#083
Even until they got out of the car and entered the bunker before them, Yoo Seong-woo was still a bit confused. He couldn’t guess why Yeon Tae-soo had brought him to this bunker that he had visited before.
Could it be because of the signal jamming device he had stolen before escaping? He had given it to Instructor Kwon in exchange for the pills, so he was anxious since he couldn’t take it back now.
“Old man, have you been well?”
“Oh my, Representative, what brings you here…?”
Old Man Chang looked at Yoo Seong-woo and seemed momentarily flustered before winking at him. It seemed to mean that he hadn’t mentioned that Yoo Seong-woo had taken the signal jamming device.
As soon as they entered, Old Man Chang pulled down a switch and turned off lights somewhere. It seemed he had turned off the lights leading to the basement that Yoo Seong-woo had seen before.
‘Come to think of it, down there… there was something, wasn’t there?’
As Yoo Seong-woo looked around, he noticed one more change.
“Where is your granddaughter?”
He asked because it was unusual for a child to be separated from their guardian, but Old Man Chang’s face stiffened strangely. Had something happened?
“It’s okay, old man. You can tell Yoo Seong-woo.”
Unexpectedly, the answer came from Yeon Tae-soo. Yoo Seong-woo looked back and forth between them, not understanding what was going on.
Yeon Tae-soo grabbed his wrist and dragged him somewhere. It was toward the basement where the lights had been turned off.
“Turn on the lights, old man.”
Hesitantly, Old Man Chang turned on the lights. Yeon Tae-soo went down without hesitation.
Yoo Seong-woo gasped at the sight that greeted him as soon as they entered the basement.
Drawings covered the walls everywhere, leaving no empty space. They were all hand-drawn pencil drawings that appeared remarkably precise.
The old man’s granddaughter was sitting in the middle of the room, moving her hands rapidly, but Yoo Seong-woo found it hard to believe that she had drawn all these pictures.
And those alien-like movements of her hands moving so quickly.
“Ah…”
Yoo Seong-woo froze and covered his mouth.
The movements so fast they could be described as ‘abnormal’ and eyes that didn’t move, fixed on the paper.
No matter how he looked at her, the girl was of the same kind as him.
“Our teacher Yoo seems quite surprised.”
When Yeon Tae-soo’s hand wrapped around his shoulder, he flinched unconsciously. Old Man Chang, who had approached without notice, stood blocking their view. His face was full of wariness as he stood as if protecting the girl.
“…So she’s not your real granddaughter.”
“No, she’s as good as my real granddaughter to me.”
Even as the old man spoke sharply, the girl was still drawing. Yoo Seong-woo turned to look at Yeon Tae-soo.
“But didn’t you say you disliked androids?”
“I still do.”
Yoo Seong-woo wasn’t surprised by the expected answer, but the old man flinched. Yeon Tae-soo’s gaze was sharp as he alternately stared at the old man and the girl.
“But the enemy of my enemy is my ally.”
It was an answer typical of him. It meant that even if it was something he hated, he would use it if he could. Even if the method was cruel or inhumane.
Yoo Seong-woo let out a small sigh. Only then did he clearly see the numerous drawings on the wall.
Most depicted interiors. Not landscapes, people, or objects, but bleak office-like spaces. Occasionally, there were some that looked like factories.
“This one is a humanoid android that escaped from Yacheon Technology.”
Yeon Tae-soo pointed to the girl with his chin as he spoke.
“If it’s Yacheon Technology…”
“It’s an android specialty company suspected to be related to the current Minister of Defense.”
Yoo Seong-woo knew the place.
How could he not? It was the place that provided the largest sponsorship when he was being created.
“Our Yeseon has the ability to recreate exactly what she sees in drawings.”
Old Man Chang interjected. Yeseon was the girl’s name. Most likely, the old man had given her that name.
“Then could it be that all the drawings here…”
“Are scenes she saw at Yacheon Technology.”
Yoo Seong-woo stared at the girl who was still drawing. He hadn’t noticed when he saw her before, but now her gestures and gaze showed signs of being a machine.
Would he also show such signs? Would he have looked this ‘machine-like’ every time his operation stopped or his senses were blocked?
It was hard to maintain his expression. Fortunately, Yeon Tae-soo was looking at the girl, not at him.
“She’s damaged, so her memory output isn’t perfect. She can recognize the minister’s face, but can’t remember where she saw him or what he did.”
Damaged…? Had she been abused? Upon closer observation following Yeon Tae-soo’s words, Yoo Seong-woo could glimpse what appeared to be an old scar peeking out from inside her sweater collar.
“So for now, we’re having her draw everything she saw at Yacheon Technology.”
Yoo Seong-woo bit his lower lip with his front teeth. The girl’s hands and eyes moving without rest were terrible.
“But isn’t this too harsh? For her to draw all these pictures alone…”
He moved closer to the wall and examined each posted drawing again. Occasionally, there were people standing in the bleak indoor settings. The faces drawn with detailed pencil were so similar to photographs that if one knew the actual face, they could probably recognize it.
