Ch.148Rather, If We Had Never Met! (5)

#148

It was already past 8 PM, well after dinner time.

Despite the late hour, I never expected the lights at OSA to go out.

“Being underground, I guess it can’t be called a lighthouse.”

“What did you say?”

“Nothing, never mind.”

As if it were already a common occurrence at OSA, a rookie agent placed panini sandwiches in front of the three of them for dinner.

“…Isn’t it a bit much for the company to provide dinner?”

“Why? Even prisons have night shifts, and they provide dinner too.”

“…I guess so?”

Dexter couldn’t find anything to rebut, and Jessica, already accustomed to this, unwrapped her panini sandwich and took a bite.

Jessica’s eyes widened the moment she bit into the panini sandwich.

“As expected of a secretive intelligence agency, the taste is amazing. Plenty of meat too.”

“Is it that delicious?”

“Yeah. It’s really good.”

Seeing Jessica give a thumbs up to Dexter while eating, he also took a bite of his panini sandwich.

“Hmm, if it’s this good, I bet lunch is great too. Why do you always eat lunch outside?”

“If you work underground every day, you’ll lack sunlight, right? I take that opportunity to get some sun while eating.”

Himena said as she bit into her panini sandwich.

“…Even if it’s delicious, I can’t enjoy it knowing that eating this means I’m working overtime.”

“Oh my. But it’s so tasty.”

While the three were chatting, Tandy, with a serious expression, glanced at them through the glass partition.

Dexter, who was the first to notice her gaze, raised his eyebrows in response, and Tandy gestured for him to come over.

“Is she calling for me?”

“Mm, you’d better go see.”

Dexter stood up from his seat and lightly pinched Himena’s cheek as she spoke with her mouth full of food.

“Ah, really.”

“You look like a hamster.”

Entering Tandy’s office, Dexter looked at her still serious expression and sat down in the chair in front of her desk.

“I hear you’re the one who questioned the Encyclopedia?”

“That’s right.”

“Could you describe in detail the Encyclopedia’s condition before the chase, during the chase, and after it was overturned?”

Tandy asked while occasionally glancing at Dexter but mostly focusing on her monitor screen, and Dexter began his account.

“Well, the condition was similar both before and during the chase. It seemed to have lost its reason, and it felt like it was solely fixated on pursuing us. Oh, now that I think about it, I sensed a strong negative feeling from it since it started chasing us through the drainage.”

“What do you mean by sensing a strong negative feeling?”

“You know, what they call ‘qi’ in the East, and what we call ‘aura’.”

At Dexter’s imprecise explanation, Tandy briefly turned the monitor with her hand so Dexter could see it better and asked:

“So… you’re saying you can directly sense the energy waveform emitted by the Negative?”

“Something like that. In my case, it’s more like my sixth sense tingles.”

“When did you develop this ability?”

“When I was working as a bodyguard… so probably less than 10 years ago.”

“Where?”

As Tandy’s upper body leaned closer with each question, Dexter felt uncomfortable and said:

“You seem to be prying too much… I learned it from an old man on a certain planet. He said it would help me sense ‘qi’ better in that planet’s language.”

“Then…”

“Ah, I can’t answer any more questions about that. The old man told me not to pass his teachings to anyone else.”

After Dexter’s additional comment, Tandy shook her head regretfully, then focused back on the monitor and began typing something.

“So, Agent Hughes can detect any kind of energy?”

“It’s uncertain.”

“Why not?”

“My intuition also activates when someone intends to kill or threaten me. I was able to detect this Negative because it was approaching me threateningly.”

“…Don’t you think that’s extremely vague?”

“If that’s how my intuition works, I can’t exactly scold it.”

“What an inconvenient ability.”

“I wish I had the ability to quantify these things too.”

Without something visible like a game UI gauge or status window, it’s difficult to judge unidentified energies, including Negatives, based solely on Dexter’s intuition.

Dexter couldn’t help this limitation, and Tandy felt disappointed by the subtlety of his ability.

“So, even if a Negative were right in front of you now, you wouldn’t sense its energy?”

“Oh, that’s not the case. The liquefied Negative, if I can call it that, felt like an object with an extreme temperature.”

“An object with an extreme temperature?”

“Like having charcoal or dry ice next to you.”

“Hmm, that’s worth noting.”

Tandy continued writing based on Dexter’s testimony.

“Was there anything unusual before the Encyclopedia died?”

“Its logical progression was very strange. It was like a schizophrenic patient or a drug addict.”

“Mmm-hmm.”

After asking a few more questions, Tandy nodded and asked her final question.

“You mentioned it was connected to the Yekaterina Republic diplomat, and you’re planning to investigate this as well?”

“Yes, I suppose so. Of course, Agent Himena will likely bring up this investigation first.”

“I see.”

Tandy nodded and then looked intently at Dexter before saying:

“Are you two dating?”

“…Excuse me?”

“I understand Miss Blueberg is part of our department, but Agent Hughes and Agent Libero seem very close.”

“Is dating within OSA prohibited?”

“No, it’s actually encouraged. It’s difficult to maintain confidentiality when your spouse is a civilian.”

“Oh.”

Dexter nodded at the surprisingly simple reason.

“Yes, we are dating.”

“I see. I hope you don’t let her go.”

“Why is that?”

“Well, Agent Libero is quite wealthy.”

“…Is that all?”

When Dexter asked with an incredulous expression, wondering if that was really the only reason, Tandy responded seriously:

“She’s the esteemed daughter of the Libero Group, worth several times the GDP of the Yekaterina Republic. Of course that matters! Agent Libero is the one all the male employees at OSA are trying to win over.”

“Romance isn’t something I can control, you know.”

Tandy burst into laughter at Dexter’s comment.

