Risk Level 2: Harpy
"Very well. Ung-ssi, please follow me."
"Ah..."
As I tried to stand, Harpy reflexively grabbed the hem of my clothes. I paused for a moment, unsure how to respond to this adorable gesture. After a brief hesitation, I took her hand firmly in mine. Her face slowly flushed red, like a toy doll reacting to a button press. It was oddly endearing.
"I'll be back soon. Can you wait quietly for me?"
"..."
She nodded slowly, loosening her grip on my clothes, but her eyes looked like a puppy watching its owner leave for work. It tugged at my heart. If I ever raised a dog, it would probably feel like this. Her pure, innocent cuteness—something I never saw from Nero—made my hands itch with the urge to fuss over her.
"Then I'll be going."
Forcing my reluctant feet to move, I followed the Management Team Leader into the elevator. She pressed the button for a familiar floor—the Level 4 section, where the President's office was located.
"Is there anything I should know in advance about the outing procedures?"
"No need to be so tense. For containment subjects below Level 4, the process isn't particularly complicated."
"...I see."
"According to the original manual, even if a candidate passes the screening, we'd need approval from the President and all team leaders. However..."
"..."
"As I mentioned, Harpy isn't a high-risk subject. Approval from me, the President, and you—who'll be accompanying her closely—should suffice."
So we were heading to the President's office. Harpy's outing—well, not exactly a date, but still—seemed promising if the Management Team Leader was this optimistic.
"No."
Promising...?
"...I can't help but feel disappointed by how stingy you're being, like you can't even spare a single rice cake you can't eat yourself. Are you jealous watching the two of them get all lovey-dovey? And here I thought you already had a proper girlfriend."
"That's not it."
"That's funny, considering there's a record of you accessing the surveillance camera feed."
"Guh, when did you check that?"
"I was just testing the waters."
The President's uncooperative attitude from the start made our first step stumble. Her reaction was completely different from when she'd asked me to help with Harpy's problem. And "lovey-dovey"? I was only doing my best with what little I had. But Harpy kept reacting so cutely that...
"Then I'll lift the block now. Would you mind repeating exactly what you just said in front of Ung-ssi?"
"No, no no no. There's no need to go that far, is there?"
"Watching you two being all sweet together does make me want to interfere, but even I have to admit this is pretty childish."
All sweet together...
"I told you, that's not it! I just mean that even for low-risk subjects, we should follow the renewal process properly."
"You mean the manual, right?"
"Yeah, whatever. That thing."
The President shamelessly played dumb, propping her feet up on the desk. With an awkward acting tone of "Where's that call coming from...?", she turned her gaze to the panel screen.
"Then I'll take that as the President's approval."
"...Tch."
"I know you're just being sulky. We don't need this much procedure for a Level 2 subject. Ung-ssi, what is the President thinking right now?"
'...'
When the Management Team Leader snapped her fingers lightly, voices from around us began to reach my ears. ...I could hear them. The President had desperately tried to hide her thoughts, but they were audible now.
'Outing... date... sex... In the end, it'll be losing his virginity, right? Are we really going to let that happen...?'
The image of the President—cigar in mouth, arrogant expression and posture perfectly matched, a flawed but still dignified beauty—crumbled away, right after her earlier shameless sexual harassment.
"..."
I didn't know how her train of thought had reached that conclusion, but I'd been backed into a corner.
"So that's how it is... Haah, I suppose we'll need to get that approval after all."
The Management Team Leader was right beside me, and I'd already built some rapport with the Response Team Leader, so I wasn't too worried. I'd already received plenty of help with Harpy's estrus period and other matters. ...There was just one problem. Even though I couldn't actually see the worried expression behind the clown mask, I could somehow sense it—probably for the same reason as her.
"Do we also need the Field Team Leader's approval?"
"Well, yes. During the outing, the field team members will be on standby near Harpy at all times. According to the manual, it's proper to get it."
"..."
"This is going to be troublesome. That ill-mannered fox won't approve so easily."
Regardless of the content, I couldn't imagine her giving a positive response to any request from the Management Team Leader. I'd seen firsthand how bad their relationship was during that last power struggle. ...Besides, she might take out her frustrations on me. After that incident, I hadn't run into her and thought it was for the best—but now I had to go to her first. Harpy's outing... no, her external activity already seemed doomed.
"...Haah."
Though it only delayed the inevitable beating, we'd implicitly agreed to visit the Response Team Leader first. Our steps naturally led to her office. She seemed to have already expected our visit.
"If it's documents you're after, I prepared them over there. I figured you'd come soon, but I didn't expect you this quickly."
As she said, a stack of white documents sat neatly on the shelf near the door.
"Thank you for your cooperation. You want to see Yujeong-ran too, right?"
"I told you, I don't need that."
It took me a moment to process that crude joke. After a short delay, I bowed my head in apology on behalf of the Management Team Leader to the growling Response Team Leader, then carefully gathered the documents bearing her approval.
"There are three copies of the same form? The other two are..."
"For the Management Team Leader and the Field Team Leader. I printed extras in case you asked me to make more."
"Hehe, this is why I like the Response Team Leader. She's efficient, pretty, and reacts well to teasing... What do you think, Ung-ssi? The Response Team Leader's pretty nice too, right?"
"Could you leave out the 'pretty nice' part? Enough joking around. If you have no more business, please leave. I'm busy."
Compared to the Management Team Leader, I could nod without hesitation in my heart. But voicing either agreement or disagreement felt too burdensome, so I simply thanked the Response Team Leader for the natural deflection.
"Ah, what about the favor I asked last time?"
"Favor... Ah, Dora-ssi? I'm still looking. There are so many women called Dora. Dorothy, Doris, Isadora, Aldora, Theodora, Andora... I also have to consider nicknames or aliases."
Dora. That familiar name was definitely the girl Harpy had mentioned. Had the Management Team Leader already asked her for help?
"I'm focusing on medical records from Chesterfield where she lived as a child and the nearest hospital in Miami at the time of the incident... Please wait a little longer."
Following her gesture toward one of the monitors in the lower left, I saw electronic medical records scrolling down, filtering for specific keywords.
"And this is an additional task, so it'll take some time."
"I'll ask as well, then."
Even if the Management Team Leader hadn't, I'd planned to request this myself. I couldn't just stay quiet when things were going well, so I spoke up. But the Response Team Leader, who had briefly lifted her hands from the keyboard and spun her chair around, caught the tail end of my words with a peculiar expression.
Wait a second... was that keyboard between her legs?
"You've been asking for favors quite often lately. You're so casual about it now. I don't think I give off the impression of being that kind, personally."
"...I'm sorry?"
Maybe I shouldn't have spoken up after all? And I think I nodded unconsciously just now.
"No need to apologize. Then let me ask you for a favor in return. I'm off next weekend. I was planning to go shopping—could you carry my bags for me?"
"Of course I can do that much."
Contrary to my expectation of a much more difficult request, the Response Team Leader had asked for something surprisingly simple. I nodded earnestly, including the unconscious nod from earlier. She smiled and turned back to her work, so I felt relieved and followed her gesture to leave the dim office.
"..."
"..."
"I have some business to attend to for a moment..."
Thud.
"Oh, so the new guy these days even grabs his superior's shoulder?"
"...Please, I beg you."
The final hurdle for Harpy's outing still remained.