Ch.61Suspicious Aircraft!

#061

With the help of the front desk staff, Dexter, who had just finished eating a light peanut butter and jelly sandwich with Himena, was the first to get up from his seat.

“Why are you leaving?” she asked.

“I need to go to work. I have to be at the prison by 5:30.”

While this was just an ordinary part of Dexter’s routine, Himena saw it differently.

“…Every day?”

“I work three days and rest two, so not quite every day… I think OSA agents probably have it harder.”

“It’s not that hard!”

Himena tried to protest, but Dexter tapped his wristwatch with his finger.

“The fact that you’re talking to me at 4 AM is basically a confession that being an OSA agent is difficult work.”

“Oh. I… guess so.”

Himena blushed, as if she hadn’t realized this before.

As Dexter was about to leave the motel to prepare for work, he looked at Himena, who was still slowly chewing her sandwich.

“By the way, Judy upstairs probably needs to get ready for work too.”

“And?”

“I’d appreciate it if you could wake her up.”

Seeing Dexter making this request as if it were perfectly natural, Himena snorted.

“Am I a housekeeper?”

“Come on, it’s a favor I only ask of people I care about.”

She felt pleased for a moment, but thinking about it again left her with mixed feelings.

“I think you use that line quite conveniently.”

“No way! Would I do that?”

Dexter was smiling brightly, but he didn’t expect Himena’s expression to brighten.

“…You really are asking because I’m someone you care about, right?”

Dexter nodded at Himena’s question as if it were obvious.

“Isn’t it better for her to see a woman than a strange man when she’s half-asleep?”

“Damn it, I don’t think that’s right, but why am I agreeing?”

No matter how she thought about it, it seemed more like an errand than a favor you’d ask of someone you care about. Himena openly expressed her dissatisfaction in front of Dexter, but he just smiled.

“Well, I’ll go get ready for work. I’m counting on you.”

As Dexter left the motel with the same smile, Himena stuffed the rest of her sandwich into her mouth and said:

“That’s strange. I feel like I’m just being used.”

Still, unable to refuse Dexter’s request, Himena entered the room where Judy was sound asleep.

“……”

Tiptoeing quietly.

As Himena carefully entered, she saw Judy in the dim room, with a smaller frame than she had expected.

‘A work colleague? Really? Isn’t she a student?’

Himena began to scrutinize Judy, who was lying straight on the bed.

Wondering what qualities Judy had that made Dexter look after her, Himena held her breath as she observed.

‘Her eyes are bigger than mine, and she has a cute face… As for her chest, heh, mine’s bigger. Damn, my waist might be thicker though.’

Afraid that Judy might wake up from sensing her presence, she looked around very carefully.

After examining her from various angles, despite her appearance, Judy did seem to be an adult woman.

‘Even being generous, she looks like a high school student.’

Come to think of it, according to what she heard from Agent Jake who was on duty, when Dexter carried the sleeping Judy, he held her with one arm as if carrying a child.

‘Who carries a grown woman like that? Sheesh.’

She hadn’t been properly carried herself, and knowing that the sleeping Judy had been carried made her feel both envious and jealous.

Himena glanced at the clock on the wall and, remembering Dexter’s words about needing to arrive by 5:30, shook Judy awake.

“Ms. Goswell. Ms. Goswell? Wake up.”

As Himena continued shaking her, the drowsy Judy spoke with her eyes still closed.

“Mmm… what time is it…?”

Himena’s lips twitched at the childish, whining tone.

‘She really is cute too.’

“You need to be at work by 5:30, right? I woke you early because I thought you might need time to get ready.”

Judy was silent for a moment, then answered again in a deep, sleepy voice.

“Oh, this isn’t my house…?”

“No, it’s not. Please get up quickly.”

At that voice, Judy slightly opened her eyes to find a woman she had never seen before standing in front of her.

It was a situation where anyone would be confused, but she was still too sleepy to properly assess the situation.

Finally, Judy spoke in a drowsy voice, not fully alert.

“…Who are you?”

“I’m Joaquina. I came at Dexter’s request.”

When Himena gave her cover surname, Judy’s eyes widened.

“Oh, oh…! I’m sorry! I, I thought you were someone I knew…”

“It’s fine, anyone might make mistakes when waking up. Dexter left to get ready for work, so he asked me to wake you.”

Seeing Judy flustered, Himena wondered if Dexter might find her more mature by comparison.

‘I definitely have more feminine charm, right?’

“Well, I’ll be going now…”

Just as Himena was about to leave the room, thinking she had completed her task:

“Um, wait a moment…”

Himena turned her head at Judy’s voice.

“Yes?”

“Um, if I may ask… what’s your relationship with Dexter?”

Himena answered Judy’s question immediately.

“I’m a detective with the Nevada State Police, here at Dexter’s request. He mentioned a woman, so I came specifically.”

Himena spoke as if accustomed to it, pulling out a pre-prepared fake ID from her suit’s inner pocket.

“Oh, I see… I’m sorry.”

“There’s nothing to be sorry about. What were you thinking?”

“Oh, I thought you might be Dexter’s girlfriend…”

As Judy bowed her head in embarrassment, Himena’s face turned bright red.

“Oh my, no. Well. I mean, girlfriend is definitely, not exactly, hehe. As far as I know, he doesn’t have a girlfriend yet. Do you think Dexter and I would make a good match?”

Himena twisted her body awkwardly as she spoke.

