Ch.147Rather, If We Had Never Met! (4)

#147

“D-Did it just speak?”

Jessica, who had lived a relatively normal life, stood with her mouth agape at the bizarre sight she had never seen before.

But even Dexter and Himena, who had seen their fair share of strange phenomena, were equally shocked.

Dexter was amazed that despite its grotesque form—a fusion of car and human—it could hear and speak normally.

“Since you remember your name, I’m guessing you also remember your time as an alien. Why were you following us?”

Upon hearing Dexter’s question, Encyclopedia slowly closed and opened his eyes, then continued speaking in a hoarse voice.

“The sewer… was hell…”

“Look, hell or not, I asked why you followed us.”

“When I opened my eyes, I was in the sewer… My mind was foggy, and I spent countless days and nights there…”

As Encyclopedia kept giving answers completely unrelated to his question, Dexter crossed his arms with an annoyed expression and continued listening.

“My body wouldn’t move as I wanted, and instead, there was an engine sound whenever I moved… What happened to my body… Today… I heard human voices in the sewer…”

The conversation flowed like one from someone just coming out of anesthesia or a drug addict. Dexter focused only on the last statement to get the answer he wanted.

“So that was us?”

“The only ones who can explain my current state… are you people…”

After those words, Encyclopedia moved his eyes around to observe the situation. Dexter scratched his chin before speaking.

“Who exactly did this to you?”

“Why is the world… upside down… No… I was… meeting with a diplomat from the Republic of Yekaterina…”

“Republic of Yekaterina?”

Hearing this unfamiliar country name for the first time, Dexter looked at Himena, who spoke in a small voice.

“It’s a small island nation in the Kuril Islands of the Okhotsk Sea, Russia.”

“Ah, I see.”

Satisfied with the answer, Dexter looked at Encyclopedia, signaling him to continue. Encyclopedia opened his mouth again.

“I met them… after that… after meeting…”

“After that?”

“I can’t… remember… Where am I…? My arm… my arm won’t move…!”

With those words, the engine suddenly roared to life, and the wheels suspended in the air began spinning rapidly.

“My body! No! Oh, by the Emperor! What in the world has happened to my body?!”

Unable to watch any longer, Dexter bent down and placed his hand on the car body.

Despite being made of metal, he could feel a heartbeat, as if touching a living person’s body.

“Hey, Encyclopedia. Calm down.”

“Who, who are you?!”

“I’m an honorary OSA agent, so calm down.”

As soon as the word “OSA” left Dexter’s mouth, the deafening engine noise immediately decreased.

“From what I can see… it’s a bizarre and absurd case, but it seems like a life support system based on a car, running on some unknown energy as fuel.”

Dexter could see a dark red liquid constantly moving through the transparent tubes connecting Encyclopedia’s head to under the hood.

‘It doesn’t smell like blood at all. What on earth is that?’

“There might be a way to restore you at OSA headquarters. Stay focused.”

From Dexter’s perspective, it seemed like a hopeless situation, but he couldn’t say that outright.

“My daughter, Laila… what will happen to Laila?”

It sounded like he was already sensing his condition and letting go of something.

Encyclopedia’s voice was still hoarse and phlegmy, but the concern for his daughter was clearly felt.

Himena was even covering her mouth, on the verge of tears.

“Don’t worry about your daughter. OSA can certainly take care of your wife and daughter. Don’t lose focus, look at me.”

Dexter snapped his fingers repeatedly, continuously talking to Encyclopedia.

“Don’t lose consciousness! Hey, hey!”

“Com… mander…”

“What? Hey! Encyclopedia, stay with me!”

After those final words, Encyclopedia slowly closed his eyes.

As the humming engine sound and spinning wheels stopped with him, Dexter scratched his head vigorously.

“What the hell?”

“Is… is he dead?”

“Well, it seems… wait, why did he mention the Commander?”

Unlike Jessica, who had no idea what was happening, Dexter and Himena turned with serious expressions toward the source of the heavy engine sound.

“How do I explain this situation…?”

When a confused Himena asked Dexter, instead of answering, he frowned at the approaching car headlights illuminating them.

The OSA Rapid Response Team had finally arrived.

* * *

After returning to OSA despite having clocked out, the three sat in the Special Investigation Team’s office with bitter expressions.

“You heard what he said at the end, right?”

“Yeah, he said ‘Commander’…”

“So who exactly is this Commander?”

Seeing Jessica’s complete lack of knowledge about the Commander, Dexter, sitting in a bean bag chair, quietly said:

“The origin of all the cases we’ve been handling.”

“Origin of shit?”

“No, origin. Why are you talking about shit during an important conversation?”

When Dexter scolded her, Jessica retorted with a reddened face:

“Fine, I’m uneducated!”

“I actually like your confidence. Anyway, most of what’s happened so far has been connected to the Commander.”

“…Is it like a villain from 007?”

“Hmm. 007, huh?”

The “villain from 007” Jessica referred to meant criminals who cause global threats or harm innocent people for personal gain.

For Jessica, who knew that Dexter and Himena investigated crimes committed by or involving aliens, such limited clues were all she had to work with.

“Maybe something like that…?”

As Jessica, who wasn’t confident in her thinking abilities, trailed off, Dexter, deep in thought, waved his hand and said:

“No, no. Actually, that approach isn’t bad.”

“That’s right. We haven’t even thought about why this Commander person is doing all this, so Jessica might be onto something.”

“R-Really?”

As Jessica rested her chin on the desk with an embarrassed face, Himena looked at Dexter and said:

“I think we’ve only been focusing on what the Commander has done, not ‘why’ they did it.”

