Ch.177Work Record #026 – Iconoclast (3)

As I approached the scene, people gradually disappeared from view. Cars that had been on autopilot while their drivers slept were parked on the nearby shoulder. I checked my Carbine and Small Evil.

By the time I could sense we were getting close, the vehicles changed direction. Tina’s car carrying the field operatives headed toward the back of the building where the hostage situation was unfolding, dropping us off a block away from the scene.

The vehicle carrying Director Yoon headed toward an insurance company building about two hundred meters away from the target. It was a seven-story building with a flashing billboard on the front, making it an excellent sniper position.

After Tina set up a route to circle back, the two vehicles naturally approached and stopped in front of the hostage building as if they were part of the same convoy. The movement was clean.

Director Yoon’s voice came through the communication channel. I turned my head to look between the faintly visible billboards. I could see Director Yoon and Arthur-2 in their concealed positions.

“We’ve reached the sniper position. I can see one hostage-taker at a window on the fourth floor. He appears to be the negotiator. Has the field team reached the target location?”

I pointed to Vola, who was alternately gesturing between herself and me. I would be moving separately again. It was better for Vola to handle the reporting structure.

“We’ve arrived. Entry would require information about the interior, but Boogeyman can be deployed immediately. It’s an office, so the interior should be open.”

K would be observing with drones, but I could also visually confirm since I could move almost silently. It’s always better to have multiple options.

“I’ll consider it. However, we still don’t know the hostage-takers’ demands. We need to understand why they’ve staged this hostage situation. There’s no purpose that can be achieved through a hostage situation.”

Hostage-taking is an ancient terrorist tactic. Even terrorists now know very well that taking hostages and negotiating yields nothing.

That’s why only truly desperate people do such things. It’s a weapon only for those without power or information, like Ms. Helen who was filled with fear of being discarded.

But these androids from the Non-Human Liberation Front were in a better position than that. They could make plans and at least do some research.

If they still staged a hostage situation for one or two stupid demands, I’d want to find the leader of the Non-Human Liberation Front and smack them on the head.

Then I’d tell them that this is what happens when an organization this size doesn’t have an HR department to screen out such fools. Since I don’t make a habit of hitting strangers on the head, I hoped it wouldn’t come to that.

A second communication channel connected, separate from the tactical channel. I heard unfamiliar voices coming through. Seeing them appear on K’s drone feed, they must be other androids.

“B-Belwether should have called anyone! They’re a completely different faction from us! Instead of seeking the transparent eye for spiritual cultivation, they’re arrogant ones who claim ‘we are already human’…”

Or perhaps they’re wiser. The transparent eye is just a self-replicating virus, not something that could properly be called a human mind. No, I decided not to deny that.

Maybe they are arrogant and stupid after all. Otherwise, one wouldn’t normally take hostages. The android’s urgent voice continued over the communication channel.

“Z-Zig, even now they’re probably demanding recognition that androids are people too! They’re not reasonable! We need to go in and kill them all!”

Then why are they themselves hiding behind cars without a single gun, continuing this ambiguous standoff? It was likely a lie. I tucked Small Evil into my waistband.

Director Yoon’s voice immediately came through the tactical communication channel. When there are multiple solutions to a problem and the situation allows, it’s wise to use all of them simultaneously.

“There’s a high probability they’re lying. Enzo, proceed with negotiations as planned. Boogeyman, can you infiltrate without being detected? Ensure no gunshots are fired. K will also conduct reconnaissance with drones.”

Arthur-2’s voice followed, regarding the hostage-taker visible on the fourth floor.

“Almost certainly a lie! From the window where that hostage-taker is standing, there’s a clear line of fire to where the remaining members of the Non-Human Liberation Front are sitting! They could shoot but aren’t, Boogeyman.”

The instruction to ensure no gunshots meant… I slung the Carbine over my shoulder to my back. After checking Small Evil at my waist, I approached the back of the building. There were no watching eyes.

“Confirmed. I can infiltrate. I also have a high-frequency tactical knife, so I can handle things quietly if necessary. Should I cut communications while ascending?”

“That won’t be necessary. Just use your voice module if you need to communicate.”

I only responded in my head before touching the wall. I lightly jumped past the smooth marble lower section of the building wall, then grabbed the exposed concrete part above.

Though I had no prosthetics, the friction was decent enough that I could climb even with gloves on. I pulled myself up at an angle not visible from the windows. I would need to go to the roof and search from there.

