Chapter 75: The New Chief Researcher (１)

****

This is the Foundation’s humanoid containment cell… no, actually, it’s the reception room. This person is a civilian who hasn’t done anything wrong, so she’s not a containment target.

Anyway, the person inside the containment cell was extremely angry.

“Hello, Kim Minah.”

“What, you again? Who are you supposed to be?”

I let out a sigh.

“I’m a bit busy, so I’d like to move this along quickly. What would you like in exchange for your silence?”

“Money to fix my leg, and 100 million won.”

Concise. That’s a relief.

I nodded.

“Very well.”

“Wait, that’s it?”

“Let’s get you out of the Foundation facility quickly.”

“No, hold on. Who the hell are you people, shooting someone in broad daylight, handing out 100 million like it’s pocket change, and what the hell is going on…”

“I can tell you what’s going on. But if I do, you won’t be able to leave this facility.”

“What did I do wrong to deserve this?”

I glanced at the file compiled under her name. An internet broadcaster, it seems — someone who does occult, horror, and abandoned building exploration stuff.

I crossed my legs and sat back.

“Well. Blood type O, attended Sogang University for two years before taking a leave of absence. You’re currently subscribed to both Netflix and Disney+. Why did you do it?”

“That doesn’t seem like a crime. Wait, how much do you know about me?”

“Here’s the crime. You went looking for urban legends and found the real thing. Your effort is commendable, though.”

“So I got shot because I found something I shouldn’t have found? What the hell…”

“You’re welcome to stay here. I don’t particularly care. Ma’am, do you know how many people die in this facility in a single day?”

“Of course I don’t.”

I looked down at Kim Minah.

“Neither have I counted.”

Right, there’s no need for me to do this myself.

“Anyway, leave quickly. I hope we never meet again. Do your best to avoid the real thing. Something like this might happen again.”

What’s the problem?

It feels like I have the same conversation every time. Countless people are trapped in the Foundation, and only a handful of them take containment for granted.

Though that’s only natural.

****

Well, a civilian without anomalous abilities isn’t even a blip on the radar. If we’d needed to, we could have just wiped her memory and sent her back. We simply had more patience and time than usual today.

Aide An looked at me.

“You’ve been busy these past few days, haven’t you?”

“Yes.”

“We believe it’s time to select a new Chief Researcher. While you were away, we drew up a list of candidates.”

I scratched my head. It wasn’t what I wanted, but if that’s what the Director’s Office wants.

“Who?”

“We’re still deliberating. For internal candidates, we’re considering Dr. Chae of the Metaphysics Division, Dr. Kim of the Mechanical Division, and Dr. Lee of the Humanoid Division.”

It looks like a lot at first glance, but in the end, it means not a single person with any personal connection or direct relevance to me is interested.

In effect, it means no one actually wants to be Chief Researcher. Can’t be helped.

“What about external candidates?”

“We haven’t looked into that yet.”

“Hmm, no department-head or section-chief level. If we move them, we’d have to find replacements.”

“Then, among internal Foundation personnel, Dr. Chae is the only one left. Shall we assign it to her?”

I shook my head.

“Bring me three external candidates as well. I’ll decide after interviewing them.”

“You don’t think highly of Dr. Chae?”

“It’s not that. She’s practical enough, but Dr. Chae is essentially a wizard working with anomalies, so I’m hesitant to hand her the position outright. It’s a question of how much people would trust her.”

Aide An nodded.

“But isn’t Dr. Chae not a humanoid anomaly? She’s Type Blue, a wizard…”

“Her class is lower, but she’s still a humanoid anomaly. Anyway, prepare the interviews. I plan to see external candidates as well.”

Aide An left my office.

I have a conference to go to later, but at least today I only have to listen, so that’s a relief.

****

The conference.

Wait, what was the topic again? I checked the printout I’d received earlier. Clockwork devices, the clockwork dragon, and Ganymede.

Interesting topic, sure, but honestly I’d rather not hear any more about Ganymede. That’s the third time I’ve met it directly, and the damn thing keeps coming back.

The moderator was Dr. Chae.

“Our first speaker today is Dr. Yeon, who has devoted his life to the research, management, containment, and neutralize of clockwork devices.”

Dr. Yeon looked at the screen.

“Let us consider what clockwork devices are. Perhaps the problem begins right here—clockwork devices are not human. At least, most of them aren’t.”

