By Zephyria 
Tick. Mu-hae rummaged through his Watch to check past messages.
He could easily find Buckta’s traces among the commission emails sent by the Company.
Blue Crystal mining volume in the Buckta area has recently changed. Check the Crystal Zone at the GPS-indicated point and report any new changes in the area.
Certainly, Mu-hae had seen the movement of the Beasts due to the Aberrant back then.
Considering the Company mentioned mining volume from the commission request, something must have changed in the Crystal Zone that had been intact.
Mu-hae glanced up and surveyed the shelter. Surprisingly, except for the living room, it was quite neatly organized.
It was as if the person who had been staying here had only eaten and slept in front of the monitor for a long time and had rushed out without even cleaning up the mess around him.
‘What on earth did he discover?’
And what kind of research did he do that he was isolated here instead of returning to human society?
Being a survivor of Solar City gave a rough idea of the content, but the purpose was difficult to grasp.
Was he trying to control Crystal Blue with the research from Solar City? Or was he trying to eliminate the Crystal Zone after witnessing the city’s destruction?
Either way, the researcher seemed to be no longer of this world, and, fortunately or unfortunately, only soulless data remained here.
Since Return flight was connected to some researchers in Solar City, Mu-hae wondered if this guy was also related to his father’s traces.
Thunk, Mu-hae opened the desk drawer and found all sorts of junk. He found a digital photo frame with half of its functions gone.
The photo showed an ordinary family, slightly larger than the palm of his hand. The top part was not properly printed, so he couldn’t clearly identify their faces, but the man and woman who appeared to be the parents seemed to be smiling.
One short child had a slightly sulky face, as if something didn’t please him. Another boy wrapped his arm around his shoulder with an awkward smile.
〈If you had eaten that candy back then, Sasha, your front teeth in the picture would have been blue.〉
The simple phrase written below made it easy to imagine the moment the photo was taken.
Oh. Mu-hae ended up seeing the longing of someone who was already gone. Jin Mu-hae turned the frame upside down and put it back deep in the drawer.
“I want to see too.”
“What are you going to do with it?”
Joo-oh’s head popped in between Mu-hae’s arms. The round back of his head filled his vision, and he almost rubbed it habitually.
“Ow. You hit me.”
“I didn’t hit you.”
Mu-hae pushed his head to the side as if throwing it, and Joo-oh grumbled. The fact that he specifically used the expression “hit” was probably a signal for him to touch him, but, unfortunately, Mu-hae wasn’t in the mood right now.
Mu-hae thoroughly searched the remaining drawers and finally found a small electronic chip. It was attached to a uniquely shaped connector, which seemed to be for plugging into the hardware in the living room.
Ding-!
As expected. When he touched the connector to the case with lines attached, a new folder appeared.
The file names, consisting only of twelve-digit numbers, seemed to indicate the date and time. That was twenty-some years ago.
Jin Mu-hae estimated the time of Return flight’s downfall and opened the text file. Along with various codes, he found a record of a conversation between two people.
[Speaker “West Wind” time=auto] chat “I apologize for the delayed contact, Dmitri. I don’t know if the news has reached you there, but there has been a very complicated situation. To give you the conclusion,
Return flight
no longer exists. Considering the realistic barriers, I would like to express that this is the best course of action.”
[Speaker “Dmitri” time=auto] chat “What on earth happened? We are constantly updating the experiments you requested. It’s not a complete success, but the reaction of Crystal Blue is gradually improving as well. The world we are looking at is not a distant future anymore. Can I speak with the head of Return flight?”
[Speaker “West Wind” time=auto] chat “Unfortunately, you cannot contact him. It is Central’s decision. It was dismantled in the quietest and most peaceful way possible, but that doesn’t mean Return flight has completely avoided the consequences.”
[Speaker “Dmitri” time=auto] chat “I see…”
[Speaker “Dmitri” time=auto] chat “But aren’t you also a member of Central?”
[Speaker “West Wind” time=auto] chat “We can discuss the research through this channel. I will contact you again after the situation calms down.”
[Speaker “Dmitri” time=auto] chat “The media in Goryeo City is quiet. I heard about Return flight through the grapevine. Some researchers were conducting unauthorized experiments and threatening the city’s safety. That’s the extent of the rumors going around. My comrades and I have been cooperating with Return flight for years. We have the right to hear the details.”
[Speaker “Dmitri” time=auto] chat “Hello.”