“I’m a security contractor from Belwether, I mean, dispatched by a staffing agency contracted by Belwether. My name is Enzo Casi, Casetti, the negotiator. Who am I speaking with?”

Enzo’s voice was weaker than usual. He was deliberately acting vulnerable. The other side responded with a forceful shout.

“Tell Belwether to announce that androids are equal employee-citizens! No negotiations without that! Do you know how many hostages we have?”

Strange indeed. Wouldn’t the normal approach be to start small and gradually demand more if the negotiating partner seems weak? I couldn’t tell if they were being stupid or if they had a plan.

As I reached the railing of the fifth floor, Arthur-2’s voice came through the communication channel. He knew exactly what I was thinking.

“No forces on the roof, Boogeyman. You can pull yourself up freely.”

After acknowledging with just my voice module, I pulled myself up lightly. The roof was empty. I listened carefully for surrounding sounds but heard nothing except muffled sobbing.

‘Are there actually hostage-takers? Throughout my climb and now on the roof… all I hear are frightened hostages. It’s too quiet even for an ambush.’

The opponents are self-proclaimed revolutionaries from the Non-Human Liberation Front. They’re doing this to convey some insignificant purpose. Are they really stupid enough to expect Belwether to acknowledge them?

No. The way they’ve set up this standoff suggests they’re not that stupid. If they suddenly present something so large that Belwether won’t agree to… they’ll be suppressed.

Could getting suppressed be their actual goal? What benefit would they gain from being suppressed? What needs to be considered is… that they don’t follow the transparent eye and are an opposing faction.

If so… and if suppression is involved, I had one hypothesis. I connected to the communication channel, and Arthur-2’s voice came through almost simultaneously. We spoke at the same pitch and speed.

‘It seems their goal is to be suppressed. Except for the hostage-taker attempting negotiations and drawing in Belwether, the rest are probably hiding among the hostages.’

“So, if the suppression team rushes in and can’t distinguish between hostage-takers and themselves, that would prove… they’re human enough that even Belwether can’t tell them apart without the transparent eye.”

Arthur-2 offered the next opinion first. We think alike. And we had the best tool: a Posthuman Type IV. We would resolve this situation well.

“Boogeyman can go down and start identifying the perpetrators. With Type IV sensory organs, he can distinguish between humans with heartbeats and androids who have no reason to have heartbeats.”

“Is that really possible?”

Seems like someone read the catalog carefully. It was entirely possible.

‘Yes, it’s possible. Is there any chance the hostage-takers have taken additional measures?’

I brought the Carbine back from behind my back. If I’m going in, my purpose is to quietly enter and rescue hostages, not assassinate hostage-takers.

So it was better to have the silenced Carbine ready. The essence of mimicry is thoroughness. I set the selector to single shot. I might need to shoot if something happens.

“They won’t, Boogeyman. If their goal is really as we think—to confuse the suppression team sent by Belwether, get mixed up with the hostages, have some die and some survive—they won’t be carrying anything suspicious.”

Then there would be no issue distinguishing hostages from androids. If our theory is correct, they would have had to take only genuine humans as hostages. Perfectly normal humans.

Where are the items they used to subdue the hostages? While Enzo was buying time, K’s deep sigh was followed by an energetic voice. Drone footage appeared in my vision.

Guns and empty homemade bomb shells were gathered in a half-open janitor’s closet in the building. They seemed to have been hastily hidden, causing the cleaning drone storage compartment to become crooked so the door wouldn’t close properly.

“Arthur-2 seems right, Boogeyman. All the weapons appear to be here. By count, there are at least six, and with the talker…”

‘The talker has one in his hand. Including him, there are seven. I’ll handle them, so please direct the remaining field operatives toward the building to deal with those maintaining this ridiculous standoff.’

They quickly decided that Vola would take Eve, and Emily would take Jay and Mila. I was right to give Vola control of the field operatives. Director Yoon gave the final instructions.

“Rechecking mission orders. Boogeyman will infiltrate and eliminate the android terrorists. The moment completion is reported, field operatives will subdue the remaining terrorists at the scene.”

Enzo continued his meaningless negotiations. The terrorist negotiator was trying to break off the talks, but that wasn’t easy against Enzo’s excellent wordplay mixed with stuttering.

