Chapter 8: Anomalous Space—The Garden (３)

****

There aren’t many problems that can be solved with a gun. But it’s better than going in empty-handed, so most missions carry one anyway.

The Alpha Team leader recalled his first mission.

In that mission, the science officer died first, and the whole system collapsed shortly after. It had been a brutal, unforgettable initiation for the team leader.

On-site, the science officer’s role matters more than anything. And of course, having one more person with a gun on the field never hurts.

The enemy might fly, might not die from bullets, might be invisible to the naked eye, might not even be a physical opponent at all.

When fighting anomalies, someone has to be watching the surroundings with means other than their eyes.

Take this very anomaly, for instance.

The recovery team located the target with Geiger counters, confirmed the absence of spatial distortion with astrolabes, and analyzed biological samples to verify that gunfire would be an effective response.

If the science officers had missed even a few things, the operation’s outcome would have been drastically different.

Honestly, this team leader hadn’t trusted Dr. Geum.

Partly because she seemed a bit scatterbrained, and partly because she had a rather girlish appearance from the very first meeting. Was that an anomaly too? Even so, he wouldn’t have been surprised.

The Director’s Office had insisted that Dr. Geum, with her military background and doctorate, would have no trouble accompanying them as a science officer.

And then she nearly died getting off the helicopter before the mission even started. It was a miracle Dr. Geum made it down the fast rope alive.

But.

Dr. Geum, Chief Researcher of the Director’s Office, had performed far better than anyone expected. She’d identified most of the characteristics worth knowing about the anomaly, and she even seemed to be holding a decent conversation with Min, the science officer infamous for being impossible to talk to.

“Preparing to withdraw.”

The team leader began getting ready to leave.

****

We’d accomplished what we came into the anomalous space to do.

We’d recorded the anomalous space’s characteristics, located and neutralized an anomalous organism to secure a sample, and identified the cause of the anomalous space’s appearance. The cause was a bizarre altar, and the spacetime distortion behind it.

The solution wasn’t clear yet. It seemed like we’d need to secure a safe zone and build a facility, but that wasn’t something to worry about right now.

All that was left was to withdraw.

I wished the helicopter would come all the way up to us. But given how it had whined about its electronics getting fried, it probably wouldn’t come anywhere near.

No wait—it hadn’t even landed in the first place, right?

This time, I hoped the helicopter would at least land. Going down the rope was one thing, but I wasn’t sure I could climb back up.

Anyway.

In short, we needed to move to a point where the Foundation’s helicopter could land.

Since electronic devices were malfunctioning around this anomalous space, the helicopter approaching was realistically out of the question.

We began exiting the anomalous space along the path we’d come in on. The soldiers were moving considerably faster than when they’d entered.

“We just head out this way?”

“Yes.”

“What happens to this place now?”

“Now that we know what’s inside, the Foundation will likely bring in more specialized equipment to explore it. Anomalous spaces aren’t common, after all.”

The team leader answered me.

From afar, the sound of a helicopter came again. I looked up to check the sky. I couldn’t see it, but it seemed fairly close.

The soldiers picked a suitable clearing, and before long, a helicopter appeared in the sky.

The rotor’s chopped wind swept over the area, sending dead leaves flying and raising clouds of dust from every direction.

A moment later.

The helicopter touched down on the ground. I let out a quiet sigh of relief in the corner. All that was left was to board and head back.

“Alpha Team, withdrawing from the operational area!”

The entire recovery team boarded the helicopter, and before long, the door closed. The rotors began to spin, and the helicopter lifted into the sky.

****

We sat in the helicopter, waiting for the rotors to stop. They didn’t wait during operations, but apparently waiting was the standard procedure.

The moment the helicopter door opened, a team in protective suits rushed over. If I remembered the manual correctly, everything coming out of an anomalous space was supposed to be decontaminated as a matter of procedure.

“Support team!”

“Get the decontamination ready!”

The Foundation staff in protective suits sprayed white disinfectant noisily into every corner of the helicopter.

