Ch.196Counting Stars! (4)

#196

As soon as they exited the airport, Himena, dressed in civilian clothes, grimaced at the blazing sunlight and stifling weather.

“Ugh, it’s so hot. I feel like I’m spending more time outside than at home these days.”

Himena fanned her face with her floppy straw hat and let out a deep sigh.

“I told you I could have come alone.”

Dexter, also in civilian clothes and wearing sunglasses, shaded his eyes with his hand while looking around. Himena pushed out her lips in response.

“How could someone who doesn’t even speak Spanish manage? You have a perfect native speaker right beside you.”

Dexter chuckled as Himena struck a pose while gesturing to herself.

Acapulco, Mexico.

The place where Howard Hughes stayed at a resort before his death, and where George Hayward’s villa was located according to Caransa.

Being a coastal resort city, it had been frequented by Hollywood stars since the old days, and even now, tourists and wealthy people often visited.

“President Clinton even came here for his honeymoon.”

Dexter took in the smell of the scorching sun and the salty sea breeze, glancing around at the palm trees typical of a resort town.

“I can’t see the beach yet, but I’d like to come back here again sometime.”

“Right? It would be nice if we all came here to hang out when everyone has time.”

As the two were chatting in front of the airport, a heavyset man trudged toward them.

With his shabby clothes and casual gait, neither of them felt particularly wary.

“Taxi?”

Just as Dexter was about to shoo away what he thought was a common taxi tout, Himena looked at the man intently and said:

“Casa embrujada.”

The man immediately replied:

“42 pesos.”

Since 42 pesos was less than 2 dollars, Dexter was about to frown at the absurdity when Himena smiled brightly and offered her hand to the man.

“I’m Rivero from OSA. You’re from CISEN (National Center for Security Investigation, Mexico’s intelligence agency), right?”

“Sí, Gomez.”

“Hughes.”

Dexter also shook hands with Gomez, who grinned and said:

“With your build, you were easy to spot.”

“Not at all.”

Gomez led the two to an old car parked in the airport parking lot.

Neither of them was particularly disappointed, but Gomez, the CISEN agent who would be driving, opened the car door with an embarrassed look and explained:

“The place we’re heading to is quite remote, even for Acapulco.”

Mexico is still heavily influenced by cartels.

Driving an expensive car or otherwise appearing to be government-related could attract unwanted attention from cartels, leading to attacks or kidnappings.

“Just last month, several bodies were discovered on the outskirts of Acapulco. Unless you know someone like me, you shouldn’t approach the outskirts of Acapulco carelessly.”

The two were a bit taken aback by Gomez’s comment about crime persisting despite the city’s reputation as a famous resort, causing Gomez to click his tongue.

“Since this visit is unofficial, we have no choice.”

In contrast to the beautiful scenery, the blood-soaked stories behind it made Himena look troubled.

Gomez drove them along the coastline to the western part of Acapulco, an area called Mozimba.

Befitting a resort town, there was a vast ocean and sandy beaches along the coastline, and their destination was along a cliff by the sea filled with villas.

‘The scenery is no joke.’

It was clear why Hollywood stars had frequented this resort town since the old days.

“So, what brings you to Casa embrujada?”

“We’re looking for someone, and we thought there might be something at their villa.”

Himena replied, and Gomez, the Mexican intelligence agent, added:

“The person who built that villa was American, and although it changed hands several times, all the owners gave up ownership within a week.”

“Gave up ownership?”

Himena, who had assumed Hayward’s villa was vacant because it was supposedly haunted, asked again. Gomez looked at her in the rearview mirror and explained:

“It’s in a remote area, but it’s in the best location in that region, so it’s a waste to just leave it empty. Currently, the state of Guerrero is managing it, and even the local cartel members seem to avoid talking about it.”

Few groups are as superstitious as cartels.

When they hear a place is haunted, they avoid going anywhere near it.

Thanks to that, the large and elegant villa built with Howard Hughes’ support remained tightly closed, allowing no visitors.

After driving for several dozen minutes, they arrived at the entrance to Hayward’s villa, which had a clean exterior despite being abandoned for decades.

It featured an impressive orange iron gate large enough for a dump truck to pass through, surrounded by large white walls.

“It’s certainly built in the best location.”

As Gomez stopped the car in front of the gate, Dexter got out and looked around, hearing the waves crashing against the cliff.

“Indeed.”

Having never seen a ghost before, Dexter approached the gate without hesitation and pointed to a padlock that had clearly been recently replaced.

“What’s this for?”

“There are many people who try to enter abandoned buildings to create content. It happened a few times, but they were all found unconscious outside the house.”

With those words, Gomez tossed a key to Dexter, who caught it and asked:

“Hasn’t anyone tried to record videos with cameras or phones?”

“All such devices were either destroyed, or all the data in their storage was completely wiped out.”

“Is there some kind of security system?”

“Well…”

Unable to confirm without seeing it, Himena gave an ambiguous answer.

