I didn’t know if this was Shin Haeryang’s habit, or a trait shared by the engineering team, but they always walked either at the very front or at the very rear. Now that I was falling behind at the end because I was carrying the child on my back, Shin Haeryang was walking beside me, the last in line. After gauging his mood, I spoke.
“I’m asking because I’m curious, but may I ask you a few things? They may be a little uncomfortable. You don’t have to answer.”
I’d thought Shin Haeryang would cut me off at once, but he looked at my face for a moment, then nodded.
“Yes.”
“Why did you go to the Vermilion Bird Wing? You could have gone to the Black Tortoise Wing like the Russian team.”
Judging by the engineering team’s behavior, it didn’t seem like they had come to the Vermilion Bird Wing for any particularly humane reason. The Black Tortoise Wing was where the people in charge of mining work stayed. The core of this undersea base was mining and research. Even if robots or androids eventually replaced everything, they would probably preserve the Vermilion Bird Wing, the research department, and the Black Tortoise Wing, the mining-related area, as much as possible.
The undersea base had first been built 200 meters below the surface to obtain oil, gas, and natural resources, and as they gradually descended, a temporary site for unmanned robots was made 3,000 meters underground. That had been the beginning of the undersea base. As time passed, that small robot charging station became a mining room, and as that mining room expanded, it became the mining wing.
When various countries began pouring money into deep-sea research and conservation, they built an undersea pollution research center, which became connected to the mining wing. From there, they kept adding whatever was needed and expanding the scale, until it became an undersea base.
According to the guidebook, after the researchers, the mining wing had the largest number of personnel. That was also why the Black Tortoise Wing had as many escape pods as the Vermilion Bird Wing. After asking the question, I realized it sounded like I was blaming him for saving Kim Gayoung. Instead of shouting at me, You heartless bastard, you call that a question?! Shin Haeryang answered readily.
“The mining team had been mining beside the Vermilion Bird Wing research center, so there was a high probability they were caught up in the collapse and killed when the Vermilion Bird Wing research center collapsed. In that case, we judged that the escape pods on the Black Tortoise side would not have been used during the time it took us to stop exterior wall work and enter the White Tiger Wing. When we saw the rescue request post, it made me think the Vermilion Bird Wing would be in better condition than expected even after the research center collapsed. Considering that most of the Vermilion Bird Wing personnel would have been staying inside the research center, I thought there was a high possibility escape pods remained. ······There was also the fact that we prioritized rescuing our own nationals.”
How was I supposed to judge whether a guy had any humanity when he said he headed there because the people at the mining site were likely to have died quickly before they could even use the escape pods? I tried my best not to look at Shin Haeryang’s face and kept my eyes forward. If, when we went to the Azure Dragon Wing—
“If there aren’t enough escape pods······is there a high chance the people left will fight among themselves? Not give way to each other or anything like that?”
Shin Haeryang glanced at my face once, then answered.
“Yes. If it were Engineering Team Ra, they would definitely prioritize their own escape.”
All that psychological evaluation and ethics education was completely wasted. No, I was sure you had to undergo a psychological evaluation to get hired here, didn’t you? And they said you couldn’t enter unless you’d received over a hundred hours of ethics education!
“······Do you think there are escape pods left in the Azure Dragon Wing?”
“I don’t know.”
“What are you planning to do if the escape pods in the Azure Dragon Wing are also in a state where ‘someone tampered with them,’ like in the Vermilion Bird Wing?”
“Then we’ll check the submarine in the Azure Dragon Wing, or use the elevator.”
Curious about Shin Haeryang’s way of speaking, I asked.
“Why do you speak casually to your teammates, but politely to everyone else?”
The words that had been flowing so smoothly came to a halt.
“That is.”
“?”
Shin Haeryang’s mouth closed, and only after some time did it open again.
“······I think it’s because I speak casually to my teammates while on duty. Does it make you uncomfortable?”
“Mm······ I’m fine.”
“Then it’s all right.”
“I happened to learn this unavoidably while working, but there seem to be quite a few people in other teams who don’t take a friendly attitude toward you, Mr. Shin Haeryang.”
For the first time, Shin Haeryang smiled, showing his canine teeth.
“I like that.”
Baek Aeyeong, who had been walking in the middle, turned her head back toward us at the rear, saw Shin Haeryang’s smile, and immediately turned forward again as if she’d seen something she shouldn’t have. Then she went up beside Seo Jihyeok, who was at the very front. Though I expected I wouldn’t get a very positive answer, I still asked, grasping at straws.
