Geocaching #7: The Mirror's Edge
"Looks like we've got one double bed and two twins. I can't for the life of me understand why they'd adopt such a complicated system."
"I agree, ma'am."
The result of that complicated system. It meant this situation had been inevitable from the moment we booked the double room.
Why the difference between double and twin? Did I really have to share a bed with the stunning Jaaldi? Was I doomed to lie here counting long-haired Spandal in my head the whole night?
The fate forced upon me felt unbearably cruel. Even the Vampire Angel Geuhanak would surely sympathize.
"There's no helping it, Chief. How about we settle it with rock-paper-scissors? Loser takes the floor."
I made the reasonable suggestion.
"Hmm. It's a bit awkward, but since it's a two-person bed anyway, it doesn't matter. We can't afford any operational issues, so we might as well get proper rest. Lie down. If I'd been worried about that sort of thing, I would've booked separate rooms in the first place."
She had a point.
Besides, we were in the middle of an operation. No need to nitpick over trivialities.
"Understood. You're right—there's no point deliberately making ourselves uncomfortable. I'll just think of it as combat sleeping."
Combat sleeping meant recovering your condition as quickly as possible through aggressive rest. Contrary to the name, it didn't involve thrashing around violently on the bed.
"Good. Get some sleep. We've got a lot to do tomorrow."
"Have a comfortable night, ma'am."
"...What? That bizarre tone and greeting?"
"Ah, that's how everyone talks in the military. 'Good work,' 'Enjoy your meal'—all the set phrases. The tone's pretty much standardized like this."
I'd deliberately used military-style speech to lighten the mood, and it worked perfectly.
"I've never been in the military, so I wouldn't know, but it does feel a little strange."
"Heh heh, there's no group quite as strange as that one."
"Right... Anyway, just in case, this stays between us. Don't go telling anyone later. It could cause unnecessary misunderstandings."
"Of course."
Misunderstandings like that would be troublesome.
"..."
Still, sharing a space with a superior really did bring back memories of the army. Of course, the barracks had only been filled with men, and instead of beds there'd been old lockers and worn-out cots. This was the complete opposite.
I closed my eyes.
...
I could hear Jaaldi's breathing beside me.
At least she didn't snore. I couldn't imagine Jaaldi snoring.
As I counted long-haired Spandal in my head, I thought back on the conversation we'd had today. It had left a deep impression on me.
Even though I'd called it combat sleeping, I hadn't managed to sleep properly. How could I, sharing a bed with someone like Jaaldi?
I felt exhausted.
We woke early, quickly finished our preparations, and checked out. We weren't here to sightsee, so there was no time to dawdle.
I got into the passenger seat right away.
"..."
As we began the day in earnest, yesterday's thoughts continued.
The Bureau and the Fake Bureau had similarities. They were structured that way from the start.
I'd thought the Fake Bureau was a ghost story born from public perception—black-suited agents who suddenly appeared and dragged away anyone who learned their secrets. Those kinds of stories had existed for a long time.
But this incident had changed my mind.
This wasn't a simple parallel world. Out of all the countless parallel worlds, only the Bureau had been replaced? There had to be something more to it. Besides, the Fake Bureau agents crossed the barrier between these parallel worlds far too easily.
These two worlds were clearly connected. Closely connected.
Like a mirror.
In that case... was the world where the Fake Bureau existed ultimately just a ghost story spun off from our own?
Personally, I hoped that hypothesis was correct.
Because if it wasn't, then the opposite would be true—that our side was the "Fake Bureau ghost story" derived from their Bureau.
—Click.
Jaaldi got into the driver's seat.
"You're here, ma'am."
"Yes."
"I've been thinking about what we discussed yesterday."
"Go on."
"If our Bureau were to invade this world and wipe out the Fake Bureau, I'd welcome it. That's something we obviously have to do."
Everyone would agree with that.
"But detonating a nuclear bomb? Even after sleeping on it, it still doesn't make sense. And this is a parallel world, isn't it? Not just any parallel world, but a very strange one. Look—our cards still work, and the IDs we registered on the internet are all usable."
