Ch.124Over there! (4)

#124

“I’m ashamed, hahaha! Except for his wife, you’re the first person in history to knock the OSA Director’s jaw off!”

Dexter awkwardly scratched the back of his neck at the sight of Director Makoa, whose jaw area had turned bright red.

“It feels a bit strange to say this after hitting you, but… are you alright?”

“Oh, I’m fine, just fine! I’ve been through worse in my younger days! Hahaha!”

Director Makoa touched his neck once and looked at Dexter.

“Since you won, I’d like to make a proposal.”

“A proposal, sir?”

“More precisely, think of it as the whining of a sore loser.”

With those words, Director Makoa interlaced his fingers and rested his elbows on the desk.

‘There’s something here.’

Dexter could tell that the Director’s proposal wasn’t simply whining, but related to the Special Investigation Team’s first case.

The establishment of the Special Investigation Team had essentially been approved.

“Yes, Director.”

“I hear there’s talk of attempting to infiltrate Orbis Corporation. Is that true?”

Himena nodded at Director Makoa’s voice, which had somewhat toned down.

“Yes. However, I was concerned about potential issues if we posed as government agents, so I planned to introduce us as private security consultants.”

“Private security consultants.”

Director Makoa nodded at Himena’s words, then looked back and forth between her and Dexter.

“When is the infiltration scheduled?”

“In two days at the latest…”

“Postpone it for a week. That’s my proposal.”

At the Director’s firm statement, Himena responded with a bewildered expression.

“What? A week later? We’ve already postponed it enough, and we don’t know when more victims might appear…”

“I understand. I’m not saying don’t infiltrate, just postpone it for a week.”

Director Makoa was cutting the conversation short.

Himena couldn’t understand the Director’s reasoning at all, but she nodded anyway.

“…Understood. But can you tell us why it needs to be a week later?”

“……”

Director Makoa just grinned when he heard Himena’s question.

“…Oh, I see. Understood.”

It was still at a confidential stage, too difficult to discuss openly.

“But gathering information around Orbis Corporation is fine, so why not visit the production factory instead?”

The Director suggested an alternative to direct infiltration.

“Production factory?”

“The factory that produces the Polytechnic.”

Himena, who had been fixated on Orbis Corporation, slapped her knee.

She hadn’t given any thought to the factory that manufactured the Polytechnic.

“Who knows? There might be information there! Hahaha!”

Director Makoa raised his voice again with another hearty laugh.

* * *

After discussing a few more things with Director Makoa, Dexter and Himena left.

The two sat on a bench outside city hall, each taking bites of their takeout sandwiches for lunch.

“Didn’t you say the Director is in his 50s?”

“That’s right. I heard he married early and even has a daughter about my age.”

“It’s hard to believe. I expected something based on his size, but his movements exceeded even those expectations.”

“Mm, true. I’ve only heard rumors, but they say in his younger days, he was active in the Gulf War single-handedly… They say he took down more than a company’s worth of aliens.”

Dexter, who had been quietly listening to Himena, caught something strange.

“…Wait, there were aliens in the Gulf War?”

“You didn’t know? After Saddam Hussein became president, he was body-snatched. That caused quite an uproar at OSA for a while.”

“Body-snatching… You mean the original Saddam was already dead, and the Saddam who started the Gulf War was a clone?”

“More precisely, an alien disguised as Saddam.”

“Huh?”

The Gulf War happened when Dexter was young, so he didn’t know the details, but he at least knew that Saddam Hussein was the one who started it.

Dexter was bewildered by the revelation that such a person was actually an alien.

“Well. I have a lot of questions, but since it doesn’t seem appropriate for lunch conversation, I’ll just have to hear about it later when we have time.”

“I feel the same way. Oh, right. When would you like to visit the Polytechnic factory?”

“We should go early, so probably on a day off. I happen to be free tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow… hmm…”

Himena mentally reviewed her schedule.

“I still need to do some handover work, so if I put in extra effort today… hmm… could it work? Maybe it could…”

After muttering to herself, Himena seemed to make a decision, nodding and looking at Dexter.

