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“Thanks for taking care of everything; the journey here was comfortable. Nice to meet you, Section Chief Lee Hae-gyeong.”
Lee Won-sik of the Audit Bureau naturally took the head seat in the conference room. Lee Hae-gyeong sat opposite him, and Seo Do-jin took the seat to her right. Min Cha-hoon courteously pulled out chairs for the other Audit Bureau staff before taking his own seat.
Moon So-eun stood before the screen to give her report. Taking a deep breath of the subtly uncomfortable atmosphere filling the conference room, she began without formal pleasantries.
“This morning, at approximately 7:05 AM, Agent Yoon Tae-ha regained consciousness.”
No sooner had she finished speaking than Seo Do-jin’s shoulder twitched, but he quickly suppressed his agitation. Lee Hae-gyeong, without even glancing at Seo Do-jin, said with a blunt expression,
“Your presentation is late, Doctor.”
“Don’t press our diligent doctors too hard. The Director specifically instructed this. Since we are confronting an enemy that fights without revealing its form, shouldn’t we be even more careful with security?”
Lee Won-sik smiled and signaled Moon So-eun to continue her presentation.
“I understand your reaction. Agent Yoon Tae-ha has been through too many terrible things for one person to endure.”
Saying this, the woman fiddled with her jacket sleeve and displayed a document analyzing Yoon Tae-ha’s current physical condition on the screen.
In the blue silhouette of a human body, a red mass symbolizing the heart pulsed regularly. Lee Hae-gyeong couldn’t take her eyes off that small point. Moon So-eun, standing before the screen, continued her explanation, not missing the section chief’s reaction.
One of the Audit Bureau staff expressed regret at the analysis that the agent’s physical condition was not sound due to frequent blood draws, drug administration, and periodic trauma injections to the brain.
“But Agent Yoon Tae-ha is strong. She regained full consciousness only fifteen hours after the antidote was administered. She already recognized me. Her memory isn’t perfect, but she even correctly called the Section Chief sitting here and the Guardian Captain next to him by name.”
None of the young men Moon So-eun pointed out seemed pleased. However, Min Cha-hoon spoke to them as if it didn’t matter.
“You must be happy.”
He leaned slightly towards Lee Hae-gyeong, then straightened up again. Seo Do-jin, his eyes strained, wished his last ounce of patience would last until the end of the meeting.
Min Cha-hoon cleared his throat, then looked around the conference room with a confident expression.
“The chimera that confused us is presumed to have fled to Lethe after murdering Iroa. The motive for the murder is believed to be a division within Orca. We are investigating all possibilities, including the possibility that the chimera, Yoon Tae-ha, harbored negative feelings towards Iroa, who is human.”
Min Cha-hoon, who had been summarizing the situation in a powerful voice, exchanged a brief glance with Moon So-eun, who stood before the screen.
Lee Won-sik, who had been leaning back comfortably in his chair, looked at Min Cha-hoon with satisfaction and added,
“It’s also important that the chimera sustained injuries that were impossible to recover from on its own after being attacked by the Mobile Command Team.”
“Of course! The chimera is currently presumed deceased. However, even if an entity identical in appearance to Agent Yoon Tae-ha reappears, we won’t have to experience the same confusion. The real agent is under our protection. Headquarters has prepared special equipment for us. It’s an ultra-miniature identification chip that won’t strain the body. We completed the procedure this morning with the consent of the individual concerned.”
No sooner had she finished speaking than Seo Do-jin’s head whipped around. Moon So-eun kindly turned on a pointer and showed the location where the chip was implanted. It was near the collarbone. Seo Do-jin asked accusatorily,
“You mean... you’re implanting that in her body?”
“It is implanted,” Lee Won-sik corrected him with a serious but pointed tone. He gave Moon So-eun a look that suggested she add further explanation.
“Minimal skin incision was used, and a material suitable for long-term internal insertion was utilized, so the risk of infection is also low. There’s no problem in daily life or in operating as an agent. Currently, an R-wing staff member has skillfully performed the insertion, leaving no trace.”
Lee Won-sik naturally took over the explanation.
“An order to immediately kill any Yoon Tae-ha found without the chip will be issued at noon today. Gaia will handle it, so you two won’t have to worry.”
Seo Do-jin growled softly. “I understood that implanting chips in the body was a bad practice from the past.”
“Can Agent Seo Do-jin explain the difference between the employee ID card he uses every morning and a chip?” The stern-faced woman sitting to Lee Won-sik’s right retorted, lifting her chin.
“Ark is the most important organization in the world, and Agent Yoon Tae-ha can access the heart of the organization. With anti-government forces outside who clearly possess her biological data, providing a means of identification is a natural protection procedure. It’s necessary for her, and it’s necessary for us.”
“Wasn’t it only a few decades ago that bombs were strapped to psychics’ ankles with the same logic?”