Not even sparing the people on board. So this was why we’d worn gas masks getting off. After the decontamination finished, I walked past the recovery team.

****

It took a while for the recovery team to get off the helicopter. Once I was out, I saw Nanami waiting for me at the entrance to the helipad.

“How was the mission? First time in the field, right?”

“I thought I was going to die. Those soldiers told me to jump out of the helicopter.”

Nanami looked a little apologetic.

I couldn’t be sure, but the reason I’d been sent to that site was probably Nanami. I’d agreed to it, sure, but someone had to have approved me going on that mission.

“That happens sometimes. You don’t know how to fast-rope?”

“No?”

Nanami started walking toward the door. The Director’s Office was in the facility’s basement. From here, it was a fair distance to my office and Nanami’s.

“Ah. You’re okay, right?”

“Yes.”

“Good to hear. Where was the eyeball candy monster?”

“This anomaly wasn’t a single monster—it was an anomalous space containing multiple mutated organisms. At its center was a single spacetime singularity.”

Nanami suddenly stopped walking.

As if there was something she needed to think about.

“A spacetime singularity with a large subspace… That doesn’t sound like something that’ll be resolved anytime soon.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah.”

Nanami started walking again.

“What do you think we should do?”

I’d thought of a solution earlier. Though I wasn’t sure it was really the best one.

*Beep.*

The elevator doors opened. I stepped inside with Nanami, and the elevator descended toward the Director’s Office.

“We confirmed the location and size of the spacetime singularity inside the anomaly. I think we need to build a facility near the singularity to control the movement of organisms, and secure a safety zone so civilians can’t enter.”

“Hmm, we probably don’t have the money for that.”

“Is there no alternative?”

Nanami thought for a moment.

“Go into the Director’s office and contact Foundation Headquarters. There’s a big analog telephone in the center of the Director’s office, right?”

I felt like I’d asked too many questions today, but I had more than one or two things I was curious about.

“Speak freely.”

“What does Foundation Headquarters do?”

Strictly speaking, the Foundation was an international non-governmental organization.

Even if it did handle hidden anomalies, could reshape the reality the public knew, and was the most powerful military force in the world. Foundation Headquarters… I wonder what it actually does.

“I don’t know either. If you call Foundation Headquarters, they’ll figure out what to do and let you know. But I’ve heard it’s better not to call too often.”

I followed after Nanami.

“Can’t you do it, Nanami?”

“You’re the scientist. They’ll listen to you.”

The elevator doors opened.

“Probably, once you make the call, Foundation Headquarters will handle it on their own. Just call, and if there’s a problem, tell me.”

“Yes.”

“I’m busy. See you later, then.”

Nanami went into her office, and I stared at the door of the Director’s Office.

The door of the Director’s Office, empty for a long time, gave off a gloomy atmosphere. Nothing I could do about it. Work had to be done. Could it be harder than grabbing a rope and jumping out of a helicopter?

I stepped into the Director’s office.

The supreme commander of the Seoul Branch, the Director, was currently vacant. In that office, nothing remained except a desk and the telephone on top of it.

I looked at the phone in question.

It had no visible buttons, only a power connection—an antique-looking telephone. I pressed my temple to shake off the unease.

There were plenty of people in society who had phone anxiety. It’d be even worse if the phone connected to a mysterious secret laboratory.

On second thought, that wasn’t right either. We were the mysterious secret laboratory. Even we didn’t know what Foundation Headquarters did.

If what Nanami said was true, picking up that phone would connect me to Foundation Headquarters.

No one seemed to know what Foundation Headquarters was like. Even Nanami had said she didn’t know what the Foundation Headquarters was.

I took a deep breath and picked up the phone. It had to be done anyway, so being scared for no reason wouldn’t solve anything.

The phone connected immediately with a beep.

“Hello. Th—”

“We will process it as requested, Dr. Geum. Have a good day.”

Then—click. The line went dead.

Were these people insane? What the hell was that…?