Ch.175Chapter 175. D-2

# Protests continued day after day.

The protests, which began with students and faculty from Saint Catalina School, had already spread throughout Los Angeles and were expanding nationwide.

“I’ve been by her side the entire semester, watching her! Cuss is absolutely not someone who would kill people!”

“That’s right! That kid is childish, just like a young child!”

Alice and Tom’s interview appeared on the news.

“From what I’ve seen, Cuss possesses complete intelligence and emotions. She looks human, thinks like a human, and feels like a human—what exactly makes her different from humans?”

Yujin appeared on a talk show and spoke passionately.

“I have a proposal for the President. If you’re concerned about Cuss, I’ll take responsibility and monitor her. I’ll watch her 24 hours a day. Wouldn’t that eliminate any worries?”

Jake tried to visit the White House to meet the President directly but failed.

So many people were standing up for Cuss.

It was truly touching.

However, the White House had prepared an announcement to silence all these dissenting voices.

“This alien parasite belongs to a species we’ve named ‘Slasher.’ Some of you may have heard of it before. It’s a monster that gained notoriety twice—once 40 years ago and again 3 years ago. As everyone knows, these creatures cannot suppress their murderous impulses. They even use their high intelligence to deceive people. The fact that this particular specimen has remained dormant for six months is too risky to consider as anything but an extended act. I have no intention of gambling with the lives of our citizens. At the same time, keeping it in isolation for life is difficult. Maintaining a special sterile room to isolate an alien organism that might carry unknown viruses would be an enormous drain on national resources. After careful consideration, we have decided on deportation.”

Public opinion flipped once again.

Voices demanding immediate execution came from all directions.

The UN issued a statement strongly supporting the United States’ decision, and NASA immediately began preparations for rocket launch.

“Sigh…”

And so, Ms. Juliane and I were driven out of Los Angeles.

The police seemed determined to search every single house in the slum, so we had no choice.

Bob’s help was invaluable in getting us this far.

A burner phone that couldn’t be tracked, a camper, and three meals a day.

Without Bob, we would have surrendered to the FBI with our hands and feet up long ago.

*Ring*

Just then, my phone rang.

This was the phone I had used to contact Darry.

I’d heard rumors that Darry had been hired as the engineering manager for this rocket launch.

Since this was an urgent project, they seemed to be recruiting personnel locally.

So I contacted him, hoping he might be able to help me secretly…

“I’m sorry. I have a family too…”

“Ah.”

I couldn’t help but sigh.

It wouldn’t work after all.

Bob was the abnormal one.

Who would sacrifice their own family for someone else’s?

This was the expected outcome…

‘There’s no way out.’

The path had come to an abrupt end.

I was prepared to run tirelessly no matter how difficult the path might be, but what lay before me was a cliff.

It was obvious that no one would believe an alien monster that had already shocked and terrified humanity twice would be safe this time.

Only a tiny minority still argued that Cuss should be released into society.

Instead, more people were saying that shooting her into space rather than killing her was an extremely humane decision.

“Jinsoo.”

“…”

From behind, Ms. Juliane embraced me tightly.

I was bound by her strong arms, unable to move.

“Have you thought of any solutions?”

“None at all.”

“You’ll think of something soon. A way to save Cuss…”

Ms. Juliane’s warm breath flowed into my ear.

Her voice was comforting.

“What should we do now? There’s no answer.”

“We have to try something. Somehow…”

It was a very vague statement.

“Somehow,” she said.

But it made sense.

Just because there’s a cliff ahead doesn’t mean we can stop.

We had to take a running start and jump.

I unwound myself from Juliane’s embrace and entered the camper.

Inside was a blackboard covered with hastily scrawled writing.

It was a complete diagram of the rocket launch operation.

First, Cuss would be placed in a module containing water and food for 100 years while in a hibernation device.

After the module separation, Cuss was scheduled to wake up from hibernation immediately.

The module would be loaded onto a large rocket along with a space shuttle.

Once the rocket launched and left the atmosphere, the space shuttle, still connected to the module, would orbit Earth.

After calculating a perfect trajectory that wouldn’t collide with any planets or asteroids in the solar system, the module would be separated and ejected at precisely the right moment.

That was the basic outline of the operation—the module carrying Cuss would be expelled, and the space shuttle would return safely.

