Ch.98Work Record 014 – Forging the Harpoon (7)

Jimon looked at me with an uneasy expression for a moment, then sighed as if he didn’t know what to do and nodded. He gestured toward the van.

“Fine. Might as well enjoy our luck. Everyone back to the van. We’ll be doing a thorough debrief at the office, so get ready to be grilled, you little shits. All of you, get in the passenger compartment. I’ll drive. Freelancer, you take the front seat.”

I did have a driver’s license, but I didn’t bother refusing. I climbed into the front seat of the van, took out a small weapon that would be easy to use in the confined space of the car, checked it, and waited for the vehicle to start. I clicked my tongue as I assessed the surroundings.

Perhaps the scene would disappear before the cleanup team arrived. It was common for gangs who couldn’t even afford to buy guns from the Hive to steal implants or weapons from dead gang members.

It was just another act that dragged those at the bottom even further down. Gang hackers who forcibly connected someone else’s computational assist device to their own often ended up frying their own brains.

The gangs didn’t interfere at all as the van pulled away. They were just poor people trying to survive, not some villains who worshipped the law of the jungle.

As the van drove through the smog, Jimon closed the windows, turned on the ventilator, removed his gas mask, and put a cigarette in his mouth. Heat began to rise from his right prosthetic hand, lighting the end of the cigarette like a cigar lighter.

The cigarette smoke escaped through the ventilator and mixed with the smog. It was like dropping a single drop of sewage into the black, surging Pacific Ocean. He glanced briefly toward the passenger compartment and said:

“So, freelancer. Something unfortunate happened that made you…”

I answered before he could finish. I could pretty much guess what he was going to say.

“Unfortunate things don’t just happen. Some idiot creates them. I hope that’s answer enough.”

Jimon chewed on the cigarette filter with his teeth and continued as if he hadn’t heard me.

“Could you handle it if a situation arose where you had to take care of all the Kanun guys? I’m just asking about your training level, kid.”

I’d already answered, so I kept silent. Jimon waited until his cigarette had burned out, then broke the awkward silence with a sigh.

“I get what you’re worried about, but I’m not planning to do anything stupid, freelancer. I’m just genuinely concerned about the Kanun guys. What kind of parents would entrust their kid to a mercenary uncle?”

If I had to place my bet on either people or suspicion, I would always bet on people. I didn’t rule out the possibility that Jimon was lying. I just didn’t care much.

We are betrayed by traitors, so we must willingly give our trust to others. If we worry about being betrayed and don’t give any trust, we might as well be the betrayers ourselves.

“None. And from what I’ve heard, you’ve been extremely hostile toward Fitts & Morrison. I heard you were once released after assaulting and attempting to kill a Fitts & Morrison representative.”

All those words pointed to only one destination. Jimon continued speaking without confirming or denying, as if it was a memory he didn’t want to recall. He started from the premise I had thrown out.

“My sister was a good person. She was good even to those useless cripples. She was just unlucky. Even on the day Fitts & Morrison was out hunting mutants, she was with them.”

Mutants captured in cleanup operations had only two choices. Die or be erased. If they chose death, the company would even give them a human funeral.

If they chose to be erased… I don’t know. But there were always unpleasant rumors circulating in the company about how the technology to block mutants’ central nervous system stimulation was developed.

Neither was something a living person would want. However, mutants with congenital physical deformities couldn’t leave the city either. Their so-called abilities only worked on living things.

In the wasteland where nothing lived, they were just physically weak humans. That’s why they had to hide. But since they were human too, their hiding couldn’t be perfect. Sometimes a helping hand is the most dangerous.

“I doubt Fitts & Morrison would be stupid enough not to distinguish between physically deformed mutants and normal people.”

“I don’t know exactly what happened. In the end, my sister came back as a corpse, and Fitts & Morrison paid blood money. They called it compensation, but I’m more used to calling it blood money.”

At the very least, the head of security at Fitts & Morrison that I had seen didn’t seem like someone who would kill people indiscriminately. Although the security team was said to handle high-intensity work… that didn’t necessarily mean terrible failures.

The bitches in Sin City who used personality control modules were actually more dispassionate in their judgment than humans. At least I had visited Belwether, but I knew nothing about the inside of Fitts & Morrison.

