Ch.88Encounter with the Unknown! (4)

#088

The sun was already setting over Valley of Fire State Park.

The red sunset dyed the ground crimson, and the red rock formations scattered throughout resembled massive balls of fire, true to the park’s name.

On the outskirts of the state park, Himena and a rookie agent were standing guard, surrounding Abominations that were hiding underground at regular intervals.

Both wore dust masks and black OSA field agent combat uniforms designed for ease of movement.

“Don’t they usually keep rookies away from places like this?”

For Kuma, an agent on his first field mission, Himena was the only one he could rely on.

The problem was that even though Kuma had only recently joined OSA’s Residency Management Division, he knew that Himena herself hadn’t been assigned there for long either.

Himena grumbled in response to Kuma’s skeptical question, as she had only been working there a few months longer than him.

“I know, right? But they told us to go because the Residency Management Division is short-staffed… What can we do? We have no choice.”

Himena shared Kuma’s frustrations.

What kind of department would pair a rookie agent with someone who had barely shed her own rookie status just because they were short-staffed?

‘Shouldn’t they pair an experienced agent with a rookie?’

There was no way to know whether they were sent together out of necessity or if someone had just made the decision without much thought.

Of course, guard duty itself wasn’t particularly demanding.

Armed with submachine guns and earpieces issued by OSA, all they had to do was monitor whether Abominations were approaching across the barren wasteland.

They just needed to stand there for another three or four hours, but it was boring and unpleasant work.

“Ah, I just want to curl up under a soft blanket and take a nap…”

“I feel the same way.”

Kuma sighed in agreement with Himena’s complaint.

Since they were working in shifts like night watch duty, with the next guards arriving at scheduled times for handover, it was difficult to leave their posts for extended periods.

Meanwhile, Dexter was approaching Valley of Fire State Park with his passenger seat loaded with donuts and coffee.

As he neared the entrance to the state park, he spotted barricades along with familiar figures in black suits and officers from the Metropolitan Police Department.

A police officer stopped Dexter’s car and approached the driver’s side, speaking to him with an indifferent expression.

“The state park is currently restricted due to a toxic gas leak.”

Of course, Dexter had no intention of talking to the police.

“Excuse me, you in the suit, could you come over here for a moment?”

A man in a suit who was standing near the police officer briefly pushed the officer aside and approached. Instead of speaking, Dexter held out his OSA universal ID card.

The ID prominently displayed Dexter’s photo along with the title “OSA Honorary Agent.”

Naturally, the reason there were so many people in black suits at this hour was because they were all OSA agents.

After checking the ID, the OSA agent greeted Dexter with a slight nod and discreetly spoke to the police officer standing nearby.

“…Let him through.”

Dexter handed one of the donut boxes from his passenger seat to the OSA agent who had let him through without question.

“What’s this?”

“Thought you might need something since you’re working so late. Have a donut while you’re at it.”

“Oh, thank you.”

However, the agent, apparently not in the mood for donuts, passed the box to the police officer beside him.

The officer’s face brightened as he took the donut box and headed toward other officers. Meanwhile, Dexter asked in a low voice:

“Where’s the operation headquarters?”

“If you follow the road, you’ll see khaki military tents. That’s the OSA temporary command center.”

Dexter extended his hand to the agent for a brief handshake, then drove his pickup truck toward the temporary command center.

Upon arriving, Dexter was surprised to find that the temporary command center was quite different from what he had imagined.

As the OSA agent had said, there were military tents along the road, but that was where the similarity ended.

‘When he mentioned tents, I thought there would be at most two or three large ones, but…’

Before Dexter’s eyes were dozens of National Guard military vehicles along with more than ten 24-person military tents.

Additionally, Rapid Response Teams from other branches and OSA agents in black combat uniforms were patrolling between the tents.

Dexter, the only one in civilian clothes and driving a red pickup truck, couldn’t help but attract attention.

Surprised by the unexpected scale of the OSA operation, Dexter glanced at the donut boxes on his passenger seat.

‘Unless Jesus makes his second coming, these donuts aren’t going to be enough.’

Still, now that he was here, there was nothing he could do about it.

After parking his car in a suitable spot, Dexter headed toward what appeared to be the most heavily guarded tent. Among the people bustling around dozens of monitors, he spotted a familiar face and greeted him casually.

“Hey, Agent Jake. Long time no see.”

“Look over here, not there… Wait, Dexter?”

Agent Jake grasped Dexter’s hand for a firm handshake.

“What brings you here?”

“I came to see Himena, but I heard she was on a mission, so I thought I’d bring some snacks. Seems like this is a much bigger operation than I expected.”

Agent Jake nodded with an understanding smile.

“It’s definitely not a small operation. The situation is quite serious. Especially concerning since we’re dealing with a Kaonol virus carrier.”

“What? It’s that serious?”

“No need to worry too much. This is what government departments like ours are for, right?”

“…Watch your words, Jake.”

With that comment, a middle-aged male agent standing nearby gave them both a sharp look.

While the department was designed for immediate response to alien-related incidents, speaking so openly about it would naturally invite criticism.

“S-sorry about that.”

Taking advantage of the momentary awkwardness, Dexter retrieved the donut boxes from his pickup truck’s passenger seat and placed them on an empty table.

