Ch.201Work Record 031 – High-Value Asset (2)

For Goree & Glory Co., the word “freelancer” was a ring name that needed no explanation. When people hear “Belwether’s freelancer,” they think of human weapons, and for Fitts & Morrison’s, they think of cowboys.

If you win well, just like in the entertainment industry, you’ll get more money than you expected. However, that was problematic to consider as freelance work. It would be better to work night shifts instead.

I request communication through the contact number written in the letter. Aegis’s voice immediately begins to sound in my head. Fortunately, it wasn’t warning me about a trap or launching a counterattack.

“Communication channel has been bypassed. Communication channel has been bypassed. Verifying connected channel. Verification complete. Only basic eavesdropping is occurring. Familiar OS.”

While Aegis would need to learn the operating system to counter-attack a technomancer, this time that wasn’t even necessary. Aegis already knew the operating system they were using. Of course.

Since I wasn’t being attacked, Aegis began to fall silent again, and I willingly connected to that communication channel. Deciding not to worry about communicating with nationalists, I answered.

“This is Arthur Murphy, Belwether certified freelancer who received a letter via North American Postal Corporation. To be blunt… what kind of job would the federal government have for a corporate freelancer?”

“You use the term ‘federal government.'”

“Just as I don’t call Belwether ‘filthy technocrats.'”

“You have flexible thinking. From your photo, except for the back of your hand, there are no visible signs of modification…”

From the photo, except for the back of my hand, there are no visible signs of modification. Their information was from December. Before December 23rd, but after the suppression of Belwether’s coup.

And both Ms. Julia and I kept mentioning that there were almost no visible signs of modification. Why? Clearly, nationalists don’t look favorably upon modifications.

They ban full-body prosthetics and even try to avoid using artificial bodies. They were looking for a corporate freelancer with almost no visible signs of modification. I made a simple deduction and spoke.

You don’t roll the dice with someone you trust. With someone you still doubt, you need to keep rolling until the doubt is gone.

“That would be the best requirement for infiltrating nationalist territory. Strange work for those sitting in your position to prevent, though.”

To hide a person, you hide them among people. You can’t hide a modified person among purists. They would need an agent who appears outwardly to be a purist, like me.

Why would they need an agent who looks like a purist? If they were simply deploying a corporate freelancer, there would be no need. They’re trying to insert me into nationalist territory to look like one of them.

This seemed like work for an intelligence processing team, so it would be reasonable to assume the person on the other end of the call was from the nationalists’ intelligence processing team. Likely someone familiar with such impersonation, disguise, and infiltration.

Then their main job would be catching spies who “look like nationalists.” It was strange they were trying to insert one. It was pure speculation, but reasonably logical.

“And you might want to update your photos. Since last Christmas, I’ve been covering the back of my hand with artificial skin, so there won’t be anything visible externally.”

I pretend to have an information advantage. Though nationalists once boasted the prestige of the world’s strongest nation, now they only have capabilities and scale similar to Belwether.

While it’s certainly possible for them to perfectly understand me within Belwether, it would be cost-inefficient to go that far just for a freelancer they’re hiring for a job.

So they don’t have perfect information about me. I know things they don’t. With my previous statement adding credibility, my deductions would also seem well-founded.

The person on the other end of the communication channel… wasn’t fooled. Rather, they perfectly pinpointed how I reached my conclusions. Skilled and clean.

“I’ve said too much. Seeing your concern about modification traces, you can deduce the job, and naturally, the job is handled by an expert. Why an expert? Because I’m the one who prevents such things.”

“So now you know I’m good at twenty questions. What else?”

“You’re a common citizen. You deflect information-leaking questions with sarcasm, showing caution, yet you contacted us first, believing you could get something from us.”

“You’re not worried even though a freelancer who hasn’t even taken the job yet accurately deduced its nature. So it’s not aimed at corporate states. You’ll use it against fellow nationalists.”

If they intended to deceive me into turning against Belwether or corporate states, showing confusion would be natural. They weren’t poker-faced either. They simply didn’t care if I figured it out.

“Didn’t I just say that? I said we’d infiltrate nationalist territory.”

