Truth
It's a holiday, so after finishing my workout I was just lounging around at home when Athena pushed me to go down to the parking lot. I threw on a cap, slippers, and shorts and headed down to the underground parking lot, and there was a red Ferrari parked next to my cars.
"Whoa... that's a different vibe."
"Would you like to take it for a drive right now?"
"I'm wearing slippers right now, so that's a bit awkward. I'll take it out tomorrow when I go to work."
Still, I figured I should at least start the engine. I sat down in the neatly maintained beige seat and turned the key. A high-pitched V12 sound, completely different from a V8, echoed through the parking lot.
"It sounds great, but why is it so loud? Did the previous owner modify it?"
"Yes, the exhaust has been tuned. They didn't revert it to stock before selling it. This car was in the best condition, so we didn't have much choice."
"Do we have the stock parts?"
"We received them with the purchase and stored them in the office. I can revert it to stock if you'd like."
The sound was good, but it was so loud it hurt my ears.
"Let's revert it. It's a nuisance to other people, and it hurts my ears too."
"Understood. I'll take it to the factory for maintenance and do the reversion work together."
"Should I just change my shoes and go now? I was planning to just go home because I was lazy, but now that I'm sitting here, I feel like driving."
Liam asked for a ride, so I let him sit beside me and we headed to the factory in Hwaseong.
Vrooom—!
Enjoying the V12 exhaust note, we flew down the highway and reached the Hwaseong factory from Seoul in no time.
"It doesn't feel like I was speeding, but it feels like we got here way too fast."
"Probably because the roads were empty."
As Athena finished speaking, the massive door opened, revealing a factory that had changed dramatically.
"It's changed a lot, hasn't it? There are more robots too."
The last time I was here, the factory still bore traces of the previous owner's design, but now almost none of that remained.
"We manufacture most of the materials and other needed items for the house construction here. I also designed and produced these robots. What do you think?"
The robots I saw looked more advanced than the industrial robots that had been revealed a few months ago.
"They look awesome. Should I park the car here?"
I parked on the lift that had been used for the modification last time, and the robots swarmed over it, starting to remove the exhaust tuning and revert it to stock.
"It'll take about an hour. Please go to the break room inside and rest for a bit."
I could see Liam and Eric working on the vehicles, and Carlos and Jacob intently watching the newly developed robots.
I grabbed a drink from the break room and sipped it while observing the completely transformed factory, and soon Athena informed me that the work was done.
"Sorry, everyone. I dragged you out here on your day off."
I pulled some drinks from the break room fridge and tossed them to Jacob and the team members.
"Don't be sorry. This is our job."
Seeing Liam grin, I smiled back, then got into the car and started the engine.
"This is definitely cleaner. No issues during maintenance?"
"Of course not. I've done preventive maintenance on potential problem areas too, so feel free to enjoy it."
Relieved by Athena's assurance, I returned to Seoul, parted ways with the team, and went home.
"What's going on? Why did you suddenly call us all together?"
After parting ways, Liam, who had been resting at home and was summoned by Jacob, asked.
"Strictly speaking, I didn't call you. Well, anyway, take a seat."
The rest of the team looked puzzled but sat down.
"Everyone's here. Let's get started right away."
Athena's voice rang out, and the TV screen in the center of the office lit up.
The screen displayed CCTV footage, internal police reports on an incident, and other documents.
"...What's this?"
Liam, scanning the screen, asked Athena.
"Internal police documents and nearby CCTV footage regarding the car accident that killed the master's parents."
"I knew the boss didn't have parents, but they died in a car accident?"
The team members frowned and exchanged glances.
"The accident itself had no suspicious points. The truck driver was overworked and didn't get enough rest, so he fell asleep at the wheel. In the process, he hit the master's parents, and they died. It's tragic, but it's something that can happen."
As Athena finished speaking, a photo of a destroyed black sedan and a truck with its front crumpled appeared on the screen.
"The truck driver paid his due under the law. The road where the accident happened was a new national highway, so CCTV wasn't densely installed. But when I started investigating in earnest, I found quite a few anomalies."
A newspaper article and a photo of the road from the article appeared.
"Only one article from a local newspaper came out after the accident. Look at the picture — there are skid marks. I secured the photo from the internal police report and ran a simulation. The simulation results show a very high probability that these skid marks were caused by sudden acceleration."
