Chapter 9: Anomalous Space—The Garden (４)

****

I set down the phone connected to Headquarters. “We will process it as requested”? What on earth does that mean—I never requested anything.

No help for it. I suppressed the urge to just let it go and picked up the phone again.

“Hello, this is Foundation Headquarters. What do you need this time?”

I mulled over my words for a moment.

“Before you hung up just now, you said the matter had been processed as I requested. Could you explain what exactly was processed as I requested?”

You mad bastards. I spat the words out as urgently as I could before the call could be cut off again.

“…”

A brief silence.

“You’re Dr. Geum of the Director’s Office at the Seoul Branch, correct? You’re requesting support due to an anomaly of a scale too large to handle internally.”

“That’s correct.”

“Oh, and congratulations on the promotion, Dr. Geum.”

The Headquarters staffer continued.

How the hell did they hear about the promotion already.

“Building a new facility isn’t easy, of course. As you requested, we will construct a facility to control the entrance to Anomaly L-1000. Additionally, a team to research the anomaly will be dispatched to your facility.”

“Can’t you just get rid of it instead?”

I had no idea what they were talking about. I never requested anything of the sort. A new facility to contain this anomaly, and so on and so forth…

The bastards at Headquarters were exactly as I’d expected. The attitude that they already knew who I was, what I would request, and what I needed.

An object of fear that knows everything yet explains nothing properly.

“Not impossible, but not easy either. For this type of anomaly, we don’t recommend destroying it through aggressive means. For any anomaly, the principle is containment before destruction.”

“Yes.”

“Take care, then.”

Click.

I set down the phone.

****

A staff member came from the Biology Department of the Research Department.

“Who are you?”

“Hello! I’m Choi Sian, an intern in the Biology Department. I analyzed the samples you handed over to the Research Department regarding Anomaly L-1000.”

He was a pleasant-faced male staffer.

“Yes, hello.”

Introducing himself as an intern—so he wasn’t a researcher, just a regular staffer, it seemed. He wore a black suit, but lacked the Foundation’s characteristic gloom. Maybe because he hadn’t been here long?

“Science Officer Min of Recovery Team 1 explained the operation to us. He said Dr. Geum did something incredible and came back safely. He was full of praise.”

“Is that so?”

Unexpected.

Dr. Min, he’d seemed like such a stiff person.

“The results were exactly as Dr. Geum predicted.”

“Yes.”

“The plant sample was a mutation of an existing organism, and the giant centipede that was neutralized also matched the genetic sequence of an ordinary centipede in most respects.”

“Was the centipede’s body recovered as well?”

I’d taken tissue samples from the giant centipede’s corpse myself. From what he was saying, it sounded like they’d gone back and collected more samples.

“Um, the biological samples from that anomaly are currently taking up an entire containment storage room in the Biology Department. Some of them are still alive.”

I nodded.

“Is there anything organized?”

No need to sit through all the technical details. Intern Choi continued.

“Yes, I’ll submit the document summarizing the research findings as soon as it’s complete. There’s so much new material. The researchers are thrilled.”

“Containment of the anomaly is complete, so I don’t see any need to continue the research.”

Intern Choi nodded again.

“Yes. The problem is the identities of the humans found dead in front of the subspace rift. They’re said to belong to a group hostile to the Foundation, but that’s outside the Research Department’s purview, so I don’t know the details.”

“A hostile group?”

“Of the bodies found, one was slaughtered at the altar. The others died for different reasons. Whether they took their own lives or died for other reasons hasn’t been confirmed.”

Slip of the tongue. I’m the Chief Researcher of the Director’s Office—I need to project authority. I can’t afford to show that I don’t know something.

“Good work. Send the summary to the Director’s Office. I’ll review it at my leisure.”

Intern Choi gave an awkward bow and left.

I sat down and propped my feet up on the desk.

This was my office again.

There were more riddles here than I could count. The fact that there was an anomaly, and that a peculiar organism lived inside it—that part wasn’t hard to understand at all, but…

Where did Anomaly L-1000 lead? And who were those humans performing rites to summon the anomaly in the first place?