She was expressing her delight with her whole body at Judy’s comment, which essentially suggested she and Dexter would look good together.

“That’s right. Dexter has such a manly appearance. So I thought he might have a pretty girlfriend like you, Detective Joaquina…”

Judy waved her hands dismissively, embarrassed by her misunderstanding, but secretly she was pleased.

It was revealed that despite knowing attractive women, Dexter hadn’t made any of them his girlfriend and remained single.

‘I see… so Dexter doesn’t have a girlfriend yet.’

Judy was thinking about Dexter, who had come to help her last night and stayed talking until dawn.

‘Do I have a chance too?’

At the moment when both women were mentally targeting Dexter, he was shivering from a sudden chill.

“Huh, it suddenly got cold. Is the air conditioner on?”

* * *

After Dexter and Judy arrived at work on time, and as the morning shift was beginning, Dexter looked around Building 2 but couldn’t find Jesse.

When Dexter went to Jesse’s cell, Emily was sitting on the bed as usual.

What was unusual was that she was reading an old magazine that looked like it had been published at least ten years ago.

‘This prison hasn’t even been around for five years, so how?’

But Dexter set aside his suspicions for the moment and decided to ask what he was curious about first.

“Bell, do you know where Blueberg went?”

“Masi took him to the external vocational training center, said he needed help.”

“External vocational training center?”

“Car repair.”

“Ah, that one.”

It seemed that Jesse, who was also good at car maintenance, had gone to serve as an instructor at the vocational training center.

“He’s supposed to observe the afternoon vocational training too.”

“Hmm.”

Dexter was disappointed, but didn’t show it.

‘Once the deputy warden’s approval comes through, I’ll get him out on parole right away.’

As Dexter was about to leave after looking around Jesse’s cell:

“Officer.”

“Hmm?”

When Emily called out to him, Dexter looked at her.

“You seem very interested in Jesse.”

“Oh, don’t you know?”

Dexter scratched his chin as he spoke.

“There was a time when Jesse was in the infirmary…”

Dexter was about to tell the story from when Jesse was admitted, but Emily abruptly cut him off.

“No, Jesse told me about that directly.”

“Huh?”

“What I mean is, why are you so attached to Jesse?”

It was a question he hadn’t heard before.

“You think I’m attached to Blueberg?”

“Aren’t you?”

“I don’t particularly intend to be attached to him.”

He wanted to hold Jesse close all day, but obviously couldn’t say that.

“Is that so…”

“If you don’t have any more questions, I’ll leave.”

“No, I do have more.”

‘She’s quite persistent.’

Emily was the first inmate to speak to him like this, and Dexter looked at her with his hands on his hips.

“Alright, what’s your question?”

“Are you interested in dating an inmate?”

“What?”

Dexter shook his head vigorously.

“Bell, are you asking because you know something? Or are you really asking because you don’t know?”

“I really don’t know.”

Dexter scratched his head as he spoke.

“Inmates and correctional officers can’t have any romantic relationships because of PREA (Prison Rape Elimination Act). If I did, I’d be fired.”

“You don’t want to be fired?”

“Who would?”

“Ah, that’s true.”

Seeing Emily ask such obvious questions with an expressionless face made Dexter feel a bit dizzy.

He hadn’t expected to have to explain this, and shook his head as he tried to leave the cell.

“Officer, one last question.”

“What now?”

Dexter turned his head, slightly annoyed, and Emily spoke in a small voice.

“If Jesse confessed to you after being released, would you accept?”

“…I guess we’ll see when the time comes. I’m really leaving now.”

Dexter headed elsewhere, avoiding Emily’s emotionless eyes.

‘She talks like she knows something.’

Recalling Emily’s unique way of speaking and her questions, he spent time until lunch chatting with other officers in the staff area.

-The preliminary investigation results are in.

When Dexter checked his phone after eating a hearty lunch, he saw Himena’s brief message.

>Aren’t you off work?

-I took a short nap and went back to work because of someone. So, do you want to hear the investigation results?

>Of course. Send them right away.

A few minutes later, a long message arrived from Himena.

-It was definitely ionized gaborium, which is artificially created plasma-state gaseous gaborium. It’s something that shouldn’t be found on Earth, of course, and it was detected in high concentrations around Ms. Goswell’s house.

Himena’s message didn’t end there.

-The problem is that ionized gaborium is toxic to humans, and while it’s undisclosed technology on Earth, it’s an outdated medium for holographic imaging that isn’t commonly used in space anymore.

‘Ah, right. Ionized gaborium. I knew I’d heard of it somewhere.’

Holographic technology, which projects three-dimensional images in mid-air, is so mainstream that even Eliya uses it to contact Dexter.

However, before holographic technology became as widespread as it is now, a gas called ionized gaborium was used.

This gas served as a medium where, when projection light was shone into a space filled with ionized gaborium, it would create three-dimensional images.

But as Himena mentioned, it had long been replaced by safer methods after it was determined to be toxic to humans and other life forms.

-For now, we’re searching the Summerlin area. We’re finding many local residents showing symptoms of paranoia or complaining of fatigue, like Ms. Goswell. I’ll let you know once we have more information organized.

>Thank you. See you in two days.

-You’re buying me something delicious!! 🙂

Dexter grinned at Himena’s message and put his phone back in his pocket.

‘But why is ionized gaborium on Earth in the first place?’

He didn’t want to think in negative terms, but he was worried nonetheless.

‘I really hope no incidents break out.’