episode_0118

Inside the Foundation facility.

It looks like an ordinary building on the outside, but it gives off a strange feeling.

Foundation staff members are busy moving through the hallways, offices, and stairwells. And yet they are occasionally glancing in this direction.

Even though there are only three people left, there are still seven of them. And since they are all dressed in everyday clothes, it is impossible not to draw attention.

“Your gaze is too focused. Let’s move for now.”

“Where to?”

“I know a good place.”

The place Robin chose was the bathroom entrance on the first floor.

There are hardly any people, perhaps because the location is wrong.

Finally, a great place to check your plans.

I lowered my voice, checking to make sure no staff were passing by.

“Those people from earlier. Didn’t they recognize Mr. Robin?”

“The Foundation’s security procedures aren’t that lax. They probably don’t even know I exist.”

“Dazuna Rico.”

“Oh, oppa, I really have nothing to do with that foundation now!”

“I worked in a completely different branch. There’s no way I would recognize you.”

“That’s fortunate.”

It doesn’t seem to have been discovered yet, but it’s only a matter of time.

Everyone will think it’s strange, and some will report it even during their busy work hours.

I have to finish the work as quickly as possible.

“Let’s just split up and move from here.”

“Yes, I was going to say that too.”

There are two roles required.

Infiltration and breakthrough teams.

“First, this is the role that the breakthrough team must play.”

Robin extends his hand and points to the hallway on the right.

“If you go that way, you will come across a special management area. If you go up the stairs from there, you will find a weapons storage. Move as naturally as possible and wait around until the storage door opens.

Then, the infiltration team will break through the security of the central system and open the storage door. ”

According to Robin’s explanation, some facilities within the Foundation are inaccessible through normal authentication procedures.

In particular, permission from the central system is absolutely necessary for opening facilities such as anomalous object containment cells and weapons storage facilities.

“This is a development we often see in movies. The breakthrough team penetrated the target point. Meanwhile, the infiltration team penetrated the security of the central system. ”

Jeong Hae-won neatly organizes the plan.

“Yes, that’s correct.”

Robin nods his head refreshingly.

The plan itself is not difficult.

But as simple as it is, it has many loopholes.

“But Mr. Robin… … . Can you wait around the weapons storage?”

“I think someone will definitely report it.”

Choi Se-rim and Yoon Da-ju compete to ask questions.

“I agree with you, Robin. It’s too dangerous.”

Dan, who had been listening quietly, added a word.

“Strangers loitering around in front of weapons? If it were me, I would definitely arrest them. You said you would supplement the plan once you got to the facility!”

Despite all these questions, Robin only answered with a blank expression.

“There’s nothing we can do. We just have to open the storage door as fast as we can.”

“Is there really no other way?”

“Yes. There were a lot more people staying in the facility than I thought. There are too many variables to set up a safe route one by one. ”

If things go on like this, will we end up having to resort to improvisation?

Jeong Hae-won is secretly timid, and Dan doesn’t seem very trustworthy. Choi Se-rim said that Rico’s way of thinking is strange.

In the end, the only person the breakthrough team can trust is Yoon Da-joo.

“Dajuya.”

“Your brother?”

“I only trust you. Take good care of Haewon and the others.”

There is no one else I can trust but Daju.

“… … Ah.”

Yoon Da-ju pauses for a moment, wondering if it was a surprising statement even to herself.

“Oh, really?”

“Yeah. You’re good at fighting. And you make quick decisions. ”

“Hey, that’s true. That’s true, but,”

Even in this situation, Da-ju playfully provokes.

“But oppa, you should open the door faster, right?”

“Okay, I’ll work hard too, so you… … !”

Before I could even finish speaking, Dazhu gave me a faint smile.

“I trust you too, oppa.”

“Uh… … .Uh.”

For a moment, I was dumbfounded.

As soon as I heard the word believe, something welled up in my heart.

“Oh my god. I’m staring.”

“Ah …

Da-ju, who was holding her head and twisting her body.

For a moment, I almost burst into laughter.

“Let’s move now.”

I checked the headcount one last time.

Me, Robin, and Choi Se-rim go upstairs to the central system.

Yoon Da-ju, Jeong Hae-won, Rico, and Dan. The four of them move down to the lower floor where the weapons storage is.

Now, just past this hallway, the two teams will split up at the stairs.

“Wait a minute. By the way, have you decided on an escape route?”

After stealing the weapon, Daju asks how to escape.

It may seem difficult at first glance, but there’s nothing to overcomplicate.

“Yeah.”

Actually, it’s very simple.

“Just don’t think about anything.”

That’s all I can tell you.

If you bring up the subject for no reason, you’ll just end up thinking about it more.

“No, what is that!”

“I’ll tell you after everything is over. For now, just focus on what you have to do.”

I left Dazhu’s face looking bewildered and went up the stairs.

From the 1st floor to the 2nd floor.

And to the third floor.

Everywhere you look, you see old buildings that look like they came straight out of an old news story.

But each room on either side of the hallway is packed with technology that makes it hard to believe it’s 2011.

Devices that look complicated at first glance.

A supercomputer inside one of the rooms displays simulation results, like a thermal satellite image from the National Weather Service.

There’s even a touchscreen, incredibly sharp display technology.

“Don’t look at it for too long.”

At Robin’s words, I hastily looked away from the window.

I was just watching it because it was interesting, but at some point I got too absorbed in it.

We move to the Foundation’s internal server room, acting as naturally as possible, as if we were from another department or facility.

So far so good.

I didn’t run into anyone.

[section of personnel]

[Self-Ethics Committee]

[Post-processing]

I had just passed the middle of the hallway, past the signs posted on every door.

Bam-

In a room a little further away, someone opens the door and comes out.