“What would you think if I were willing to help foster friendship with the other engineering teams?”
“I recommend you use that time for personal rest.”
Ah······yes. I see. Shin Haeryang was carrying the cat pouch on his back when he said to me,
“May I ask you one thing?”
“Uh······ yes. I’ll answer if it’s something I know.”
“If there is an area that is the most painful, has the longest treatment period, is not covered by the undersea base’s insurance, and requires dental treatment, where would it be?”
It felt as though my words had gotten stuck in my jaw. As I listened to the polite question, I thought, Why do lunatics like this even have good voices? Is a change in oral structure one of humanity’s evolutionary methods for lunatics to survive?
“······If I tell you, what are you planning to use it for?”
“To maintain friendship with people from other departments.”
I gave up on somehow making it so Shin Haeryang would send fewer people to the dentist. It seemed he intended to keep doing things like becoming a front-tooth remover or a lower-tooth bomber.
“Please avoid the jaw and the area around the mouth. I don’t want more work.”
“I’ll be careful.”
His insincere reply made me laugh. Before that hollow laugh could even vanish from my face, Baek Aeyeong, who had entered the Central Wing, suddenly stopped. I thought I heard some sound from far away, and when the person walking at the very front stopped, everyone in line slowed to a stop as well.
All Baek Aeyeong did was hook the tip of her index finger and wave her hand once to the side, but Shin Haeryang, beside me, handed me the cat backpack and immediately moved like he was flying, taking his place beside Baek Aeyeong. Then Seo Jihyeok, seeing that, raised only his index finger to his lips.
“Let’s be quiet. Quiet. Until I tell you to speak again, let’s be as quiet as ten dead mice.”
Yu Geum and Kim Gayoung, who had been talking about the researchers, closed their mouths. Standing at the very end, I wondered what was going on, so I rose onto my toes and craned my neck. At Shin Haeryang’s gesture, Baek Aeyeong stepped to the front, lifted the hem of her pants, and took out a knife the size of a fruit knife from around her ankle.
My eyes, Yu Geum’s, and Kim Gayoung’s all went wide at the sight. Baek Aeyeong soundlessly slipped around the left wall of the Central Wing. The Central Wing was clustered with movie theaters, cafés, and restaurants, and it seemed the place closest to Baek Aeyeong, Theater 1, was her destination. Theater 3 was the largest, while Theater 1 was a small multimedia room where about ten people could sit on a carpeted floor with cushions and watch a movie.
Whether Baek Aeyeong had gone in and out of Theater 1, she reappeared from the bend in the wall and sent hand signals from a distance with only her fingertips. Shin Haeryang then began moving people through Seo Jihyeok. The two researchers and I quietly followed instructions because of the tension and attitude of the other three. Shin Haeryang and I were the last to enter the theater.
I set the child I’d been carrying on my back down on the carpet and sat on the floor, but Baek Aeyeong and Shin Haeryang stood pressed beside the door, while Seo Jihyeok stood slightly away from it. Since no one turned on the lights in the multimedia room, we had to sit in the dark.
“What’s going on?”
Kim Gayoung asked in a frightened, lowered voice, but just as Baek Aeyeong opened her mouth to say something, everyone fell silent at the sound that reached us. From very far away came the sound of popcorn popping.
“Kyaaaaaaaaaaaak!”
“Uwaaaaaaak!”
“Help us!”
“Somebody save us!”
Screaming terribly, someone was running from the northern Black Tortoise Wing into the centrally located Central Wing. Tension settled over my back. Listening to the sound of running, it wasn’t just one or two people. The sound of footsteps began echoing loudly.
Baek Aeyeong silently stood beside the wall of Theater 1, holding her blade pointed toward the floor, and Shin Haeryang stood by the door, perfectly still, as if waiting for something. The sounds of people running frantically came closer.
Save us! Help us! The cries rang out in several languages near the door. My heart began to pound. The only reason the noise was this muted was because it was a theater, designed to keep outside sounds from carrying in; the thought flashed through my mind that if we actually went outside, the screams would be unimaginably loud.
We probably hadn’t been hiding for even a minute, but in my head, it felt as though more than five minutes had passed. As I listened to the screams, someone took my hand. I was so startled I nearly jumped, but the child lying on the floor was making a mmm sound and rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand.