Ch.50Again, it’s you! (3)

# 050

“W-what are you talking about?”

In response to Hector’s question, his confusion clearly evident, Dexter glanced at Himena and asked:

“May I tell him?”

“We’ll execute memory erasure routines on all civilians involved anyway.”

Dexter nodded and turned to Hector.

“There’s something called the ‘Galactic Union.’ It’s literally a coalition of all planets in our galaxy.”

“A-and?”

“Haven’t you ever wondered why there’s such an effort to hide the existence of aliens?”

“Well, yes, but…”

Dexter drummed his fingers on the desk as he spoke.

“Simply put, Earth is under a neutrality treaty. Because our aerospace technology isn’t sufficiently developed, we’re under the protection of the ‘Galactic Union’ for a certain period. But there’s one problem with this neutrality treaty.”

“W-what is it?”

“When the majority of a planet’s inhabitants want to open up to the galaxy, the neutrality treaty is automatically terminated.”

With those words, Dexter mimicked an explosion with his hands and grinned.

“So what did Earth’s people do? Opening up would clearly lead to ruin, whether culturally or militarily.”

Some planets have been militarily invaded and colonized, but others have become cultural colonies after indiscriminately accepting other planets’ cultures without filtering.

“…So you hide the existence of aliens from Earth’s people?”

Dexter clapped his hands in amazement at Hector’s unexpected answer.

“Wow, correct! Hector, I thought your head was empty, but you’re actually smart?”

Hector’s face stiffened at the backhanded compliment, but Dexter continued his explanation, ignoring Hector’s expression.

“Well, there have been unofficial exchanges before, but they thought Earth would be ruined the moment it officially opened its doors.”

Dexter nodded and continued.

“So, many national leaders, including the US President at the time, came up with a clever plan.”

Dexter glanced at Himena, who continued the explanation.

“The plan was to hide the existence of aliens from the general public. They thought the problem would be solved if people didn’t know about opening relations with other planets. That’s why OSA was established.”

“The alien who was the chairman of the Galactic Union at the time really loved Earth, so he proposed the neutrality treaty to protect Earth, and the first OSA director eagerly accepted it, right?”

Himena nodded affirmatively at Dexter’s words.

“This is why we hide the existence of aliens. But the problem is that you could break the neutrality treaty.”

“What happens if the secret leaks out, aliens are revealed to exist, and the public starts demanding why we haven’t opened up? Wouldn’t that break the neutrality treaty?”

A Earth with a broken neutrality treaty.

At Dexter’s question, Hector’s mind filled with scenes from movies and dramas depicting numerous aliens invading Earth.

During his active days in space, Dexter had seen planets that either volunteered to become colonies or were forcibly colonized.

Such planets generally fell into one of two categories:

People who had their freedom taken by others, or people who surrendered their freedom voluntarily.

‘Either ruled by a Big Brother watching everything, or ruled by a world government that creates an ignorant populace.’

Dexter recalled what his Earth-born roommate used to say whenever they visited colonized planets.

Knowing that his hometown should never become like that, Dexter summarized it briefly:

“Then we’re completely fucked. Got it?”

Dexter leaned back in his chair and said:

“You have no idea how miserable life is without people, organizations, or even countries and planets to protect you.”

“……”

Though crudely expressed, Hector could imagine it well enough and had nothing to say.

“A lackey bastard willing to destroy his own planet for pocket change.”

“I didn’t know any—”

“Don’t give me that ‘I didn’t know’ excuse. In the end, you’re just someone who killed people for your own comfort, so don’t try to justify it.”

Dexter frowned deeply, genuinely annoyed at Hector, while Himena, seeing this side of him for the first time, hesitated awkwardly.

It had been an eventful day.

Massaging his eyes with both hands, Dexter looked at the awkwardly standing Himena with an even more tired face and said:

“Ms. Himena.”

“Yes, Mr. Hughes.”

“Let’s leave the arrest of those casino workers and the remnants of the gang that attacked me to other agents, and get some rest.”

“Oh, s-should we?”

Yawning widely as he left the interrogation room, Dexter briefly told the agent waiting outside about the location where he had fought Hector’s gang.

As Dexter lightly massaged his shoulder to relieve fatigue, Himena told him to follow her and began heading toward the outskirts of the office.

“Where are you taking me?”

“You’ll see when we get there.”

