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Yoon Tae-ha had many questions she wanted to ask immediately, but she held back until the location changed. As soon as she entered a private meeting room, she spoke before even sitting down.
“Is this the headquarters of Dawn?”
Jin Ki-won replied.
“It’s one of the headquarters. Dawn has a few more mobile headquarters of this type. Information guilds have no reason to be confined to fixed offices.”
Her throat tickled. Did that mean this was the ship Cheon Geon-young sent? But Kwon Hyuk was someone who wouldn’t say anything to Cheon Geon-young until just before the chimera and herself were swapped.
“Did he send it? To bring me?”
Jin Ki-won, who had closed the door, smiled slightly less broadly.
“No. Ah! Of course, the CEO wants to find Ms. Tae-ha more than anyone. He’s still looking for her. What I mean is, the CEO doesn’t know that Ms. Tae-ha is alive right now. So he couldn’t send a ship like this.”
Yoon Tae-ha felt a surge of expectation swell and then deflate. He still doesn’t know I’m alive. Relief and sadness washed over her simultaneously. She couldn’t define which was greater.
“Director Kwon Hyuk specifically asked for this. To transport you to Busan. Sending Changcheon’s transport would be too conspicuous, and borrowing the hands of a foreign agency isn’t trustworthy, is it?”
Jin Ki-won then subtly showed a hint of concern for the consequences that would arise from his choice.
“I thought it was better to take you, even if I got scolded later, rather than borrowing someone else’s hands. Surely I won’t get fired for this?”
“He’ll know you didn’t do it with bad intentions.”
“I’m praying for that.”
Afterward, Jin Ki-won briefly explained the internal facilities and then gave her and Nox a room to rest in.
The room on the 4th floor of the Deck House was small, only accommodating the necessary furniture, but it was cozy. There was a small window, so it didn’t feel stuffy.
“Would you like to eat first? Since the sun has completely set, you can take a walk on the deck if you like.”
“I’ll change first and then go down to the dining room.”
Hong Eun-soo advised that if they were late for mealtime, all the delicious side dishes might be gone, then left with Jin Ki-won. Nox seemed to have entered the adjacent room, as the sound of a door closing was heard.
Left alone in the room, Yoon Tae-ha took off the flowing gray cloak she had bought to conceal her identity and hung it on a chair. After washing with warm water, she went down to the dining room, where Hong Eun-soo was waiting.
“It’s disloyal to eat alone. The first day of transfer is always the most awkward, isn’t it? Awkward with the bed, shy with the tray.”
The two, who had received their meals together as if they were still in school, sat at a two-person table far from the others. Hong Eun-soo waved at her glancing colleagues and then muttered,
“It’s strange. Sitting face to face like this.”
Yoon Tae-ha, who was eating soup, carefully asked,
“Are all the people working here from Dawn?”
“Not all. As far as I know, there are two data analysts from Changcheon on board. I don’t know who they are. I’m a newbie too.”
“What do you do on this ship? Can you tell me?”
Hong Eun-soo, cutting a sausage with a knife, said with sparkling eyes.
“The work of plundering Gaia.”
Yoon Tae-ha was utterly speechless. Hong Eun-soo wrinkled her nose as if it was the reaction she expected.
“You remember how I excelled in this field back in school, right? It seems our boss had his eye on me since then, as an employee, of course!”
Hong Eun-soo hastily added. Yoon Tae-ha let out a dry, mirthless laugh for the first time in a long time. It felt like it had been a very long time since she had even curled the corners of her lips. To convincingly imitate a chimera, she probably needed to practice smiling first.
“The network of the aquatic city is entirely under Gaia’s management. My job is to research ways to plant our flag in the place they call the Cradle.”
Hong Eun-soo, who introduced her mission in a resolute voice, plunged a sharp fork into the sausage. It was as if she imagined it to be the heart of Gaia.
“Cheon Geon-young has been preparing for such a moment for a long time. It seems he started preparing right after graduating from school.”
“He lives diligently.”
Yoon Tae-ha offered a lifeless interjection.
“We’ve almost done it. The report analyzing Green Hive’s security system was a great help. I don’t know who released such valuable information, but they must have a great grudge against the Director-General, don’t they?”
The data from Green Hive was probably provided by Chertan and Black Lion. There were also intelligent Espers there. While she was wandering through Lethe, many people were working towards a single goal. Yoon Tae-ha was filled with a strange emotion as she listened to Hong Eun-soo express her desire for revenge against the Director-General.
After finishing her meal, she parted ways with Hong Eun-soo and picked up a sandwich prepared for those too busy to visit the dining room. Carrying the still lukewarm food, she went up to the 4th floor and knocked on Nox’s door. There was no answer.
She went out to the deck. She remembered the Outsider’s characteristic preference for resting in open spaces.
A moment later, Yoon Tae-ha spotted the man sitting on a container box and teleported there.
Nox was not particularly surprised. She offered him food.
“You shouldn’t skip meals in a situation like this. If you get stranded, this might be your last food.”
Surely he wouldn’t refuse. She was a little unsure, but Nox accepted the sandwich, avoiding an awkward situation. Having achieved her goal, Yoon Tae-ha returned to her room immediately without looking away.
