As Long as It's Not Me
Led by Inaeun, the prosecutors pressed forward relentlessly even after entering the building. The enemy put up some resistance, but their biggest problem was lacking implants that could cancel or detect optical camouflage and sonic shielding. And that made sense—optical camouflage and sonic shielding were technologies used on multi-billion-won aircraft and warships. It was absurd for some random businessman to have countermeasures against them.
"What do we do with those who surrender?"
"Execute them without exception."
"…Even if they surrender?"
"Yes. That's the only way to make sure no one even dreams of testing us. No cooperating with the investigation, no resistance."
"…Understood for now."
At Inaeun's command, the massacre under the guise of "execution" began. Terminator whooshes echoed throughout the building, followed each time by screams ripping through the air without fail. It was like stepping into the gates of hell.
"I-I surrender…!! Surrender! I said surrender!!!!"
Prosecutor Inaeun stepped into the hallway and spotted a man groveling like a fly, tears and snot streaming down his face. His pathetic display might inspire momentary disgust, but it was a desperate wail that could break anyone's will to fight.
However—
Thwang!—!
She pulled the trigger without a second's hesitation.
"G-Gaaahhh!!!!"
Flesh exploded, and the scream echoed like a reverberation.
"Ughhh!!! Uwaaaahhh!!!!"
The hallway wall shattered as a hail of bullets poured in.
"!"
Whoosh.
She accelerated her already blinding speed, reaching the far end of the hallway in an instant. A beat later, the bullet storm followed.
Thud.
She kicked off the opposite wall, flipping her body around. And aimed.
Beyond the nearly crumbled wall, a man gripped a heavy machine gun. His terrified face twisted as he sprayed bullets wildly. If he just aimed a bit farther to the end, he could've hit her—but unfortunately, he had no idea where she was.
'If you don't know, you die.'
Thwang!—!
A thick tracer line.
"Gaaahhh!!!!"
The man tore apart with a scream.
+++
Screech!
Journalist Yoon Ha-young floored the accelerator in a panic, causing a minor accident, and arrived at the scene a bit late.
"Please don't let me be too late~~~!"
She got out of the car and called Prosecutor Inaeun.
"Ugh…?!"
She immediately clamped her mouth shut against the rising nausea. The acrid stench of blood assaulted her nose, churning her stomach.
"Wh-what the…?"
Clatter clatter clatter!
"Hurry and load 'em!"
"Gotta sample DNA before the tissue degrades!"
"Forensics!! Over here!"
"More over there too!!"
Dream First. A respectable company that had succeeded enough to build a 10-story headquarters, but now the pristine building was half-collapsed, riddled with holes everywhere. Blood and flesh chunks were splattered wildly across the grounds. White-coated, masked figures and stretcher-bearers darted busily between them, while four medical AVs hovered overhead.
"…."
A passing stretcher held something unrecognizable. A texture of mashed flesh.
"…."
Her brain processed it. That used to be a 'person.'
"Urk!!"
A beat late, realization hit, and she bolted behind a wall, truly vomiting this time.
"Urp! Uweeeck!!"
She spewed everything from breakfast—and even last night's dinner.
"…Yoon Ha-young, journalist?"
Someone spotted her and approached.
"Oh my god… You okay?"
The woman kindly patted her back and checked on her.
"U-ugh…."
Having emptied her guts, Yoon Ha-young finally lifted her head. She wiped her mouth with the tissue the woman offered.
"Th-thanks… What the hell happened…."
"Oh… that? 'Execution.' By the prosecutors."
"Exe…cution…?"
She knew what it meant when prosecutors showed up with Terminators for "execution." Strictly speaking, Terminator executions had an "arrest" mode (anesthetic), but "execution" usually meant shredding the target completely in Terminator mode. Those overflowing flesh chunks were the result.
"Brutal, right? The blood stench."
"How many… died?"
"Well… We're still tallying that up… Haha…."
"…."
So many they couldn't even count yet.
"Did Prosecutor Inaeun order it?"
"Yeah. She's something else. How can she even give that order?"
"…?"
Yoon Ha-young tilted her head at the barbed words. The woman in front of her had seemed favorable toward Inaeun, but now there was clear hostility.
"No exceptions, even for surrenders. That's how you make sure they never test you again."
"No exceptions?"
"Yep. Not a single survivor."
"…."
"Even if they barricaded with guns… there had to be at least a hundred fifty inside."
Yoon Ha-young gazed at the building beyond the fence. It looked abandoned for 20 years—utterly devastated, with blood and flesh dripping from the outer walls in spots. Every window shattered, of course.
She felt a chill. No matter how upright their pursuit of justice, was this right? Massacred en masse just for suspected sex bribes and refusing to cooperate?
If Prosecutor Inaeun thought so, what the hell was her idea of justice?
"Sigh… What brings you here, anyway? Prosecutor said outsiders should stay away—too dangerous."
"Ah! Well…."
"Looks like you have business with me."
Prosecutor Inaeun appeared, showing her phone's call history.
"…I'll head out then."
The woman gave a curt nod and brushed past Inaeun.
One might expect confusion at the shift from friendliness to disdain and hostility, but Inaeun seemed utterly unfazed.
"What brings you all the way out here?"
"…Prosecutor."
Face-to-face with Inaeun, Yoon Ha-young hesitated. She was scared to speak. Afraid her ominous imaginings… her delusions… might become reality.
Inaeun spoke first.
"You came rushing here, so I guess you've finally confirmed it. Rainbow Miracle."
"!!"
"No choice. No evidence. Can't judge on suspicion alone."
"Suspicion… isn't enough to judge…?"
Yoon Ha-young glanced away. At the half-destroyed building, the smeared blood and flesh. The chunks still being rushed onto stretchers. Her nose still stung with the metallic reek.
"…."
Isn't this suspicion too? Suspected sex bribes, stormed for investigation, resisted and barricaded—so executed with Terminators. What's that if not judging on suspicion?
If you're gonna do that anyway, why not Rainbow—
'….'
She halted her thoughts. Her brain felt polluted. Filth invading her mind.
Yoon Ha-young bit her lip and bowed her head.
"I can't make sense of it… This scene, Rainbow Miracle…."
"…."
"Or myself, imagining it'd be better if you'd executed Rainbow Miracle instead."
"You're conflicted, huh."
"If suspicion alone isn't enough for Rainbow Miracle, doesn't that make the Terminator system flawed from the start? Especially this scene today."
Inaeun inhaled deeply and gazed at the sky.
"Air here's too foul, isn't it?"
"Pardon?"
"Let's talk inside. This'll take a while."
"…."
"Wait in the camp. I just need to hit the bathroom."
Yoon Ha-young stared at Inaeun with a troubled expression, hesitated, then turned toward the camp.
+++
The phone rang. Caller: Prosecutor Inaeun.
"What's up."
"Suddenly?"
"…She learned Rainbow Miracle's cleared?"
…?
Oh! Right…!
Damn, my head's a mess. Forgot about that.
'The reason Yoon Ha-young latched on was Rainbow Miracle from the start. Of course she'd freak if she learned they're cleared….'
I'd leaked the no-indictment list without thinking that far ahead….
Blame the chaos. Trying to juggle everything at once causes screw-ups like this.
'At least it's a screw-up on the side that doesn't matter much.'
"What's her exact state."
"What kinda report is that."
"Yeah? So what does our special prosecutor want to do?"
"She's your toy, not mine."
"You're my toy. Speak. What do you want to do with her."
She moaned for a moment, then—