Still, I could look into it in my spare time. It would be awkward to ask directly, but I could ask casually after doing the job. For now, I sighed and nodded.

“And that wasn’t enough?”

“Yeah, it wasn’t enough. Not that it wasn’t enough to use. I’ve never touched that money. It’s just not enough compared to how valuable my sister was to our family.”

There was no way Fitts & Morrison’s compensation system would include an amount that the person’s family wanted. Jimon tapped the steering wheel as if to show he wasn’t an unreasonable person.

“I’m not saying they should give more money. It’s just the way it is. I got the compensation, even received an apology letter written with pen on paper… but there are things in this world that can’t be forgiven with just that.”

“And there’s a difference between forgiving and showing up at the headquarters with a gun?”

Jimon nodded with a sigh. He was at least a person capable of rational thought.

“Yeah. That’s all. Maybe. Are you going to talk like a model student?”

“To some extent. But weighing things is always up to the individual. Of course, I’ll do my own weighing, and I’m sure Kanun and Fitts & Morrison will do the same.”

I didn’t know how heavy his words about insufficient blood money were to him. Only Jimon himself knew the weight of those words. He was the one who had to make the choice.

But the world wouldn’t always follow his choice. If his decision would make Fitts & Morrison bleed as much as his sister, I would stop it. A moment of silence followed.

I could feel the tension. There was only the anxious pulse, like what I felt at Belwether on the day of the coup, and the sound of teeth chewing on lips. It took Jimon one minute and thirty-seven seconds to choose his answer.

“I still want an answer to my original question.”

Since this time it was a sincere question rather than a probe, I decided to answer honestly. Kanun wasn’t that efficient a mercenary company.

“With the voice samples I heard today for distraction, it wouldn’t be difficult to create a situation where I could pick you off one by one. I could use Noah’s voice sample to lure you out first, and the rest would be easy.”

“You’re one creepy bastard. It’s creepy how you talk about it like a normal business briefing rather than a threat. But it’s not bad in terms of making me not want to do anything stupid. Alright.”

“I don’t want that either. My career is short so I don’t have mercenary connections, so I hope Kanun becomes a good connection, and I’d also like to see Kanun become an official partner of Belwether.”

“Now that sounds sincere.”

“Because it is sincere?”

It was a casual statement, but it was as sincere as it was casual. Jimon, as if suggesting we should stop talking about dark topics, lightly tapped the steering wheel with his fingers and chose his words for a moment.

It wasn’t that brief a moment. He did eventually find some trivial topic to break the tension.

“So… who do you prefer, Evelyn or Riley?”

That’s the kind of question Francis might ask. This time I gave an amused chuckle at the absurdity, but decided to answer sincerely.

“What kind of question is that? We’re not in middle school… But if I had to choose, I’d say Evelyn. When two people who like taking care of others get close, it might look good from a distance, but up close it’s a constant battle of nerves.”

Jimon finally laughed comfortably. Sometimes an excessively sincere answer could help. More than anything else, if I had to choose, Eve was closer to Evelyn.

“I know what you mean. They both try to prepare more and faster than the other, and if they’re even a bit late once, they feel like they’ve lost.”

“Exactly. They end up fighting over who gets to do the good deed first, and they don’t want to hurt each other’s feelings. Besides, she’s already openly seeing someone.”

The air instantly warmed up after Jimon’s childish question. I was still monitoring the surroundings with my small weapon in hand, but it was several times more comfortable than before.

“Of course. He seemed like the type who would date three people at once. So, freelancer. Can I change one thing I said?”

I nodded lightly, and Jimon scratched his cheek as if he was uncomfortable saying it. He finally changed his words.

“I wish Noah was even half like you. You switched your Belwether attachment for a Fitts & Morrison one in the Hive. Actually, I told him before we left. He got confused and didn’t trust…”

“If you’re looking for a rookie mercenary who doesn’t make that kind of mistake, everyone would tell you to stop being so greedy. People make mistakes.”

Just when I thought we could comfortably head back, a notification with the Fitts & Morrison logo appeared on the front windshield.

