Chapter 64
Was He a Forr Sheriff
***
‘Was he also being suspected of being Yang Hu?’
I couldn’t know for certain, but it was clear that it had significantly influenced Jin Geon’s judgnt. It seed the situation was unfolding in an interesting way.
“I thought maybe an unlocked android had gone on a rampage.”
“An unlocked android, you say?”
Just as I expected.
The mont I offered an appropriate keyword, Jin Geon’s gaze changed.
“……Is there sothing you know?”
“I ran into one while I was out for a walk. It was quite a vicious one.”
“I believe that requires a more detailed explanation.”
***
A café located near Club 999.
Flashing lights shimred across the large glass window that covered one side of the wall.
The space was filled with a mix of police siren lights and the neon glow spilling in from the street.
Jin Geon, who had been staring intently at Ga-on’s face, finally spoke.
“So, you’re saying you saw soone suspicious while walking down the street and gave chase, and that turned out to be an unlocked android?”
“You could say that.”
“Where on earth did you co across it? Information about that should be under control.”
“When you wander through back alleys, you’re bound to hear this and that.”
“So coming here was planned as well.”
“About half of it? I didn’t expect to end up tangling with the Mafia, though. What was the na again…….”
“For now, we’re calling it X.”
“Right, X. Judging by the fact that it ca all the way here and caused a disturbance, it’s clearly no ordinary android.”
“It seems you really did make contact.”
Jin Geon didn’t look surprised. He simply accepted it calmly.
There was only one implication.
For Ga-on, who had been confident he could maintain the upper hand, it was deflating.
“So you already knew.”
“Since you claim to have witnessed it yourself, there’s no point in hiding it. We’re estimating that X has been committing cris by remotely controlling a full-body prosthetic.”
It was a different conclusion from Ga-on’s own assumption that it was a cyborg. Honestly, he hadn’t even considered that possibility.
Then again, if that weren’t the case, there would’ve been no reason for Jin Geon to suspect X of being Yang Hu.
Neither an android nor a cyborg, but a third option—
“An actor.”
It was the term used to describe soone who had entrusted only their consciousness to a full-body prosthetic.
In truth, transplanting one’s brain into a full-body prosthetic was a trendous gamble. It ant abandoning the values and concepts one had built up as a human being.
And doing so entirely of one’s own will.
On top of that, the process of transitioning from an organism to an inanimate body ant defying physiology and instinct.
It was a monuntal undertaking that couldn’t be achieved without extraordinary resolve.
That was why the concept of an actor erged—to reap only the advantages of a full-body prosthetic.
By controlling the target through long-distance communication and receiving only sensory feedback, one could offset the disadvantages ntioned earlier.
It was similar to moving an avatar in virtual reality.
In fact, many expected it to be a decent solution for patients like Dobby Howard.
However, it quickly fell out of favor after side effects were revealed. With prolonged use, users beca unable to distinguish between reality and the virtual world.
It was a problem that arose because there were two bodies but only one consciousness.
Residual pain signals upon disconnection, intermittent discrepancies among the five senses, and a gradually intensifying dependence on the full-body prosthetic—there were many accompanying difficulties beyond those.
By now, hardly anyone volunteered for it of their own accord.
Unless, perhaps, it was a prisoner who didn’t care if their mind broke, participating in an experint.
“You have evidence, I assu?”
“Even though going underground would’ve made escape easier, it chose to flee above ground. In fact, it never appeared in areas where communication was restricted.”
That was quite shocking.
Not because it had been revealed that X was an actor, but because—even so—
‘It’s that skilled.’
Communication technology had advanced enough to enable interstellar exchange, but that didn’t an there were no subtle errors. Of course, they were so minute that human senses couldn’t detect them.
But what if the ti lag occurred within one’s own body?
No matter how trivial, it would feel like a thorn lodged in the throat.
And it wasn’t as if it were going about daily life—it was engaging in combat. That was no different from running with chains around one’s ankles.
Yet X had toyed with everyone despite those constraints. Still, there was one thing I didn’t understand.
“You can just trace it back.”
That was precisely why actors weren’t used for cris. They were far too easy to track. Even if repeaters were installed to extend operational range, the fact that communication was being used didn’t change.
Naturally, all basic infrastructure belonged to the Colony.
Public authority, reorganized after the Ice Age, was beyond imagination.
“It’s been confird that it secured control of the surrounding area through other ans. We don’t know whose system it hacked, but it had authority equal to—or greater than—that of a Sheriff.”
If I hadn’t known anything, I might have accepted that it was simply a highly capable individual who could deceive even the Public Enforcent Corps. But I knew that the municipal governnt stood behind Jin Geon.
Although we were on Mars, where that influence might be sowhat diminished, the authority he possessed should still have been extrajudicial.
And yet he was being outmatched?
That alone proved that X’s true identity was anything but ordinary.
While I fell briefly into thought, Jin Geon continued his own contemplation.
When X first appeared, he had assud that Yang Hu, having noticed the presence of a hunting dog, had devised a trick.
If it were an actor, it could move freely without revealing its true body.
Naturally, Ga-on had been the first to fall under suspicion.
He couldn’t help but consider the possibility that Ga-on had appeared in the form of a third party to create confusion in the investigation.
However, judging by Ga-on’s reaction, it didn’t seem that he was the one remotely controlling X.
If Ga-on truly were Yang Hu, he wouldn’t have done anything that could draw suspicion.
One such example was how he openly admitted to encountering X, whom even the Ergency Disaster Response Unit had frequently failed to catch.
Of course, that was rely his one-sided claim. Nothing had been verified. Even so, I let it pass because it didn’t seem like he would attempt a trick that could be exposed with just a little scrutiny.
‘Baek Ga-on.’
He was an extrely suspicious individual.
Every ti the investigation ran into difficulties, he appeared as if insisting he wasn’t Yang Hu.
It was almost as if he were pushing his way in.
But if I took off my tinted glasses, it was sowhat understandable. Considering that he had previously declared he wanted to get closer to , it could be seen as a natural point of contact.
Was I overanalyzing everything?
It was the first ti the instincts I had honed over many years wavered like this.
That was when Ga-on spoke.
“Why spread the rumor that it’s an unlocked android?”
“Because that’s the only way to secure cooperation from the Public Enforcent authorities. And wouldn’t it make people more cautious? As you’ve seen yourself, it’s not an opponent one can pursue lightly.”
As Jin Geon said that, a brilliant idea suddenly crossed his mind. If there were two individuals suspected of being Yang Hu, he could simply pit them against each other.
If one of them were the real one, it would reveal itself naturally.
“Co to think of it, you said last ti that you wanted to get closer to .”
“I did.”
“As it happens, I’ve begun to feel the sa.”
“All of a sudden?”
“If an investigator or detective were to encounter X, they likely wouldn’t escape death. In that case, the Public Enforcent Special Forces would have to be deployed—but there’s nothing more sluggish than a large organization.”
The potential damage would be imnse.
With that light remark, Jin Geon finally got to the point.
“But it would be different if it were you, Mr. Ga-on.”
No matter who won, it would benefit Jin Geon.
Reading his true intentions, I let out a quiet groan inwardly.
I had left room to make contact with the traces Lucas had left behind, but it seed Jin Geon intended to twist that to his advantage once more.
“I’ll make sure the compensation is generous.”
If I refused, it would arouse suspicion. If I accepted, I would have to deal with X one way or another.
It looked like a checkmate, but even without Jin Geon’s proposal, I had planned to pursue him myself. I had a debt to repay.
That was why the answer ca easily.
“On the condition that you share the progress of the investigation.”
“Of course.”
With a sly smile, Jin Geon extended his hand.
“I have high expectations for you, Mr. Ga-on.”
***
After stopping by an unlicensed clinic to have the hormone regulator reimplanted, I returned ho and lay down on the bed.
A lot had happened today.
Eden, death, and—
‘X.’
If I handled it well, it felt like I might be able to make Jin Geon drop his suspicions. An opportunity like this didn’t co often. If I eliminated him alone, I could manipulate the situation to my advantage.
But there was one missing piece.
That was X’s true identity.
I needed certainty.
Certainty that he didn’t belong to the municipal governnt or the council. And certainty that he would be able to shake off Jin Geon’s pursuit.
Only then could I eliminate any contradictions and pin everything on him.
‘That aside.’
I couldn’t neglect Nakamachi Hiro’s side either. By now, the Public Enforcent Corps would have recovered the body, and the Lucchesia Family must have been in an uproar.
Owen, having heard the news, didn’t bother hiding his troubled expression.
[So an unlocked android made a move? I just received the report. Things are unfolding in a rather strange way.]
“Any guess why Hiro was targeted?”
[Well, at his level, if an executive dies sowhere, sohow, people are expected to accept it.]
“And Hiro’s right-hand man? There was one in the file you gave .”
[He’s gone into hiding.]
“In hiding?”
[After a ss like that? He disappeared without even informing the Family.]
“Then we’re back to square one.”
[I’ll contact you if I catch even a tail.]
“I’ll look into it separately.”
But not right now. It was ti to recover from my fatigue.
After sleeping through the night, I woke to a ssage from Fernandez. The text began bluntly with a number. Wondering what it was about, I read on and found a brief request.
[Can you co to Columbus at this hour?]
***
When I arrived at Columbus for work, I saw Fernandez already moving about busily early in the morning.
“What’s going on?”
“Let’s talk inside the eting room.”
It seed a client had co looking for him. A small incident born from the fact that he hadn’t ntioned he had taken a request from Owen.
Once inside, I noticed a middle-aged woman sipping tea.
Her faded blonde hair was tied back and neatly secured in a round knot. At a glance, she exuded an air that was difficult to approach. It wasn’t that she was frowning or wearing an irritated expression.
Rather, she radiated the sharp brilliance one sensed from soone devoted to academic pursuits.
As expected, Fernandez’s introduction was no different.
“She’s the daughter of my ntor.”
“Your ntor?”
“When I was a Sheriff, he gave a great deal of advice on investigations.”
Dominique Jordan suddenly ca to mind—a large-built Black man, the Sheriff in charge of District 39’s Eastern Public Enforcent Office, to whom I had entrusted the device extraction request.
I had wondered how Fernandez had beco acquainted with soone like that. It seed they had been colleagues.
“So you were a forr Sheriff.”
Now I understood why, unlike other brokers, he cared so much about justice. Perhaps he had entered this line of work to carry out his own ideals.
Not that it mattered to .
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