episode_0115

I connected the camcorder to my laptop and opened the file.

There is only one file left. It is a video with a title consisting of random numbers.

“Sister. Is this really okay?”

Jeong Hae-won asks in an anxious voice while looking at the screen.

“Yeah. It’ll be fine.”

“I only trust my sister.”

Jeong Hae-won is acting like he’s never been anxious before.

Even though he is my younger sibling, it is a bit disgusting to hear him say that.

“But I hope something big happens to you.”

“No, why!”

“I’m just joking.”

As they say, words become seeds.

Even though it was a joke, I picked it up just in case.

Click.

I dragged the mouse cursor and clicked on the file.

The video played after a brief loading period.

Sigh.

Click.

A man appears wearing a white lab coat.

Dr. Chen, whose face had already been confirmed, is sitting at the desk.

“Hello. I am Dr. Michael Chen, a senior research fellow at the foundation.”

With a brief greeting, Dr. Chen turned the hourglass on the table.

The black sand trapped in the glass begins to fall downwards.

“… … Dr. Chen.”

“Do you know this place?”

“It’s probably a personal office. I don’t know the exact place.”

The video continues even during the Q&A with Robin.

Approximately 11 minutes of video.

Dr. Chen wasn’t the only one appearing in the video.

Someone is holding a camcorder and recording video.

“Then, let’s start the interview now.”

The man speaking now.

It’s most likely the person taking the picture.

The video was in an interview format with the two people engaging in a question-and-answer session.

When a man asks a question, Dr. Chen answers.

“What kind of organization is the Foundation?”

“The world is not only filled with things that we can see, that is, familiar entities that follow our common sense and the laws of physics. There are also supernatural and anomalous entities. To use a rough analogy, there are the occult, supernatural phenomena, monsters in ghost stories or mysteries, etc. Of course, not all of these exist in reality. However, there are more things than that in the world we live in.”

Dr. Chen opened a drawer and took out a piece of paper.

When the doctor folds the paper into a sailboat, the sailboat floats around the study.

The camera follows the paper boat for a moment.

As if directly showing the ‘anomalies’ that clearly exist in reality.

“The Foundation’s purpose is to define these as anomalies, anomalous entities, etc., and to contain, secure, and protect them, ultimately ensuring the survival of humanity.”

“… … Then next question.”

The speech is stiff and unnatural, as if it was scripted in advance.

They move on to the next question right away without any words that could be inserted between questions, such as a counter-argument or follow-up question.

“Are the Foundation’s purposes being properly maintained?”

“Yes, but the means are wrong.”

Dr. Chen on the screen draws a decisive conclusion.

I turned my gaze slightly and looked at the person next to me.

Robin’s eyes twitched slightly for a moment as he watched the interview.

The reactions shown by Rico and Yun Da-ju were even more dramatic.

The two people, who are former researchers at the foundation, look openly anxious.

“What part of the method is wrong?”

“The ‘Fifth Apostle’, who is the disaster itself. And the Foundation’s response to the ‘Seven’ who is lurking behind him. ”

Dr. Chen takes a deep breath.

And the story continues.

“First, the ‘Fifth Apostle’. It is one of the anomalous entities I mentioned earlier. The ‘Fifth Apostle’, whose mere existence is a cosmic disaster, was originally bound and restrained, but was released for unknown reasons. Now, various disasters are occurring as a result of its activities. War, famine, disease, natural disasters. There is currently no way to recapture the one that has already been released. ”

The sound of paper rustling.

Dr. Chen took out the materials he had prepared and showed them on the screen.

“Wait a minute. Can you pause the video so I can take a closer look?”

“It’s just a visual aid. You can just glance at it and move on.”

Yoon Da-ju suggested pausing the video for a moment, but it didn’t happen.

What Chen picked up was just a piece of A4 paper with a picture printed on it.

It depicts a burning village, people suffering from disease, and soldiers from various countries holding rifles, as if a scene from hell had been moved.

“Of course, the foundation has prepared for such a situation.”

Dr. Chen flipped the paper over so that the other side was visible.

This time, I took a picture of a place that looked like a clean center.

On one side, there are white floors and smooth surfaces filled with mechanical devices, while on the other side, green trees and crops grow on artificial soil.

“This is the ‘reboot’ facility that the Foundation has. The facility is equipped with cloning technology, civilization archives, and minimal purification devices, so that even if humanity were to perish, it would be possible to restore human history.

The Foundation has now decided to leave the fifth Apostle alone and allow humanity to perish, but rather than use the reboot facility later. They will wait a long time until the fifth Apostle ceases activity and goes back to sleep, and then they will revive humanity again. ”

The doctor paused for a moment.

It seemed like it would take more courage to say what came next.

“The bigger problem is the ‘seven’ behind it.”

The doctor checked the hourglass.

“That guy is■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■.”

Black sand falls down.

The doctor says again and again.

“He imposes a great ordeal on a certain worldline or narrative class, and destroys the narrative class that fails to overcome it. Our narrative class. All the events of the world we live in. The story of everything that can ultimately be tied together is in danger of being burned forever. ”

The man holding the camera handed something to the doctor.

