[Raccoon Man Beginning]
[Raccoon Man Beginning]
The fact that Dr. Alion mentioned was, honestly, a bit hard to grasp.
23 years ago was before I was even born. To begin with, even during the Great Depression when the Dimensional Rifts occurred and the Enemy Species invaded, I was just a kid who didn't even realize I was a Reincarnator. If it was even before that, well, that says it all.
But to look as young as he does while reminiscing about 23 years... just how much of a baby face is he?
"The world I knew was completely turned upside down by the first Dimensional Rift 23 years ago. It was truly a monumental event. It was the moment we became aware of the concept of dimensions. We hadn't even uncovered 1 percent of the mysteries of the universe, and yet, another dimension! Even if humans were the only life form in this universe, who knows about other dimensions? So, at the time, I was half out of my mind. In the face of such a massive event, my brain wouldn't even function properly. The Dimensional Rift itself didn't last long, but it was enough to collect research data. After gathering as much data and information as possible, I prepared for the next potential Dimensional Rift. Since something that happened once could happen again, I was certain it would occur. Of course, since I didn't know when or where it would happen, I started making Dimensional Rift Detectors from back then to prepare."
"By any chance, are you LA... no, Dr. ALion? Why did you attach a motor to your tongue?"
His voice, which sounded like a machine gun starting from LA... and following that kind of repertoire, was filled with the excitement of that time.
Certainly, for a scientist, that was a discovery worth being surprised about, and even I wouldn't be confident that I wouldn't be surprised if something like a Gundam started moving in front of me.
I don't not understand, but he talks too much.
"Ahem, anyway, 3 years after the first Dimensional Rift 23 years ago, the reaction I had been hoping for appeared again."
"This time, along with the Enemy Species, right?"
"Yes, that is correct. At the time, I wasn't receiving support from the government or corporations, so I couldn't distribute many Dimensional Rift Detectors. The range wasn't as wide as it is now, either. I probably barely managed to cover one Queens by scattering dozens, maybe hundreds of them."
The Enemy Species that appeared with the Dimensional Rift created the event known as the Great Depression. Conventional weapons didn't work, and they could only be effectively countered by Force Users, but at that time, let alone Force Users, the very concept of supernatural abilities was nothing more than fiction found in novels or stories.
People were dying to monsters without even knowing why. To prevent even greater damage, the government ordered bombings, accepting civilian casualties.
I don't remember it since I was young back then, but everyone of middle age or older currently has at least one trauma from the Great Depression.
I once participated in a volunteer activity visiting the homes of elderly people living alone to fulfill my volunteer hours back when I was in middle school. If I had to do it anyway, I figured doing something more rewarding was better.
The grandmother I met back then had lost not only her children but even her grandchildren during the Great Depression, and she was living almost like a wreck. Even after 20 years, that wound hadn't healed.
"It was hell back then. I didn't know what to do at the time, and my emotions took over. I felt fear and terror toward the Enemy Species, but I also felt anger. And I had everything taken away by those bastards. My old friends, my family... I am the only one left."
"......."
"I will do anything to eradicate the Enemy Species. And in the middle of that, someone made contact with me."
"Contact?"
"It was about 10 years ago from now. Even though my computer was being monitored by the government, they contacted me secretly."
Since Dr. Alion is an important figure, they must be monitoring him to some extent. Among those, things like computers would be better guarded because of the fear of hacking. It would be a huge problem if research data were leaked to an enemy nation.
Sion dismisses the US Department of Defense firewall as being on the level of Styrofoam, but that's because Sion is originally an expert in electronic warfare and it's a purely material civilization computer. Plus, their level of development is a bit lacking.
If they managed to hack a place directly managed by the US government to make contact... it would be absolutely impossible with computers made with the technology of this era.
"I exchanged various technologies and information with the person who contacted me like that. It's a violation of national security laws, but they were careful, so they didn't approach easily."
"Do you know what kind of place ATLAS is?"
"I don't know well, but among people who do things in hiding, there are no good people."
"And yet, why do you interact with each other?"
Dr. Alion sighed.
Perhaps thirsty, he took a sip of coffee and continued his explanation.