Dexter followed, wondering if Himena might be leading him somewhere strange.

Shortly after, they arrived at a place with a long corridor lined with small curtained rooms.

“…That’s quite a long corridor. What is this place?”

“The headquarters’ duty rooms.”

“Duty rooms?”

“It’s your day off, but you haven’t rested properly. I heard from another agent that you woke up early to help your colleague exercise?”

“That’s true, but how did you…?”

“We’re OSA.”

When Dexter asked how she knew, Himena simply stated the department name.

Dexter smiled at her proud statement about her workplace’s impressive intelligence capabilities.

“Alright. Can I sleep in any of these rooms? I think I’ll need about two hours.”

“Of course, sleep well! I’ll wake you up when it’s time!”

After briefly greeting Himena, Dexter entered a room and collapsed onto the bed without even washing up.

‘Ah, I can’t hold on anymore.’

Exhausted from his first fight in a long time, Dexter buried his face in the pillow and immediately fell asleep.

* * *

“Can you hold on?”

The still youthful-looking Eliya was hiding behind me.

This kid, worrying about me.

“I’ve been in space for 8 years already. This is nothing.”

If we stayed in this standoff for another 30 minutes, I’d probably pass out.

Something warm flowed from my head, and when I wiped it with the back of my hand, it was blood.

“Ha, when did these bastards crack my head?”

“Earlier.”

“I didn’t ask because I didn’t know, so shut up, will you?”

“Alright.”

Ten androids surrounded me and Eliya, watching us with emotionless eyes.

Eliya, with his skinny frame devoid of muscle, struggling to even hold an iron bar.

And me, holding two tonfa that barely qualified as weapons, trying to protect this weakling Eliya.

“Shit, how am I supposed to win this?”

As I caught my breath, all ten androids spoke simultaneously.

“Surrender, bodyguard.”

“Don’t talk nonsense, you mere machine.”

I spat on the ground and said:

“Ptui. Come at me, you bastards.”

With those words, the androids began to charge.

“Eliya, you greedy bastard! I’ll deal with you later!”

“Be careful!”

* * *

Himena was shaking Dexter’s uninjured shoulder.

“…Mr. Hughes? Mr. Hughes. It’s time to wake up.”

Dexter, his face buried in the pillow, peeked around through the gap and asked in a groggy voice:

“…Where’s Eliya?”

“Eliya? What do you mean?”

At Himena’s confused response, Dexter remained dazed for a moment, trying to force his just-awakened brain to function.

After lying still for a while, Dexter closed his eyes again and said:

“…Oh, it was a dream.”

“Two hours have passed.”

“I’ll get up.”

Slowly rising from the bed, Dexter sat on the edge and stretched lightly.

“Ugh, I feel a bit better now… Oh, what’s the current situation?”

Himena, who had prepared for Dexter’s question about the current situation, began counting on her fingers:

“We’ve arrested all the gang members who attacked you. And when we went to the casino Hector mentioned, the ringleader had already disappeared.”

“So they escaped.”

“Unfortunately.”

If the ringleader had deliberately fled, they would probably be difficult to find.

‘How do you find someone among tens of thousands of people?’

Even with OSA’s advanced technology, their opponents were also well-versed in cutting-edge tech.

“Can’t be helped, I suppose. Have you cross-checked the testimonies of Professor Chris and that guy Hector?”

“Yes. They matched what the gang leader said. Professor Chris also said he couldn’t properly identify the ringleader’s appearance or voice.”

Dexter nodded, and Himena continued:

“The project he was working on was related to research on human disease resistance, but he was caught before it could properly begin.”

“So the ringleader had good reason to hide his identity.”

Despite capturing two people connected to him, they had learned nothing about the ringleader except his name.

“This has become quite difficult.”

“Indeed… We should investigate as thoroughly as possible, but the agents in charge of the field investigation say it will be hard to find anything.”

It was essentially saying the investigation had reached its limit.

“You’ve worked hard, Ms. Himena.”

“Not at all. I’m the one who received more help! Especially since you even got injured.”

“Well, this is just a badge of honor for a man.”

As Dexter smiled, they heard footsteps approaching, and Dexter looked toward the corridor.

“Is it here?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Soon, a middle-aged man with graying hair, accompanied by a muscular bald Black man who appeared to be his aide, walked toward Dexter and suddenly offered a handshake.

“Good to meet you.”