The long-faced man looks around for a moment, then begins walking toward him from the other side of the hallway.

“Behave as naturally as possible.”

Robin lowers his voice.

The man starts talking to us as soon as he sees us.

“Oh, what’s this? Are there any newcomers here?”

“Ah… … . Hello.”

I wish it would just turn off.

The man blocks the way and continues to lean this way.

“Are you working on the server side here? I haven’t heard anything about the new people. There are also foreigners.”

Rico and Robin are foreigners.

It would seem strange if I were to speak up first, so I should speak up.

“Huh? Oh. Yes. I guess you haven’t heard yet. I was originally working at the central headquarters, but since I was in Korea for work, I was asked to check the server, so I stopped by for a moment.”

“Oh… … .”

What is ‘oh’?

I have to go open the armory door quickly.

As I was about to leave after finishing my conversation, the man spoke up.

“But there’s one strange thing.”

“Uh.”

what.

Did you notice?

My heart sinks.

What was more unsettling was the fact that I couldn’t tell what expression I was making right now.

Me now. What’s my expression like?

I’ve never heard anyone say that I’m bad at hiding my expressions, but I’ve never heard anyone say that I’m good at lying either.

okay.

It would be better to keep a blank expression.

I forced the corners of my mouth to remain still and looked at the other person, trying not to think about anything.

“Oh, what is it?”

“You are all beautiful. I also want to visit the headquarters sometime later.”

My mind is clear.

“Ahaha… … . Thank you.”

“Could you tell me your name?”

“I’m sorry. We received an order from headquarters not to disclose personal information.”

“Ah. Okay. I see. There’s nothing I can do.”

개새끼가.

On the outside he’s smiling, but on the inside he’s still cursing.

I was just trying to pass by normally, but the moment I got caught, I had a thousand thoughts, but they were all for nothing.

Above all, time is of the essence right now. I don’t have time to tolerate people like this nagging at me.

“Then, take care.”

“Yes. Goodbye.”

A man disappears into the distance down the hallway.

I could barely breathe a sigh of relief.

“Phew… …. How much is left now?”

“Soon.”

At the place Robin pointed with his eyes, a sign that said [Server Room] was visible.

“And before we go in, we need to clean up the people inside.”

The server room is just a few steps ahead.

The first one to open the door and go in was Choi Se-rim.

As soon as Choi Se-rim appears, the employees working inside the server room react by saying they don’t know what’s going on.

“Oh, who are you?”

“Are you here with permission?”

“Team Leader. Did you hear that someone was coming?”

“No, there was no such person.”

The moment when the employees began to notice something strange.

Bam.

All conversation stopped.

The employees who had been tilting their heads just a moment ago suddenly passed us by as if nothing had happened.

Exit the server room, down the hallway and up the stairs.

It was a little creepy to see everyone going down in a line with blank expressions, so I also froze in place, tense.

Thud, thud.

Personnel within the Foundation move like robots that have been given orders.

“It’s done now.”

It was only after I heard Choi Se-rim’s voice that I was able to look to the side.

“Good job, sis.”

“… … Yeah.”

“Sister?”

Choi Se-rim is biting her lips and sweating profusely.

Manipulating the thoughts of so many people at once must have been a huge burden.

But even taking that into account, Choi Se-rim’s condition was not good.

Sister Se-rim, with her head bowed and her body trembling.

My older sister barely managed to bring up the subject with her lips trembling.

“Those people… …. I remember and think about them so horribly.”

It seems that in the process of manipulating thoughts, you are exposed to other people’s memories.

Even though they work in the server room, they are still employees of the Foundation. They have probably seen some pretty horrible scenes.

It’s no wonder that I panicked after seeing such memories.

“First of all, you are reading my thoughts.”

While I take care of Choi Se-rim, Robin quickly figures out the situation.

“Did Se-rim read the employee’s thoughts earlier? What did he see?”

“Data… … . It was a report of a death. Pictures, descriptions… … .”

“Sister. Don’t think about it anymore. And Mr. Robin, stop asking. ”

Why do you keep asking questions to someone who is shaking with fear?

Robin, who made eye contact with me, coughed and avoided eye contact.

“How could that be… … . How could that be?”

“It’s better to just forget about it. It’s horrible, but it’s necessary.”

Robin is talking nonsense again from the side.

It’s true that he seems like a capable person, but he really can’t take care of other people’s mental health.

“Just stay quiet. You still have time, so take your time.”

I tried to silence Robin and visualize the most peaceful image I could in my head.

Fortunately, it didn’t take long for Choi Se-rim to find stability.

“Are you feeling better now?”

“Yeah. Thank you.”

Now all that’s left is hacking.

The room is filled with computer cases the size of a person.

Each of these devices, which at first glance appear to be pillars, are computers that make up the internal server network.

“Mr. Robin, it’s done. What do I do now?”

“Yes, I’m almost done.”

Robin, who seemed to be working on something, pulled out a gun and aimed it at the server next to him.

“Wait. Robin?”

Taang!

As soon as the server was breached, alarms began to sound everywhere.

“What are you doing now!”

“Security is weakened only when there is an emergency. You can also bring security personnel here rather than to the weapons storage.”

“Then why are you telling me that now?”

“I just got a feeling.”

Robin speaks quickly and takes a seat in front of the computer.

A computing device that is not only scientifically sound, but also has useful anomalies and memes attached to it.

Accessing the system requires bypassing numerous restrictions, including the computer’s security.

“3 minutes to go.”

As if you were performing anomaly observation, a message appears in the air before your eyes.

[Emergency situation detected.]

[Switching server status to safe mode.]

[Temporarily suspending internal network connection.]

[We are proceeding with backing up important data and destroying risky data. This will continue until the risk factors are eliminated.]

“I’ll break into the system inside it.”