It was a message saying that due to a terrorist threat against Fitts & Morrison during the heavy smog, they were conducting vehicle inspections. A message to stop briefly appeared, and soon a Lobster approached.

They often advertised that Fitts & Morrison’s reinforced suits were better than Belwether’s because the neck wouldn’t break even when hit directly by bullets… Honestly, with their neckless appearance and the nickname “Lobster,” it was just amusing.

The Fitts & Morrison security team member approached my side of the van and gave a brief salute. His voice was output from the closed reinforced suit.

“Did you check the guidance message? If not, I’ll relay it verbally. I request identification.”

Jimon had negative feelings toward Fitts & Morrison. Letting him remain silent, I spoke instead.

“It’s tough work in this weather. I’m Arthur Murphy, general employee of the mercenary company Yakyung, and the rest are from the mercenary company Kanun. We’re returning after completing a gang elimination request.”

I removed my helmet completely to show my face, and he briefly received information from Belwether to verify my identity. It didn’t take long, and his attitude quickly became respectful.

“Identity confirmed. It would have been faster if you had identified yourself as a freelancer from the start. There’s a request on the freelancer network regarding the terrorist threat. Please check if you’re interested in taking it.”

With Jimon sitting next to me, I decided to gloss over that comment. I returned the salute briefly and nodded.

“I’ll check later. Have an uneventful day.”

Security team members weren’t people who wished for good things to happen. Nothing happening at all was the best thing that could happen from their perspective. The car started moving again.

“They sure treat you respectfully because you’re a freelancer. That’s why Noah wants to become one too. He was at least a brother to me, but to that kid… you know?”

“I was cultivated and returned, so…”

It’s amazing how we had absolutely nothing in common. He was the first person I knew who was from a nationalist background and talked about family half the time. My only vague memory of parents was of Mr. Günter.

“So you were born on the opposite side of the Earth. A corporatist with no family. I wouldn’t be surprised if you beeped like a robot, but you’re more human than I expected. Strange guy.”

As I heard those words, I recalled. I had seen my real parents in photos a few times, thanks to Panacea Meditech’s consideration.

They were employee-citizens caught in a terrorist attack. They looked like me. That’s all. They were people on an ambiguous line that might be called deficiency.

Soon we arrived at Kanun’s office, and I changed back into normal clothes to look like an ordinary person again. The combat suit was almost intact. Marks from grazing fragments didn’t even affect its durability.

Fortunately, it seemed I was the only one thinking about impaling the cult leader’s head against a wall or floor. Realizing that my worry was unnecessary and in vain was always a pleasant moment.

After completing the request, I put on my gas mask with the everyday purification canister again and left the Kanun building. It seemed like I would spend the rest of today training as well… but first, I decided to check the request.

Working like this, I really couldn’t argue if someone called me a workaholic. After sighing, I searched for requests posted under Fitts & Morrison’s name on the freelancer-exclusive net.

No matter how cautious Fitts & Morrison was, they wouldn’t post a prank call on the freelancer network… Looking at the content posted on the net, the reason became somewhat clear.

“A person claiming to be a remnant of the Belwether coup has threatened an attack on Fitts & Morrison. Although the possibility is low, we have determined it is not impossible, so we seek a smooth investigation using freelancers…”

It was too small a matter to entrust to the legal assassination team or security team, but not something that could be ignored either. The handling of the Belwether coup was classified information for Fitts & Morrison. There was no way they could know about it.

But it was an impossible story. Belwether was investigating all employees belonging to the legal assassination team, even those who had been transferred from the assassination department to the investigation department.

No, more than anything else, I knew who was currently handling the coup cleanup. It was being handled by a shepherd who knew that Mr. Günter was involved in this matter. There was absolutely no possibility of it being handled carelessly.

Then it must be an impersonation. Just a distasteful prank call. Was the purpose to sow discord? If it was to sow discord, they wouldn’t have claimed to be coup remnants. What was certain was that it was someone outside of Belwether.

I leave a note on the request saying I’ll investigate. It wasn’t a formal acceptance of the job, and even if I just gathered information so other freelancers could take the job, it would be recognized as a sufficient contribution.

Having to use my brain after finishing a job with gunfire. It could be called a well-balanced day. At the very least, I could find out how much money comes in from freelance work.