Ch.10Correction) I Must Be Crazy! (4)

#010

Having thought of a good idea, Dexter returned home with the device.

Sitting on the sofa, he called OSA.

-This is OSA.

Hearing a clear female voice, Dexter greeted her casually.

“Hello, this is Dexter Hughes. Could I possibly speak with Steve from the Residence Management Department? Or Agent Himena would be fine too.”

-Could you please hold for a moment?

After a brief tone, a voice familiar to Dexter came through the receiver.

-Hello, this is Himena speaking.

“It’s me.”

-Oh, what is it? Why are you calling?

Her voice clearly showed disappointment and irritation as soon as she recognized Dexter’s voice.

“What do you mean ‘why’? Can’t a law-abiding citizen make a call to a civil servant?”

-All the law-abiding citizens must be dead then. Besides, do you think I expect polite words from you, Mr. Hughes?

“If I’m not polite, you can just scold me again.”

-Is that supposed to make sense? You’re really something.

Sensing that more joking around would prevent him from getting what he wanted, Dexter decided to back down.

“Alright, alright. I’ll stop messing around. Actually, I was wondering if OSA has any computers that run on I3OS.”

-I3OS? Why are you looking for that?

“Well, because I need it?”

-That’s not enough. It’s not that I don’t want to give it to you, Mr. Hughes, but I really need a valid reason.

Dexter thought for a moment, then promptly answered.

“The device I’m trying to use isn’t compatible with Earth OS.”

-How different are they? Like Windows and Macintosh level?

“More different than that. Like trying to insert a USB into a diskette slot.”

-What’s a diskette?

Dexter was momentarily speechless at Himena’s straightforward question.

“What? No, it’s a palm-sized floppy… Never mind. Is that reason enough?”

Explaining what a floppy disk was would take half a day.

-Yes, I’ll note it down as personal use. I’ll bring the item to you this afternoon.

“You’re coming personally?”

Himena hesitated briefly at Dexter’s question.

-Well… We’ll see.

“See you then.”

-What? I haven’t confirmed yet, wait…

Himena tried to say more, but Dexter heartlessly hung up and stuck out his tongue.

“Working on a weekend, huh?”

As far as Dexter remembered, government offices always closed on public holidays.

Yet OSA, a secret government department, was working even on holidays.

He was about to feel sorry for Agent Himena working for such an exploitative organization when he remembered his own past.

“Wait. I used to do that too.”

Come to think of it, he had once worked continuously for over half a year.

“I’m in no position to judge.”

Dexter decided to lie on the sofa with his legs stretched out and wait.

With nothing to do until he received the computer from OSA, he just wiggled his feet, waiting for someone to arrive.

Not long after, the doorbell rang, and Dexter quickly got up and headed to the entrance.

“Coming!”

When he opened the door, Agent Himena was standing there with her arms crossed, openly scowling.

“Did you get home alright yesterday?”

When Dexter greeted her as if nothing had happened, Himena’s expression soured even more.

“Is it okay to hang up when I’m still talking?”

“Did I do that? You should have said something.”

“I DID!!!!!”

Agent Himena jumped up and down in anger, while Dexter chuckled.

“Come in first. You have time for a cup of tea, right?”

“You’re not putting anything weird in the tea, are you?”

“I don’t mess with food.”

Dexter stepped aside to let Himena in, and she entered with a still suspicious look on her face.

For a bachelor like Dexter, “tea” meant cheap tea bags he kept just for appearances.

Guest hospitality consisted of a mug with a tea bag in hot water boiled in a kettle.

As he handed the mug to Himena, she looked around the apartment and said:

“Your place is nice. I thought it would be crawling with bugs and smelling bad.”

“What’s that supposed to mean? Is that how you see me, Agent Himena?”

“Well, now that I see it, I guess it’s not that bad.”

Finding Dexter’s sulky face embarrassing to look at, Himena turned away and took a sip of tea, then frowned.

“Where did you get such cheap tea?”

“Besides that, I only have water and beer. Want beer instead?”

“No thanks. I’m on duty.”

Himena reluctantly took another sip of tea and said:

“Ugh. But what do you need the computer for?”

“I have a device that needs some settings adjusted, and my current computer isn’t compatible.”

Though they’re both called computers, there’s a significant difference between those used in space and those used on Earth.

In fact, the performance gap between the two is embarrassingly large.

The same goes for operating systems.

Earth uses Windows, Macintosh, or Linux.

Space uses the universal I3OS (Interplanetary Integrated Information Operating System).

Naturally, with such different components, a specialized computer is necessary.

“You’re more technical than I thought.”

“I really wonder what you think of me.”

“Um, a 15-year space day laborer?”

“Well, that’s not wrong.”

Dexter pouted, and Himena giggled.

“But what’s this device you need to configure?”

“It’s a beauty device. It had a peculiar name, but I can’t remember it.”

As Dexter stroked his chin thoughtfully, Himena leaned in and whispered:

“Is it an alien beauty device?”

“Yes.”

“Like, if you use it wrong, your skin turns blue or you grow a third eye?”

“You’ve watched way too many movies.”

Dexter snorted dismissively.

“To be precise, it’s a body customization device that adjusts the body according to user settings.”

“Adjusts the body? What kind of beauty device is that?”

“In space, that’s what beauty is.”

“Sounds totally sketchy.”

Himena looked dubious.

“It doesn’t matter if you don’t believe me. It’s not like you’ll be using it, Agent Himena.”

