Chapter 34: Safety Zone (4)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 34: Safety Zone (4)
"There. Check it yourself."
Seira logged into her account, pulled up the window so I could browse the data, and stepped aside. I sat in her chair and began reviewing records dating back twenty years, to when we first arrived on Earth.
The sheer volume of data accumulated over such a long period was staggering. I had to flip through pages for quite a while to reach the records from twenty years ago. Seira stood beside me, staring intently as I clicked the mouse to navigate the screens.
"You're in charge of Hunter Killer, aren't you?"
"Yeah."
"Then why are you looking for old records on Superhumans instead of data on their combat power? Why?"
I could have ignored her, but since she had lent me her account, I figured it was best to give her some sort of reason.
"I've spent too much time looking at combat data. I don't really know much about the public perception of Superhumans—how much influence they actually have on society right now."
"Then you can just look at recent data. You have access to that yourself."
"Since I'm at it, I wanted to look through everything from the beginning."
Seira sat down next to me and watched the screen. Eventually, I reached the page containing the very first records regarding Superhumans. Realizing it would take quite a while to check everything, I let out a sigh.
The first entry was about the emergence of Superhumans. It recorded how the Spacetro forces were defeated by the first Superhuman to appear in the United States and noted that the public at the time was extremely favorable toward them.
"Do you know anything about this?"
Unlike me, Seira held the position of Team Leader. I asked because I figured she would have access to far more information than I did.
"I know the recent stuff well enough, but for records this old, you have to see them for yourself to know the details."
A wise answer to a foolish question. Since she knew I was looking for historical data, asking if she knew anything about twenty-year-old information wouldn't yield much. Moreover, Seira wasn't a Team Leader at the Seoul Branch back then, so there was no way she would know the specifics.
As I flipped through the pages, I found the record of the first Superhuman to appear in Korea. Similarly, Spacetro had been defeated, and the public's reaction had been positive.
"This is a bit different from what I thought."
I had assumed people never had a favorable view of Superhumans, but surprisingly, many were supportive in the early days. I found the reason in the very next set of records.
"The Earthlings saw the Superhumans as their hope."
When they first appeared, Superhumans were beings with physical capabilities far superior to normal humans, and they carried the expectations of many. It was less than a year after the Spacetro invasion began, and the people of Earth believed they would be able to drive us out in no time.
"Look at this."
Seira spoke while pointing at a specific file. I clicked on the document her finger indicated.
It was a record accompanied by an article from when negative public opinion regarding Superhumans first surfaced.
"The Earth Defense Union is an alliance formed by various nations joining hands, with the primary goal of opposing Spacetro. However, concerned that the battle against Spacetro may become prolonged, the funds provided to them will be paid from each nation's taxes to ensure the stable operation of the Earth Defense Union. What is this?"
That was the gist of it. Originally, money was paid to each branch group of the Union using the Earth Defense Union's own budget. But as the war dragged on, the payment method shifted from a unified budget to the taxes of individual nations.
Just reading it made me wonder why. Every country has a different culture and different values; who could such a decision possibly satisfy?
Technically, the budget used by the Union was also funded by each nation, which in turn came from the citizens' taxes. However, publishing an article stating that they were being paid directly from national taxes was an act of pouring gasoline on a quiet fire.
Public opinion began to sour from that point on. The excuse was that they needed to maintain the stable operation of the Earth Defense Union because they feared a prolonged conflict, but this change in the budget happened only two years after the Spacetro invasion began.
"Wait a second."
While examining the budget issues, I discovered a list of Superhumans assigned to each region and noticed something strange.
"This... it keeps changing?"
It seemed Seira had found the same thing.
For nearly fifteen years after Superhumans first appeared, the members were being replaced as frequently as every week, or at most, every month.
"Check the articles from five years ago."
Seira, who had just been watching, seemed to have caught a spark of interest and began actively checking the data. I followed her lead and looked through the records from five years ago. What I found was a record concerning the youngest Superhuman.