“Alright then, come to the front of city hall at 9 tomorrow, dressed like this.”

“But I don’t know much about infiltration?”

“Of course I’ll brief you after work, so don’t worry.”

Dexter nodded at Himena’s reassuring words.

“Your job there is just to add weight to our presence.”

“…You mean, like those roles professional wrestlers get in movies, just standing there looking intimidating?”

“Exactly!”

“That’s a bit insulting.”

While Dexter was large in build, it felt strange to be explicitly assigned the role of intimidating people.

“Come on, if you stand there looking all imposing, people will naturally focus on you, making it easier for me to move around.”

“…That’s true, but still. Sigh, it feels weird.”

To be fair, Dexter had drawn attention due to his appearance and size more times than he could count.

“Instead of that, what about this method…”

As Dexter whispered an alternative approach, Himena nodded with a pleased smile, apparently liking the idea.

“That’s not bad either.”

“Then let’s try it this way. We’ll do it like…”

Himena continued nibbling on her sandwich while listening to Dexter’s explanation.

“…and that’s how we’ll do it. What do you think?”

As soon as Dexter finished explaining, Himena nodded approvingly.

“It does require me to act well, but… this might work better.”

After hearing the entire operation outline, Himena popped the last bite of her sandwich into her mouth, swallowed, and smiled contentedly.

“Ah, that was good!”

She patted her stomach after finishing her sandwich.

Seeing this, Dexter unconsciously reached out and touched Himena’s stomach.

Pat pat.

“Hmm, it’s soft. Kind of addictive.”

Himena was startled by Dexter’s touch and almost dropped the sandwich wrapper she was about to throw in the trash, but managed to catch it.

“…Touching is fine, but tell me before you do it. You surprised me coming in so suddenly.”

“Ah, not the reaction I was hoping for.”

When Dexter expressed his disappointment, Himena raised one corner of her mouth in a mocking smile.

“What, did you expect me to blush and get angry, saying ‘Dexter, you pervert!!’?”

“You would have a few weeks ago.”

“No matter what, I’ve never had such an exaggerated reaction.”

As Himena snorted, Dexter continued touching her stomach, gradually moving his hand toward her side.

“…Touch me there and I’ll hit you.”

“Ah, can’t even joke around anymore.”

Looking disappointed, Dexter slowly moved his hand upward, causing Himena’s eyes to flash with anger.

“…I don’t think that’s an appropriate place to touch right now, Dexter.”

Himena’s voice was ice cold.

“Yep.”

Dexter quickly removed his hand and stuffed his sandwich into his mouth.

Seeing this, Himena whispered carefully into his ear.

“Instead, let’s finish things up after this job is done.”

“Finish?”

“You know what I mean.”

Being human, Himena couldn’t remain unaffected by Dexter’s actions that had stoked the fire.

She was also frustrated that despite being together for months, they still hadn’t crossed the final physical threshold.

“Ah, that kind of finishing.”

“A nice French restaurant isn’t bad, but you know what I really want, right?”

“Of course I do.”

While a romantic atmosphere was nice, Himena preferred a comfortable one.

After discussing their date plans, the two shared a light embrace as lunch break was ending.

“See you later.”

“Yes, see you tonight.”

* * *

There is only one manufacturer that produces Orbis Corporation’s VR console game system, the Polytechnic.

In the small town of Nipton, located on the border of Nevada and belonging to California, stands a large factory less than three years old.

However, even Nipton’s residents don’t know what the factory produces, and with a security company maintaining tight control around it, they simply assume it manufactures something important.

Standing in front of this factory, Himena and Dexter weren’t wearing the all-black suits typical of OSA agents.

Himena was dressed in a vibrant red skirt suit, while Dexter wore a dark blue jacket over a black short-sleeved t-shirt.

Looking Himena up and down in her red suit, Dexter asked:

“Where did you get such a flashy suit? You wouldn’t normally wear something like that.”

“Obviously I got it for the disguise! Bought it at a vintage shop and had it slightly altered to fit me. I wanted to look a bit intense. But it’s pretty, isn’t it?”

