Chapter. 10 Lead and Silver Coins (9)
****
Fortunately.
It went well without any special bloodshed.
“I did it because I was nervous! really! “I really intend to harm you!”
“Shut up you bastard!”
“evil!”
Oh, except for that guy. They say he was the first to report, but his condition must have been a bit bad as usual, so the station manager ordered him to just keep aiming even after hearing the report.
So, I thought there was some kind of misunderstanding, so I came out and tried to explain-
Taang-!
Kwasik!
A bullet fired by someone lodged in the bulletproof glass of the truck. Before I could stop them, the Vex began preparing to return fire, and if I hadn’t broken the muzzle of the gun, dozens of people would have undoubtedly died here.
It took 30 minutes for the man in charge to bring out the soldier who fired, explain himself, confirm each other’s identity, and realize that something had gone wrong in the beginning. After the situation was finally resolved, I was able to come inside and face the officer in charge of Station 42-a.
“Officer! It’s true! I never intended to shoot! “My hands are sweaty, so- ugh!”
“Shut up! Take them to the warehouse and interrogate them. “He could be a Raptor spy!”
“Ugh! Ugh!!!!
.
.
.
.
A soldier struggling desperately and other soldiers who bound him and dragged him away.
“…You’ve gone through a lot of hardship.”
As I watched the soldier covered in blood being dragged to a dark warehouse in the distance, thoughts of the past came back to me. Ah, new soldier. You idiot. Even when reporting, he talked gibberish about some kind of infected Terran and ended up misfiring his gun. This soldier is truly a commander’s nightmare.
When I offered words of consolation, even though I couldn’t get enough of swearing, a sigh came out of the officer’s mouth that felt like it was going to tear apart a wooden table.
“There is no shame. Recently, there has been a lot of personnel change, so the external station where the most veteran soldiers are supposed to be has personnel like that… I am truly devastated that instead of treating distinguished guests, they are made to experience such an unpleasant experience. “It’s late, but welcome to station 42-a.”
“under! It sounds like a welcome. “This is the first time in my life that I have seen people aim and fire a gun.”
Unfortunately, unlike me, Ezel doesn’t seem to be angry. In fact, except for me, the other three were still fuming. Bex was getting angry and telling him to bring back one of the eyeballs of the guy who fired him so he could forgive him, and Ian was saying something like ‘I’m not the kind of person who puts back safety pins that he pulled out’ and had a face that looked like he was going to turn into Rambo at any moment, so he hurriedly came here. The station’s supply officer was appointed to cover his wrath with supplies.
Of course, this violent reaction was something I told the kids to do after noticing the panicked expressions on the faces of the soldiers and the truly contemplative expression on their faces as the fire did not continue when the first bullet flew.
‘Good cop, bad cop. Carrot and stick. It’s the most basic, standard, and effective strategy!’
[One carrot and three sticks. Doesn’t it live up to its name?]
‘So I, the head, am playing the role of the carrot.’
Vex is sitting next to an armored truck that station managers are busy washing and maintaining, muttering eerie sounds through his eyes and tongue.
Ian from the supply warehouse where loud swearing can be heard even from quite far away.
And the gold badge facing the actual commander of the station officer [able to exercise manager-level authority in all dome facilities] Professor Park’s silver badge [veteran inspection department agent] Ezel.
Originally, I didn’t intend to put pressure on them this tightly, but since they had to drop drinking water and food on the way, and the material consumption was beyond imagination, I couldn’t miss the opportunity of ‘misfire of a gun’ that was right in front of my eyes. No, I was just trying to quietly withdraw my money from the ATM, but the person in front of me dropped the card! With a note with the deposit balance and password written on it? How can you tolerate this?
At first, I was worried that Ezel would join in on this act of ‘robbing the dome’, but as he went through a lot of trouble to get here, he changed his mind and was so actively pursuing the person in charge that I couldn’t tell if he was acting or being serious.
Honestly, out of the four of us, it was Ezel who had the most trouble. It was still so difficult, and the way he was putting pressure on the person in charge seemed like he knew how much worse he would fall into hell if he ran out of supplies, and I could feel his desperation beyond sincerity.
Personally, I felt proud that he had degenerated into a truly wonderful direction.
