If I had touched that, it would have been like advertising to everyone in the second underwater base that we were all here. I am grateful for the luck that brought me into the exhibition hall with the people beside me. It was because there were several people who were more rational and self-controlled than me that I could be involved as well. If I had been a little more greedy, or if the others had insisted on taking the jewels, who knows what would have happened.
Baeg Ae-yeong and Shin Hae-ryang didn't look at Seo Ji-hyuk but instead looked ahead and to the side. Baeg Ae-yeong muttered something while looking ahead, and I heard the word "idiot." She's right. Thinking about jewels in a situation like this...
We were passing through the gemstone exhibition hall in silence. Our pace quickened a bit. After all, everything around us was truly beautiful, dazzlingly so, but we knew that if we touched or took anything, it could ruin our lives in an instant.
We were passing by large sodalite and spessartine (both of which I had never heard of before), blue and orange gems, when Baeg Ae-yeong, who was leading the way, clenched and unclenched her fist, waving her hand. Shin Hae-ryang and Seo Ji-hyuk stopped at this signal. Then, we saw a large blue stone called tourmaline, and Baeg Ae-yeong disappeared behind it. Yoo Geum-i and Seo Ji-hyuk, who had been leaning against the display case of the large spinel, also hid behind it. I didn't understand why they were hiding, but from what we had seen so far, someone must be coming.
A few moments later, I realized that people were indeed coming. They had entered from the exit side of the exhibition hall, and as they moved, they were leaving one or two armed personnel at regular intervals, like Hansel and Gretel leaving bread crumbs. But... why not just move all together? Why leave armed personnel behind? When the people in the center return to the exit, will they pick up the personnel one by one, two by two?
This gemstone exhibition wasn't designed to show all the gems to people using the exhibition hall. While walking down the central aisle, you could only see the gems on the sides, not all of them. The rectangular exhibition hall had gems scattered around like an explosion from the central diamond.
If we had to act immediately to escape, I thought it might not be impossible to hide behind the scattered gemstone pedestals and make our way to the exit. After all, we just needed to move quietly and stay hidden until we reached the exit. But it seemed the veterans didn't think so. Shin Hae-ryang told us to stay still and not move. He whispered this to me very softly and gestured to Seo Ji-hyuk. Seo Ji-hyuk, in turn, whispered to the android to stay quiet and enjoy the gems, and then whispered to Yoo Geum-i. He was probably telling her to stay still.
Hiding behind a large gemstone was quite uncomfortable, especially since the space wasn't wide enough for three people. I had been squatting for a while, and when I tried to stretch my sore legs, Shin Hae-ryang told me to fold them again. I quickly complied and took shallow breaths. The armed men were standing in the 2-meter-wide aisle, chatting among themselves. Occasionally, they communicated via radio, but I couldn't hear what they were saying.
Sitting on the cold floor while extremely tired made everything feel distant. The sound of the ventilation system, the chatter of the armed personnel, and the occasional low voices of Shin Hae-ryang and Baeg Ae-yeong buzzed in my ears. All I wanted was to wash up, brush my teeth, and lie down to sleep.
I must be exhausted. I was hugging the cat bag, crouched to avoid being seen, and felt like a child. Baeg Ae-yeong, looking over the gems, was irritated. "Damn it. Get out of here quickly, you bastards." Her voice was so low it sounded like the wind.
I don't know how long I had been there, but I must have dozed off or passed out for a few seconds. Shin Hae-ryang was covering my mouth with one hand and shaking my shoulder. When I woke up, I was in the same hiding position. They were still waiting. But I heard footsteps. The nine people who had walked to the center were returning. I covered my own mouth and silently wished they would pass by. Baeg Ae-yeong and Shin Hae-ryang didn't even peek, just holding their guns and hiding behind the large tourmaline pedestal and the shadow of the tourmaline, trying to stay as quiet as possible.
Seo Ji-hyuk and Yoo Geum-i were also crouched, seemingly believing the enormous spinel beside them would protect them. Listening to the footsteps of people passing by the gems, I had a strange thought that to end all this suffering, I should just run out to them. Wouldn't it be less tiring to lie on the floor and stare at it, like Jennifer and the others, rather than hide and run like this?
They wouldn't treat us well. But wouldn't it be better than hiding and crawling around, looking for an escape pod we can't board, observing an elevator we can't use, or taking a cable car that might not work? These thoughts flashed through my mind.
However, I suppressed the impulse as I looked at the others in the same situation. We had come from the fourth underwater base, 3000 meters below the surface, where water was leaking, to the second underwater base. We would soon be able to escape. Just a little more effort!
Moreover, we had attacked two cult members at the third underwater base and definitely killed one. There was also a cult member tied up in the bathroom at the second underwater base. If these cult members knew what we had done, wouldn't they just shoot us? They would easily kill us and be done with it. I leaned my head against the pedestal and stared blankly at where Seo Ji-hyuk and Yoo Geum-i were hiding. They were also waiting for the cult members to pass. Please, just pass by. Just pass by.
But the cult member with a gun at the front of the group called out to the android. "Maris! Maris!" The android, who had been sitting next to Seo Ji-hyuk, stood up immediately. I could tell from the sound alone that the gun was pointed at her.
Yoo Geum-i, with her hands over her mouth, stiffened, and Seo Ji-hyuk, in a daze, watched the android leave his side. I could see the bones in Baeg Ae-yeong's hand as she gripped her gun, and I swallowed silently, tense.
Seo Ji-hyuk clenched his teeth and looked at his legs. Yoo Geum-i, who had been sitting on the floor, slowly got up, crouching slightly, ready to run at any moment. I, too, was looking around at the gems displayed nearby, trying to figure out where to run if I had to. My back was drenched in cold sweat, and the contrast between the tense situation and Shin Hae-ryang's calm breathing made me feel strange.
The android, without hesitation, walked towards the man who had called her and stopped in front of him, saying, "Welcome to the exhibition of the Great Birth of Life and the Passage of Time, Mr. David Knight. How may I assist you?"
"Tell me the number of people in this exhibition hall."
Tell him the number of people? I was shocked by the man's question. The android can't lie. She would answer based on what she knew. There were 9 cult members and 5 of us. Depending on her answer, our presence would be immediately exposed.
Shin Hae-ryang grabbed my back and slowly made me crawl. Not towards the exit, but towards the center of the exhibition hall, hiding among the gems. I flattened myself on the floor, fists clenched, and inched away from the armed group. Baeg Ae-yeong crawled up behind me, biting her lip, and hid next to me. From the distance, Seo Ji-hyuk's mouth seemed to be spewing curses at the android. I licked my dry lips. What should I do? What should I do? What should I do!
The cult members' curses in response to her answer reached us. Shin Hae-ryang suddenly touched my back with his left hand, almost making me scream. His actions seemed to be a signal for me to calm down. I tried to suppress my heavy breathing, which was as loud as a stomach growl. I was so scared that my palms and back were drenched in sweat.
"Where are the other people hiding besides us 9?"
The man named David Knight raised his eyebrows at the android's answer. I had crawled about 5 meters and was now crouched under a hard marble pedestal of a deep blue gem called benitoite. Baeg Ae-yeong, who had crawled up next to me, bit her lip and hid beside me. Seo Ji-hyuk, from a distance, seemed to be cursing the android. I licked my dry lips. What should I do? What should I do? What should I do!
The cult members' curses in response to her answer reached us. Shin Hae-ryang suddenly touched my back with his left hand, almost making me scream. His actions seemed to be a signal for me to calm down. I tried to suppress my heavy breathing, which was as loud as a stomach growl. I was so scared that my palms and back were drenched in sweat.