Ch.164Cowabunga! (2)

#164

Nevada Desert at Midday.

[Everyone stay in place, I’m opening the bag.]

A female agent in a protective suit spoke through the microphone.

Besides her, several other people in protective suits and individuals in black suits stood behind the protective glass.

“It’s hot enough in these suits, but those people in protective gear must be unbearably hot.”

“What if this turns out to be nothing?”

“What if it’s full of SM equipment?”

“Are you the type to carry SM equipment around the office?”

“Oh please, you two should try having some decent conversations!”

When Himena pointed out Jessie and Dexter’s conversation with embarrassment, Dexter whispered in her ear.

“You came over late three nights ago, right? I was at Himena’s place.”

“Yeah, so?”

“She told me not to spank her butt in public. So I asked if that meant I could do it in private…”

-Smack!

“Oh my, Dexter! There are many senior officers here, so you should keep quiet, don’t you think?”

Seeing Dexter trying to tell Jessie about what happened three days ago, Himena forced a smile and swung her palm toward Dexter’s back.

Though Dexter could withstand even gunshots to some extent, strangely, whenever Himena smacked his back, it stung and itched unbearably.

“You always hit me where I can’t scratch.”

“That’s why you should be quiet, shh.”

Himena pointed behind them.

She was particularly tense because Tandy, the head of the Science and Technology Department, and several other officials were gathered there.

[It’s open. No bombs… but there’s something like a toy gun.]

After checking once more, the EOD agent removed the head part of the protective suit and headed toward the OSA agents with the bag.

Tandy and the other officials looked at the gun inside the bag.

As the EOD agent had said, what appeared to be a crudely designed water gun that a child might play with was inside, leaving everyone looking confused.

“Is it possibly made of plastic?”

“It doesn’t seem to be plastic… more like an alloy painted white.”

“Is that a glass tank for holding something? Seeing the measurement lines, it seems designed to check volume.”

While the officials gathered around the water gun speculating about its function, Jessie, standing nearby, spoke to Himena in a low voice.

“There’s no reason for a water gun to be there.”

“Of course there’s no reason for a water gun to be there.”

“Then… maybe it’s for something other than water?”

“Something else?”

“Like Negative?”

If it’s a liquid related to the Gun Master, it could only be liquefied Negative.

Hearing Jessie mention Negative, Himena, who had been listening quietly, looked at Dexter with a serious expression.

“What do you think?”

“Why not just try putting something in it?”

“What if something goes wrong?”

“We could disassemble it first, examine it, and then make a replica.”

“That’s not an easy task.”

“Better than destroying the only piece of evidence.”

In the end, it meant grinding down the engineers of the Science and Technology Department to produce results.

Himena looked at the water gun, her lips twitching.

‘She’s thinking about it.’

More precisely, she was contemplating how to frame the argument that they should disassemble the evidence and make a replica.

“Should we just talk to the Director about it?”

“No, I feel like we’ve been using the Director too much lately.”

“Using him makes things faster and better, what’s the problem?”

“That’s just your opinion.”

Himena shook her head, rejecting Dexter’s suggestion to quickly resolve the matter using Director Makoa’s authority.

As Dexter pointed out, Himena also knew a much faster way to get results, but that wasn’t why she wasn’t doing it.

“I should have built deeper connections with the working-level staff earlier. For situations like today, it’s better to talk directly with the Science and Technology Department engineers and build relationships first.”

“Ah, now I get what you’re saying.”

Dexter, who had lived alone in space since he was 15, understood immediately.

“You mean if we keep using executive authority to get things done, relations with other departments will deteriorate, right?”

Even though OSA is a government agency, it’s still a group of people.

Thanks to the Special Investigation Team—the rolling stone—making waves everywhere, the workload of other departments—the fixed stones—has increased.

It might be better for the Special Investigation Team’s image if Himena personally asked for understanding, got the Director’s permission, and made the request directly.

“What, you already understand?”

“How much do you think I’ve struggled at the bottom?”

Dexter chuckled and said.

“Even when I was just unloading cargo at the spaceport, if you contacted someone through their superior, they’d get angry asking why you didn’t talk to them first.”

“So what did you do then?”

“What could I do? I had no power back then, so I just said ‘yes, yes’ and groveled.”

If he could go back to that time with his current steel-like physique, he’d be confident enough to confront them all, but back then, such people were terrifying.

“I’d work all day watching the foremen’s moods and struggling just to earn about 10 ducats, which I’d use to buy food and find a place to sleep for the night, leaving only 1 or 2 ducats in my pocket. Even if I saved up carefully, it would all go to medical bills if I got hurt. It was gone in no time.”

“A ducat is just under 10 dollars… you really had it tough, didn’t you?”

“You just realized that now?”

Seeing Himena looking at him with sympathetic eyes, Dexter smiled and said.

“That’s all in the past. I’m living well now, so it doesn’t matter. Money isn’t the issue anymore, so let’s focus on this case.”

Looking at Himena and Jessie who were gazing at him as if he were pitiful, Dexter snapped his fingers to gesture for them to focus and pointed at the water gun.

“Himena, you’re going to talk to the Science and Technology Department engineers, right? What about you, Jessie?”

“Me? I need to study. That learning device is really amazing.”

With help from Dexter and the senior maintenance staff, Jessie had recently been studying alien engineering.

Though still at a basic level, with the help of the learning device sent by Eliya, her skills seemed likely to improve rapidly.

“The seniors are all so nice. They even set aside time for me to study.”

“They… gave you time to study during work hours?”

