The Red Queen Hypothesis
The night’s chaos had finally settled, and as we caught our breath, I spoke up.
“There’s no way some random gang knew about the Lish and came after us. They were definitely hired by someone.”
Eileen tilted her head at my words.
“Who? Got any guesses?”
I thought for a moment before answering.
“If it were a corporation, they could’ve just used their own troops. The fact that they went out of their way to hire a gang as a proxy means they needed to hide their identity. At the very least, it’s not Violet Science or their affiliates—they have stakes in Lish. It has to be an outside company with no shares in it.”
Eileen and JL nodded, agreeing that it made sense. I pushed my theory a little further.
“If they were just using a third party for a proxy attack, they could’ve hired more competent mercenaries. The fact that they specifically chose a gang instead…”
They probably didn’t have the money to pay upfront. Maybe they lured the gang in by saying that with Lish, they could make a fortune. Perhaps they even promised to split the profits.
The important point was that whoever commissioned the gang didn’t have the financial power to hire proper mercenaries. That meant we could rule out most major corporations. Given the circumstances, the mastermind behind this attack was far more likely to be an individual than a company.
And right then, one person came to mind.
“Jude.”
“What?”
JL reacted instantly to the name. I explained my reasoning to both Eileen and JL. Eileen kept nodding in agreement, but JL wore a clearly displeased expression.
“They might’ve just needed the sheer numbers a gang could provide. Saying they must be short on cash just because they didn’t hire mercenaries is a pretty extreme leap.”
JL kept insisting that it couldn’t be Jude. As I listened, it became clear he wasn’t so much convinced Jude was innocent as he desperately wanted him to be.
Eventually I shrugged and cut him off.
“Fine. We’ll each investigate on our own, then.”
I had no intention of crushing JL’s hopes and earning his resentment. If that’s what he believed, he could pursue his own leads. Maybe my guess was wrong and JL was right. I couldn’t completely rule that out.
Eileen chose to stay neutral instead of siding with either of us. She said that if she found anything while digging through corporate networks, she’d share it with both of us. JL and I nodded and began investigating in different directions.
JL seemed to be staying with Eileen to comb through corporate networks. I left them to it and stepped out of the hideout.
The air after the fresh rain was unbearably humid. I looked up at the sky, unsure where to even begin. The skyscrapers soaring so high they swallowed the heavens only made the task feel more daunting.
Yet somehow, the sight of that city gave me courage. I decided to tackle the investigation step by step.
After that day, there were no more attacks. Thanks to that, we could continue our investigation smoothly without wasting energy on pointless fights.
The corporate investigation that Eileen and JL were handling didn’t seem to have turned up anything in particular. Of course, there had been plenty of inquiries about Jude after his recent industrial espionage stunt, but there was apparently no mention of anything connected to us. The more we dug, the clearer it became that they weren’t the ones behind the attack.
On the other hand, my own background check on Jude was progressing better than expected. I continued my investigation based on the gangs that had attacked alongside Darius in the past and were now familiar to me. Before long, I noticed something strange: despite being bottom-rung gang members, most of them knew about the top-secret Lish project that corporations had been running in absolute secrecy.
“We only heard it as a rumor so we don’t know the details, but they say just having that would make corporations crawl on their knees. They’re saying it’s worth whatever you ask for it. That’s all we know. So… can you put the gun away now?”
It seemed someone had been deliberately spreading rumors among the gangs, baiting them into attacking us. That meant I needed to track the rumor back to its source.
Starting with the information I’d gotten from the first gang member, I chased the trail of the rumor’s origin, hunting down whoever was behind it. And today was finally the day my week-long investigation would bear fruit.
After thoroughly working my way through the networks of gangs and bars, I learned that Jude had been selling the latest information on Lish. I followed a small-time gang that was dealing with him this time and discovered their negotiation spot on the outskirts of the city.
I decided to hide nearby and strike at the right moment during the transaction. The basics of any attack were always a preemptive strike, after all.
Time flowed on, and before I knew it, the day of the deal had arrived.
In the quiet early dawn, with clouds covering the moon, suspicious figures slipped into an alley that reeked of rot. I had been waiting nearby in advance. I followed Jude and what appeared to be his bodyguard.
I stopped at the corner of the alley where they were supposed to make contact with the other party.
Hoo.
I took a deep breath and carefully peered into the alley where they had gathered.
Across from Jude and his bodyguard stood about three other people. They were probably low-level grunts who didn’t even know they were working for a gang. I gripped the pistol inside my coat and watched the situation unfold.
I couldn’t quite make out what they were saying to each other. Maybe the noisy outdoor AC unit nearby was drowning them out. Since no goods had been exchanged for quite a while, I was starting to feel suspicious.
Suddenly, something sliced through the loud hum of the AC unit.
I instinctively twisted my body and dodged. A blade swept through the exact spot where I had been standing. To be precise, an alloy blade stored in someone’s forearm had nearly cut me in half.
I quickly raised my pistol and pulled the trigger. But another figure sprang out from my blind spot. He too had an alloy blade mounted in his arm.
“Guh!”
In a seamless combo, a blade pierced my chest and slammed me into the wall. For a moment I couldn’t process what was happening and flailed my legs, only for my face to be grabbed. A cold blade pressed against my throat. I swallowed hard.
A few seconds later, the hand holding my face let go. The face that appeared before me was Jude.
“Well, well. Long time no see. Though I guess we’ve never actually met face to face. You know who I am, right?”
He had surrounded me with not only his bodyguard but also the people he’d been trading with. I endured the pain rising from my chest and forced a bitter smile.
“Of course I know you. I know all about the idiot who walked out of his own house twice.”
“Did you really think I wouldn’t notice you investigating me so openly? That was a miscalculation. A big one.”
Jude laughed as he spoke. His laughter cut through the noisy drone of the AC unit and spread through the alley. After laughing foolishly for a moment, he continued without wiping the smile from his face.
“I mean, how did a little girl like you even manage to tail me? Where do you get that kind of confidence? With such smooth, soft skin, you must be some rich family’s precious daughter. Wouldn’t it be better to just stay locked up safely at home?”
“Yeah… you’re right about that…”
Jude wiped the blood that had run down the blade with his finger. He gave a twisted smile and smeared the blood across my cheek. Then, as if he had realized something, he grabbed both of my cheeks and pulled my face toward him.
“That’s right. I’ve seen you before. Where was it again? I definitely saw you last time.”
I stayed silent. After thinking for a moment, Jude suddenly widened his eyes as if he had remembered.
“Ah, aah. Yeah. It was you. The one who took the bag on the rooftop that day. I saw it on camera.”
“You’re only remembering it now? What a great memory you have.”
“That’s right.”
Thud.
His fist slammed into my face with all his strength, snapping my head to the side. The moment I turned back, he slapped my other cheek. For a while, Jude couldn’t control his rage. He screamed and beat my entire body with everything he had.
He only stopped punching once his strength had been completely spent. Both Jude and I were breathing hard. After delivering one final punch with all his might into my solar plexus, he grabbed my hair, yanked me up, and spoke.
“Hah… haa… How kind of you to come find me yourself. Thanks to that, I won’t have to go looking for you. Just sit tight and wait for my friends to arrive.”
Jude jerked his chin toward the man beside him. The blade embedded in my chest was pulled free, and my body collapsed to the ground. He ordered his men to carry me, and they began moving.
In my fading consciousness, I thought,
This job got really fucking complicated.
I should’ve activated my implants in advance, even if it meant dealing with the aftermath. It was a moment when I missed my old body more than ever.