“I thought Agent Hughes looked very manly and would have a similar dating style, but you seem more passive than I expected? With things this precarious, you should knock her down and get her pregnant for peace of mind, and you’re talking about not controlling romance?”

“Ah, that’s enough. Let’s stop there.”

Rather than being angry, Dexter, despite being thirty years old, found the conversation embarrassing.

He was caught off guard by Tandy’s middle-aged woman’s approach of rapidly breaking down social distance through forced familiarity.

“Hmm, you seem quite naive.”

“I’m not naive; you’re just being too forward, Director. Today is the first time we’ve formally met.”

“That’s why I’m telling you to make a move on Agent Libero. A real man seizes opportunities when they arise.”

“…Are there any more questions related to the case?”

As Dexter avoided her gaze, Tandy smiled contentedly and said:

“No. I’ll give the rest of the instructions to Agent Libero tomorrow, but it would be good to meet with the Yekaterina Republic embassy soon.”

“Understood. Then I’ll be going.”

As Dexter tried to escape, Tandy shouted loudly:

“Knock her down!”

“Oh, come on!”

Due to the soundproofing, Himena and Jessica, who had no idea what was happening, were puzzled by Dexter’s flustered expression, which they rarely saw.

“What’s wrong? Why do you look like that?”

“What did that lady say to you?”

As Himena stared at him with a broad smile, Tandy’s voice began to mix in his head.

‘Knock her down!’

“It’s nothing. We’re going to contact the Yekaterina Republic embassy soon. Let’s head home now.”

Seeing Dexter in a hurry, the two women looked suspiciously toward Tandy, but she wasn’t showing much of a reaction.

“Why are you rushing? Are you hiding something?”

“What would I be hiding? Don’t you want to go home? Are you planning to live at OSA?”

“…You’re being unusually intense today.”

Himena found it suspicious but decided to let it go since she couldn’t pinpoint anything specific.

“Dex, I’m hungry. Can we go to a Chinese restaurant or something?”

Jessica, who was still hungry despite having eaten the panini sandwich, tapped Dexter’s shoulder and asked.

“You just had a sandwich?”

“Is that enough to fill you up?”

“Honestly, I’m a bit hungry too.”

Himena, agreeing with Jessica, looked at Dexter and said:

“Then let’s go now. Himena, do you know a place?”

“Of course I do!”

As Himena winked and took the lead, the other two followed her.

‘At times like this, life is really simple.’

While other couples typically have men with simple thoughts and women with complex feelings, it seemed like the opposite was true for them.

* * *

Normally, after eating a full meal, they would have gone to their respective homes to shower and sleep, but the three of them were sitting on the sofa in Himena’s house.

Jessica, visiting Himena’s home for the first time, was slightly intimidated by Himena’s nice house, which matched her expectations, while Dexter was engrossed in reading information about the Yekaterina Republic on Himena’s tablet.

“The Yekaterina Republic has a territory of about 570 square miles (about 1476 km², similar in size to Pyeongchang County in Korea), with a population of about 30,000… 30,000? Wow, that’s tiny. The official language is Russian… and they have 12 embassies? That’s impressive. The one in the US is in Washington D.C.”

“Doesn’t something seem odd?”

“What?”

Himena, wearing a short-sleeved T-shirt and shorts, took out a large container of ice cream from the refrigerator and said:

“Like you said, the embassy is in D.C. Why did the diplomat come all the way to Las Vegas? And why conduct experiments using Negatives on an engineer who’s a technical advisor? Torture? Anyway, what’s the reason for such strange behavior? Jessica, do you want some ice cream?”

“Give me a bowl, I’ll scoop it myself.”

While Jessica went to get a bowl and spoon to serve herself some ice cream, Dexter was equally perplexed.

“Honestly, there’s only one conclusion.”

“Meeting the Yekaterina Republic diplomat?”

“Exactly. In the end, he was experimented on while secretly meeting that person.”

Himena looked grim.

“But the fact that the Yekaterina Republic diplomat wasn’t caught on CCTV…”

“Either the diplomat used a secret passage like the drainage system, or they’re some kind of secret agent of the General and managed somehow.”

Himena wore an unconvinced expression at Dexter’s vague explanation.

“So, to get an explanation, we need to meet with the people from the Yekaterina Republic…”

“Why, don’t you want to?”

“No, I’m just wondering what if they use diplomatic immunity…”

“Why worry about that?”

“Huh?”

“That’s something to leave to the Director. With a potential global threat, who cares about diplomatic immunity?”

As Dexter shrugged as if it were obvious, Himena looked at him with a bewildered expression.

“R-really?”

“Yeah. The Director or the Washington Director will handle it one way or another. Anyway, Himena, all you need to worry about is conducting a good investigation and catching the culprit, right?”

Dexter was right.

After all, Himena’s job was to focus solely on catching the culprit.

“If worst comes to worst, I’ll smash the diplomat’s head in. So don’t worry and just focus on catching the culprit.”

At Dexter’s reassuring words, Himena’s face lit up with a smile, and she rushed over to plant a kiss on his cheek.

“My baby is so reliable!”

“Hey, why are you two being all lovey-dovey by yourselves!”

Jessica, who had been scooping ice cream into her mouth, immediately stuck herself to Dexter’s side upon seeing this.

Suddenly finding himself with both Himena and Jessica on either side, Dexter wore a mischievous expression.

“You’re both tired today so it won’t work out, but maybe we can find an opportunity later?”

As Dexter looked back and forth between them, Himena and Jessica each threw in a comment:

“Always such a pervert.”

“Later, let’s do it later.”

Since they had work tomorrow, Dexter concluded his display of affection with a light kiss on each of their cheeks.