Chapter 78: The New Chief Researcher (４)

****

The Head of Research sat down across from my desk.

“So, what did you want to discuss?”

“Let’s start with the works. Tell me about them.”

“The first work. No, wait — there was something before that. It would be designated Blue Rose-0.”

“Yes.”

Lee Seah tilted her head.

“Which sea was it that Moses split in half?”

“The Red Sea, I believe.”

“That’s where it was found.”

The Red Sea, which Moses had parted. A colossal monster recovered from those waters, and an artificial sun.

An ultimate authority lowered into the depths of the sea. Even without analyzing it further… the symbolism would be absurdly powerful.

“Many marine organisms have circadian rhythms. They rise toward the surface when the sun comes up, then descend again at night. That’s called diel vertical migration.”

“Why bring up diel vertical migration all of a sudden?”

“That was the material for Blue Rose-0. The first work of Project Blue Rose. Foundation scientists, with the cooperation of forty national navies, lowered the artificial sun into the depths of the Gulf of Aden.”

I frowned.

“What could possibly require the cooperation of forty navies?”

“I believe they needed about a hundred ships.”

“…”

I can’t even picture it.

What kind of operation was that.

“Here’s the conclusion. The Foundation dismantled the monster in the Gulf of Aden and sent its fragments all over the world. Part of it became Blue Rose-0.”

“I see.”

“Well, as you know, the Foundation has killed, contained, or subdued countless divine entities. That is the essence of Project Blue Rose.”

I nodded.

“So you’re making a god?”

“That’s correct.”

Lee Seah’s eyes were gleaming in a disturbing way, and I instinctively leaned back slightly. I’ve always thought this, but — is she even human?

“Explain a bit more about the diel vertical migration.”

“We lowered the artificial sun into the depths of the Red Sea, and deep-sea organisms began to move. One of them was our target.”

“Is this about how amnestics are made?”

“Hard to say. I don’t know how amnestics are made myself. And as for their composition, I have absolutely no way of knowing.”

“You must have run analyses, though.”

“Classified.”

Complicated.

“Director, you haven’t changed much, then or now. Only your appearance is different.”

“None of what you just said seems to answer my question. Where did the Popo samples go? What did you make?”

“The possibilities are endless, aren’t they? The Enlightenment’s all-seeing eye — seeing anything, predicting anything. Or an immortal monster…”

There’s the psycho mode again.

I should call it a day.

“Go. We’ll talk next time.”

****

Finding a new Chief Researcher is off the table for now.

Three of my predecessors died, and whether from inside or outside the Foundation, finding new personnel won’t be easy. In fact, it’s not like just anyone could do the job.

Aide An looked at my companion.

“And who is this?”

“A secretary I brought in.”

“…”

“Say hello.”

The woman standing beside me bowed her head.

A crisply pressed skirt suit, a youthful, pretty face, coal-black hair reaching her shoulders, and amber eyes.

“Hello, I’m Operator ‘Paper.’ Pleased to meet you. Starting today, I’ll be working as Director Geum’s secretary.”

I nodded.

“A student at Yonsei University’s business school. Utterly normal, apart from graduating early.”

“Is that so?”

“I mobilized the Human Resources Department team and investigated everyone down to Miss Paper’s in-laws’ eighth cousins. There is no more normal person in the Republic of Korea.”

“Paper is an alias, I take it?”

“Yes.”

“Could we have a word alone, Director?”

I sent Paper out of the room.

Aide An scratched his head.

“You’re not going to tell me she’s just a secretary, are you? You brought in someone from outside the Foundation, without going through the personnel review, and you’re putting her in the Director’s Office?”

“She went through the review. You just said so yourself.”

“That’s not what I mean. What is she, really?”

“A secretary.”

Aide An let out a long sigh.

“Director. I’ve served three Directors before you. All three are dead now.”

“I’m aware.”

“The Director’s Office is the most dangerous seat in this facility. The previous Directors all died because of what happened inside that office. And you’re bringing in an outsider as your secretary?”

“She’s not an outsider.”

“…”

“She’s someone I know. I trust her.”

Aide An stared at me for a long moment, then nodded slowly.

“Understood. I’ll keep an eye on her.”

“Please do.”

****

The next morning, Paper was already at her desk in the Director’s Office when I arrived.

“Good morning, Director. Your coffee is on your desk.”

“Thank you.”

I sat down and took a sip. It was exactly the way I liked it.

“How did you know how I take my coffee?”

“I asked around.”

I see.

“What’s on the schedule today?”

Paper opened her tablet.

“At ten, a containment status review for H-class anomalies. At one, a budget meeting with the Logistics Department. At three, a video conference with the Seoul Branch regarding the Garden drilling project.”

“The Garden drilling. Right.”

I’d almost forgotten. The Foundation had started drilling for oil in the Garden under my command. I needed to check on that.

“Anything else?”

“A message came in from the Precognition Division. They said the probe feeds have stabilized. All twenty are now transmitting normally.”

“All twenty?”

“Yes. Including the five that were showing glitches.”

I frowned.

The five unexplained glitches had suddenly started working properly? That was either very good news or very bad news.

“Did they say why?”

“No. They just said the signals cleared up on their own.”

On their own.

I didn’t like the sound of that.

“Tell them to keep monitoring. If anything changes, I want to know immediately.”

