episode_0040

“This is no joke…”

“I never thought of this method either. No… I’ve thought about it, but I’ve never moved this far.”

Sonagi and Jihoon were climbing the ladder while exclaiming in admiration.

Above the heads of the two, ‘Lee Ji-ah’, who opened the lid of the hall and went up first, is in a state of guarding the surroundings.

The three of them moved very secretly from underground to underground, and Zia guided the two of them perfectly without taking out a map or using a GPS.

‘With this level of ability, they’ll probably use you as an assassin in a future company, right? Or maybe they made you have this level of ability…’

Ji-hoon exclaimed in admiration, took off the mask he was wearing on his face, and tied it around his waist.

Coming out, it was a dark basement with no lights, just as Zia had described. He could see several huge pipes and large mechanical devices emitting hot heat.

“Is this a boiler room?”

“It seems similar…”

Sonagi looked around the basement, found nothing special, shrugged his shoulders, and closed the manhole cover.

“If I turn on the GPS or connect to the network, I’ll probably get caught. Jia. Where exactly am I?”

“It’s home.”

“Yeah… It must be home.”

It seemed difficult to hear an exact description of the location. Was it Gwangjin-gu or Nowon-gu… Ji-ah was not saying the exact location.

Is it because, from her perspective, it makes no sense for her mother to not know where ‘home’ is?

‘Maybe… it’s a homing instinct, or something like that, so I may have come back instinctively…’

Ji-hoon can hypnotize people with a cyber hypnosis app, but he is not a psychiatrist. He is a man who is far from even coding programs.

It’s hard to know more than what the app tells you. What he does know is that there are so many programs installed in Ezia’s head that it’s almost shocking.

To put it in a slightly fanciful way, it means that so much hypnosis has already been applied that it’s giving you a headache.

“First of all, is it okay to leave this basement? Is there no security or anything in this building?”

“Yeah, no.”

Ji-ah nodded and opened the door in the dimly lit basement. Ji-hoon and So-na-gi were able to follow Ji-ah, who was moving ahead, thanks to the red light streaming in from the hallway.

It wasn’t a lie that there were no security guards; there were no cameras or anything like that in the hallway.

“I honestly thought there were like 100 clones that Sonagi had to kill.”

“Hey, isn’t that a bit too much?”

The snickering Sonagi had a very nervous expression on her face, unlike her laughter, and was holding a pink-painted submachine gun in her hand.

It wasn’t for nothing that she had a weapon that could unleash great firepower in a narrow hallway. She especially stopped Ji-hoon by placing a hand on his chest every time he turned a corner.

Her actions of carefully checking whether there was a camera or not made Ji-hoon a little nervous, as he almost believed Ji-ah’s words and let his guard down.

“There’s really nothing underground. Hmm…”

Sonagi, who was mumbling with an expression of displeasure, silently watched Jia going up the stairs instead of the elevator.

‘There must be a camera in the elevator. Hmm… I guess he wasn’t joking when he said it moved in infiltration mode…’

Ji-hoon and So-na-gi, who came up to the first floor like that, had no choice but to hold their breath.

“Wait… . Just here… This isn’t the future island, right?”

Sonagi, muttering in a trembling voice, looks outside as if wanting to deny her thoughts.

Outside, the Han River was seen flowing ceaselessly, as if teasing her.

“Miss.. That’s why there’s no security…”

Sonagi sighs and slowly straightens her back.

“What, why? What is Future Island?”

“Mirae Island is an artificial island near Banpo Bridge. It was built by Mirae Corporation with their own money. So, well… they claim it is their land…”

Sonagi takes Jihoon’s hand and leads him to a nearby window, as if she wants to show him something rather than explain it.

” and…”

Ji-hoon scratched his head only after seeing the nearby scenery.

They saw fully armed guards standing before their eyes. They were not guarding the ‘building’, but the entrance to the ‘Future Island’.

The future island was located exactly in the middle of the Han River and there was no bridge to the mainland. Since it could only be reached by boat, it was guarded on the ‘island beach’ rather than the ‘inside’ of the building.

“Even androids.. Well.. since you can just shoot everyone who comes to the island, it’s probably easier for androids than humans.”

The rain muttered and pointed towards the inside of the building.

“Jia. This is the research lab.”

“Yeah. Mom. It’s the lab. Do you always go to the place you give Jia her missions to?”

“Okay. Go.”

Sonagi, who answered naturally, looked at the only exit of the ‘research center’. There was a large red sign that said ‘No Entry’.

“Hey, Sonagi. I think so. I don’t think this building is in use. There’s no light.”

“I think so. Maybe, in the past, they brought scientists here… . They did cloning research, and after they succeeded in cultivating them, the androids stood guard and Hong Seo-yeon came here in a helicopter or AV and just gave orders.”

The two talked like that and arrived at the second floor. There was a really huge door on the second floor, and Zia opened it without any problem.

“…”

When the door opened, there were many chairs there.