“So what are the limits of this beauty thing?”

Dexter thought for a moment before answering.

“Well, for example… it can twist skeletal structure or increase muscle density.”

It can’t make a short person extremely tall or create entirely new body parts as Himena had suspected.

However, it can transform an overweight person into someone with a moderate build, or turn a skinny person into someone with bulging muscles.

“What about skin?”

“Skin can be adjusted from rough as 100-grit sandpaper to smooth as velvet.”

It was similar in some ways to the nanobots Dexter had injected.

However, unlike nanobots, the effects weren’t immediate but gradual, which is why it was classified as a beauty device rather than a medical one.

“Isn’t that totally a cheat item?”

“A cheat what?”

“Short for cheat item… Ah, never mind.”

“That’s strange. I’ve heard that somewhere before.”

Dexter decided to let it go.

“Then I want to try it.”

“I told you, it needs to be configured first.”

“So configure it. Should I bring the computer now?”

Dexter remembered what Aisha had said: -No woman dislikes becoming prettier, oppa.

“I’ve never used it on an Earth human before. I’d need to see how it works. Want to be my test subject?”

“Tch. No thanks.”

“What’s with the ‘tch’? Hurry and bring the computer.”

“It’s too heavy for me to carry alone. Come with me.”

Dexter smiled at Himena’s brazen request for help.

“You’re exaggerating.”

“I’m not! It’s really heavy!”

The bickering pair went outside.

Dexter opened the trunk of Himena’s car to find a computer packed in a styrofoam box—something he hadn’t seen in a long time.

“Since we’re already at your car, shall we go now?”

“Wow, are you kicking me out already?”

“I’m just worried about you wasting energy going back and forth.”

Himena made a sour face at Dexter’s words.

“No. I’m going to have two more cups of tea before I leave.”

“But you said it tastes bad.”

“I like that it tastes bad.”

“Good grief.”

Dexter carried the computer while Himena took the transformer.

After placing the boxed computer in a corner of his bedroom, Dexter looked at Himena and said:

“Are you really going to have tea before leaving?”

“I really am. Why, do you mind?”

“Not really.”

Dexter pointed to the sofa, suggesting she might as well rest a bit longer since she’d just be working when she got back.

“I can’t figure out your personality, Mr. Hughes.”

“Why?”

“You seem to pull people in and push them away.”

“Do I?”

Himena chatted with Dexter while drinking two more cups of the bad tea before returning to headquarters.

“She said it tasted bad but didn’t leave a drop.”

Dexter carelessly put the mugs in the sink and immediately set up the computer on his desk.

Of course, “setting up” just meant plugging the transformer into the outlet and placing the computer on the desk.

“Let’s turn this on after a long time.”

The new I3OS-based computer was an all-in-one unit with the monitor and tower combined.

Placing the beauty device on top of the tower for connection, Dexter snapped his fingers as if suddenly remembering.

“Ah, right. I remember its name now.”

Body Corrector.

When Dexter first heard the name, he thought of dental braces.

True to its name, it needed to be worn for a relatively long time, and it had clear limitations, hence the name “corrector.”

He remembered that the original owner, Aisha, had spent her father’s emergency funds to buy it, hoping to transform her small chest into a voluptuous one.

“If I put this on Goswell, even with terrible exercise instruction, he’ll develop not just basic fitness but also increased muscle strength—a really solid body!”

Dexter exclaimed in admiration of his own idea.

However, there was one problem with this plan.

“Can I even use this on an Earth human?”

He hadn’t lied to Himena about the body corrector out of spite.

The original owner, Aisha, wasn’t an Earth human.

It would be too risky to put it on Judy’s wrist without testing it first.

“Judy is one of the few elite personnel in the prison. What if I ruin her life by using this carelessly?”

From what he’d heard, she came from a famous family in England and had graduated from an Ivy League university.

“I shouldn’t use it carelessly on someone like that.”

So, he needed a test subject.

“Preferably a woman, and someone who wouldn’t suffer consequences from wearing this…”

The only Earth human women Dexter could consider friends were Judy, Agent Himena, and Marsha.

Although Himena had seemed eager to try it, she was also an important person in her own right.

And Marsha was a mother of two children who hadn’t even started elementary school yet.

He shouldn’t put this on them carelessly.

Frustrated by his limited social circle, Dexter wondered if there was really no suitable test subject.

“I mean, what kind of crazy woman would volunteer for this… Wait, crazy woman?”

He remembered an inmate who had stared at him with wild eyes.

Jessie Blueberg.

The craziest woman he knew.

“I’m pretty sure one of the basic functions was improving physical defects.”

What if he could eliminate Jessie’s mental illness? Make her skinny body healthy?

“Then I could use it on Judy.”

Dexter snapped his fingers and grinned broadly, but then fell back into thought.

“But how do I get her to wear it?”

If he forcibly detained Jessie and put the device on her wrist, she would bite or tear at it until it broke.

‘And is it even okay to experiment on an inmate?’

Dexter had his own guidelines.

Results were important, but the process was equally important.

No matter how vicious a criminal Jessie was, was it right for him, a mere prison guard, to experiment with the body corrector on her?

‘Just because she’s known as a crazy woman, I can do whatever I want? That doesn’t seem right.’

However, even after much deliberation, he couldn’t think of a solution.

“Solve one problem, and another one pops up.”

His head was throbbing momentarily.