Hearing that, Carlos snapped the pencil he was holding in half.
"...So it was a professional job. Is there anything else?"
"There's a black vehicle captured on the CCTV at the entrance to the national highway just before the accident. After the accident, it passed the accident site, took a side road, and slipped onto another road. The police closed the case saying there were no witnesses. But physically, and looking at the photos from the time of the accident, it's impossible to have passed that scene without seeing it."
"Finally, the truck driver himself is a contradiction. He was short on money and overworked, leading to the accident due to drowsy driving. But a week before the accident, he received a large sum of money from a now-defunct shell company into a hidden account, and after his release from prison, he emigrated. Considering everything, it's reasonable to view this accident as a planned event."
"There really are some filthy people in the world. What do we need to do?"
The team members frowned and asked.
"The detective in charge of the case and the police chief who had command authority over him both died of COVID a few years ago. The master's memory is also not intact, so the information we can uncover is limited. If there's anything we can guess, it's that the master's father worked as a trader in finance, and the securities firm he worked for was investigated for insider trading three years ago and was shaken up."
"Was he involved in that insider trading?"
Jacob, who had been silently frowning, spoke.
"Based on the circumstances, that's highly likely. He might have been killed trying to expose it as a whistleblower."
"First, we should track down that truck driver, right? The people who covered up the incident are already dead. So we need to make the truck driver talk..."
As Liam presented his opinion, Athena provided details.
"After he emigrated to the Philippines, there hasn't been much external activity. He hasn't come to Korea once since emigrating."
"The Philippines... It's a place where you could kill someone and no one would know."
Liam's usual lazy expression disappeared, and his eyes changed as he muttered.
"Athena. When are you going to report this to the boss?"
Eric, who had been quietly listening, asked Athena.
"There's no benefit in telling the master now. We need to first uncover the full story and then decide whether to report it or cover it up ourselves."
"I agree. He was shocked enough to lose his memory completely. If he finds out about this, who knows what might happen. We need to be prepared to cover some of this up ourselves."
When Jacob said that, everyone nodded in agreement.
"The problem is we're way too short on personnel. If we poke the wrong place, it could lead to physical confrontation, and we can't exactly leave the boss's security unmanned, can we?"
Eric raised the issue, and the heated atmosphere cooled down.
"We need to recruit some additional personnel. Originally, I planned to create two teams including you all, but we scaled back."
"Ah, so that's why there are two vehicles?"
Liam had thought it was odd that there were two Escalades prepared but only one team.
"Correct. I said we needed a recruitment point to prepare for what's to come, and an opportunity has come."
"It's been a while since I've been to the US. But how did you find this out?"
Carlos, still fuming even after breaking the pencil, asked.
"A few days ago, the master was drinking and brought up his mother, so I looked into it as a side project, and this background was hidden. Anyway, Liam and Carlos, please go to the US. If Liam says he's going to visit his mother, the master won't suspect anything."
"Understood. Have you already chosen the people to recruit?"
"No. We'll have to search from now on. Do you have any recommendations?"
Jacob, who had introduced Carlos and Liam, thought for a moment and then spoke regretfully.
"These guys are the last people I know. Still, if you search, you might at least recognize the names."
"You're going to visit your mother?"
When I arrived at the office, Liam asked if he could go to the US.
"Yes. I haven't seen her in a few months, and I want to check if she's doing okay."
His mother was old, so he must be worried.
"I'll arrange a private jet for you. Are you going alone?"
"I was planning to go with Carlos. I thought I could also handle some recruitment while I'm at it."
Last night, Athena said she wanted to recruit a few more members, so I told her to go ahead. It seemed Liam was planning to handle that while he was in the US.
Maybe I don't need to go?
"You don't need to go all the way to the US. Just compile a list and pass it over, and I'll handle bringing them in."
"If you need help finding people, just let me know. I'll head to the US immediately."
Still, just in case, I figured I should prepare so they could depart immediately.
"The others know too, right?"
"Yes, we've already informed them."
"Alright. Take care, Liam."
At my words, Liam bowed his head and left.
"Take care."
I saw Jacob pat Liam on the shoulder.
"Don't worry. I'll bring back some good ones."