Himena struck a model pose in front of Dexter, who glanced at her with his hands in his pockets and casually remarked:

“It’s fine.”

“What, that’s it? No adjectives like beautiful, sexy, sensual, refreshing?”

“You’re already mine, so what’s the point of further evaluation? Saying I love you is enough.”

“…Damn it, really.”

Himena pouted at his response.

“Now I’m the only one who looks weird for wanting compliments.”

“That was the intention, of course.”

Dexter chuckled and headed toward the factory entrance.

“Let’s go. If we delay any longer, the security might get suspicious.”

“Just when I was about to argue back, you say it’s time to work.”

Following Dexter with a slightly sulky expression, Himena saw a security guard with a pistol emerging from what appeared to be an external security office.

The guard maintained a stern expression as he approached quickly, holding up his palm in a stop gesture.

“Hold it, hold it! Civilians are not allowed to enter here!”

“Is this ‘Pink Industry’? We’re not civilians, we’re from Columbia Safety Technology.”

Himena presented a forged ID from “Columbia Safety Technology” using OSA’s universal ID system.

“Your company is obligated to undergo random safety inspections from our Columbia Safety Technology, isn’t that right?”

As Himena fired off her words rapidly, the guard hesitated momentarily before speaking.

“Columbia Safety Technology… Could you wait a moment, please?”

The guard, maintaining his composure, checked the ID Himena had presented, then took out the radio attached to his waist.

“This is the entrance, requesting verification for Valerina Joaquina from Columbia Safety Technology.”

-Stand by.

“I apologize. Identity verification is mandatory when unauthorized personnel enter the factory.”

“No problem at all. I’m actually pleased to see such good security.”

Himena’s voice was quite cheerful, but to Dexter, it seemed like she was imitating Emily’s expression.

There was no change in her facial expression at all.

-Identity confirmed. Factory manager waiting at the entrance.

“Acknowledged. The manager will be waiting for you inside the factory.”

“Thank you.”

Himena thanked him as if accustomed to such situations, then entered the factory first, with Dexter following behind.

As the two entered, the first thing they saw was a corridor entirely in white.

The corridor had several doors, which were also spotlessly clean and white.

As the expressionless Himena scanned her surroundings, moving only her eyes, a young woman was slowly approaching from the largest door opposite them in the corridor.

The young woman with dull blonde hair, wearing a fluorescent vest over a white shirt, extended her hand to Himena.

“Welcome. You’re from Columbia Safety Technology, correct?”

“Yes, I’m Joaquina. This is my assistant…”

“DeWitt.”

Dexter, using a fake name, shook the young woman’s hand.

“That’s an unusual surname.”

“……”

When Dexter released her hand without saying anything more, Sophia’s expression became peculiar.

Noticing this, Himena explained Dexter’s behavior.

“He doesn’t speak much unless absolutely necessary.”

“…I see? I’m Sophia Fontaine, Support Team Leader.”

“Fontaine is also an unusual surname.”

With those words, Himena flicked her finger toward Dexter, who took out a binder and pen from his briefcase and handed them to her.

Taking the binder, Himena opened it and looked at the fake safety inspection form inside.

“I know you’re busy, so let’s get straight to the point and finish the safety inspection quickly. First, we need to check the building’s safety—could we start with the pillars?”

“Pillars? But I thought Columbia Safety Technology wasn’t about building inspections…?”

The safety inspection Sophia was familiar with wasn’t about building safety, but rather checking if harmful substances were released during game console manufacturing or if factory workers followed safety protocols.

Confused by this unexpected focus, Sophia questioned it, but Himena responded as if it were obvious.

“What do you mean? It’s an essential part of safety inspection. If the pillars collapse, you know… bad things happen.”

As Himena spoke confidently, Sophia became increasingly confused.

“…Did Columbia ever do this kind of inspection before?”

“Are the pillars this way? Let’s start there.”

“That’s the laboratory, the pillars are this way…!”

As Himena pushed forward relentlessly and Sophia headed in a different direction, Dexter, who had been standing quietly to one side, began to move.