“Understood.”

Paper noted it down without missing a beat.

I took another sip of coffee and stared at the wall.

Twenty probes. Fifteen sent by the Seoul Branch, five unexplained.

And now all five were working.

Something was happening. I just didn’t know what yet.

“It’s not that I’m opposed to your choice, Dr. Geum. But what’s so special about Miss Paper?”

“Nothing at all.”

I shook my head.

“I don’t follow, Dr. Geum.”

“Exactly what I said. Miss Paper isn’t a scientist, isn’t an anomaly, and isn’t a genius. She’s on the smart side, though.”

“Why?”

I thought about it for a moment.

What would be the simplest way to explain?

“The Foundation isn’t a normal place. We see anomalies day in and day out, and the people who work here are the cream of the crop—geniuses, espers, oddballs. Far from normal, all of them.”

“That might be true.”

I tilted my head toward the door.

“That’s why Miss Paper matters. Aide An, myself—we’re in a position where we have to protect normality without even knowing what it is. Miss Paper, on the other hand, knows what normal looks like.”

Aide An seemed to accept that.

“Director. You’re more cautious than you look.”

“Why?”

“The candidates for the next Chief Researcher. Esper abilities, machinery, eidetic memory, the Devil’s Tongue. You passed over all those highly capable candidates to pick a liberal arts college student who’s never once opened a general chemistry textbook, didn’t you?”

I let out a sigh.

“Aide An. And in the past five years, how many Chief Researchers have died or killed themselves?”

“…”

“I have no intention of pouring talent down the drain. My successor—sorry to say this to Miss Paper—needs to be someone with perfectly replaceable abilities.”

Aide An nodded.

Actually, that wasn’t Miss Paper’s only strength. She never had to go into the field, had no military experience, and had barely scraped through university with no career to speak of. Which meant her salary was only 5 million won after taxes.

Not even worth a goat’s price.

****

Paper. Real name, Lee Jaegeum.

Her first day on the job.

“So, what exactly am I supposed to do?”

“Work as my secretary. Manage my schedule, organize the documents I need to process.”

“That’s it?”

I scratched my head.

“You could attend the in-house graduate program, I suppose. Though I’m not sure Facility 82 has a business administration department. Actually, I’m not sure we have any liberal arts graduate programs at all.”

“Ah, I’ll look into it.”

I pointed at the Foundation hotline.

“You should memorize that up to the department-head level. Contact numbers, office locations, and where everything is.”

Paper thought for a moment.

“You told me not to ask questions, right?”

“Asking is fine, but if you go digging to find things out… the results might not be pretty. Use your own judgment.”

“Then I’ll just ask. What exactly is this place? Where does the money come from?”

“Think of it as something like a supernatural phenomena research institute. As for where the money comes from, I don’t know the exact details myself. Headquarters provides it.”

****

Anyway, I’d found a new Chief Researcher. Even if she wasn’t a researcher.

I took out the Crystal Clock.

“So, Dr. Lee, does she meet your approval? Or is trusting her out of the question?”

[Hard to say. She seems too incompetent to be a threat, though. Not the type to pose any danger.]

The most capable person I knew was Lee Seah. Naturally, I hoped she’d stay far away. That kind of person isn’t meant to be kept close.

[I understand why you did it, though. The smaller the scope of ability, the less threat it poses.]

“Dr. Lee, you said you had no knowledge of Project Blue Rose, correct?”

[None at all. Never heard of it, never participated in any such research.]

“What about Operation Aden?”

The Crystal Clock ticked briefly in my hand. If Dr. Lee still had a face, wouldn’t he be wearing an expression of serious contemplation right now?

[That one’s fairly well-known.]

“Is that so?”

[The details and objectives of the operation are completely classified, but it’s probably an operation whose existence even civilians outside the Foundation know about. The Head of Research said it—navies from forty countries participated.]

“Yes.”

I rose from my seat.

****

[Dimensional Exploration Record]

[Filed by: Section Chief, Extended Physics Division]

[Interdimensional Space-12]

[The Infinite Study]

[This exploration is the first dimensional expedition conducted at Facility 82. Whether other branches of the Foundation have attempted similar experiments is unknown. Much remains undiscovered.]

[First incident.]

[Several weeks ago, the Foundation captured a Returnee. Days later, two humanoid anomalies named Kairos and Cosmos attempted to seize the Returnee in Foundation custody.]

[Second incident.]

[Kairos and Cosmos succeeded in taking the Returnee and relocated elsewhere. Miss Nanami pursued them and killed the Librarians.]

[Third incident.]

[At Yulje-myeon, a library, Librarians, worshippers of Truth, and related anomalies were discovered. Specifically, that cursed mahogany door.]

[Symbolically, it amounts to this.]

[The Infinite Study is the Temple of Truth.]

[An Yuri, Kairos, Cosmos. These humanoid anomalies are those who make use of the Infinite Study. Guests of the library.]

[The Librarians. Those beings of black tendrils operate the Infinite Study. They too are made from human material, but in truth, they are not human.]

[The mainstream view held that the Temple of Truth was a metaphor, and the Librarians merely a horrific transformation of human beings… but.]

[The library truly exists.]

[Kairos’s group has gained considerable new credibility as well. My opinion is this: why not apologize to Kairos’s group and go our separate ways?]