I'm not sure if this is Shin Hae-ryang's habit or a characteristic of the engineering team, but he always walked at the very front or the very back. Now, because I was carrying a child and lagging behind, Shin Hae-ryang was walking beside me at the very end. After glancing at his face, I spoke.
"Out of curiosity, can I ask you a few questions? It might make you uncomfortable. You don't have to answer if you don't want to."
I thought Shin Hae-ryang would cut me off immediately, but after a brief look at my face, he nodded.
"Sure."
"Why did you go to Jujak-dong? You could have gone to Hyeonmu-dong like the Russian team."
From the behavior of the engineering team, it didn't seem like they came to Jujak-dong for any human reason. Hyeonmu-dong is where the people responsible for mining live. The core of this underwater base is mining and research. Even if robots or androids were to replace everyone, I believe they would try to keep the research department in Jujak-dong and the mining areas in Hyeonmu-dong.
The initial reason for building the underwater base was to obtain oil, gas, and natural resources. It was built 200 meters below sea level and gradually moved down to -3000 meters, where a temporary facility for unmanned robots was created, which was the beginning of the underwater base. Over time, that small robot charging station became a mining room, and as the mining room grew, it became a mining tunnel.
As countries started pouring money into deep-sea research and protection, the underwater pollution research center was built and connected to the mining tunnel. As they continued to add necessary facilities, the base grew in size, eventually becoming the underwater base.
According to the guidebook, after the researchers, the mining tunnel had the most people. The reason there were many escape pods in Hyeonmu-dong, similar to Jujak-dong, was also due to this. After I asked my question, it felt like I was criticizing him for rescuing Kim Gayoung. I expected him to yell at me, "You heartless human, how can you ask such a question!" Instead, Shin Hae-ryang answered calmly.
"The mining team was mining next to the Jujak-dong research center, so the probability that they were caught and killed when the research center collapsed was high. Therefore, I judged that the escape pods on the Hyeonmu side would not have been used during the time we stopped working on the outer wall and entered Baekho-dong. When I saw the rescue request, I thought the Jujak-dong research center might have been more intact than expected after the collapse. Considering that most of the Jujak-dong personnel were staying inside the research center, I believed there was a high possibility that the escape pods were still there. ...We also prioritized the rescue of our own nationals."
How should I judge whether this guy, who headed to the mining area because the people there were likely to die quickly before using the escape pods, has any humanity? I tried my best not to look at Shin Hae-ryang's face and focused on the front. If we had gone to Cheongryong-dong...
"If there aren't enough escape pods... is there a high possibility that the remaining people will fight? Not just give in or something?"
Shin Hae-ryang glanced at my face and answered.
"Yes. If it's the Engineering Team, they will prioritize their own escape."
All that mental health and ethics training was for nothing. Didn't he have to pass a mental health evaluation to work here? They said you can't enter without at least 100 hours of ethics training!
"······Do you think there are escape pods left in Cheongryong-dong?"
"I don't know."
"If the escape pods in Cheongryong-dong are tampered with like in Jujak-dong, what do you plan to do?"
"Then we'll check the Cheongryong-dong submarine or use the elevator."
I was curious about Shin Hae-ryang's tone and asked.
"Why do you use informal language with your teammates but formal language with others?"
His smooth response was momentarily halted.
"Well."
"?"
Shin Hae-ryang's mouth closed and opened again after a while.
"······I use informal language with my teammates during work. Is it uncomfortable?"
"Um······I'm fine."
"Then it's settled."
"While working, I inadvertently learned that some people from other teams are not very friendly towards you."
Shin Hae-ryang smiled, revealing his canines for the first time.
"I like that."
Bae Ae-young, who was walking in the middle, turned her head back to look at us at the back. When she saw Shin Hae-ryang's smile, she quickly turned her head forward as if she had seen something she shouldn't have and moved to stand next to Seo Ji-hyuk at the front. Even though I expected a negative response, I asked, hoping for a straw to cling to.
"If I am willing to help improve relations with other engineering teams, what do you think?"
"I recommend you take personal rest during that time."
Ah... Yes. I see. Shin Hae-ryang, carrying a cat backpack, turned to me.
"Can I ask you a question?"
"Uh... Yes. I'll answer to the best of my knowledge."
"If there is a dental treatment that is the most painful, has a long recovery period, and is not covered by the underwater base's insurance, where would it be?"
My words seemed to catch in my throat. While listening to his polite question, I thought, why do such crazy people have such good voices? Is a change in oral structure or vocal frequency one of the human evolutionary methods for survival?
"······Why do you want to know?"
"To maintain good relations with people from other departments."
I gave up on trying to reduce the number of people visiting the dentist. He must be planning to continue removing front teeth or bombing lower teeth.
"Please avoid the jaw and mouth area. I don't want to work hard."
"I will be careful."
Hearing his insincere words, I couldn't help but laugh. Before my hollow laugh disappeared, Bae Ae-young, who was leading us into Jungang-dong, suddenly stopped. I heard a distant sound, and as the person at the front stopped, everyone slowed down.
Bae Ae-young, who was walking at the front, made a subtle hand gesture, and Shin Hae-ryang, who was next to me, handed me the cat backpack and quickly walked to stand next to Bae Ae-young. Seo Ji-hyuk, seeing this, put his finger to his lips.
"Be quiet. Quiet. Stay as quiet as if ten mice have died until I tell you to speak again."
Yoo Geum and Kim Gayoung, who were talking about the researchers, closed their mouths, and I, standing at the back, wondered why and stood on tiptoe to look ahead. When Shin Hae-ryang gestured, Bae Ae-young, who was at the front, lifted the hem of her pants and pulled out a large knife from her ankle.
Yoo Geum, Kim Gayoung, and I were stunned. Bae Ae-young silently entered the left wall of Jungang-dong. It seemed her destination was Cinema 1, the closest place to her. Cinema 3 was the largest, and Cinema 1 was a small multimedia room where about ten people could sit on a carpeted floor with cushions to watch movies.
Bae Ae-young either entered and exited Cinema 1 or came out from a corner and signaled with her fingers from a distance. Shin Hae-ryang started moving people through Seo Ji-hyuk. Yoo Geum and I, along with the two researchers, quietly followed the instructions due to the tension and attitude of the other three. Shin Hae-ryang and I were the last to enter the cinema.
I put the child I was carrying on the carpet and sat down, but Bae Ae-young and Shin Hae-ryang stood by the door, and Seo Ji-hyuk stood slightly away from the door. The multimedia room was dark because the lights were off.
"Why?"
Kim Gayoung, frightened, asked in a low voice, but everyone fell silent as a sound reached them while Bae Ae-young was about to speak.
The sound of popcorn popping came from far away.
"AAAAAAAHHHHH!"
"AAAAHHHHH!"
"Help!"
"Save me!"
Someone was running from Hyeonmu-dong in the north to Jungang-dong in the center, screaming. The tension settled on our backs. Listening to the running sounds, it was clear that more than one person was running. The footsteps grew louder.
Bae Ae-young stood silently by the wall of Cinema 1, holding the knife blade down, and Shin Hae-ryang stood by the door, waiting for something. The hurried footsteps grew louder.
"Help! Help!" cries in various languages were heard from the door. My heart started pounding. Even though the cinema was designed to minimize external noise, I imagined the screams outside would be deafening.
The hiding time felt like less than a minute, but it seemed like more than five minutes in my head. While listening to the screams, someone grabbed my hand. I was so startled that I jumped. The child lying on the floor made a groaning sound and rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand.