I Have Returned, but I Cannot Lay down My Gun

Chapter 471

"…It doesn’t seem like this was the case two months ago. What the hell happened at HQ in the meantime?"

The day after Lorentina left, I received an urgent message and headed to New York, only to find chaos.

Even though the 7-meter-high defensive wall and the watchtowers spaced evenly on top were expected, the moment I looked up, I saw a massive drone — one so large it looked like it could carry entire building blocks — flying by. It was a sight I hadn’t seen before.

The vibration I felt through my toes came from the heavy machinery moving. Although it wasn’t close, the clarity of the sensation suggested that it wasn’t just a few pieces of equipment in use.

How should I take this? I thought as I heard a sound from the Icarus Gear.

[Notification: Central Park HQ network detected. Synchronization will begin.]
[Notification: Updating base blueprints and aerial views.]
“…They were building something incredible.”

I couldn’t suppress my curiosity, so I immediately checked.

Looking at the location, it was clear that a new building had been constructed somewhere near the large central lake in Central Park. This spot, known as the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir — or Kennedy Lake for short — was now home to something I hadn’t known about before.

That wasn’t all. Today, I couldn’t just dismiss the idea of something new being built. The reason I was paying attention to it was because two glowing red dots on the aerial view indicated that Jin and Rain were currently inside that construction site.

Although I had planned to go greet the Dagger Team later, for now, I needed to head that way to resolve something urgent.

After fiddling with my watch, I sent out several signals.

[Notification: Icarus personnel… Dagger Team Operator ‘Eugene’ confirmed.]
[Notification: Sending entry request for A-32 Gate.]
It wouldn’t be bad to just go directly inside, but it would likely surprise everyone. Since I had already sent the request, I walked steadily toward the gate without worrying. As I approached within 100 meters, a whirring sound came from the watchtower, and a green laser extended from a mini-gun set to drone mode, aiming directly at me. Then, it turned off.

At the same time, a beam projector activated at the watchtower, creating a holographic figure in front of me.

It was likely someone on guard duty at this moment.

The man, who had been muttering, now raised his stiff hand to sign at me while I projected a hologram and typed a message.

[Entry request sent. Can I enter now?]
He briefly tapped on a keyboard, then nodded. He turned off the beam projector, and the thick doors ahead of me slowly parted with a grinding sound. As the familiar interior of HQ came into view, I felt a wave of nostalgia that I thought had long faded.

Once inside, the door closed behind me, and I took in the familiar mix of concrete and gunpowder-scented air of HQ. It was still only 8 a.m., so I could feel the fresh morning air. I didn’t need any guidance, so I was free to wander.

My destination was already clear.

“…So, this is what they were building.”

Several elegant building structures with a modern design, reminiscent of art museums, stood before me. The last time I visited, I didn’t see anything like this. The fact that they managed to build all this in just two months using drones and advanced technology was truly impressive.

That said, Jin and Rain were inside there. Based on that, I had a rough idea of what was going on. When I dug through some classified military data, it became clear — this was essentially a research facility.

A few months ago, Jin and Rain, along with Artemis and their technologies, had been working here, experimenting with prototypes and testing various technologies.

The construction site was surrounded by extremely tight security, and even I felt like I would need to go through several procedures to get inside. It wasn’t surprising.

After thinking for a moment, I decided to take a very simple approach.

I opened a message window and added a note to Jin and Rain.

[Eugene: Biyami’s here.]
I pressed send.

About 20 seconds later, the people in the watchtower suddenly became busier. They began speaking into their radios and looking around, and then our eyes met from across the distance.

Their expressions seemed almost incredulous, but how could they stop me when I just wanted to see my people? One of the guards walked out of the tower, chuckling and speaking.

“Come on in. They’re waiting for you.”

“Thanks.”

I entered the building.

What exactly were Jin and Rain up to inside here? I thought, quickening my pace, but the first thing that greeted me wasn’t a broken weapons lab or an experimental firing range… it was the unexpected smell of food.

The smell wasn’t too strong. The reason for that became clear as soon as I opened the door. What I saw inside was… two mechanical versions of Biyami, feeding food into a strangely shaped, reasonably sized machine.

Before I could say anything, the words came from the machines.

“Archetype!”

“Hey, catch him! Boss, come here!”

“Wait, what the hell are you doing — whoa!!”

And I was caught.

The two machines, weighing over twice my own weight, nearly crushed me, but luckily, my body held up, and I survived. As expected, the two hadn’t changed much.

Of course, it didn’t take long for me to realize that half of that thought was a misunderstanding.

When the situation calmed down, the first words out of their mouths gave me a clue.

“…Is this a machine for tasting food? Something that artificially replicates taste receptors?”

“So you were curious about food flavors?”

“Yep.”

Jin and Rain alternated explaining and answering. Personally, I figured that this machine would likely be scrapped later. There was no reason to implant digestive organs into them, nor did they need to modify their mouths to eat food. In the future, perhaps their sensory synchronization would be fine-tuned to satisfy them. But realistically, a humanoid with a system similar to humans might be the way to go.

Anyway, they enthusiastically discussed their favorite things.

“I like spicy food. Jin seems to like sweet things.”

“I think ice cream is the greatest invention among human foods.”

“…Sure, of course.”

About 20 minutes later, after tolerating their whining, I became curious about what the Dagger Team was up to, and they answered easily.

“They eat when it’s time to eat, play when it’s time to play, and rest when it’s time to rest. Lately, they’ve been training some new operators.”

“After calculating the balance between work and rest, the latter comes out to 75%. The average body fat percentage of everyone in the Dagger Team, including Lorentina and Logan, has increased by 6.6%.”

“…They must have been eating a lot.”

Well, special forces members do tend to gain weight easily. The calories burned in combat require a lot of food, and if they keep eating like that during normal times, it’s no surprise they gain weight. But what was going on with Lorentina and Logan?

After that, I got to the point of the visit and began syncing data with Jin using my watch.

However, when Jin noticed what I was doing, she rejected the request.

I waited in silence, wondering why, and then Jin approached me.

Her lips parted.

“Data sharing is possible. But I have one request.”

“What is it?”

“When I visited Archetype’s house last time, I saw people passing by outside… and I realized I wanted to do something.”

“…”

“I want to go outside with Archetype and experience the world.”

And at those words, my brain nearly stopped functioning.

What?

“…She said that?”

“…Yes. So I’m still thinking about it.”

“Hmmm.”

It was 8 p.m. at my house, not in New York.

After being knocked around by Jin and Rain’s request — or rather, their punches — I quickly said a simple hello to the Dagger Team, returned home in a hurry, and after eating an unremarkable dinner, I called my parents.

There wasn’t any special reason. I was just thinking about what to do, and ended up calling the only people I felt I could trust to share this dilemma with.

My parents knew already that weapons based on me were made in that world, and that two of them were turned over to my side. If they hadn’t approved, Mecha Eugene wouldn’t have appeared during the Escape from Unknown mode.

Silence fell as my parents added another question.

“What does Jin want to do?”

“Well…”

As soon as I started speaking, I was lost in thought.

How could I bring Jin and Rain here… and if I brought them here, how could I avoid causing chaos in the world?

I froze, considering my response.

My parents spoke again.

“Why are you asking such a question? Of course, if they can come, they’d want to. They’re very caring kids.”

“Oh, wait. Jin didn’t say anything, right?”

“…Yes. She wants to come if she can.”

“Alright. I’m glad you told me honestly.”

Ahem.

There was a short pause, then my parents continued.

“So, have you thought of a way?”

“…Actually, I haven’t. I was thinking that minimizing the shock the world would feel should be the priority, but I’m not sure how.”

“Hmmm.”

At that, my parents chuckled softly.

I heard a slow, deep breath.

“Jin probably understands by now, but the one thing I learned after spending several years in this position is that the most important thing when executing something is being able to provide a plausible reason.”

“…So?”

“What I’m saying is, if you’re fine with it, it wouldn’t be difficult to come up with a specific method to bring Jin and Rain here… For instance…”

Example 1.

Icarus Enterprise, a subsidiary of Icarus, known for its AI expertise, requested research funding to create a real AI based on how impressive it was to see Jin and Rain learning and growing through contact with Eugene. The company’s board of directors approved the request.

Then it evolved into a proposal to create a prototype unit, and so the company entrusted Icarus Dynamics — a subsidiary that could easily manage such a project — with the task.

I could only listen in a daze as my parents casually shared their suggestion.

I nodded absentmindedly, considering whether it was feasible or not, and watched as my thoughts tilted toward the “feasible” direction.

“Do you understand what I mean?”

“…Yes. I think I understand now.”

“What’s important is whether the proposal can generate a positive response from the majority when executed. As for ‘how it’s possible’… when the input cost and the procedure’s professionalism align, that’s usually a problem we don’t have to worry about.”

… I sort of understood what they meant.

Anyway, the method my parents proposed sounded perfectly reasonable. The rest was just a matter of time.

Was this it? I thought, roughly coming to that conclusion.

“But remember, as the vice president of a company, I can only present such ideas. As a parent, there are still things I need to confirm.”

“…Huh? Suddenly?”

“Of course. I’ve never even spoken to those kids. We can’t move forward without hearing what they want to do outside first.”

“It might sound like nagging, but I want to meet them first to see how well-mannered they are. You’re okay with that, right?”

“Oh, come on. Not that ‘professional illness’ again.”

…If you know, you know, but my mom was the head of the management team, in other words, the auditing team.

Anyway, I understood what they meant. My parents likely wanted to meet them in person to feel at ease, so I mentioned that I’d send a message to Jin and Rain after this call, telling them to meet my parents. I wasn’t sure what kind of reaction they’d have, though.

After the whirlwind of events, I finally regained my composure.

There was still work left to be done.

[Notification: Sending Artemis Tech files to ‘Think Tank.’ The file is large, so the transfer might be slow.]
I sent some of the technology used to create Jin and Rain to the Think Tank. This more or less finished the requests for sharks and polar bears.

Separately, considering that Jin and Rain’s proposal stemmed from Lorentina and Logan’s indirect request, I couldn’t help but think…

“Did these guys drink at the airport or something?”

What on earth happened that made all this unfold?

My initial assumption was that I’d be able to rest comfortably at home before the Hawaii trip, but it was quickly falling apart from the start.