"I needed more data to stop the Enemy Species and Dimensional Rifts. As I said earlier, I can do anything to eradicate the Enemy Species. That is why I am interacting with them, but... seeing as you know the name of that organization, it seems they haven't done anything normal."
"They did human experimentation."
"......Oh."
"Experiments fusing Raf Energy and Gaia Force."
"Oh, my god."
Even without a deep explanation, Dr. Alion understood what it meant. Experiments that use humans as a base and add the factors of Enemy Species turn humans into monsters. There have only been failures so far, but looking at the progress, it seems like tangible results will come out within a considerable period in the future.
Thinking about how much damage will occur during that time makes me feel dizzy.
"......I won't say I am innocent. Standing by is the same sin as complicity. Blinded by knowledge, I pretended not to know even while inwardly guessing."
"It's enough that you realize that yourself."
If you don't even know that, it means you lack humanity. Humanity is the greatest value for a human.
Even if the appearance is a monster, if they possess humanity, they can be called human, but even if the appearance is human, if they lack humanity, they are worse than a beast.
If you have the attitude of realizing and reflecting on your own, that alone is proof of humanity.
There are too many pieces of trash in the world who can't even do that.
"It's not uncommon for them to make contact from their side, but there has been no news recently. If they contact me again, I will try to induce them so that I can identify their identity or location."
"You're quite cooperative? Didn't you benefit from having those guys around?"
"Hearing your story, I also really wanted to catch that organization. I need data, I don't want to join hands with such an organization."
Building a connection with Dr. Alion is quite beneficial. Like last time, I can just spread technology through him without Sion having to step forward under the name of Raccoon Girl.
In short, a figurehead.
"Before that, one thing. It might not be enough as a substitute, but could you connect me with the person called Raccoon Girl?"
"Why Raccoon Girl?"
"Just the skill of making a detector with much better performance than the Dimensional Rift Detector I developed puts her above me. ATLAS bastards are a problem, but isn't the public enemy of humanity the Enemy Species? Cooperation is essential to eradicate them."
"Hmm."
It was persuasive. It's just that I'm a bit reluctant to trust someone I met for the first time today and introduce Sion.
"Later, if there is news from those guys and we wipe them out, I'll introduce you then."
"Yes, let's do that."
Dr. Alion smiled and offered a handshake. I also smiled and shook his hand, thinking that a pretty good relationship had been formed.
"Ah, now that you mention the Dimensional Rift Detector, Raccoon Girl approached it with a new method of grasping it through a different medium, not a system that detects the aftermath created by vibrations between dimensions. I hadn't thought of that until now, so by any chance, do you, Raccoon Man-nim, have any other opinions? To begin with, let's discuss the opinion on whether the concept of a Dimensional Rift occurs due to collisions between dimensions, or if it occurs due to the vibration of the dimension itself......."
"Run! It's Dr. ALion! At this rate, he's going to start talking about the story of LA 20 years ago!!!"
The scariest thing in the world is listening to a scientist in their element.
Especially if they were talkative to begin with.
Dr. Alion's chatter didn't end until over 2 hours had passed. And that was only because I bolted; in reality, he seemed ready to talk all day today.
I shouldn't have chimed in when a topic I knew came up....
"Oh! Is the talk over? It ended a bit short today?"
"You bastard, you knew all that, didn't you? No wonder you cleared out of your seat at the beginning."
"It's a story everyone here at the research lab knows that Dr. Alion is a chatterbox. Why else would they deliberately set it to 30 minutes when he does a research achievement presentation, even though they usually let him do as he pleases?"
"Yeah, it's scary because if you leave him be, he'll basically talk for two or three hours."
He had as much to say as he knew. I don't want to get caught again.
After meeting Jacob and returning to the hotel, I thought I could finally catch my breath, but this time, a call came from Washington.
"They said the medal production is complete. They want you to come because they'll hold a simple award ceremony?"
"Geez, I hate formalities like that."
"That's why they said they'll just shake hands with the President and end it roughly. I told them we'd be returning around today, so they adjusted their schedule and came in a hurry, so just bear with it."
"What about transportation?"
