“Judging by how it seems, the administrator is already asleep, so go ahead and make contact.”
“…Understood.”
Only moments ago, the woman, Agatha Aldridge, had been flying together with Lime and Han Seori. With another command coming in without pause, she couldn’t help but suppress a sigh.
‘…I’m exhausted.’
It was impossible not to feel tired.
When measured by the amount of time spent flying, she had been airborne much longer than either Han Seori or Lime. For them, it had been a one-way trip to a person and a singularity point, but for her, it amounted to a round-trip journey.
Without any significant rest in between, it was continuous flying.
Though going to monitor someone wasn’t too demanding, coming back was an entirely different story…
Moreover, there had been that odd notion—if she could expose the singularity to the atmosphere of America, might it spark a longing within it? So she had made a stopover in New York, only for it to turn into chaos because of a protest related to singularities in the vicinity.
If showing the singularity the American atmosphere had even crossed her mind, judging from the administrator’s hardened expression upon arrival, it seemed the plan of planting a positive image was likely ruined.
That useless detour only piled on the fatigue. Frankly, whether such an attempt was even possible remained questionable.
Regardless, Agatha didn’t voice any doubts. She couldn’t. After all, she had been the one most closely in close contact with the singularity during the flight.
It wasn’t as though she could protest when she herself had zealously submitted reports, which amounted to calling down her own calamity.
She hadn’t expected the higher-ups to act so hastily.
“Isn’t this a prestigious and important mission? Why do you look so despondent, Senpai?”
“It’s easy to say that when I’ve spent more time in the sky than on the ground in the last 48 hours.”
“Uahaha, just kidding. Kidding.”
The assistant assigned to aid her didn’t please her either.
Unlike her, this assistant carried a more Oriental appearance.
It wasn’t that Agatha harbored any racial prejudice; she just disliked how her assistant acted without much seriousness in everything.
“Let’s have a drink after this. I’ve found a great spot to wind down.”
“…Shut up.”
Suppressing her assistant’s words, she arrived with him at the room where the singularity and the Korean administrator were staying.
Now that she thought about it, this itself was a shocking event.
Placing a singularity in a space meant for human habitation, instead of in an isolation room?
Something felt fundamentally off about the scene, but if it was something the upper echelons had meticulously approved, it wasn’t her place to intervene.
“Huh…”
“This is making me nervous. Entering a room with a singularity, entirely uncontrolled. And the administrator is asleep, you say? Are we sure this is safe?”
…Indeed.
Even the thoughtless assistant’s sharp observation made Agatha feel uneasy.
It was undeniable that Lime, the singularity she had observed during the flight, appeared harmless.
Putting aside its occasional cute actions, after closely observing it, there had been no sign of any erratic behavior—even with the administrator asleep. It had been more docile than most animals, maybe even more so than some human children.
It seemed there wouldn’t be a problem. But…
‘Still, it’s a singularity.’
Could she trust this judgment? This question nagged at her relentlessly, given the track record of singularities she had witnessed so far.
As she twirled her hair, Agatha spoke to her tense assistant.
“Knock on the door.”
“…Me?”
“I’m tired.”
“Pfft.”
She could feel her face heat up at the sound of her assistant’s weak, deflating laugh. She was aware that her excuse was quite pathetic.
Perhaps this was her assistant’s attempt to prove himself to her. With a stiff face but a semblance of ease, he knocked on the door where the singularity lay hidden.
Thud! Thud!
It was a loud, resounding knock, as though hoping the sleeping administrator would wake up. Agatha didn’t stop him either since she was secretly hoping for the same.
Though there was the risk that his knock could aggravate the singularity and cause it to lose control, this was something she had decided to overlook the moment he knocked.
Thud, thud.
Tension filled them as they knocked, but they were met with suspicion.
The administrator showed no signs of waking up, and there was no sound suggesting movement from the singularity on the other side of the door.
…What if something had already happened?
As she watched her assistant knock, Agatha murmured under her breath.
“Should we break in?”
“It’s odd… Given how hard we knocked, it’s strange if they haven’t noticed. Could the administrator have been drugged through the food he ate?”
“…I didn’t drug it.”
The senior and junior exchanged a subtle glance.
Even if Agatha denied any involvement, what were the chances that someone else had done it?
Honestly, it was hard for both of them to say. After all, doesn’t the Eastern proverb go, “To deceive the enemy, first deceive your allies”? Was it possible that someone had slipped a sleeping agent into the food?
‘It’s not impossible.’
‘They definitely used something.’
Judging by the time it had taken to fall asleep, it wasn’t a very strong drug.
Then again, if something happened to the administrator under these conditions…
They might end up in an irrevocable situation.
Thus, perhaps this was just a calculated move to get an appropriate moment to approach.
‘Earlier, they seemed so relaxed about telling me to try contacting it while pretending to sleep…’
Agatha clenched her teeth, feeling suspicious of her superiors. It was all too clear that they were ready to pin any blame on her. Of course, there was no evidence to claim otherwise. Besides, they’d need to ask the Korean administrator directly why he had fallen asleep once they arrived from Korea.