The woman’s thin lips twisted. Moral condemnation was clearly a sore point for her. The woman repeatedly smoothed the side of her neatly styled hair with her palm and muttered,
“Agent Yoon Tae-ha agreed to bear this heavy burden. The chip naturally won’t explode...”
“One moment.” Lee Won-sik cut off the woman sitting next to him. She pressed her lips together and adopted a deferential posture, as if she had committed an impropriety. The stern-faced old man smiled.
“I understand your concerns. From a young person’s perspective, it’s natural to be vigilant, looking at a history stained with pain and thinking such things shouldn’t happen again. In fact, I think it’s a desirable attitude.”
Lee Won-sik looked at the staff members sitting on both sides, as if seeking their agreement. They nodded obediently. Lee Won-sik tried to soften the atmosphere of the conference room, which could have easily become acrimonious.
But Seo Do-jin’s expression didn’t lighten, and Lee Hae-gyeong went a step further, freezing the lighting. Lee Won-sik, hit by small ice fragments on the bridge of his nose, momentarily showed fear and embarrassment.
“I apologize. It seems I haven’t adjusted to the time difference yet.”
Lee Hae-gyeong, feigning jet lag, barely managed a faint smile for the first time during the meeting. The woman sitting next to Lee Won-sik blushed at the change in his expression.
“It’s fine. Let’s continue what we were discussing a moment ago. Regarding the private interview with Agent Cheon Geon-yeong. The Director has requested this as a top priority, so I’d like confirmation as to whether it can take place this afternoon. Headquarters has many things they wish to proceed with alongside Agent Cheon Geon-yeong.”
As the ice accumulated on his shoulders and head slightly melted, Lee Won-sik dabbed away the moisture with a displeased look. His meticulously combed hair, now wet, made him look more disheveled than before.
Lee Hae-gyeong, with a hint of regret, informed him of a fact he hadn’t anticipated.
“I also received information this morning that I haven’t been able to convey to you yet.”
“...What do you mean?”
“Agent Cheon Geon-yeong returned to the Special Forces as of today. It was a direct summons from above, so I couldn’t intervene.”
“He returned to the military, now?” The Audit Bureau woman was taken aback.
“Cheon Geon-yeong entered this facility with a military status from the beginning. As you can see if you check the program regulations, the government can process an agent’s change of affiliation without Ark’s permission. This is possible even without a war or terrorist attack.”
Lee Hae-gyeong, who had preemptively blocked any rebuttals, manipulated the panel on the desk to display the detailed provisions agreed upon by the government and Ark. Seo Do-jin added,
“You must have even prepared promotional slogans. What a pity.”
For a moment, a heavy and uncomfortable atmosphere hung over the conference room. At the end of the silence, Lee Won-sik stated that he would report the matter to the Director and moved on to the next agenda item. Lee Hae-gyeong still kept her eyes on the documents, having moved them from the red heart still pulsing on the screen.
________________________________________
The rooftop railing of the building the Black Lion had abandoned.
Yoon Tae-ha remained silent, dwelling on the fact that the Special Forces and Ark had left this place a week ago. Fear, neither growing nor shrinking, confined her within a small box.
“You’re right. I need to find the belongings right away.”
After a long silence, Yoon Tae-ha, finally speaking, hoisted the heavy bag onto her back. Then she gestured to Nox as if to tell him to get ready to leave.
“Notifying the outside world that I’m alive is a gamble. With the situation where the Yoon Tae-ha under Ark’s protection is widely believed to be real, it’ll be troublesome if an immediate kill order is issued the moment I reveal myself. It’s an act that endangers not only me but also the people who would step up to protect me.”
“Are you referring to the men who use ice and fire?”
Nox also seemed to have heard, during his information gathering, that the two men had thoroughly ravaged the Green Sea.
“There are many S-class agents in Ark whose names I don’t even know. One discarded agent is enough.”
There was no lingering waver in Yoon Tae-ha’s face once she made her decision. She was prepared. If there was a chance to set things right by sacrificing just one person, she believed it was her place to do so.
Of course, she knew it was impossible. The dead don’t return, and broken principles can’t be fixed by one person alone. But there was still something only she could do.
“We can go to Pollux via the warp gate in the city. From there, we can travel by land to the village Raphael headed to.”
Yoon Tae-ha, counting the banknotes she had, set off first. She and Nox quickly moved to the warp gate on the outskirts of Cocytus.
Yoon Tae-ha handed the wad of banknotes Cheoltan had left her to the administrator and stepped into the warp gate, which resembled an arched doorway. A brief guidance message, “Heading to Pollux,” appeared before her eyes, and a force several times stronger than gravity pressed her, as if compressing her from side to side.
Finally, when the force disappeared, the stifling air unique to the underground city was no longer felt.
In a matter of seconds, the two had crossed the sea. The administrator in Pollux waved them out quickly. As soon as they exited the gate, another person suddenly dropped out of the air.
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