“Ah, yes.”

Not knowing who the man was, Dexter glanced at Himena, who looked at the middle-aged man and said:

“Deputy Director, what brings you here?”

“Why else? I’m here to commend the civilian who greatly helped with the investigation.”

Unlike Himena, who looked perplexed, the Deputy Director introduced himself:

“Feinstein.”

“Ah, yes. Dexter Hughes.”

Unable to refuse the Deputy Director’s handshake, Dexter shook his hand, and the Deputy Director smiled with satisfaction:

“So, I hear you greatly helped Agent Ribero capture Professor Chris and the gang leader. Is that true?”

“Well, yes. When a federal agent asks for help, I can’t really refuse, can I?”

Pleased with Dexter’s answer, the Deputy Director smiled more brightly, and his aide also nodded slightly with a faint smile.

“I hear you work at a prison on the outskirts of Las Vegas?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“You must have a hard time dealing with those criminal scum.”

Thinking of Jesse, who would be diligently cleaning at the prison, Dexter simply nodded without much reaction.

“I hear some prison guards make a living by taking bribes from inmates’ relatives?”

Dexter wondered if he had misheard.

“You must have experienced many things, but being a guard isn’t such a good job, is it? Especially since it’s not particularly well-regarded by people around you.”

Although Dexter didn’t feel particularly proud of being a correctional officer, it was still the profession he had chosen, and these words hurt his pride as he intended to see it through.

Himena’s face showed anxiety as she observed Dexter’s expression.

“…What exactly are you trying to say to me, Deputy Director?”

“Hm? Oh, my friend. You still don’t understand what I’m saying?”

‘This isn’t my day.’

Dexter couldn’t tell if the man was unaware he was provoking him or deliberately trying to irritate him.

Normally he would try to endure, but being mentally exhausted, Dexter closed his eyes and took a deep breath to suppress his anger.

Knowing that further provocation could lead to trouble, Himena spoke up:

“Deputy Director, this doesn’t seem right. How can you speak this way to the person who helped us most with this investigation…?”

“Agent Ribero? Do you have any reason to intervene when I’m discussing important matters?”

“Deputy Director, I mean…”

“Be quiet, Agent Ribero.”

Unable to defy the Deputy Director, Himena could only bite her lower lip.

“Hughes, you’re not the kind of talent who should be rotting away in a prison.”

“Oh?”

“Of course you should join OSA! There’s a vacant team leader position in the special investigation team we’re establishing. Now I see that only one person is fit for that position.”

‘That’s the worst choice!’

Himena, who had barely managed to change Dexter’s mind earlier, now bowed her head, unable to watch what would happen next as the Deputy Director tried to offer him an OSA agent position again.

“Ha, are you saying that’s me?”

“Of course. Who else could it be?”

Hearing the Deputy Director’s words, Dexter suddenly began to chuckle.

“Heh heh heh…”

As Dexter’s laughter grew louder, as if he genuinely couldn’t contain it, the Deputy Director, misinterpreting it as a positive response, pointed at Dexter and nudged his aide:

“See this! Didn’t I say I would succeed! Hahaha! Well thought, well thought!”

‘That’s not it, you crazy old man.’

Himena raised her head to look at Dexter.

She had never seen him like this before.

After laughing until tears came to his eyes, Dexter wiped them and said:

“Heh… So, you’re saying you want to make me the head of a special investigation team? Ms. Himena, didn’t you tell him?”

“I told our team leader, but…”

As Dexter started giggling again, the Deputy Director, sensing something was off about the laughter, spoke up:

“Wouldn’t it be more impressive for the Deputy Director to make the offer rather than a low-ranking agent like Ribero?”

“Heh heh heh…”

Unable to contain his laughter, Dexter pointed at the Deputy Director and said to Himena:

“Wow, this person really knows nothing, does he?”

“…He lives by his own rules…”

Dexter stopped laughing, got up from the bed, and slowly approached the Deputy Director.

“Ah, Deputy Director Feinstein. Could I have a word with you?”

“A word?”

Thinking Dexter wanted to share some secret, the Deputy Director leaned his ear toward him.

At that moment, Dexter grabbed the Deputy Director’s ear, took a deep breath, and shouted loud enough to shake the OSA headquarters:

“I DON’T WANT TO BE YOUR FUCKING AGENT!!!!! YOU CLUELESS BASTARD!!!!!”