That had been one of the surprises since arriving here.
Our IDs logged in just fine.
Our cards all processed payments.
The only thing missing was our Bureau.
Everything else felt like a copy.
It meant this wasn't a simple parallel world, but one deeply intertwined with ours.
"What you're saying is simple. If we detonate a nuclear bomb here, there's a high chance something similar would happen in our world too. Isn't that right?"
Jaaldi, who had been listening quietly, nodded.
"High chance indeed."
"Right?"
"This place is clearly deeply connected to our world. The fact that the cards work makes your hypothesis very likely."
So a nuclear bomb was out of the question.
"In the end, everything comes down to verification. Our agents are the ones who work on that verification. Rash actions only invite disaster. Think of the nuclear bomb I mentioned as just one possible method among many."
"Yes, ma'am."
"Verification, no matter what. The points of connection between this place and our world. And the true nature of the people in this world. We need to verify those things."
If the people in this world were confirmed to be real humans, they would fall under the Bureau's protection.
"But how do we verify that?"
"Well... there are probably several ways."
What?
"But even those methods only become valid once we find a way to return."
When I tilted my head, Jaaldi explained.
"If we cause something to happen in this world first, then check whether the same thing occurs in our world after we return..."
"Ah! Then we could confirm the connection between the two worlds!"
"Exactly. If they're connected, then something like a nuclear bomb wouldn't even be worth considering."
Not even worth considering was a relief.
But in truth, those words also meant that if they weren't connected, it could be used without issue.
Just as I was about to say something about that—
"Of course, even if they're not connected, we won't recklessly use such extreme methods. As I said, whether the people in this world are real humans or not is also important. If they are human, we protect them. That is our duty."
"That's true."
"But if they're anomalies, there's no room for mercy."
"That's correct."
It was. Still... they seemed so vividly human.
If they really were anomalies, did that mean they were anomalies that resembled humans to an extreme degree? In that case, distinguishing between real and fake would be close to meaningless.
Either way, I would keep thinking about this problem.
And when the decisive moment came, I would have to choose.
"But no matter what we do, we need to find a way to come and go first."
"That's the biggest problem, really."
"Exactly."
"The Fake Bureau agents seem to know how. Following them might not be a bad idea."
"Good thinking."
Anomalies occurred, and the Fake Bureau appeared. If we tailed the ones here, we might figure out their method.
More than anything, I wanted to know about Jin-seop.
Why was he in the Fake Bureau, living in this world? If I could have an honest conversation with him, a lot of questions would be answered.
How could I create that opportunity?
We'd supposedly split souls during the Giant Apocalypse, but that had been in that world, not this loop.
Jin-seop and I were complete strangers to each other. We even belonged to hostile organizations—a rather extreme version of Romeo and Juliet.
I thought about how to make contact with Jin-seop.
For now, what we did was simple.
We parked the car near the Fake Bureau building and kept watch.
We had no leads and no support from headquarters. Since we were isolated in another world, we had to start with the basics.
It looked like Grong and Jaaldi were going to be spending quite a lot of time alone in the car together.
"By the way, Chief? You seem to snack a lot more than I expected."
"You're the one who keeps buying things. Since it's here, I eat it."
I'd noticed it back at the rest stop—she really did eat well.
"If you say so. Anyway, we can see the fake agents coming and going, but picking a target to tail seems like the real issue."
"No need to rush. Observe slowly and then act."
"Slowly, huh. Everyone's probably worried by now."
"That part is a bit concerning. Still, as long as we make it back in the end, it'll be fine."
They were probably very worried by now.
Especially Spandal.
"Either way, keep an eye on the ones who look like they're heading out on operations."
"Yes, ma'am."
The ones going on operations would be the key.
They were probably the ones planning to invade our world.
If there were any clues about dimensional travel, we'd find them there.
"We really did come here to play treasure hunt and ended up in all sorts of trouble."