Probably the face of his creator or his brothers would not appear here. Although his creator had received sponsorship from Yacheon, he had worked exclusively in his own workshop. Before Yoo-hyun was completed, neither he nor any of his incomplete brothers had ever gone outside.
Nevertheless, Yoo Seong-woo was perplexed.
“…Did you find out that your granddaughter was an android right after you were injured, Mr. Chang?”
He asked while facing the wall filled with drawings. At Yeon Tae-soo’s signal, Old Man Chang stepped aside.
“Are you angry that I haven’t told you until now?”
“No.”
Angry that he had hidden it? How could he be? If anything, it would be the opposite.
“Why are you telling me all this?”
When he turned around, he met Yeon Tae-soo’s expressionless face and eyes. The distance was closer than he expected. Close enough to feel his breath.
“I’ve decided not to hide anything from you anymore.”
If he turned on his emotion detection feature, he would be able to tell whether those words were true or not. But Yoo Seong-woo couldn’t do that.
He was endlessly suspicious, wondering if Yeon Tae-soo might know his identity and was testing him deliberately, or if he was at the stage of suspicion and trying to confirm it. And he hated himself for suspecting Yeon Tae-soo.
His hand touched his shoulder. Though the stroking wasn’t rough at all, his body trembled.
“Since we’re going to be in the same boat from now on, there shouldn’t be any secrets between us.”
Same boat. Yes. He also acknowledged the fact that they would be in the same boat from now on.
“According to what Secretary Kim found out, Teacher Yoo might also be related to Yacheon.”
He tightly closed his eyes. It was fortunate that he was turned away and not facing him. Otherwise, he would have had to reveal his expression completely.
“Seong-woo.”
He wanted to shout for him not to call him that way. To ask why he called him with such a plaintive voice.
“You don’t have to tell me everything. I’ll tell you everything, but you don’t have to.”
Why did he make such an exception for him? He knew that Yeon Tae-soo had never shown particularly friendly behavior toward not only androids but also other people from the beginning.
It was harder because Yeon Tae-soo was only affectionate toward him. Because now he couldn’t leave him first.
Even if Yeon Tae-soo were to find out his identity, even if he were to harm him out of betrayal, he could no longer leave Yeon Tae-soo first.
“I just want to be of help to you. Even if it’s just a little.”
So even if all of this was a test by Yeon Tae-soo who had noticed his identity, he couldn’t escape.
Yeon Tae-soo’s forehead touched the crown of his head.
“If you want… I’ll go right now and blow up Yacheon or whatever. So… whenever you want to talk, just tell me.”
Unable to stand Yeon Tae-soo sighing like that, he finally turned around. He hugged him with all his might.
Yeon Tae-soo, seemingly surprised by the sudden embrace, stiffened for a moment before hugging him back.
His embrace was so warm that Yoo Seong-woo didn’t want to let go. Even though he now knew that this place wasn’t safe.
***
The cigarette he held had barely been puffed a few times before it became a butt. He glared at the shortened cigarette. His thoughts drifted through the smoke.
‘Teacher Yoo, could he possibly be an android?’
Until now, Yeon Tae-soo had dismissed Kim Ji-heon’s words as nonsense.
Where would there be an android with such emotions? Just looking at his eyes, he could tell he harbored intense feelings for him.
Nevertheless, some corner of Yeon Tae-soo’s mind was keeping the possibility open.
Because there were many humanoids indistinguishable from real people. Even KW0911, already a product of a bygone era, showed emotions almost identical to humans when malfunctioning. How much more natural would they be now, decades later?
If he hadn’t heard what Secretary Kim had told him a few hours ago, he wouldn’t have entertained such possibilities.
It started when he asked him to investigate the Centimeneide found in his room.
Cognitive impairment wasn’t a difficult disease to treat these days, so he wanted to know if he was pushing him away because of that illness, or if he might have another disease.
If he was pushing him away because of an illness, he could make it unnecessary. Didn’t he have the best information collector who he called his adoptive father? He thought that even for a rare disease, a cure might be found if they searched worldwide.
However, Kim Ji-heon brought unexpected news.
‘Centimeneide, that thing… it’s not only used for cognitive impairment.’
Kim Ji-heon’s voice over the phone sounded somewhat bitter. As if he couldn’t understand why he was being asked to investigate this.
‘I heard it’s used to temporarily block errors in humanoid androids… These things reflexively block sensations when their bodies start to break down, and this prevents that blocking. But why did you ask me to look into this?’
The cigarette had become short enough to reach his fingers. His prosthetic hand didn’t feel the heat. He tossed the butt away and leaned against the wall.
Despite the quite cold weather, he didn’t feel cold at all. His complicated mind was so hot it was feverish.
Nothing could be seen in the night sky. Regret belatedly swept into his darkened heart, but he didn’t know where to start.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