Five years ago, a Superhuman who was fourteen years old by Korean reckoning appeared at a duel site for the first time. The records stated he possessed physical abilities far superior to previous Superhumans. And that Superhuman's name was still on the list today.
"Do you know how Superhumans first appeared?"
"No. There are no external records on that part at all, so we still haven't figured it out."
I had experienced many things in the twenty years since coming to Earth, and I had seen various Superhumans since being deployed to the Seoul Branch, but I had zero information on how they first came to be. Even Seira, a Team Leader, knew nothing about it.
"Let's organize this for a moment."
I opened a text file and began summarizing the data we had confirmed so far.
Twenty years ago, the same year Spacetro invaded Earth, Superhumans appeared for the first time. Nothing is known about the circumstances of their emergence.
For nearly fifteen years, the members were constantly replaced within short periods. This frequent rotation only subsided five years ago.
The funds paid to Superhumans originally came from the Earth Defense Union's budget. However, in the second year of the Spacetro invasion, the payment method was changed to draw from the taxes of the respective nations where the Superhumans were stationed, citing concerns over a prolonged war.
And that was exactly when public opinion on Superhumans turned sour.
"Tax thieves, huh."
Once their pay started coming from taxes, the public began denouncing them as tax thieves. The reasoning seemed to be that despite the ongoing conflict with Spacetro, they couldn't completely drive out the invaders and were essentially living off the people's money.
"It's not really our place to say as invaders, but they're being pretty harsh to the people who stepped up to protect them."
As if reading my mind, Seira chimed in from the side. I nodded in agreement and continued checking the records.
"Monsters. They've completely drawn a line, treating them as alien beings different from themselves."
Dissatisfaction with the Superhumans turned into anger, which gradually morphed into loathing. There were records of countless malicious comments on the occasional articles that appeared about them.
"These records almost disappear halfway through, don't they?"
Negative articles and data gradually vanished. Looking at the records from that period, I initially felt that public opinion had quieted down and was slowly improving. However, as I reviewed the data further, I realized it was different from what I had thought.
The public had simply lost interest in them. The battles between the Superhumans and Spacetro always followed the same pattern. The media, which craved provocative topics and stories that could pique interest, no longer cared about the Superhumans. Seeing us constantly appearing in the city, the people's sense of alarm had also vanished.
Every time, we fought in wide-open spaces without causing collateral damage, caused no casualties, and created no negative social issues. This perception of Spacetro had been fixed for several years.
In this situation, the Superhumans—who appeared unable to drive Spacetro out while seemingly just collecting tax money—remained eyesores in the minds of the people, even if they weren't being featured in the media.
"This is a troublesome planet. This place, too."
"Is it just here? Everywhere was troublesome. It's just that this is the first time a conflict has been this prolonged, so it feels unfamiliar."
Seira was right. Every planet we invaded was always full of troublesome things. However, Earth was the first place where the invasion had lasted for twenty years, and we were simply failing to adapt to a shift in public opinion that we had never seen since the start of our conquests.
It was only relatively recently that negative public opinion toward Superhumans began to resurface. After the youngest Superhuman appeared five years ago, a total generational shift took place, and they were the cause of the current negative sentiment.
"Assault, harassment, theft, rape... they've done it all."
Once the generation changed, the Superhumans began committing all sorts of crimes within human society. Of course, not all of them were like that. Surely, the Superhumans mentioned in the data I was reading were only a few.
But to the public, the fact that it was only "a few" didn't matter. Several articles had already been published under the headline 'Superhuman,' and the anger toward those who committed criminal acts had spread to the entire group.
"They weren't hiding their identities from us."
Until now, I thought the reason Superhumans lived while hiding their identities in society was to avoid being discovered by Spacetro. While that might not be entirely false, the Superhumans were hiding their identities to avoid being caught by their fellow Earthlings—the ordinary people who weren't Superhumans.
Did they commit crimes because they were loathed, or were they loathed because they committed crimes?
I wasn't sure which came first. Even if there had been a latent hatred for Superhumans within society, committing crimes to this extent was something that only started after the generation changed.