“Clockwork devices manage several high-grade anomalies. The most important anomaly they manage is this one.”

Dr. Yeon was a rambling sort of speaker.

His lecturing skills left something to be desired too.

“Anomaly P-4198. The exact nature is classified, but it’s an anomaly that turns organisms into clockwork devices. And the heart of the Soviet aircraft carrier we found this time is similar. An anomaly that turns clockwork devices into monsters resembling organisms.”

I raised my hand.

“Hold on, what’s the heart of the aircraft carrier?”

Dr. Yeon thought for a moment.

“You don’t know? It’s the core of the clockwork dragon that was eliminated this time.”

“Ah.”

“It was installed on a Ulyanovsk-class aircraft carrier, then sold off somewhere after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, and now it’s surfaced. It’s an anomaly that absorbs metal or machinery to create monstrous machines.”

Dr. Yeon continued.

“The anomalous historians will explain this later, but Soviet scientists were very interested in clockwork devices.”

I looked at the printout.

“Clockwork devices are the product of a mechanistic worldview of the universe that dates back to the Enlightenment. The belief that the universe is a kind of machine operating according to specific rules manifested as an anomaly.”

Complicated stuff.

“The clockwork devices themselves describe it as the mechanistic worldview incarnating itself in the form of a miracle.”

That’s probably not the important part.

“Ah, I haven’t actually explained what clockwork devices are. Ultimately, clockwork devices are a religious organization. They are worshippers of machinery. Depending on the sect, or the anomalies they’ve secured, they seek the… improvement of human forms using weapons or metal.”

My thoughts grew complicated.

“Wait, what does Ganymede have to do with this?”

“Ganymede is the pinnacle and incarnation that proves their worldview. To them, it’s probably something like Noah or Jesus.”

Why on earth?

“What is Ganymede? A human soul inherited into a being of steel, a hound of the Foundation, yet one that ruled the magical world and evolved into a divine being, isn’t it? Ganymede would be a kind of prophet in the clockwork religion.”

Ugh, goddamn. This is getting under my skin.

****

The conference ended without dragging on too long.

“Director, may I have a moment?”

I looked up. This time it was Dr. Chae staring at me. What could she want.

“Follow me.”

Dr. Chae followed me.

“Um, I’ve thought about the Director’s Office’s offer. It would be an honor to serve as Chief Researcher, but whether I’m fit for such a position…”

“If you want it, Dr. Chae, then it’s yours.”

“The Chief Researcher position… I’m not sure I want it. Honestly, you know this too, Director? There’s no one inside the Foundation who wants the Chief Researcher position.”

That was true enough.

Dr. Chae furrowed her brow.

“Director. Do you really need me? A capable external candidate, or an internal one—anyone would do. The Head of Research or the Mechanical Section Chief could do it too.”

The Head of Research would be thrilled to be made Chief Researcher of the Director’s Office. The Mechanical Section Chief would be too. But I don’t know if they’re people I can trust.

“That’s the problem. The ones who want to come on their own… frankly, I can’t trust them.”

Dr. Chae let out a sigh.

“So the fact that I don’t want it is a reason to drag me into it? Or—”

“That’s right.”

“Ugh, fine, then I’ll be the Chief Researcher.”

“Very well. Report to the Director’s Office tomorrow.”

“I decline.”

“Director. I can’t do it. I don’t want to do that kind of work, I don’t have the ability to bear that kind of responsibility, and I don’t want to die.”

Dr. Chae.

No need to bring her to my office, then.

“Return to the Metaphysics Division.”

****

Dr. Chae refused in the end. This is exactly why the Chief Researcher position fell to me. Everyone knows that becoming Chief Researcher means death.

I sat down in my office.

“Dr. Geum. What’s going on?”

Nanami was leaning against the cat tower in the office.

“I’d like to find a new Chief Researcher.”

“Do you think I’d have gone picking from the contained population if I had any other choice? The problem is, among the currently contained, there isn’t even a master’s degree holder, let alone a PhD…”

I stared at Nanami.

“Are you serious?”

“We could look among civilians, but I doubt it’ll be easy. Even finding someone who comes close to what the Foundation expects of a Chief Researcher isn’t simple…”

Nanami pulled up a chair and sat down across from the desk.

“Want me to go get some coffee, Dr. Geum?”