“Like, why Earth specifically… something like that?”

“Yes, and I wonder why they’re operating in Las Vegas where our headquarters is located. Plus, from what we’ve seen so far, it doesn’t seem like they’re after money or anything like that.”

“Hmm.”

Hearing Himena’s words, Dexter had to agree.

Rather than actions aimed at gaining money or power, the Commander seemed to be deliberately choosing activities that would cost a lot of money.

“That’s true about the projects the Commander is supposedly funding. Even private corporations would hesitate to undertake some of these things, yet they’re doing multiple projects simultaneously.”

“What does your friend say?”

“Who, Ellie?”

“If it’s about money flowing, isn’t your friend the expert?”

“That’s true, but I’m not sure if even she knows about this.”

“You should ask her later.”

Dexter nodded and looked toward the window, where an agent with a stern expression was waiting.

Himena, noticing Dexter’s gaze, gestured to the agent.

“Come in.”

The agent entering the office seemed to be a rookie, given how brisk his movements were.

“What is it?”

“The Director of the Science and Technology Department is looking for you.”

“I’ll be right there.”

Dexter sighed deeply as he stood up.

“Has the investigation already finished?”

“Well… I guess we’ll have to go see.”

“Ugh, my head hurts! What kind of bastard is this Commander to cause all this trouble?”

“I wonder the same thing.”

The three followed the rookie agent to the largest maintenance room in the maintenance department, where Jessica also worked.

Several engineers in jumpsuits and the Director of the Science and Technology Department were waiting inside.

Encyclopedia’s body had been separated from the car and was lying on a stainless steel autopsy table.

While his head was relatively intact, the rest of his body was dismembered beyond recognition. Himena and Jessica, seeing such a corpse for the first time, quickly turned their heads away.

However, the problem was that the maintenance room was quite messy, with bodily fluids and flesh scattered on the floor, as if a bloody examination had taken place.

As a result, Jessica’s expression was a mix of disgust and irritation at the state of her workplace.

“You’re here?”

The Director of the Science and Technology Department shook Dexter’s hand.

“Ah, yes. This is our first… meeting, right?”

As the middle-aged Black woman Dexter had never seen before offered her hand, he immediately shook it and replied:

“Yes. Tandy Washington.”

“Yes, as you already know, I’m Dexter Hughes.”

“I apologize to Ms. Blueberg, but this maintenance room was the only place where we could examine both the body and the vehicle together. I’m sorry about that.”

“It’s, it’s fine.”

As the Director of the Science and Technology Department, Tandy was a very high-ranking person for Jessica, who worked in the maintenance department.

It was natural for Jessica to not say a word.

“I’m going to discuss important matters, so engineers please step outside for a moment. The Special Investigation Team and… Ms. Blueberg can stay.”

After the engineers left, Tandy carefully began speaking:

“You already know about Negative, right?”

“Yes, well. I heard the Director personally told us to keep our mouths shut about it.”

Hearing this, Tandy nodded and showed them a glass container about the size of an adult’s head, filled with a dark red liquid.

“This is Negative.”

“That’s… Negative? But I heard Negative was an energy.”

While Himena and Jessica were puzzled, Dexter was looking at the Negative in the glass container with a serious expression.

“I know it’s secreted when living beings have negative thoughts or emotions. But why is it coming from here?”

“The methods of using Negative itself are classified, so even we don’t know much. We can only make assumptions based on experiments.”

“What kind of experiments are you referring to?”

“Obviously, the fusion of machines and living organisms.”

Tandy scoffed as if it was obvious.

“Of course, if I were the researcher in charge of the experiment, I’d rather slit my throat with a scalpel than do it this way.”

“The original discovery location was a drainage ditch near Interstate 582. Is there a possibility the work was done inside the drainage system?”

“I can’t give a definitive answer on that.”

Tandy shook her head at Dexter’s question.

“However, it seems Negative has the function of extending the lifespan of a living being that’s about to die.”

“But Encyclopedia is already dead, isn’t he?”

“Perhaps he had no will to live?”

Tandy pointed to Encyclopedia’s head with closed eyes.

“Imagine your body becoming part of a vehicle. Would life be worth living?”

“Well…”

Even Dexter couldn’t immediately answer Tandy’s question.

“We think we need to investigate a bit more. Who was asking the questions earlier?”

“Yes, I did.”

“Then could you help write a report with Agent Libero in a little while?”

Tandy looked at Dexter, then clapped her hands twice and called out:

“Engineers! Come in right now!”

The three jumped at Tandy’s sudden shout, and she nudged Jessica, who was closest to her.

“Relax.”

“Ah, yes… hahaha.”

Jessica forced a laugh at Tandy’s gesture, but Tandy didn’t seem to notice as she smiled and immediately gave orders to the entering engineers:

“Keep the car here for detailed examination, and the body… put it in the morgue for now. Clean up the floor thoroughly. Put that glass container in the evidence room.”

“Yes, understood.”

“You three, follow me. We’re writing a report right now.”

As Tandy walked ahead, Dexter pointed at her and said to Himena:

“Does she always just decide things without asking for others’ opinions?”

“Yeah. It’s better to just report quickly and leave. She’s usually even more overbearing, but she’s probably toned it down since this is your first formal meeting.”

Himena shook her head, thinking about Tandy’s usual behavior.

“If we have to write a report, we’ll have to work at least another hour… Ah, I don’t want to.”

As Himena followed Tandy with a whining tone, the other two followed behind with weary steps.