[Speaker “Dmitri” time=auto] chat “Hello. Are you there?”
[Speaker “Dmitri” time=auto] chat “Hello.”
[Speaker “Dmitri” time=auto] chat “Oh. So you really are ignoring me like a freshman abandoning a collaborative project and running away.”
.
.
.
[Speaker “West Wind” time=auto] chat “It’s been a while, Dmitri. There have been several politically difficult situations. We are walking on thin ice every day. We did not ignore your hard work and run away, but we deeply apologize for the indefinite wait.”
[Speaker “Dmitri” time=auto] chat “Ah.”
[Speaker “Dmitri” time=auto] chat “Finally.”
[Speaker “West Wind” time=auto] chat “The leaders of Return flight could not avoid punishment, but they managed to preserve some of the foundation they had built. However, it is difficult to move beyond that for now. We will aim for the future.”
[Speaker “Dmitri” time=auto] chat “We are also taking risks. Do you know the surveillance system of Solar City? I thought you knew why we can’t even try to form a group like Return flight and recruit promising talents, and why we decided to cooperate with your research.”
[Speaker “West Wind” time=auto] chat “I apologize again. We can continue to exchange information about the research.”
[Speaker “Dmitri” time=auto] chat “I don’t know. My comrades are still trying to contact General Jin, but I have decided to take an independent route. No information will be transmitted through this channel anymore. We will find the place where the sun rises ourselves.”
[Speaker “West Wind” time=auto] chat “I will tell you more details when the situation improves. Please contact me anytime if you change your mind.”
[Speaker “Dmitri” time=auto] chat “I don’t know if the message is still being transmitted. Everything is gone. However, I have salvaged some of the research of my former comrades while wandering through the ruins, so please contact me if you are interested.”
[Speaker “West Wind” time=auto] chat “It’s been a while, Dmitri. I’m glad you escaped safely.”
[Speaker “Dmitri” time=auto] chat “It would take too long to explain in detail. Simply put, Solar City banned researchers from going on business trips and traveling a few months ago, and I secretly left the city for personal research.”
[Speaker “Dmitri” time=auto] chat “Currently, I am enduring this tragedy by burning despair with endless anger. Return flight is gone, but I need your help. It seems that you are the only one of the four former leaders who can be properly contacted.”
[Speaker “West Wind” time=auto] chat “This channel has security issues. I will contact you again in a different way.”
The date of the last file name was a few months after the Solar City tragedy.
Jin Mu-hae carefully examined the records of each language and focused on the title “West Wind.”
An extremely Return flight-like naming. And the information that he was one of the “four former leaders.”
Suddenly, the log he saw at the Jaegang District hideout flashed through his mind. The trivial conversations of the young and cheerful reformers vividly came to life before his eyes.
His father, Director Gil, and Teacher Jung. There was one more participant among them. Could the existence whose records were all erased beyond recognition be this “West Wind”?
‘Hmm, you see. I said that the three of us became the mainstays of this project. But you don’t seem to have any questions about that part?’
From what Director Gil said on the day he first accessed his father’s records to the conversation of the stranger clearly displayed on the monitor now.
All the information fit together like a puzzle. His father and his friends were the four leaders. However, after Return flight failed, only West Wind’s traces disappeared.
His father hardly ever talked to Mu-hae in the first place, but there must be a plausible reason why even Teacher Jung and Director Gil pretended not to know a person who had existed.
[But aren’t you also a member of Central?]
Director Gil was from Central, and his father, who was a researcher, also lived in Central if you think about it.
Nevertheless, if West Wind was tied to Goryeo City’s moves and was called a “member of Central,” what level of status did he have?
It was hard to guess, even considering that Return flight was a project made up of various classes.
Mu-hae stared at the air with a stiff face. All sorts of complex assumptions were intertwined like a spider web, causing a headache.
Ding!
At that moment, a clear mechanical sound broke his thoughts and stuck in his ear. He raised his eyebrows at the sudden noise and turned around, only to see Joo-oh avoiding his gaze as if he didn’t know anything.
“Did you just take a picture of me?”
“…The wall. I was taking a picture of the wall.”
“Show me the window.”
“Jin Mu-hae just happened to be in the picture of the wall.”
Joo-oh hurriedly covered his wrist and hid his Link Watch. At Mu-hae’s dumbfounded expression, he mumbled excuses.
“It was a cool scene. I wanted to keep it.”
It was a ridiculous and strange reason as always. He really had a knack for ruining the atmosphere.