“Huh…”

Ji-hoon didn’t stop at clicking his tongue, but rubbed his eyes with both hands.

There were dozens of chairs in the room. There were literally endless delivery tables, like those you would see in an obstetrics clinic. On them, of course, were lying clones that looked exactly like ‘Lee Ji-ah’.

Even though his legs were spread and his arms were resting on the armrests, Ji-hoon was unable to achieve any sexual arousal.

The delivery table was filled with countless mechanical arms and endless ‘light-emitting glasses’, which, of course, rested on the girls’ faces.

“…”

Sonagi swallows hard and looks at the clones. The ones near the entrance look quite ordinary, but as you get closer to the exit, you can see that they have been modified with cyberware technology.

There were cases where the arms were simply modified, and there were also cases where they were modified for a special purpose. There were quite a few cases where most of the organs were replaced with machines, and there was also a case where the entire body was replaced with ‘cyberware’ just like ‘Eiji’ before our eyes.

And when he finally arrived, Ji-hoon bit his lip.

“Hey… Isn’t this… too much?”

In front of Ji-hoon’s eyes, there was something sleeping in the pure white water.

There were giant tanks, like those you see in science fiction movies. There were tiny ‘babies’ in ‘transparent artificial wombs’. In the tank on the right was a newborn baby. To the right of that was a 5-year-old, a 10-year-old, a teenager, a middle school student, an adult…

Next to him was a figure who looked to be about 30 years old, boasting that he could even ‘grow’ to be more than an adult. There seemed to be another one behind him, but the curtain was drawn, and Ji-hoon didn’t feel like pulling it down to see what was inside the tank.

“Because it’s a clone…”

Unlike Sonagi, who answered with a slightly trembling voice, Lee Ji-ah did not say anything even when she saw a being exactly like her in the tank.

How long had she been walking around here? Izaya, who seemed to have no feelings whatsoever, was just standing at the exit, waiting for Sonigawa Jihoon.

“Ha.. This is a billboard…”

Even at the moment when he had to go to the exit, Ji-hoon quietly muttered as he stared at the tank in front of him. The space where numerous clones were lying was huge, but it was dark because the fluorescent lights were not on.

However, because there was a light under the tank, the large plate in the center could be seen.

“Clone ‘Lee Ye Ah’”

“This clone, created with the latest technology from Future Enterprise, completely breaks free from the limitations of existing cloning technology.”

『Cyberware treatment possible』

『No lifespan limit』

『Reproductive』

『Mass production possible using cloned embryos』

There were endless advertising slogans boasting about the smartphone’s outstanding performance.

“Let’s go up to the 3rd floor.”

Sonagi silently took Ji-hoon’s hand as he swallowed his saliva and spoke. She was clearly a problem solver who had no feelings or special thoughts about killing people.

I knew more about cloning technology than Ji-hoon. But it was unpleasant. This unpleasantness that I felt fundamentally was not something that could be easily erased since Sonagi was born as a human.

“Here it is.”

Ezia speaks and presses the ‘security pad’ with her palm. The door opens with a beep!

The scenery of the room that reminded me of a ‘Hanok’ was strange. There were huge, useless hangings of paper on all sides, and a folding screen standing in front of it. And there was a mother-of-pearl cabinet so huge that it made me gasp! taking up a corner of the room.

“That’s amazing.. Is this how noblemen live and dress up?”

In front of Sonagi, who was muttering in surprise, a strangely modern-looking cushion and wooden table were placed in the center of the room.

In addition to the mother-of-pearl cabinet, the room was filled with wooden furniture reminiscent of the Joseon Dynasty…

“What is this… Is it modeled after a Hanok… If it were something like that, it would be nice…”

Among the furniture, there was something that seemed out of place in the Joseon Dynasty. There was a huge audio system with a wooden exterior, and a system air conditioner shyly hidden in the ceiling.

Jihoon sighed and sat down on the cushion.

─Wow, wow, wow

“Huh..?”

As soon as he sits down, the lights in the dark room turn on. Ji-hoon, who is startled and gets up from his seat, sits down on the cushion as if to take his place.

‘Ah.. I was sitting here talking to Hong Seo-yeon..’

“What the fuck!”

Ji-hoon thought about it for a while and then quickly grabbed So-na-gi’s wrist, who was admiring the gorgeous mother-of-pearl lacquerware, and hid behind the folding screen.

“The report is late. Why are you so late?”

“…”

In front of Lee Ji-ah, who was kneeling on the cushion, was the face of ‘Hong Seo-yeon’.

“Right now, today… Huh, really. Are you an idiot? You can’t do that by yourself?! How much salary do I pay you!!”

Hong Seo-yeon, who has to give orders to Lee Ji-ah, turns her face to the right, gets up from her seat, and does something. She is seen getting angry and yelling, and then returns a moment later.

