Chapter 5: The Talking Crystal Clock

****

“I’ve met quite a few scientists over the years. They all said they’d join the Foundation without much thought or hesitation. Do you happen to know why?”

Nanami asked.

I had to work fairly hard just to keep up with Nanami’s pace. She showed no sign of hurrying, but this woman simply walked fast.

“I have a few ideas.”

“Oh? I can’t say I do.”

White walls, white fluorescent lights. The corridor of the Director’s Office was hard on the eyes.

“Curiosity, I’d say. When you come face to face with something that denies everything you thought you knew, when you come face to face with a new world.”

“Mm.”

“If you could keep your curiosity in check in that situation, you never would have become a scientist in the first place. Being dying to know is only natural. That’s all it is. It was the same for me.”

Nanami nodded.

“Here we are. The Director’s Office conference room.”

The door creaked open.

Currently, a total of five people work in the Director’s Office at the Foundation’s Seoul Branch. The Director himself, whose seat is vacant, is naturally excluded.

The adjutant, Nanami.

The Chief Researcher, me.

And three aides.

Normally, the Director who heads the facility would be responsible for commanding the task forces deployed there, directing facility security, and approving various matters within the facility, but…

With the Director’s seat vacant, all of these matters must now be handled by the five people in the Director’s Office through consensus. At least, that’s my understanding.

And.

This is the Director’s Office conference room.

It wasn’t a large space. The Director’s seat remained empty, with three seats arranged on each side for six people total.

If I’m the fifth, where did the sixth go?

“Hello, colleagues.”

I forced an awkward smile. Nanami stood beside me, looking somewhat uncomfortable. After a moment, she spoke.

“This is the new Chief Researcher I’ve brought in. Now, everyone, please greet Dr. Geum.”

The conference room stirred.

“I’m Aide An Jintae.”

“I’m Aide Cha Jisu.”

“I’m Administrator Lee Jihye.”

Easy enough to remember. Aide An, Aide Cha, and Administrator Lee. The aides looked like ordinary middle-aged men on the surface.

Administrator Lee Jihye… I couldn’t quite gauge her age. She didn’t look old, at any rate. These people weren’t researchers. Black tie, black suit — unmistakably Men in Black.

A moment later, Administrator Lee Jihye broke into a wide smile.

“Pleasure to meet you. Just don’t kill yourself, Dr. Geum. We don’t expect much of you.”

Chilling.

But it wasn’t an unreasonable request. I could only nod. The Director’s Office welcome party was more uncomfortable than I’d expected.

The stares were uncomfortable. No doubt, in everyone else’s eyes, I just looked like a child. Some might find it a bit curious.

My original age, or this body’s age — either way, there was a considerable gap between me and these people. Besides, I didn’t really know anything about this place.

“If there’s anything you don’t know, feel free to ask anytime.”

Nothing to do but prepare well.

****

I quietly returned to my office.

My assigned scope of work was as follows.

First. Managing the anomalies directly overseen by the Director’s Office. Nothing particularly dangerous or complicated. As seen with the Crystal Clock, the Director’s Office storage only holds safe anomalies. Though I do have to write regular reports.

Second. Translating approval requests coming up from the Research Department into plain language. The problem is that I’m the only scientist in the Director’s Office.

I have to go verify things in person myself. Even if it’s outside my specialty.

That’s a bit frightening. It means functioning as a one-person audit team, which could mean getting into arguments with experts outside my field.

Third. I may also participate in Foundation research, but there aren’t really any research facilities within the Director’s Office. That means collaborating with the Research Department people to conduct studies… Well.

For now, let’s ask the Crystal Clock.

“Dr. Lee, are you there? I’m supposed to start work on Monday, but I’m not really sure how to go about it, or what I’m supposed to do.”

The clock didn’t answer right away, but judging by the humming sound coming from it, it seemed to be preparing a response.

In my opinion, the consciousness inside the crystal doesn’t seem to be awake all the time. It seems to spend most of its time in sleep, or something like an unconscious state. Well, if it didn’t, it would have gone mad by now.

“I’d appreciate it if you could help me out a bit.”

[Research is all about momentum.]

The Crystal Clock ticked.

“Why?”

[No one except Human Resources Department knows who you are, or even what you are. Put on a bold face, hold your head high, and just push through. This is a position where that works. You’re the Chief Researcher of the Director’s Office.]

Easier said than done.

The position of someone who actually has to fight is different. I opened the Crystal Clock and set it on the desk. The Crystal Clock kept ticking away.

“It’s not easy.”

[What do you have to do this week?]

“Hold on. Attend the department-head level monthly meeting. Attend the academic conference at the anomalous organism biology facility. Attend the Research Department section chief monthly meeting. Periodic recording of anomalies managed by the Director’s Office.”