“Yeah. When I said it seemed weird for just me to be studying during work hours, they said it was fine and told me to study in my private room.”

Jessie seemed to be getting the queen bee treatment in the maintenance department.

“They say I don’t need to touch the tools, that they’ll take care of everything themselves, so what can I do?”

“Himena.”

“Yes?”

“Introduce some women to the maintenance department guys. I feel sorry for them.”

“I was thinking the same thing…”

Jessie understood what they meant and made a disgruntled face.

“All the women I know are criminals, so I can’t introduce them.”

“I know it’s not your fault. It’s because those guys can’t find women on their own…”

Dexter mourned for the poor maintenance staff.

* * *

[Disturbance in Block 4, disturbance in Block 4. All correctional officers from Block 4 assemble at Block 4 immediately.]

“Again?”

“Wow, this is driving me crazy.”

“Ah, shit…”

Several correctional officers who were eating lunch quickly got up, gathered their equipment, and hurriedly left the cafeteria.

Dexter and Dan, correctional officers from Block 2, could only stare blankly at the Block 4 officers.

“Something serious is going to happen in Block 4 at this rate.”

“Who knows? I feel like we might get called in too.”

“Why us?”

“In emergency situations, they might bring in officers from Blocks 1 and 2 for reinforcement. Let’s hope that doesn’t happen.”

Dan grimaced as if imagining something terrible, making Dexter chuckle.

“Senior, you’re more scared than I thought.”

“You’ll change your mind when you have a son or daughter of your own.”

“Ah, so you’re not afraid of getting hurt or dying?”

“How could I leave this world with my son still here? My wife is already busy with work, I can’t make things harder for her.”

“Indeed, a man with responsibilities is different.”

“Don’t you have a girlfriend?”

“I do.”

Dexter, who didn’t mention that his girlfriend was Jessie, a former inmate, vaguely answered, to which Dan smiled warmly and said.

“Enjoy it while you can. Once you get married, have kids, take out loans to buy a house, everything becomes more serious.”

“That’s exactly why I don’t want to get married.”

“It’s better to worry about having something than to worry about not having anything.”

Dan added that getting married quickly wasn’t a bad idea compared to marrying when you’re old, to which Dexter snorted incredulously.

“But last week you told me not to get married.”

“That’s because I got caught buying Hot Wheels secretly.”

“Those tiny toy cars? They can’t cost more than 20 dollars, right?”

Recalling the miniature car smaller than a palm, Dan shook his head awkwardly at Dexter’s words.

“It was a limited edition that cost over a thousand dollars.”

“You’re crazy. If I were your wife, I would have smacked you too.”

“I almost had to take sick leave because of it.”

“It’s not my place to say, but get your act together.”

As Dan and Dexter were having this casual conversation, sirens began to wail.

-Aaaeeeeng…!

“Is it Block 4?”

“No, it sounds like it’s coming from near the cafeteria.”

[Attention all correctional officers, attention all correctional officers. Inmate riot in medium-security facility Block 4. Inmate riot in medium-security facility Block 4. All correctional officers except essential personnel are to immediately don equipment and assemble at the medium-security facility.]

“We’re fucked.”

Dan gritted his teeth and threw down the spoon he was holding.

“Dexter, get up quickly.”

Dexter also emptied a cup of water he had poured earlier in one gulp and followed Dan to the correctional officers’ office.

“Isn’t riot control the job of CERT (Correctional Emergency Response Team)?”

“They respond from the front, we respond from the back. Quickly put on defensive gear and grab batons and spray.”

“I thought I was coming to a quieter place.”

“Who didn’t?”

As the two headed toward the correctional officers’ office, many officers had already gathered and were putting on defensive gear.

The two quietly listened as Raymond, the chief correctional officer, who was also donning defensive gear, spoke with another officer.

“What’s the current situation?”

“It seems an inmate named Turner, who was transferred from Block 2 to Block 4, led a group of inmates to confront the existing Carranza Cartel. While the two factions were fighting, one correctional officer tried to intervene and was slightly injured.”

“Are they still fighting?”

“Yes. The problem is that CERT is trying to enter, but they’re facing strong resistance. It seems the two groups wanted to settle things without officer intervention.”

Raymond, who had been listening quietly, frowned as if hearing something absurd.

“The prison isn’t some gang territory, what is this nonsense?”

“I find it ridiculous too, but that’s the situation.”

Raymond spoke with a very uncomfortable expression.

“It seems they’re getting bolder because the warden is letting them be. What’s CERT’s status?”

“Currently on standby at the entrance to Block 4.”

“Have them suppress it immediately.”

A vein was protruding on Raymond’s forehead.

Since everyone could tell he was extremely angry, the other correctional officers remained silent.

“Especially the ringleader, Turner…”

As Raymond scanned the correctional officers, his eyes fell on Dexter.

Seeing Raymond staring at him, Dexter thought, ‘Is he asking me to handle that bastard?’

That premonition was correct, and Raymond patted Dexter’s shoulder and said.

“Let Officer Hughes interrogate him in solitary confinement. He’s dealt with problematic inmates before, so I believe he can handle this too.”

“…Yes, I’ll do my best.”

After fully donning his protective gear, Raymond spoke to a nearby officer as he headed out.

“Contact the CERT team leader and tell them to enter immediately.”

“Yes, sir.”

Raymond, looking uncomfortable, tugged at his stab-proof vest once and said.

“The rest of the officers follow in two columns.”

At those words, the disorganized officers quickly formed into two columns and followed Raymond.