of reality. They are fragments of omnipotence, they are the arbiters of providence.]

[There are too many gods in this world. Too many boatmen on the vessel called providence. We must carry out a culling of them with our own, human hands.]

[The Infinite Study, the Temple of Truth.]

[The Virgin Conception.]

[So that they cannot control reality, we must cull the gods. They are parasites. Whatever the cost, every last pest must be exterminated.]

[The world beyond the mirror.]

[A rebellion against those who control providence.]

[We are you. We merely do the things you wish to do but refuse to take responsibility for. Do not deceive yourselves.]

[The pale-faced Deicide.]

[A devotee of Truth who has forgotten his own face and past.]

[A devotee of Truth gazing into a shattered mirror.]

[A knight of Enlightenment who has forgotten himself.]

[Are you not seeing this?]

****

[Re: Remote Viewing Results]

[Filed by: Geumbari]

[Um. I understand for now… I’m aware that remote viewing is difficult. But this—I can’t make heads or tails of any of it.]

[Don’t just write down everything that comes to mind and bring it here. Analyze who wrote this and what meaning the phrases suggest, then bring that to me.]

[Also. I intend to replenish the Precognition Team’s personnel through new recruitment. The hiring will proceed in consultation with the Human Resources Department team.]