“It was a misfire… Officer. Can you take responsibility for that now? Even though the external station is a bit far from the city, the person in charge would probably know what situation the Dome is in right now, right? Are you not aware of the weight of the title ‘in charge’? exciseman. The manager in charge of the station! All soldiers here are under your responsibility! “Even the soldier’s slightest mistake can be considered as having your intentions!”
Taang!
Ezel, in a manner befitting the name of the ‘Inspection Department’, began to put more pressure on the struggling officer by slamming down on the desk.
“In this situation where Raptor’s guerrilla troops are running rampant. Are you sniping not at anyone else but at Professor Park, who is carrying out the president’s secret orders? exciseman. Are you dissatisfied with Dom’s policies? “Are you saying that you had serious regrets about the president’s recent choice to abolish the system of separation of powers and adopt a tenure system for the president?”
“Oh no! It’s such a ridiculous misunderstanding that it was a sniper-”
“That ridiculous thing actually happened! “So, the cracked bulletproof glass on that armored truck was just created by my imagination!”
Wow!
Ezel’s hand falls toward the desk once more as he stands up with burning eyes. A while ago, Ezel was randomly poking my thigh and sending signs like ‘How long should this continue?’, so his hand was blocked by my left hand and he couldn’t complete his original goal.
From misfired guns to coup plots against the newly inaugurated president at the pinnacle of power. Now that you’ve brushed off the fur, you can just gently pet it and ask a question, and the answer will come out like an answering machine.
“Don’t be like that. Isn’t that what all commanders face? huh? Ezel.”
“But, Deputy Chief, it wasn’t just a misfire, it was an aimed shot that hit the windshield of the car! It’s clear that there was some intention…”
“Uh-huh! Since no one was hurt, let’s cover it at this point. I and the officer in charge will handle the rest, so you can go and take care of the supplies. “It’s an order.”
“…..”
Ezel got up from his seat without saying a word, bowed his head, and quickly walked out of the officer’s office.
In the original good cop/bad cop role play, the bad cop who scolded has to leave the scene. If that person remains, the victim will not be able to tell the truth.
Also, since there is no one with more tenacity than the person who manages supplies for all units, I think it would be of great help to have Ezel, a high-ranking member of the Dom, attached to Ian.
‘Ego. Now, shall we cut the well-cooked station officer to medium rare?’
I said with a gentle smile to the station officer, who in an instant had gone from being a station officer to a suspected traitor.
“…I hope you understand. As I said, there was a major battle in the dome recently, and Raptor’s cyborg soldiers carried out a terrorist attack, so the nerves of the members of the Inspection Department are very sharp. “In fact, the cyborgization procedure is an old technology that was managed by the administration’s research facility and was stolen by Raptor. This is because the Inspection Department has recently been working hard to track down spies of hostile forces.”
“I understand! “Be sure to fully understand!”
An officer who has become a very yes man. Well, the response is good. Shall we pull a little more?
“How long have you worked here?”
“About a year after my predecessor died….”
“What about your family?”
“My wife and two children live in the Dome in Area 47….”
“Living at 8 Main Street in the Upper Dome?”
“Huh! How could that…!”
‘That’s right, there’s an official residence there that the Dome provides cheaply to commander-level executives, you human being.’
If you’re coming to this remote station, you probably don’t come from a rich, upper-class Seonggol family. There’s no way I could buy a really wealthy private home after working for a year, so it’s obvious that I’ll live in a rented military residence like I used to live in.
The point is to give off a nuance like, ‘I know everything, but I’m asking just to confirm, just in case.’ As a bonus, they have also made you worry about Ezel’s suspicions of being a spy, so even when you ask a sensitive question that is close to confidential or personal information, if you hesitate to answer for a moment, they say,
‘Aren’t you going to answer? Are you hiding something? Do you have a will? Do you like torture? Would you like to go see the inspection department’s basement together?’
This means that it has become possible to attack in the same way.
Of course, seeing as the officer was sweating so much that the collar of his military uniform was slightly wet, it seemed like there was no need to go that far.
I said to him with a big smile on my face.
“ha ha ha. There is no need to be so stiff. It was just a light personal investigation. We don’t expect much from our officers. Just a little material assistance for the mission and information about the latest happenings around the station. That is enough.”
“Do you mean supplies and information?”
“yes. That’s enough. “To prove the officer’s loyalty to the Dom.”
Sigh!
Craddangtangtang!