On the small screen on the wall, the ship’s current course was displayed as a green dotted line. The path already traveled was clearly marked in bright green, and the path to go was in dark green. Yoon Tae-ha lay on the bed, watching the still unchanged dots, and fell asleep.
________________________________________
From the next day, she began memorizing the vast amount of information provided by Kwon Hyuk. It felt as if she had returned to school in the midst of exam season.
Hong Eun-soo occasionally visited the meeting room where she stayed, sharing biscuits and then disappearing. Eating those and memorizing information about the aquatic city and chimeras was Yoon Tae-ha’s daily routine.
“I’m actually a little excited.”
One day, Hong Eun-soo, who came with snacks, started the conversation.
“About what?”
“Nautilus City. I get to go there, even if it’s like this. What would it be like to float on the water, chasing mild weather all year round?”
Nautilus City was the name given to Ark’s aquatic city, which she had to infiltrate.
“You won’t get seasick, will you? Surely not?”
“Even a basic module is large enough for about 300 people to live in. They say you don’t even feel like you’re floating on the sea.”
The hexagonal module-connected aquatic city could become as large as a small city when multiple modules were combined. It seemed designed to adapt flexibly to the variable of the sea by separating or combining modules depending on the situation.
Yoon Tae-ha seriously examined the blueprints of various specialized offshore platforms deployed on the outskirts of the city. These included solar power plants, hydroponic farms, and airplane landing strips. Hong Eun-soo, who was reading the blueprints with her, pointed to one spot.
“Here, the location of farm G-20 is good. The soldiers will probably enter through here. It’s efficient to go through D-3 residential area from here to the main island.”
“That’s if I successfully insert the server connector into the main computer in the server room, right?”
Hong Eun-soo, her gaze fixed on the laptop, said with conviction.
“Just install the server connector. After that, it’s our world. We can control everything from the elevators to the internal surveillance cameras.”
“You’re confident?”
“One of the important virtues of a support team is to instill confidence in field agents, isn’t it?”
Hong Eun-soo shrugged her shoulders, like a diligent student. She was passionately talking about the excellence of the hacking program that would be put into the server connector when she hastily got up at her superior’s call. And just before leaving, she shared an update on another person Yoon Tae-ha had met at school.
“Woo Joo-han is also going to Nautilus City. Of course, he’s planning to move on our side.”
At the familiar name, Yoon Tae-ha asked again.
“Woo Joo-han? Is he also a同期 with you?”
“No. He’s going to join Ark as a new guide. Geum Gang-seop invited some Espers and Guides who had just graduated from school to this event. He probably wants to shower them with energy waves from the fissure.”
After the scathing Hong Eun-soo left, Yoon Tae-ha couldn’t concentrate on her work for a while.
________________________________________
Every morning, Yoon Tae-ha went out onto the deck to watch the sunrise. Watching the orange glow slowly spread from the horizon while crouched at the bow never got old, no matter how many times she repeated it.
However, the deep-seated loneliness and anxiety were unavoidable. Since she had to stay inside the ship for safety once the sun fully rose, she always wished the sun would rise slowly.
While she made futile wishes, Dawn’s mobile headquarters, disguised as a container ship, diligently crossed the waves. And finally, it entered Korean territorial waters. The time to transfer ships was just around the corner.
Yoon Tae-ha, waiting in her cabin, steeled herself as she looked at the navigation route, where all the dots had turned bright green. Then she left the room.
Hong Eun-soo and Jin Ki-won, who were in the corridor, guided her. Hong Eun-soo walked arm-in-arm with Yoon Tae-ha, her face much more tense.
“You’ll get the connector in Nautilus City. It would be troublesome if you were searched on the way.”
“Why are you more nervous? I’m the one going to deal with a chimera that looks exactly like me.”
“Yoon Tae-ha. You absolutely must not get hurt. Understood?”
Hong Eun-soo, her face pale, whispered just before going out onto the deck. Yoon Tae-ha patted Hong Eun-soo’s back to reassure her, then went out onto the deck with Jin Ki-won. Hong Eun-soo, left behind the door, shouted again to be careful.
Stepping outside, a cold wind brushed past her cheek. Jin Ki-won pointed to a small fishing boat floating on the dark sea. Robust men could be seen standing at the bow of the boat.
“Director Kwon Hyuk came out himself. He said he might not be able to come because he was busy.”
Kwon Hyuk hadn’t been particularly friendly to her. Yoon Tae-ha felt her heart clench with tension as she said goodbye to Jin Ki-won.
“See you again in Nautilus.”
“Please tell the CEO that my loyalty is unchanged. He’ll believe anything you say, Ms. Tae-ha.”
Precariously standing on the railing, she teleported to the fishing boat, which emitted a faint, whitish light.
Due to the long-distance teleportation and the low light, Yoon Tae-ha swayed slightly upon landing. But just before she fell to the ground, a strong hand grabbed her arm. As she regained her balance and stood up, the hand naturally let go.
Yoon Tae-ha straightened up and finally met the gaze of an Esper of her own rank. Kwon Hyuk, in person, had the impression of a wolf wandering a desolate winter field.
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