‘Think, Jinsoo Kim. Think.’

There had to be a way.

Some brilliant solution.

I gritted my teeth until they nearly broke and kept rereading the content I had already reviewed countless times.

Cuss was confined in the FBI’s most secure underground isolation chamber.

I couldn’t break in there.

Even if I could get in, getting out would be an even bigger problem.

What if I attacked during transport for the rocket launch?

Well, there would be vehicles full of agents guarding on both sides.

That wouldn’t work either.

To rescue Cuss, I needed to target the time when security was most lax, when there were the fewest agents…

“Ah.”

I got it.

A brilliant idea had struck me.

I turned quickly to the side and saw Ms. Juliane looking at me with a worried expression.

“I have a way, Ms. Juliane.”

“What is it?”

“We follow her into space.”

“…”

I raised my finger upward as I spoke, and Ms. Juliane’s expression gradually hardened.

Why? Was it not good?

I thought it was quite ingenious.

“Listen. The surveillance on Cuss will be extremely tight until the rocket launch. We absolutely cannot rescue her unless we bring a tank or something. But what if we target something else? For example, this space shuttle that will orbit Earth while connected to the module. The crew members will be strictly managed too, but not as much as Cuss.”

“Jinsoo.”

“So we secretly make a deal with one of the crew members and switch places with them. Once I get up into space, there won’t be any FBI agents or anyone else to interfere. Then I open the module door, bring Cuss in, and return to Earth! What do you think?”

“Jinsoo… You realize you’re talking nonsense, right?”

Ms. Juliane was looking straight at me.

She was biting her lip with a bitter expression.

She looked like someone forced to say something difficult.

“Why is this nonsense? It’s the most feasible method we have.”

“I admit that. But the middle part is too flimsy. Even if you somehow sneak onto the space shuttle and make contact with Cuss, how will you get back?”

“I’ll threaten the other crew members. Tell them I’ll beat them to death if they don’t take us back immediately.”

“And when you land? It’s obvious the police will be waiting at the airport to arrest you.”

“Then you’ll come to pick us up. The three of us will break through and escape.”

“…”

She must be speechless at my perfect plan.

Ms. Juliane opened her mouth, sputtered for a bit, then hung her head low.

“Can I be honest?”

“When have you not been?”

“This seems doomed to fail. Even if you’re incredibly lucky and make it to space… all I can see is you and Cuss taking a space journey together with no way back.”

“Come on. It won’t be like that. We’ll come back together.”

“Jinsoo. Can’t we… can’t we just give up?”

When Ms. Juliane raised her head, her face was already covered in tears.

I know better than anyone how much Ms. Juliane loved Cuss.

That’s why I also knew how difficult these words were for her to say.

Ms. Juliane was speaking for my sake.

“Let’s… let’s send her away with tears in our eyes. Thinking that she was never meant to be ours in the first place. Instead, we’ll have a second child and raise them giving them everything we couldn’t give to Cuss. Can’t we do that?”

“I’m sorry. I don’t think I can.”

“Why not? Those who can live should live…”

“Cuss is my daughter. My only daughter. I lost her once because of my mistake and barely got her back—if I lose her twice, I don’t think I could go on living. I’m sorry, Ms. Juliane. I understand why you’re saying this… but I still think I need to go.”

I hugged Ms. Juliane and kissed her forehead.

Listening to my gentle voice, Ms. Juliane buried her face in my chest and sobbed uncontrollably.

“I think I’ll need your help. Will you help me a little?”

“I’ll help you. I’ll help, so… you have to bring Cuss back.”

“I will. When we return, let’s have our wedding first.”

“Let’s have the wedding in Hawaii… Just the three of us, without any guests. Let’s keep it simple.”

I hugged Ms. Juliane tightly as she shed endless tears.

Strangely, I didn’t cry.

Perhaps because I knew this wasn’t the end.

For some reason, I was filled with confidence.

Somehow, I felt like I would succeed.

I felt like I could return safely.

That’s what I thought.

*Ring…*

“Huh?”

“Sniff…”

Just then, my phone rang.

I wiped Ms. Juliane’s eyes and checked my phone.

“Tell me your plan. I’ll help as much as I can.”

It was a message from Darry.