It is a Zippo lighter made of brass-colored metal.

The doctor flipped open the lighter cap and lit it a few times, then finally held the lighter under the paper.

“And the trial given by the seven in our narrative hierarchy is the ‘Fifth Apostle’ itself.

Hururuk.

Fire catches on paper.

The disasters brought by the fifth apostle and the final ark for humanity prepared by the Foundation are all engulfed in flames.

“If we can’t stop the fifth apostle right now, the reboot facility won’t mean anything.”

A story falls to the ground like ashes.

“This is driving me crazy.”

The sound of someone muttering softly.

It was Robin who was watching the video from the side.

“Finally, April 11, 2011. You know. ”

“Robin.”

After saying those words, the doctor just stared at the screen without saying anything.

As if to give me time to make a decision.

“… … how.”

Robin is still shocked as he looks at the screen.

I didn’t leave her alone.

“So. What happened?”

“What on earth are you hiding?”

When Heo Yun joined in, Robin could no longer endure it.

“April 11, 2011. There was an incident where multiple weapons were stolen from a secret Foundation facility located in this very area.”

“Was there a reason to hide that?”

Heo Yoon asks in a questioning tone.

Robin hesitated for a moment, then opened his mouth again.

“Because the training process wasn’t that smooth. The Foundation’s technology is at least a century ahead of the rest of the world. This is especially evident in the medical and weapon fields. I judged that if it were to leak to the world, it would be uncontrollable. ”

“So, what did you do?”

“No way! You can’t, can you, Robin?”

Even Dan, who was quietly listening to the story, could guess what had happened.

But Robin just shook his head.

“No way. It didn’t go that far. Since the leak route is unknown and tracking is impossible, we conducted a mandatory comprehensive investigation targeting people involved in surrounding facilities, citizens, and local governments. We don’t kill innocent people just because we found out too much.”

“Then Robin, what did you tell me? Didn’t you say that if you try to know too much about the driver, you’ll be punished? ”

“I was just trying to scare you. If you kept talking about the Foundation, nothing good would have happened.”

After his spat with Dan, Robin returned to the topic.

“So. We investigated everything, but we were unable to find the leak route. Innocent people got caught up in the Foundation’s mistake.”

They captured all the people around them and investigated their memories… … .

It must have been a big deal, but I don’t remember seeing any news about it.

Maybe he used an amnestic.

“Still, I guess I could just use an amnestic to erase my memories. I can easily erase memories of things I’ve been tested on.”

“Yes. However, at the time, the amnestic agent was not fully effective, so it took an excessive amount to completely erase the memory. As a result, side effects occurred here and there. It was one of the Foundation’s mistakes. ”

I was thinking of something like a massive murder case and a cover-up.

It wasn’t as bad as I thought.

“Please don’t hide that much from now on and tell me. This time, at best, it only caused side effects, right?”

“I didn’t think it was necessary to say it. I’ll do that from now on.”

The moment I finished talking with Robin and was about to turn my gaze back to the camcorder.

“Sister, just a moment.”

Jeong Hae-won suddenly starts to draw aggro.

“Ah. So this is how it is? Wow… … . This is crazy, really.”

“What? Did you find out anything?”

“Yes! That’s it! That’s it! Now I understand it all.”

Robin, unable to hold back any longer, asks a question.

“I have no idea, Haewon. What did we miss?”

“That’s what Ichinose said before.”

“Ichinose… … . Oh, are you talking about Riko?”

“Huh? That’s what I said?”

Rico himself responded that he didn’t understand English.

The only one here who figured something out was Jeong Hae-won.

“Yes. I heard that a person called ‘Professor’ built a research facility inside this apartment. The purpose of the research was to release the ‘Fifth Apostle’. ”

“Yeah! That’s right.”

Rico nods.

I also quietly listened to what Jeong Hae-won was saying.

“What you said back then was that we shouldn’t just barge into the lab and that we should prepare. So, what was the first thing you said we needed here?”

“Hmm? I don’t remember.”

I answered in Rico’s place.

“It was a weapon. There are armed guards in the lab, so I told you not to prepare anything.”

“Yes. It’s a weapon. It’s a weapon, right?”

Jeong Hae-won continues talking excitedly.

“And today. What about Mr. Robin who disappeared from the Foundation’s secret facility?”

“Weapon… … . The latest model at that.”

I was really surprised just now.

Even though I’ve seen him use his brain occasionally, he’s never been an intelligent character.

This time, Jeong Hae-won definitely did something.

“Now you’re starting to get the hang of it.”

“It was us. We stole the weapons from the Foundation.”

Our theft of weapons, and the theft of weapons from Foundation facilities on April 11, 2011.

Dr. Chen came here and pasted the same time and space together, and we came here.

I can’t tell which came first.

What is certain is that all the events are intertwined to create a strong probability.

‘It can’t be helped.’

‘It has to be that way.’

If there really is such a thing as fate, I can only say that it is like this.

Shock gradually spreads among the survivors gathered at Heo Yoon’s room.

No one said anything more.

But everyone knew what to do next.

Just then, as we waited for someone to step forward.

Click.

The video, which I thought had stopped, started moving again.