Why was access to information about this anomaly restricted, and why was Foundation Headquarters reacting so sensitively to it?

I scratched my head.

Even after thinking for a moment, no answer came. The Crystal Clock in my hand ticked away.

“Dr. Lee. What do you think?”

[Foundation Headquarters has always been like that. They think they’re omniscient. They like showing off their power, and honestly, there’s a lot they really can do.]

“Why would that be?”

[The Foundation is the most powerful government on Earth. You can’t know what’s happening inside it, but Headquarters tries to maintain its power by wrapping itself in mystery.]

That sounded plausible. Most of humanity didn’t even know the Foundation existed, so there was no way any check on its power could exist. Not that I intended to take the Crystal Clock’s word at face value.

[Even if someone, or something, opposed the Foundation’s policies—what could they do? No one knows what the Foundation does, or where its leadership is. No one at all.]

“That could be.”

The terror of faceless bureaucracy.

[There must be a reason the Foundation considers Anomaly L-1000 this important. I don’t know what it is yet, though.]

I nodded.

“I’ll look into it as far as the Director’s Office’s authority allows. If necessary, I’ll call Headquarters again. Let’s start by combing through the Foundation database.”

I would find it.

Whatever secret was hidden there.

****

[Anomaly L-1000]

[The Garden]

[Risk Class: Dangerous]

[Anomaly Classification: Spatial]

[Anomaly L-1000 is a subspace in which unusual flora grow. Occasionally, a type of dimensional gateway connected to this subspace opens in certain regions; in such cases, facilities must be installed to prevent anomalous organisms from escaping.]

[As infectious diseases may exist within the subspace, direct human entry into the subspace is not recommended.]

[Exploration prohibited without separate approval.]

****

[Anomaly L-1000]

[The Garden]

[Risk Class: Friendly]

[Anomaly Classification: Foundation Facility]

[All information about Anomaly L-1000 known to regular Foundation personnel is false. There are no infectious diseases from another world in this subspace.]

[Anomaly L-1000 is a type of space currently managed by the Foundation. The area managed by the Foundation within this subspace is estimated at approximately 400 square kilometers.]

[Currently, 5,000 Foundation personnel are stationed inside Anomaly L-1000. The Garden is a major Foundation fortress and research facility.]

[The Garden was once the stronghold of the hostile group known as the “Gardeners,” but after a long siege, the Foundation seized control of the subspace.]

[Postscript. The interior space of Anomaly L-1000 is believed to have an effect that promotes the vital activity of macroscopic organisms. However, the effect is so weak as to be difficult to measure.]

****

[Anomalous Space Exploration Record]

[Filed by: Support Department, Anomalous Space Exploration Section]

[Seismic waves detected on Foundation seismographs. The epicenter, calculated by triangulation, was estimated to be a hill in Gyeonggi Province. No fault line existed in the area.]

[Fixed-wing surveillance drone deployed.]

[Operational details attached separately.]

[Deployment results. An anomalous space visually confirmed above Gyeonggi Province. Fog and electromagnetic distortion covered an area of approximately 1 square kilometer.]

[Safety team deployed.]

[Operational details attached separately.]

[After notifying the authorities of a chemical spill incident, with their cooperation, the surrounding area was evacuated and civilian access was controlled.]

[Exploration team dispatched; quadcopter drone deployed.]

[Operational details attached separately.]

[The quadcopter drone crashed. It was determined that unmanned machinery cannot directly enter the anomalous space due to electromagnetic interference.]

[Manned exploration team deployed.]

[Operational details attached separately.]

[With approval from the Director’s Office, Recovery Section 1 organized an exploration team and entered the anomalous space. The manned exploration team confirmed the existence of Anomaly L-1000.]

[At the center of this zone lies a subspace passage leading to Anomaly L-1000, and this rift is believed to be the cause of the anomaly.]

[Foundation Headquarters has now expressed interest.]