At any rate…
Both agreed that the prolonged lack of response indicated something wasn’t right.
Whether the administrator had been drugged.
Or the fact that the singularity, supposedly awake, was showing no signs of a response.
As both of them considered forcing entry…
Click.
The lock clicked open, and the door creaked slightly, opening just enough for two fingers to slip through.
Yet nothing could be seen through the narrow gap.
“Hmm?”
“Did someone open it from above?”
“Guess so…”
Agatha, intrigued, grabbed the handle and tried to push the door open.
But the door wouldn’t budge as if it were glued shut.
“What… What is this?”
“Haha, Senpai, are you trying to appeal to my pity now?”
“Shut up with your nonsense. Why isn’t this door opening?”
“…Huh?”
Realizing Agatha wasn’t kidding, her assistant joined her, gripping the handle and exerting force.
“Ughk!”
“Hiss!”
Despite both their efforts, the door remained steadfast.
Agatha sighed and looked down, finally noticing the secret behind the door’s resistance.
“Ahh…”
“What… Oh?”
Between the door cracks, a small, blue jelly-like figure squirmed.
Unlike how it had behaved during their flight, its face seemed rigid, giving off an unsettling tension.
Agatha chuckled faintly at having missed this small detail before but felt a chill run down her spine from the strange aura surrounding the small blue jelly-Lime.
‘…Wait, so was it… this singularity that opened the door?’
Well, without any special devices, opening a door should be achievable for an intelligence as simple as a child’s.
The bigger problem lay in the immovability of the door to the strength of two adults.
The door didn’t even give a hint of movement, as if it were permanently sealed.
‘…Even looking like this, a singularity remains a singularity, it seems.’
It was unreasonable. What would it take to push this door even an inch?
Cold sweat dripped down her face as whispers from her assistant reached her ears.
“Is this… it?”
“Yeah.”
“…Didn’t they say it was human-friendly? Why won’t it open the door for us?”
“…I don’t know.”
Deciding that forcing the door was physically impossible, Agatha changed tactics. After all, their ultimate goal wasn’t to enter the room.
“Hello, Lime. If you don’t want us to come in, would you like to talk outside for a bit?”
Attempting to take a humbler stance, her assistant tried to lighten the mood with a whistle as he addressed Lime.
Contrary to her efforts, the result was devastating.
Lime’s expression became even stiffer. It was completely unreadable, as it remained silent.
“Is… Is it really understanding us?”
“To be honest, I’m not sure… but, maybe…”
Agatha wondered if there was a reason for assigning her this assistant.
The administrator, either drugged or just deeply asleep, and a second-generation individual with an Eastern origin.
“You know Korean, right?”
“A bit.”
Observing the word “Korean” cause Lime to jiggle the jelly-like substance, Agatha spoke with newfound confidence.
“See if you can talk to it.”
“Yes?”
“It seems… it doesn’t understand English.”
“…Oh. That’s why you’re asking me?”
Agatha nodded. At this, her assistant appeared to understand but grew uneasy.
Looking down at Lime with a peculiar gaze, it was difficult to shake off the feeling of coercing a child, even knowing that Lime was a singularity.
…It felt like committing a crime.
Honestly, if you think about it, trying to extract a child without a guardian’s consent would be… criminal.
But, the being here is a singularity. A singularity capable of thought, judgment, and human-friendly tendencies.
Thus, it wasn’t a crime.
…Probably.
Shaking off the uneasiness, her assistant smiled as though he’d make Agatha gag and began to speak.
“Uh, hi? Lime, shall we go talk somewhere for a bit?”
Though his smile was bright, his slightly awkward Korean echoed through the hallway.
“Sorry, I don’t use it often.”
“Who said anything?”
Despite Agatha suppressing a smirk, Lime’s round, jelly-embedded eyes widened as it began fixating intently on her assistant.
“It… really seems to only understand Korean, huh?”
“Interesting… As a singularity, I’d assume it would understand everything…”
Amidst their observations, Lime, after a fleeting glance at Han Seori through its broader sightline, shook its head emphatically.
It appeared reluctant to let them in for fear of inconveniencing Han Seori.
Witnessing Lime’s rejection, Agatha’s assistant repeated the same question she had made earlier.
“Well, let’s talk out here for a bit, then? We can have you look around the lab…”
“Let’s grab something tasty to eat, too.”
“…Are we really kidnapping a child right now?”
“Enough, move it.”
“…Let’s get some tasty snacks.”
The assistant felt unsettled.
No matter how he reasoned with himself, attempting to lure a child-like entity felt undeniably criminal.
Lime, considering the proposals, wobbled its jelly form.
Ultimately, it inflated itself slightly and squeezed out through the narrow gap, promptly closing the door behind it with a click.
After a brief moment, it pondered then reached out to hold Agatha’s hand. Observing this, the assistant felt a pang of frustration.
“It wasn’t me who suggested this! Why is Senpai taking all the credit?”
“Of course, you’re just a stranger after all, aren’t you? Puh.”
“Then I’ll just leave.”
“Stop acting like a girl.”
“…”
And thus, the small group, now including Lime, moved away from the closed door, setting forth on their next adventure.