[And?]

“There are a few agenda items awaiting deliberation. A request to increase the budget for the anomaly ‘Antichrist,’ a request to approve full-scale elimination of the anomaly ‘Eyeball Candy,’ and a request to transfer the anomaly ‘the Ordinary Laptop’ to the Precognition Team.”

These are the agenda items that came to me.

They were probably sent to me because they were judged to be related to research, but as they stand, I have no idea what they’re about. I’ll have to read the attached reports and even visit the sites before I can make a judgment.

[Then we’ll handle them one by one. Read the contents first, since we don’t know what they want. As a rule, the best approach is to see things directly and judge for yourself.]

I nodded. That goes without saying.

Wait a moment — if I could log into the Foundation database, wouldn’t I be able to search for information on anomalies too? I rummaged through the database for a bit.

Of course, now that I was working for the Foundation, I had more than a few questions, but the one I was most curious about right now was something else.

There it is. Found it.

“I’ll call you again if I need you. Thanks for your help.”

[Yeah, for what?]

I put the Crystal Clock back in its box and set it down far away from my desk. Let’s see what secrets you’re hiding.

The records on Anomaly O-2370, the Crystal Clock.

****

[Anomaly O-2370]

[The Crystal Clock]

[Risk Class: Safe]

[Classification: object-type anomaly]

[Anomaly O-2370 is a small crystal. It is not dangerous, but it can exert anomalous influence on humans and living organisms.]

[The internal microstructure of Anomaly O-2370 changes constantly, but this cannot be confirmed with the naked eye. It can, however, be observed under a UV fluorescence microscope or with a wavelength analyzer.]

[Anomaly O-2370 was discovered during the cleanup process following the elimination of an occultist group. At the time it was thought to be junk and stored in a warehouse, but research began on the recommendation of the Psychometry Team that was on standby at the scene.]

[While measuring the crystal’s frequency under voltage to check whether it contained any information, Dr. Lee, who was in charge of the experiment, lost consciousness.]

[Dr. Lee was immediately declared brain-dead and, despite the Foundation’s best efforts, never woke up. Dr. Lee’s consciousness is believed to be trapped inside this crystal, and further experiments are prohibited by the authority of the Ethics Committee due to ethical concerns.]

[Currently, additional testing or research on Anomaly O-2370 is prohibited. The researcher in charge must file a record of this anomaly’s status once a month.]

[No observable change in the artifact.]

[Identical to the previous 60 entries.]

[P.S. Transferred to the Director’s Office.]

[P.S. A device enabling Anomaly O-2370 to communicate with the outside world has been constructed. Experimental approval is currently pending.]

****

[Anomaly O-714]

[The Ordinary Laptop]

[Risk Class: Safe]

[Classification: object-type anomaly]

[An ordinary laptop discovered in the Foundation’s warehouse. It is a model manufactured in 1999.]

[According to the Psychometry Team, it may have the ability to communicate with the future. No anomalies were detected in the tachyon response results.]

****

[Information Request Regarding Researcher Geumbari]

[Filed by: Safe Artifact Management Division]

[To Adjutant Nanami.]

[Hello. I am aware that matters concerning the Human Resources Department and the Director’s Office are not within our purview, but I have heard that the Director’s Office recently requested to take over management of Anomaly O-2370.]

[I will ask at the risk of being rude.]

[Have experiments on the Crystal Clock resumed?]

[Is it true that Anomaly O-2370 has been handed over to Anomaly H-1124? Is it the Director’s Office’s policy to fuse multiple dangerous anomalies together to create a human weapon?]

[I fail to understand why the Director’s Office believes it may do as it pleases with matters forbidden to other Foundation researchers.]

[I would appreciate a satisfactory explanation regarding the principles of use for the two anomalies.]

****

[Re: Information Request Regarding Researcher Geumbari]

[Filed by: Nanami]

[I apologize for causing you concern.]

[Matters concerning personnel in the Director’s Office are classified Foundation information. It has been verified by the Human Resources Department and the Medical Division, so there is no need to worry.]

[After all, how many times did we announce that the Chief Researcher position at the Director’s Office was vacant, and no one volunteered? It is a job everyone would rather die than take, even by suicide.]

[The anomalies managed directly by the Director’s Office are extremely few in number, and all of them are Safe class. If you are concerned, you are welcome to come and verify for yourself.]

[Anomaly H-1124, Dr. Geum, is a capable and diligent employee of the Foundation. As the Chief Researcher of the Director’s Office, you will be seeing them often.]

****

[Re: Re: Information Request Regarding Researcher Geumbari]

[Filed by: Safe Artifact Management Division]

[You certainly trust H-1124 a great deal. I understand your thinking well, Adjutant. Let us discuss this again at a later time.]