"They said they'd send a private jet. You'll probably be able to get there soon."
Suddenly, thinking about the plane, I'm worried about how I should return when I go back. It would be comfortable if I just used some strength and tore the dimension and went back. Honestly, I put that at the very bottom of the list.
With a Dimensional Rift Detector around, try tearing dimensions carelessly while I'm at it. The danger level will be upgraded to that of a walking nuclear weapon.
What's left is only the physical method, and similarly, there is a way to cross the United States and cross the Pacific Ocean, or conversely, go in a straight line from the UK toward China, penetrating through.
Honestly, this is also a bit much. It would be fine if it were one or two countries, but to go back that way, I would have to pass through quite a lot of countries. There's no way there wouldn't be trouble in the meantime.
I thought about it while flying to Washington on the private jet sent from the White House, but no suitable method came to mind.
I got off the private jet, and a cool limousine was there to meet me. Looking at how they treat me, I think the difference between Korea and the US is like heaven and earth.
Nationality is practically meaningless to me, but the reason I insist on Korea is that I have acquaintances there, and above all, it's important that Sion went through the immigration process on purpose and immigrated to Korea. If she hadn't, I would have been pissed off, overturned Korea, and then immigrated to the US.
"Finally arrived. This is the famous White House!"
"It's been a while."
".........?"
Why do you think I'm good at English? Do you think I've never been to the White House if I was born on Earth while reincarnating?
There have been times when I came for good reasons like now, but there have also been times when I came for bad reasons. Even if I don't know the details, the general structure remains in my memory, so it's quite easy if I want to infiltrate.
Still, in the last few hundred years, I've only seen the White House in ruins, so seeing it intact is refreshing.
I was guided in, walked through the familiar hallway, and was led to the Oval Office. You know, the presidential office that appears often in movies or cartoons.
As I entered the office, the American President I often saw on TV welcomed me and waved his hand. Honestly, I didn't know this guy would get elected.
The 45th President of the United States, President Drape, offered a handshake.
"Oh! Welcome, Raccoon Man! Was the journey uncomfortable?"
"Well, it was okay."
It's not easy to take responsibility for a country. At the very least, everyone who rises to that position has their own strengths.
......Even if I leave aside the person who sold the country to a shaman. That is worth being cursed at even in my eyes.
"First, please sit down. We will have the medal award ceremony after a short rest. Is there anything uncomfortable?"
"No, you've taken good care of my convenience. It's fine as it is."
"That's fortunate."
I also tend to show appropriate courtesy to the high-ranking people of a country as much as possible. This is because a person who represents a society is worth the respect that comes with it.
What I look at is 'society' among the civilizations that people create. Therefore, if it is a person who represents that society, I observe them carefully and generally give them a generous score.
By definition, a politician is a position that gets cursed at no matter what they do. Since people's opinions cannot be unified, if you satisfy one side, dissatisfaction is bound to come from the other side. That's why if it's a politician, I check their achievements, and if they don't get cursed at, I give them the highest generous score, but even if they get cursed at, if they have their own achievements, I give them a score.
However, if what they did wrong is too big, it's a minus even if they have done well. A representative example is President Park.
......Ah, I misspoke. It's President Park's 'plural'. They are really ruining the country as a pair.
"First of all, thank you very much for helping our US, Raccoon Man. This is not a word as a representative of the government, but a personal gratitude."
"No, don't mention it."
"There is no need to be humble. Because there was a result that if it had been Thunderbolt alone, he wouldn't have been able to catch that new type of Humanoid Hostile Species and great damage would have occurred."
"That was because the compatibility between Thunderbolt and that guy was bad. If it had been someone else......"
Suddenly, what Sion said passed by.
I heard from the Korean side over the phone that Baek-ri and Mr. Lee Gyeong-jin cooperated and managed to deal with it, but basically, the compatibility between Mr. Lee Gyeong-jin and the long-range focused Humanoid Hostile Species was terribly bad, so they said that if they had left it alone, the damage would have been no joke.
One can be dismissed as a coincidence, but two are inevitable. Furthermore, even if I don't know about now, if the ones in China and Japan are like that too......