"No."
A short mutter escaped my lips, and Seira, who had been staring at the monitor, turned her eyes toward me.
The hatred for Superhumans had been ongoing, but the people who were replaced within short periods in the past hadn't been driven to such extreme actions. Even if they were driven to the brink, for some reason, they hadn't been able to act on it. If so, what was the reason?
"Wait. Where did all these Superhumans go?"
A fundamental question arose. Before the members stopped being replaced—where did the Superhumans from the era when members changed constantly go?
"There are no articles, and no data released from our side either."
Even if there was data, it only stated that their whereabouts were unknown.
"Aren't they dead?"
At Seira's words, I felt my heart skip a beat. What if all the Superhumans who were constantly replaced for some reason were dead? Then just how many Superhumans had died over the last twenty years? And why were they killed?
I am an invader, but I am not a demon. Though I come from another planet, as a human being, I am someone who feels anger and disgust at the thought of humans killing humans.
"What if they didn't die, but there was a limit to the time those Superhumans could remain active?"
"Like tools?"
She voiced the words I had hesitated to say, her gaze cold. Still, it was better to have it stated clearly like this. It helped during the investigation phase.
"There's no data on this, and nothing will come of us just making up hypotheses. Let's just look for what's in the records."
Before I knew it, three hours had passed since I started scouring the data. Feeling the fatigue, I stood up and stretched.
Since it was late, I figured it was time to head home. As I stood, Seira stared at me intently.
"I'm heading out. Can I borrow your account again tomorrow?"
"I don't mind lending it to you, but what on earth are you trying to do by finding out all this?"
"Just some research."
"You're better off doing nothing."
For a moment, I almost let out a sharp, annoyed retort. The reason I felt uncomfortable around Seira was that we were peers and old friends, yet there was a gap in our ranks. But in truth, there was a bigger reason. It was that phrase.
It was something she had always said to me since the days we were fresh recruits in the academy.
At first, I brushed it off as a joke, but as it persisted, it eventually became a trigger for my irritation.
"Unfortunately, I have the kind of personality where I get restless if I stay still. I'll be back tomorrow."
I gave a brief farewell and left her room, making sure not to show my annoyance. Standing in front of the elevator, I went over the data I had just confirmed once more in my head.
Why do the Superhumans have to be treated like this?
I'll say it again: to me, Superhumans and ordinary people are both just Earthlings. Of course, racial discrimination exists on every planet, but I had never seen a specific 'race' being discriminated against and loathed to this extent. Why hadn't I noticed the reactions of the people when we fought in the city? Had they been casting gazes full of loathing at the Hunter Killer members even during the battles?
There was no point in dwelling on a problem that wouldn't yield an immediate conclusion.
Some say the answer comes if you keep thinking, but not right now. Only more solid and clear data would provide the answer; everything I thought of on my own was merely a hypothesis.
When I stepped out of the building, the cool summer night air greeted me. I couldn't remember the last time the weather had been this pleasant in the middle of summer.
Feeling like a walk, I headed somewhere other than the station. As I walked, I remembered encountering Green in the park the other day.
I found myself wondering. I knew it probably wasn't the case, but could Green be in the park again?
With that thought, I walked for about ten minutes and arrived at the park. There, I found Green sitting on a bench under a streetlamp in the exact same posture as last time, staring at the trees.
The first thought that came to my mind was: what kind of loathing does she face, what kind of treatment does she receive, and with what heart does she carry out her activities as a member of Hunter Killer?
As I stood still at the park entrance watching her, Green felt my gaze and turned her head. Our eyes met.
"Hello."
I bowed my head in response to her greeting, spoken in a gentle voice, and approached her.
"You were here last time, too. I guess you haven't gone home?"
"Of course I did. I just came out again."
I watched her as she smiled and responded to my lame joke, and then I noticed a bruise on her left cheek. A bruise that hadn't been there when we met just two days ago. It wasn't an injury sustained during a duel. Then where on earth...?