「..I thought money would just fall out of thin air.. Haa, let’s do it again. Let’s look at today’s mission in detail… . Look.. Ha, really!」

Beep be …

Hong Seo-yeon swears at the sound of a phone call coming from far away and spins around in the chair she is sitting on.

“Are you crazy? I paid you so much and that’s all you can do?! Do you think I paid you that much money to beat those little shits up!! If you lose to those Basar bastards in the bid… I’ll see if you can keep your wits about you… Do your best. Do your best!”

“What the…’

There was a moment when I wondered if it was really Hong Seo-yeon, who was threatening me with an intelligent smile and holding my shoulder in a voice that was quite relaxed.

‘No… I’m not stupid. I wouldn’t be so kind to my subordinates and talk to them like that…’

While thinking like that, Hong Seo-yeon answered the phone for a long time, swore, ordered people to do things, and then put her hand on her head.

“Haa… The mission report isn’t even done automatically… Seriously, from start to finish, I just eat up the money and can’t sell it…”

Hong Seo-yeon, mumbling, lets out another sigh.

“It says there’s something wrong with your body. Stay right there. I’ll adjust it.”

Even at the last moment, there was no sign of ‘Mother’ anywhere. Hong Seo-yeon cut off contact like that, and Ji-hoon noticed that the elevator that could take him straight to this room was working.

“You can’t hack here?”

“I thought there was something like a hive mind. I didn’t know Hong Seo-yeon would give orders so ignorantly.”

“Miss…”

Sonagi scratches his head. As Jihoon said, there was no way they could hack the clones in groups because there was a huge computer.

“Still… . Ha, I think there’s something. There’s no way these guys would call each clone into this room and give them orders…”

It is impossible for a company that loves efficiency not to have prepared a system that allows you to issue commands with one touch or one button.

Ji-hoon had a hard time imagining where in this lab the computer was, even though he thought it was definitely there.

─Ding dong

A small door opens along with the sound of the elevator opening. It is not the door on the south side that Sonagi and Jihoon opened and entered.

A woman with black hair who opened the north door and came out wearing a pure white gown approached ‘Izia’.

“Hong Seo-yeon, you fucking bitch… You locked me here, a leader in cloning technology…”

The doctor mutters and checks Lee Ji-ah’s physical condition.

“Fuck! Where the hell did this break down!! Damn it… Wake up. Now!! I’m going downstairs and putting you in the repair capsule!”

She shouted and Lee Ji-ah looked at the doctor blankly and then got up from her seat.

The doctor headed towards the elevator to the north quite naturally.

‘I guess… there must be no other way.’

Ji-hoon swallowed and reached for his smartphone.

‘Even if it’s difficult, Hong Seo-yeon can hypnotize that doctor and learn how to give orders to the clones…’

────────────────────

[Helen Kim (Helen-0072)]

【ICE Grade: Sturdy】

● Would you like to hack? : Y☜/N

[Hacking…]

[Hacking Completed!]

[Please select the cyberware and implant to hack]

《Brain Chip》☜

[We will now hack the ‘brain chip’ implant.]

[Please select the program to upload]

《Role Change》

〔Intruder ↔ Future Company President〕『Duration: One hour』

───────────────────────

“Hey.. Hey! Jihoon! What are you doing?! Why are you going out all of a sudden! You don’t even have a weapon!”

Ji-hoon, who finished hacking, immediately leaves the screen, and So-na-gi is naturally flustered.

Ji-hoon shrugs his shoulders slightly, as if to laugh at her worries.

“Ms. Helen. You said the clone’s condition is not normal.”

“Wh… Huh, gasp…! Chairman..! Oh, my goodness! W, what brings you here?!”

Helen spoke in astonishment, and with dark circles under her eyes, she looked down, embarrassed at her bare face, not knowing what to do.

“Hey.. Kim Ji-hoon… How did you do that? Is this also hacking? This is like the legendary Net-Runner or something…”

Jihoon smiled faintly as he watched the rather bewildered Sona.

“Nagiya. Why do you think I asked you to come here? Of course, it’s because I can hack like this. Now, this woman will guide us. It’s all over.”

Ji-hoon speaks confidently.

Unlike him, Sonagi was quite flustered and answered awkwardly, “Ugh.”

“Ji, Jihoon.”

Then she quickly grabs his waist and looks him in the eye.

“…You won’t do anything bad to that person, will you?”

“What the hell. What are you talking about? What the hell are you talking about? Dude… Do you think I’d come all the way here to have sex?”

After hearing Ji-hoon’s answer, Sonagi’s expression quickly loosens up and she smiles.

“I also thought you were giving that guy a bad order. Like bringing a gun and making him commit suicide at the end… You didn’t think that was it, did you? ”

“If you have sex, you won’t know. There’s no way I would do something like that. After all, you won’t remember me after the program ends.”

After hearing that, Sonagi nodded her head, feeling a little relieved.

“Then, let’s do it quickly. We have to hit Hong Seo-yeon.”