* * *
The plastic flowerpot bounced off and the fake flower scattered.
The enemy fell with a short scream.
The scattered flowers sprinkled over the enemy’s head.
“Strike!”
[If I hadn’t adjusted the angle of your arm, it would have been a miss.]
“You’ve got thick arms.”
[I am a physically integrated combat support AI. The arm I request temporary control over is the agent’s arm. Therefore, the thick arm is the agent’s arm, not mine.]
“Then the person who made you must have thick arms.”
[That’s a reasonable assumption.]
Na Kang-In chuckled.
“Hey, as long as it’s not your arm, right?”
Na Kang-In approached the unconscious enemy. This fake security guard was different from the others.
“This guy doesn’t have a gun. The ones on the second floor all had one.”
He had a guess as to why.
“If someone called the police, the security guard would come out and send them away, saying everything’s fine. Since this guy had that role, he couldn’t be armed with a gun.”
He searched the first floor and found the real security guard in a corner.
“Zijin, what’s this person’s condition?”
AI Zijin replied.
[He is alive. It seems he was knocked out with drugs.]
“So they put the security guard to sleep quietly with drugs and blocked the entrance.”
He checked the place where the security guard was stationed. There was a device to open and close the entrance.
He tried pressing it lightly as a test. However, the fire shutter at the building’s entrance did not go up.
“It won’t open.”
[There are no recent external manipulation traces on the control panel. There may be a higher-level control system inside the building.]
“They stopped all the devices inside the building from there? Even the CCTV?”
[Given that the enemy seems unaware of the agent’s movements, that’s highly probable.]
“This building is unusual. It’s rare to install such a level of central control facilities in a building of this size in the 2020s.”
Na Kang-In moved.
“Let’s find the control room before going to the 7th floor. If we can turn on the CCTV from there, we can understand the situation on the 7th floor.”
***
Na Kang-In handed over the fake and real security guards on the first floor to the people on the second floor. They tied up the fake one and laid the real one to the side.
A reserve lieutenant asked,
“Can’t we just break open the first floor door and go outside? Everyone is feeling uneasy here.”
AI Zijin warned.
[Considering the level of the enemy’s response, they may have set up booby traps at the entrance.]
“They’re using guns. They might have set something up at the first-floor door.”
“Like what…?”
“For example, landmines?”
“Gasp!”
“We should either open the first-floor door remotely or have the police come and check if it’s safe. From now on, I’ll check the upper floors, so this place is the safest for now.”
“Oh… that makes sense. Got it.”
There were three children here. A six-year-old child approached.
“Mister, I’ll give you this.”
The child handed over a small toy and a jelly snack.
Na Kang-In smiled as he took the snack.
“You’re kind.”
He asked the cafe owner,
“Are there any other people in this building?”
“Our cafe occupies the entire second floor and the restaurant occupies the entire seventh floor. The other floors are all company offices, but today is Saturday, so they should be closed.”
Na Kang-In went up to the third floor. The second floor was taken up by a large café, but the third floor had many offices.
AI Zinji reported.
[No human-made noise detected on the third floor.]
Most of the doors on the third floor were locked, and no sounds were heard.
The only open door was to the restroom.
After checking the restroom, he said,
“Just as the café owner on the second floor said. No one has come to work here.”
Before heading up to the fourth floor, he used a pink hand mirror to discreetly check the stairs. AI Zinji combined all the objects reflected in the mirror to create a video of the stairs.
[No abnormalities detected on the stairs.]
He slowly went up to the fourth floor. The hallway on the fourth floor was also empty.
“It’s quiet here too.”
He searched the fourth floor.
The fourth floor was different from the third. There was a door closed with a broken lock.
He pointed inside with his finger from the doorway.
Zinji understood the hand signal and reported.
[No human-made sounds detected. Even if someone were asleep, you should at least hear their breathing at this distance.]
Since the door was closed, he couldn’t use the hand mirror. He waited a moment, holding his gun, then abruptly opened the door and entered. He quickly scanned from left to right.
AI Zinji immediately analyzed the visual information and reported.
[No enemies detected.]
Na Kang-In lowered his gun.
Inside, there were several monitors, computers, and server racks.
“This looks like the right place, doesn’t it?”
[Numerous surveillance and control devices detected. You’ve found the control room.]
“But they’ve smashed everything up. No wonder no one is here to guard it.”
The control room’s equipment was completely destroyed.
The communication facilities were wrecked. The computers had their cases torn open and internal boards shattered.
None of the storage devices were intact.
Moreover, all the communication cables connected to the outside were severed.
“They’ve completely blinded and deafened this building. They’ve made it impossible to restore not just the CCTV but the phone and internet lines too. It makes my job easier, though, since they’ve given up on internal surveillance and destroyed everything.”
He had anticipated this situation. If someone was monitoring the building’s CCTV, there was no way they wouldn’t know what was happening on the first floor from the second floor.
“These guys must not have worried about internal breaches. That’s why they only stationed armed forces on the second floor, which is open for business today, and left the rest empty.”
[They did not expect you to come here at this time.]
“Eun-ha is definitely not their target.”
– Correct. Shin Eun-ha has no strategic value.
***
The armed group occupying the building placed a single guard outside.
The building is square-shaped with four exterior walls. Placing a guard on each wall would be a waste of manpower.
Moreover, a guard outside can’t wear a mask over their face. They can only wear a mask and a hat at most. To avoid suspicion and move inconspicuously, they can’t loiter around the building.
So, the scout sat in a café a bit away from the seven-story building, monitoring the entrance.
From the café window, he could see anyone approaching the building entrance. The glass wall of the second-floor café in the seven-story building was not directly visible from his position.
The expression of the operative monitoring the entrance with a takeaway coffee cup hardened.
“What?”
A police patrol car arrived at the main entrance. Two police officers got out.
The operative became tense.
‘Why are the police here? All communications are cut off, so they shouldn’t have been able to report anything.’
He realized something was wrong. He immediately turned on his walkie-talkie to report the situation.
[A visitor has arrived. One patrol car. Two police officers.]
***
Jackal, the leader of the armed group occupying the building, received the report on the seventh floor.
“Police patrol car?”
He looked around the seventh floor. No one was holding a cellphone. Even if there were hidden phones, they wouldn’t work due to the jammer.
Today, only the second-floor café and the seventh-floor restaurant were open for business.
Jackal called the subordinate who was in charge of the second floor.
***
Na Kang-In, who had subdued the second-floor team leader and taken his walkie-talkie, heard the call.
[Second floor. Did anyone in the café communicate with the outside? Police have arrived at the main entrance.]
Na Kang-In whispered.
“Thanks for the useful info, jerk.”
He instructed AI Zinji.
“Zinji, mimic the voice of the second-floor team leader.”
[Starting voice mimicry of the second-floor team leader.]
He held the walkie-talkie and spoke. His voice resembled that of the second-floor team leader.
[There were a few people making calls or sending texts when we took over. The other party might have found it strange that contact was suddenly cut off and reported it.]
* * *
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