“I thought you’d only bought one or two boxes.”

“Come on, with this many people, that wouldn’t be enough for anyone.”

Agent Jake was looking at donut boxes stacked as high as himself.

With 12 donuts per box, there was easily enough to feed at least 120 agents.

“Anyway, thank you for these.”

Dexter acknowledged Jake’s gratitude with a smile and looked around.

He had come for Himena, but she was nowhere to be seen.

“Where’s Himena?”

In response to Dexter’s question, Agent Jake checked his wristwatch.

“Oh, since she’s with the Residency Management Division… she’s probably on guard duty right now. The Residency Management Division is scheduled until 8 PM.”

Agent Jake knew where most agents were stationed because he was assigned to the temporary tactical support team, which was responsible for coordinating guard duty more efficiently.

As such, he entered the GPS coordinates directly into Dexter’s phone.

“If you go around here, she should be on duty with a rookie agent.”

“Wow, you’re being too helpful.”

“After receiving all these donuts, it’s the least I can do.”

Dexter shook hands with Agent Jake, then got into his pickup truck and headed toward where Himena was supposedly on duty.

Just as Dexter left the temporary command center, the situation began to escalate.

“The underground Abomination is on the move!”

The thermal imaging screen monitoring the ground showed the Abomination slowly digging tunnels and moving underground.

“Which direction?”

“North! It seems to be heading toward the Muddy River!”

An agent with a satellite map displayed next to the thermal imaging monitor pointed directly at the Abomination’s current position.

In Nevada, where water is scarce except for Las Vegas, most towns were located near rivers or lakes.

There were settlements near the Muddy River as well, which meant that civilian casualties were possible if things went wrong.

The personnel at the temporary command center fully understood what would happen if the Abomination reached residential areas, so their priority was to stop it at all costs.

“Who are the closest agents?”

“Residency Management Division’s Agent Libero and Agent Patel!”

“Contact them immediately and tell them to prepare as best they can. Don’t forget to send the Rapid Response Team as well.”

“Yes, sir!”

* * *

“How’s the control coming along?”

In front of that person was an elderly Asian man inside a large hemispherical device.

The old man with an elegant white beard was wearing a skintight bodysuit, with strange devices attached to his hands, feet, and head.

With devices covering his eyes as well, the old man waved his arms around as he answered without turning around.

“It’s been decades since I’ve moved like this… I’m breaking a sweat! Ho ho!”

“With someone as skilled as you, we couldn’t let your talents go to waste, could we?”

“I’m grateful for your consideration, Director.”

The old man smiled as he continued to wave his arms vigorously.

To an uninformed observer, it would look like he was just moving his arms in the air, but the monitor next to that person showed something quite different.

The screen displayed footage of something fiercely digging a tunnel, guided by faint light coming from somewhere.

“How’s the physical condition?”

“Excellent. The subject appears to be in good health, just slightly hungry… Oh my.”

When the old man suddenly stopped moving, that person responded with a sharp voice.

“What is it?”

The old man shook his head.

“The ground here is too hard. I’ll need to go up for a bit. There’s not enough time to go around it…”

“Is that so? Just be careful not to be spotted by OSA agents when you surface.”

“Yes, I’ll do that.”

The old man began digging the tunnel diagonally, looking for softer ground.

Eventually, as moonlight started to seep into the tunnel, the old man thought his decision was correct and was about to wipe his sweat when—

“…What is that?”

That person pointed at two figures in the distance on the monitor, and the old man looked around until he spotted them.

“Oh dear… they look like OSA agents.”

“I told you to be careful, but you got spotted anyway?”

“I’m still not used to the height settings…”

After the old man’s excuse, that person remained silent for a moment before speaking with a slightly irritated voice.

“…Take care of them quickly. You know that severely injuring them is the best approach, right?”

“Of course.”

The old man continued to wave his arms while pretending to walk steadily, and the monitor showed something slowly crawling out of the tunnel.

The two OSA agents were visibly startled.

The agent who appeared to be of Indian descent approached first and began firing warning shots with his submachine gun.

“My, my, this young fellow has quite the quick reaction.”

The Latin woman agent with her black hair tied back tightly wasn’t startled by the sudden appearance of the creature. Instead, she knelt on one knee and shouldered her submachine gun.

“What in the… Ugh!”

The old man, who had been displaying confidence, suddenly clutched at his eyes with both hands.

It didn’t hurt, but he felt pressure from the devices around his eyes, and the vision in his left eye was flickering.

“What’s happening? Why suddenly…”

In response to the old man’s strange reaction, a man standing next to that person spoke up.

“The left eye has been hit. One of the subject’s eyes is non-functional.”

“I thought you said this old man was impressive? How could he be so helpless against OSA agents?”

As that person angrily pointed at the old man, the man also apologized.

“We brought him because he was supposedly a master of claw techniques on his planet… but it seems he might be from a planet that has never seen modern firearms.”

The old man had his own defense.

“The guns I know aren’t like that! The imperial soldiers in the Central Plains clearly used long metal rods with fire…”

As the old man began his excuse, that person pointed at him and said:

“Is he talking about matchlock guns right now?”

“…It appears so.”

That person put a hand to their forehead and said:

“What kind of world did he live in…”