“I’ll wait here. Call me when you’re done.”

Gomez’s role was just to guide them to the villa, and since both of them knew this, they nodded and said a light goodbye.

Although the state was supposedly managing it, the gate was suspiciously clean, without even minor graffiti or messy advertisement stickers that would normally be expected. It looked as if a professional caretaker was maintaining it.

But since pondering outside the gate wouldn’t solve anything, Dexter unlocked the padlock and opened the gate.

“Hmm.”

As the gate swung open, they saw a long stretch of lawn with a flat concrete path running through it.

The lawn seemed to be maintained at a uniform height as if someone had been taking care of it, and although the concrete path had some cracks, there were no weeds growing through them.

“Don’t you think someone’s maintaining this villa?”

“Even homes where people live aren’t this neat.”

Even the front yard of Dexter’s house, where three people lived, was a mess due to the sand blown in from all directions.

It was suspicious that the lawn of a villa abandoned for decades was so neatly maintained without a single weed.

As the two ventured further into the property, they saw a large villa that, although somewhat dilapidated, still looked clean.

Built in the distinctive Mexican style common in the area, the villa seemed to have somewhat defied the passage of time. Apart from areas where the paint had faded due to lack of maintenance, it was clean.

The swimming pool in front was spotless, without even a small leaf, though one might have expected it to be filled with water.

“Could there be some kind of maintenance robot?”

“It’s definitely not a person, right?”

Dexter grinned and approached the villa’s entrance but suddenly stopped.

He heard the sound of something heavy moving with a clanking noise.

Himena looked at him worriedly when he stopped midway.

“What’s wrong? Is there a problem?”

“I think something’s moving inside the house.”

At those words, Himena immediately drew the pistol strapped to her thigh, and as her skirt fluttered, threatening to expose her skin, Dexter glanced away.

“I’m wearing shorts underneath.”

“…This isn’t the time for that.”

Himena tapped Dexter’s shoulder and shifted to a shooting stance with her gun.

She was ready to aim at whoever might be inside when Dexter opened the entrance.

“…”

Dexter gave her a look asking if she was ready, and Himena nodded.

Dexter carefully pulled the entrance door, which opened immediately as if it wasn’t locked at all.

“…?”

What greeted the two was a bipedal robot with chrome plating that was peeling off in places.

Both Dexter and Himena had seen this type of robot before.

“Subtron?”

[Are you a visitor?]

The frivolously light guidance voice.

It looked very similar to the Subtron that had consistently accompanied Himena at OSA headquarters.

[Searching visitor records.]

With those words, the robot scanned both Dexter and Himena from head to toe with a red laser scanner, then addressed Dexter.

[You are on the list. Welcome, Mr. Hughes.]

“Huh?”

Dexter looked at the robot in confusion, surprised that it knew him and had him on some list despite never having seen it before.

“Then what about the person next to me?”

[Not on the list. Shall I remove her?]

“No, she’s my girlfriend. Don’t remove her.”

[Understood, Mr. Hughes.]

‘What happens if it removes someone?’

With those words, the robot moved toward the kitchen area with clanking sounds, and Dexter and Himena, not understanding what was happening, looked at each other and shrugged.

“We should go in anyway, right?”

“Since the robot gave us permission, of course we should.”

Being able to enter the house without firing a single shot was a significant advantage.

“But no matter how I look at it, there’s no ghost. Why would people say this villa is haunted?”

“Nobody knows.”

They needed to search more.

Seeing the villa’s condition—spotlessly clean as if someone had been tidying it for a long time, with not a speck of dust—Himena pointed to the robot that was cleaning the kitchen sink and said:

“Do you think it manages everything?”

“It seems strange that even places the robot can’t reach are clean, don’t you think?”

“Why don’t you ask it directly?”

Himena approached the robot and called out to it.

“Excuse me, robot?”

[Did you call me?]

“Do you maintain this villa all by yourself?”

[No, I do not.]

“Then who helps you?”

[Under my responsibility, robots belonging to this villa and mass hologram maintain the villa.]

“There’s a mass hologram?”

When the robot mentioned a mass hologram—one that users could touch or that could physically interact with things—Dexter looked at the robot suspiciously and asked:

[That is correct.]

“By the way, it speaks much better than Subtron.”

Compared to Subtron’s choppy speech, the robot in front of them responded much faster, though its emotionless voice was slightly unsettling.

“Then your owner is George Hayward, correct?”

[That is correct.]

“He must have brought back various technologies from space.”

“Yeah, that’s probably why people say it’s haunted.”

Agreeing with Dexter, Himena remembered that the robot had called Dexter “Mr. Hughes” and asked:

“Then who is the person next to me?”

[He is Howard Hughes, a colleague of my master.]

Both of them froze as soon as the robot’s voice output.

“…Who did you say I am?”

Dexter pointed to himself and asked the robot.

As soon as it heard Dexter’s question, the robot scanned him once more with its laser scanner and then output its voice again.

[You are Mr. Howard Hughes.]