The officer’s face turned pale at the word ‘loyalty’, and he jumped up and responded by placing his hand on his chest in an immobile posture like a newly hired soldier.
“We will prepare without hiding anything! “Please give me just a moment!”
“…. Let’s watch.”
The professor, who was leisurely leaning back in his chair, let out a laugh that he had been barely suppressing as he watched the officer jump out like a bullet in response to his answer.
Exactly 90 minutes later.
With three buckets of water allocated for showering (this is a huge luxury in this place where water is scarce because the closer you get to the radioactive area, the deeper groundwater you have to use), I took a leisurely shower, and with my companions who had also washed up, we strangely dressed in the new clothes we had been given. It’s time to pat your stomach after eating your fill of spicy Jjambap
! chuck! chuck! chuck! – Less evil!
“report! “Station 42-a’s current situation report is ready!”
The officer in charge and his subordinates, who had walked quietly from the other side, were giving a dome-style salute with their hands on their chests. Except for the dusty military uniform, the movements were so refined that one could believe they were the Inspector General’s honor guard.
“If you need more rest, please wait-”
“Ah, no. “Now that I’ve had enough rest, I should get back to work.”
“Then this way.”
Following the officer’s guidance, the four of us followed them at a leisurely pace into the large barracks.
“oh.”
Operational maps and photos filled the walls.
Soldiers moving around busily handing out thick folders to each of us.
And the highlight is….
“This…. “In 90 minutes?”
“After listening to Professor Park and Ezel, I thought I was too relaxed during wartime, so I prepared as if I were fighting.”
“No, data aside, where did this equipment come from…”
“There is still a lot of old-fashioned equipment left in Area 30, and machinery that is not related to survival is easier to obtain than others.”
What the officer in charge prepared, who had emptied the entire barracks for soldiers and transformed it into a conference room in that short period of time, was a 3D screen, a stereoscopic image projection device often seen during the Great War, located in the center of a large round table.
“I’ll start by watching.”
Jiing –
As the bold words [Report on the second half of Station 42-a] appeared on the 3D screen, the officer with his baton spread began to report with his confidence restored.
****
“That is all.”
After a passionate and truly desperate briefing session.
Clap clap clap clap
to the officer who finished the report with the feeling that he had been burned white .
The rest of the group, including me, were applauding without realizing it.
“To summarize all the battle records in such a short period of time, and retrieve all the video data and observation records from other stations…” “I am
so glad that you were satisfied…”
My exclamation seems to have caught up with something. The officer looks upset. I think the combo of plotting traitor + family at home was too much. What was that middle-aged man thinking as he searched through the documents buried in the dust?
“Hmm. I can’t believe the person in charge was such a capable and sincere person. A reevaluation is urgently needed. “I will tell you well, so please go inside and get some rest.”
“no. Listen to the professor’s review and give feedback….”
“I have something to think about, so please be quiet. Oh, the same goes for other people. You worked hard, and now you can go and rest. “We have something to talk about.”
It was only after I spoke strongly and the officers and other executives hesitated to leave the temporary conference room that we were able to let out the breath we had been holding.
“Puh-haa! “It was difficult to pretend to be strong.”
“I feel like I have seen the power of the strongest group in the wasteland. I can’t believe the person in charge of this outskirt station is so capable. Aren’t the supply officers also holding out in some kind of ‘step on my corpse’ approach? “Dome people are not ordinary.”
“Professor Park. “What on earth did you say to the person in charge to make you so desperate?”
Bex and Ian stick their tongues out, and Ezel slowly moves away from me.
“Well, if the results are good, it’s done, right?”
The professor picked up the baton that the officer in charge had left behind and turned on the stereoscopic imaging device again.
A three-dimensional image of a clearly dissected Raptor cyborg with a start-up sound and some noise.
Each part and the added organs and the removed organs. Their traces revealed in various places around Area 42 compared to the technology and traces applied to the cyborg disease recently announced by the administration research team.
I could not stop admiring the summary, which was almost a masterpiece, using almost all the materials available here.
“When I meet the president later, I will ask him to promote that person in charge.”
“Well then. It would be a shame if such a talented person rots away.”
Next to Ezel, who nodded loudly at the professor’s words, data floating on a map with numerous traces patterned and overlaid on a map.
I wasn’t sure, but it felt like I had a clue to this mission, which was so dark as if it was buried in fog.
****