I climbed down the building wall in the opposite direction from where the other Non-Human Liberation Front androids were lying in wait. Looking through a window into the office, I saw about eight hostages.

They were trembling with sacks over their heads. I could hear only seven heartbeats. I silently opened the window and entered. Moving without sound, I approached the huddled hostages.

Everyone’s heartbeat was rapid due to the tense situation. But one… no, one was different. There was no sound at all. I placed my hand on that hostage’s shoulder and drew my high-frequency knife.

“Huh? Ah, um, perhaps…”

I could feel the metal skeleton inside the pretend hostage. I stabbed the high-frequency knife, vibrating shallowly like a fish’s fin, into the power unit area.

Electricity crackled, but the handle of the high-frequency tactical knife was made of well-insulated material. I pulled the struggling android close to prevent the other hostages from screaming. I reassured them.

“Please remain still. We’re Belwether’s partners. Rescue will follow after the hostage-takers are dealt with. Please bear with us a little longer.”

Most of the hostages nodded with somewhat relieved sighs. I grabbed the completely discharged android’s neck and lightly tore it off. It would need to be handed over to the information processing team.

Thanks to the sacks covering the hostages’ heads, they didn’t have to see the gruesome sight. I handed the head sack to K’s drone that had flown in almost at floor level. I headed to the next floor.

‘No more androids on the fifth floor. I’m entering the fourth floor, please provide sniper cover.’

As I descended via the stairwell to enter the fourth floor, a gunshot dissolved into the city noise. The negotiating terrorist who had been spouting nonsense fell against the windowsill.

Panicked screams erupted from two groups of hostages behind him. Two people who had been sitting collapsed to the floor, writhing. One had no heartbeat.

I stepped on the back of its neck, then stabbed the high-frequency knife into the nape and cut it like using a bread knife. Not a drop of blood came out. Only some organic waste fragments came along. I put them in a sack and handed it to the drone.

Realizing something was wrong, one “hostage” whose wrists weren’t bound like the others… and whose heart made no sound, began to stir. It was trying to remove its sack.

No. This situation isn’t going wrong. It’s already gone wrong enough. I kicked its abdomen with my full weight, sending it toward an empty office desk.

It literally flew back. The reinforced plastic desk crumpled, and the android’s back bent completely backward as it hit the desk. A pain-filled scream rang out.

Amid the scream and the confusion it caused, I approached a hostage who had been watching cautiously. Its reaction was delayed. I reached between its chest to properly check for a heartbeat, but it was silent.

They seemed to have brought something close to a machine. Well, if even the most machine-like android could be mistaken for human, their message would gain some credibility.

The android was talking about pain centers. I had collected four heads. Only two remained. Leaving K to reassure the hostages, I headed down to the next floor.

Two left. I was wondering if they would stay hidden among the hostages or go looking for weapons when… K’s voice came through. It was so comfortable that no judgment was necessary.

“Go straight down to the second floor, Arthur! I’ve spotted them going down for weapons! Oh, if you have any epic one-liner to deliver before finishing these stupid terrorists, now’s the time!”

I thought about reviving memories from my gardener days, but decided to just quicken my pace to the second floor instead. I answered with my voice module.

‘This isn’t that kind of genre right now.’

I lightly jumped down the stairwell toward the second floor. Entering the long central corridor of the multi-purpose second floor… I saw two androids rushing in frantically.

One of them tried to turn back and flee, only to sprawl toward the back of the building. There was a window there, and another gunshot dissolved into the city noise.

The remaining android raised both hands as if surrendering, and I gladly accepted that surrender declaration by pulling the trigger aimed at its power unit in the chest.

When humans get shot in the heart, they can neither testify nor face punishment, but androids can be reactivated if their storage unit remains intact by simply reconnecting the power.

So strictly speaking, they weren’t dead. It could be considered a form of capture that few would complain about.

They might be uncooperative in confession, but confession wouldn’t be up to them—Belwether would extract it anyway, so there was no problem.

‘Confirmed all seven internal hostage-takers have been neutralized.’

As soon as I reported this, a heavy metallic sound rang out as Vola rushed forward, and the accomplices outside were also subdued very simply. It became a day where no one needed to feel guilty.

Arthur-2 had done an excellent job as the eyes and brain of the security operation. She still exuded the aura of Belwether’s Shepherd Six, so I could happily tell her she had been at maximum efficiency.