“Los Angeles has New World Communications’ public phones, and New York has New Mages’ department stores. Land and people are different.”

“You’re intelligent. As I said, your thinking is flexible. Quite different from the report. You have self-control, and you’re not a battle-crazed psychopath. Blessed are the meek. What do you want in return?”

I reflect on the tasks of callsign Boogeyman that would have been mentioned in that report. I could guess what he was thinking. Now he gave me a sincere answer. This was something I could say only now.

“If you’ve read the report, you know I have expertise in this area. No hobby, though. But so far, I’ve just been devouring training manuals and following my instincts.”

“You want to be honed. You want to become more capable. What exactly do you want to become?”

“A better person than I am now. Isn’t the desire for self-improvement common?”

“This is the first time I’ve seen it so intense and uninhibited. Let’s meet. Tomorrow morning at 9:30, Poke O’ Farmers. How’s that?”

This is also a test. If I truly want to be honed, I should show I’m worth honing. Poke O’ Farmers is Farmers Co.’s poke chain. They use real ingredients.

The menu is a salmon salad with various ingredients mixed in. With such diverse ingredients, it’s extremely expensive. Not many people visit Poke O’ Farmers in the morning.

Choosing a Farmers Co. subsidiary is an attempt to escape Belwether’s surveillance network. It’s not a real meeting request. It seems like they’re just posing a sample problem.

“Let’s make it KSC. It’s a Farmers Co. subsidiary so it has no connection to Belwether, and it would have thirty times more foot traffic than Poke O’ Farmers.”

“Good. Very good. I trust you won’t be sitting stupidly in a hamburger joint tomorrow morning. I’ll be direct. There’s a village you need to sweep clean. Not even a small city, literally a small village.”

I have no hobby in killing people. I quietly waited for the next words without responding. At least I could trust it wasn’t a request for senseless murder, so I could wait.

“It’s a rural area with about 130 households. A village gathered around a large hydroponic cultivation building in the center. In itself, that’s not a problem. The issue is…”

A hydroponic cultivation building means it’s responsible for food production. I couldn’t understand why they would place it in a suburban area requiring transportation when it could be operated as an urban farm. I didn’t try to deduce.

“There was a whistleblower, and let’s just say it’s a drug issue. We gathered circumstantial evidence, but amusingly… local police and the FBI thoroughly investigated and found no problems.”

“Anyone with money would first try to cover their tracks. You could surely find agents under your command who wouldn’t be recruited or bribed.”

“In principle, we can’t intervene in domestic matters. So we have to move alongside the FBI, which already has bribed personnel. Then you’re the optimal choice in this situation.”

The power structure of the nationalists is… complex. There are too many departments doing similar work, and conflicts often arise. That’s clearly a disadvantage, as they’ve had to reach out to certified freelancers.

So while I’m thrown into that village, he will try to find spies from the FBI. The local police would be completely corrupt, as they were people living and working there.

But when explaining the job, he said it was something to sweep clean. The whistleblower should be able to be saved. I remembered a question that felt nostalgic and familiar to him.

“If Sodom and Gomorrah had a million sinners and a hundred righteous people, what would you do? Would you rain sulfur fire for the million, or forgive them for the hundred?”

“To say that One who can rain sulfur fire on a million and reduce them to ashes cannot save a hundred would be blasphemous. Was that the answer you expected?”

Surprisingly, I got the expected answer. Whether in nationalist territory or Los Angeles, it’s always pleasant news that there’s one more good person in the world.

“You have flexible thinking. You didn’t fall into the question’s trap either. I’ll do the same. If the job is internal infiltration, finding the whistleblower shouldn’t be difficult.”

“But it’s also an action that risks exposing you. It’s good that you want to protect the whistleblower, but the goal is to secure evidence and catch criminals who can’t be caught by the book. I’d like you to agree.”

It seems they thought it would be difficult to catch them under nationalist regulations—that is, federal law. But the root needs to be pulled out, and yet they’re in a situation where they’re wary of conducting a large-scale operation.

Corporate politics and nationalist politics don’t seem that different. My first field job required lying, and it seems the second will be the same.