"I'm keeping that in mind too. It's possible geocaching itself is the trigger. I'll check it next time."
"Understood."
For now, the Fake Bureau was the more pressing matter.
"Chief, why do you think the fake agents keep invading our world? They show up especially often where anomalies occur."
"That's something I'm wondering about too. During operations, we run into Fake Bureau agents at a fairly high frequency."
The two organizations were at war.
That meant plenty of clashes.
"This is what I've thought until now."
Jaaldi leaned back against the seat.
"These ghost story agents tend to believe they're out doing their jobs. The vampire incident is a perfect example. They thought they'd been ordered to eliminate the vampires and incinerate any civilians who might be infected—all for the sake of humanity."
"That's right."
Just like the nurses in the ghost story hospital believed they were providing care, these ghost story agents were operating under the belief that they were carrying out a mission.
Roughly speaking, that was the idea.
"I thought this was just part of the ghost story phenomenon's setting. But seeing that they have a headquarters in this parallel world, I can't dismiss them as mere ghost stories anymore. They clearly have a chain of command and were actually carrying out missions."
My thoughts were similar.
"So they're not a ghost story phenomenon, but a real organization from another world."
"Yes. For such beings to deliberately invade our world... there are a few possibilities."
What?
"Grong, you mentioned before that people sometimes cross into parallel worlds without realizing it, triggered by chance."
"Yes."
"What if anomalies from our world could cross into this world as well?"
Anomalies crossing over?
"They go in first and eliminate them before they arrive. Wouldn't that be a reasonable thought?"
"Ah! Of course! It's better to fight in someone else's world than in your own!"
"Exactly. Well, we'd need to confirm the connection between the two worlds more clearly before we can be sure, but for now, that's one possibility."
They wanted to deal with the anomalies before their own world suffered damage from them.
This hypothesis was quite convincing.
It felt like we were getting closer to the true nature of the Fake Bureau.
Anyway.
While keeping watch, I kept thinking. Then something flashed through my mind.
"That's it, Chief. What if we use anomaly-related incidents?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean we should make use of the anomalies."
My idea was this.
"It's possible that anomalies occur in this world too, not just ours."
"That could be."
"Then if we cause an anomaly, the fake agents might come, right?"
"Oh?"
"Or there are the anomalous spaces the Bureau monitors. You know their locations, Chief. We could go to one of those."
For example, Cheongak Mary Hospital.
If we could enter it in this parallel world as well, it would prove that the same ghost story affected both worlds.
Then maybe we could return to our world through the hospital?
"In other words, using anomalies as a transit point to return to our original world. If we use a place where the escape method has already been figured out, there should be a chance."
"Very sharp."
Had I hit the mark?
"It's dangerous, but it seems valid. It does sound promising."
"Heh heh, I do have my moments."
"Unfortunately... to reach those places, we'd ultimately have to go through Bureau buildings."
"Pardon?"
"When the Bureau determines that an anomalous space occurs at a fixed location, it builds a secret facility there to manage it. The places we looked around yesterday."
"Ah, so that's what those were?!"
"Yes. They sealed off the entry points themselves with buildings."
The Bureau really did think of everything!
"Still."
What else was there?
"Cheongak Mary Hospital. That place wasn't completely controllable, so they didn't build anything over it. No—they couldn't build anything over it."
"Th-then what are you saying?"
Wait a second.
This was starting to feel really ominous.
"If there's a place we can go to right now, well... that would be it."
Jaaldi's eyes changed.
"Cheongak Mary Hospital?!"
"You did make an excellent escape from there as a patient, didn't you?"
"I did, but Chief?!"
The atmosphere was really strange now!
"It wouldn't be a bad idea to pay it a visit."
"Just a moment!"
She wanted to go there?!
No way!
Just as I was about to shout—
"Ah, those guys. They're moving."
We could see Fake Bureau agents boarding a familiar black van in groups.
That van.
It looked like the same model as the one I'd seen when I triggered the Gwan-ster Call at Cheongak Mary Hospital.
Don't tell me.
No way?