“I agree. I’d also like to know what I’m supposed to be doing on paper. I have too many people who care about me to suddenly disappear and reappear, and that’s an information leak risk.”

“You’ll be recorded as having helped the faction in New World Communications’ management dispute that advocated continuing service to both the federal government and corporate states. That should be enough without details.”

It was worthy of New World Communications’ certification, and their certification would probably mean nationalist certification. Is it a bad thing? If so, I can make it not bad.

“That’s clean. Let’s meet face-to-face first to confirm. I’ll need some adaptation time to consider infiltration methods… probably a total period of at least a month.”

“Think of it as doing good work. Even Belwether, who certified you, wouldn’t want more drug addicts on the streets of Los Angeles.”

“Unfortunately, my only superior is myself. Well… I don’t want more addicts on the streets either. Next time, persuade me directly.”

As soon as I end the communication, I connect to Chance. Chance must have already been collecting information with his authority, as a virtual screen appears in my view. The content seemed roughly accurate.

What appeared wasn’t just articles but an investigation report. It was a usage report for the hydroponic facility in a village called Madeline’s Lot. Looking at just the report, it seems quite clean.

Could it be a lie that they found evidence? They weren’t giving me accurate information. All he gave me was some praise and sweet talk.

‘I’ve finished checking the report, Chance. But this doesn’t prove that the local bigwig of Madeline’s Lot is dealing drugs. Is there anything that could serve as evidence?’

“There is a report that raises reasonable suspicion. I’ll display it in your view.”

Soon, a report issued by an organization named DEA—judging by the acronym, it seems to be the Drug Enforcement Administration—was displayed in my view.

The nationalists would include cities owned by Belwether or other mega-corporations in their investigations and then attach the result “Unknown.” They sometimes look like children insisting something is theirs.

Anyway, it was true that the amount of drugs in circulation was increasing. After exploding for a while, it gradually slowed down. Since natural soil is unsuitable for plant growth, that’s the result of mass operation of hydroponic facilities.

The next report overlaps with that one. It was “The Old Way” company that I needed to investigate. Their graph of increasing hydroponic cultivation area and the DEA’s distribution volume graph were rising in similar patterns.

I turn on the computational assist device and directly compare the two graphs. The result shows a definite correlation. If I were them… it seemed like time to think about a breakthrough.

They seemed to be thinking the same. They tried to acquire a pharmaceutical company under the nationalists but were rejected. Chance’s voice continues.

“Cocaine is expensive. It requires real ingredients that must be grown through hydroponics instead of food. Synthetic drugs are cheaper in comparison.”

It seemed like they were trying to invest in a new business with the golden eggs laid by their golden geese. This much circumstantial evidence is more than enough.

“However, no matter how logically flawless the job is… there’s something strange. I can’t precisely understand why that organization is involved in this matter.”

“What do you mean?”

“While it’s within their jurisdiction to monitor drug distribution, their jurisdiction only applies when it’s directed outside federal government influence. Also, the fact that the FBI has been bribed hasn’t been revealed yet.”

According to Chance, they approached this matter first, bringing along the potentially bribed FBI. We need to find out why. Information is as necessary for survival as guns.

Soon I receive information about the physical meeting location along with the contract. The location was the same as I had chosen, but the time was during the busy lunch hour. It’s not my working hours anyway.

Only then did I return to the bedroom, where Ms. Eve, wrapped in just a thin blanket, slowly turned her head and looked at me with just her eyes. With a slightly sullen expression, she asks.

“Another job?”

“Another job.”

“Seeing how calm you are, it must be another field job?”

“The start date isn’t set yet, but… it’ll be a field job where I’ll be away for about a month again.”

I thought Eve might be a little upset, but she extended her arms to me without caring that the blanket was slipping. She smiled somewhat leisurely.

“Come here, Arthur. If I held you back, I’d be making you inefficient. I prefer an upward-trending relationship, my reliable freelancer.”

Enjoying her giggling voice, I turned off the computational assist device and approached her. It was quite a headache-inducing matter, but thanks to someone who likes upward-trending relationships, a very comfortable night passed by.