It seems the opponent on the other side who causes the Dimensional Rifts has also obtained some information about this side. It cannot be explained otherwise.
"And this is the main point, but......do you have any intention of immigrating to the US, Raccoon Man?"
"I believe I already answered that."
"Of course I know. But it's not a simple problem that can be passed over by trying just once. Furthermore, if it's related to national defense, it's even more so."
What was it...... Among the agreements signed by the UN after the Great Depression, it said that not only is the incorporation of Force Users into the military not allowed, but the freedom of Force Users to decide their nationality is also guaranteed. Honestly, this is nothing more than a scout policy to bring in Force Users from other countries.
Of course, it is also a policy to bring in Force Users from countries like Africa who cannot even be guaranteed their own rights, but it is also an agreement that can bring in normal Force Users from other countries if you present good conditions.
Our country's Force Users are treated as civil servants to some extent, and unless they have no intention of stepping on our country's land for the rest of their lives, they wouldn't easily accept that scout offer. Even if I can't say there are none, a considerable number would choose to remain in Korea.
The same goes for me. In the first place, I am an unregistered Force User, so it is easy to cross over.
"I heard the news that your wife was a US citizen. Wouldn't it be better to move to the US rather than immigrating to Korea?"
"I'm not particularly tied to nationality either, but my wife came to Korea on purpose, so that's why."
If it was the point when I met Sion, not when she immigrated to Korea, but when she was still a US citizen, it would have been faster for me to immigrate to the US.
Thinking of Sion's connections, it's certain that getting citizenship would be in an instant and the treatment would have been better than in Korea.
But what can I do, my wife is already a Korean person. Besides, even though she likes eating pizza, she has a personality that likes boiling soybean paste stew and kimchi stew more, so Korea is better.
By definition, plants choose the soil, so if you really want to eat delicious kimchi, it's good to use domestic cabbage. Even if you can make soybean paste, kimchi is different.
"That's a bit of a shame. But the door to the US is always open. If you want to later, you are always welcome."
"Well, I wonder."
They treat me so well, not knowing what kind of trouble I might cause.
If things go wrong, it's my nature to take off my mask and cause a mess. I'm confident that I wouldn't even blink an eye even after destroying a country. Even if this planet is destroyed because of the Enemy Species, it's obvious that I'll just go do my own thing after watching without stepping in.
Well, even if the Earth is destroyed, I have the intention to take a few acquaintances and drop them on Mars along with terraforming equipment. Since that's the main job of an acquaintance, I can bring in terraforming equipment cheaply.
"Have you already met Dr. Alion?"
"Ah, yes. He was so talkative that I was caught for a long time."
"Haha, that person is always like that. That's why he avoids meeting people unless they have a purpose. Even if he has an appointment, he makes it a few hours before."
Perhaps because there was still some time left until the medal award ceremony, we spent time chatting. No, that itself might be a timing made on purpose. With how many people are scheduling in the White House, how could they not manage time like that?
And the full-scale main point came out.
"And......do you know a person called Raccoon Girl?"
"Hmm."
That was President Drape's main point. I thought he would come in a bit circuitously, but his personality is quite blatant.
That's why when he was elected, there was a slogan going around among Americans that 'President Drape is raping the US!'. It was such an interesting slogan that I remembered it too.
"A few months ago, several damages occurred due to Dimensional Rifts occurring without a Dimensional Rift warning. If you hadn't made a new Dimensional Rift Detector, much greater damage would have occurred."
"Don't you have Alyssa Near in the US?"
"She can only predict Dimensional Rifts of a certain scale. No, she must. If she tries to detect all Dimensional Rifts in the entire US without doing that, her life will be in danger."
That would be the case. The reason I want Yejin to be able to handle the Precognition Trait is not just because it's useful, but because it's not good for her if she sees the future indiscriminately because it's not controlled.
"Dr. Alion also said that it would take half a year to improve the Dimensional Rift Detector. That was even from a hopeful perspective. Just as I was thinking about how to prevent that damage, a state-of-the-art Dimensional Rift Detector one generation ahead suddenly dropped from the sky."
As a substitute, although it's not enough for our government, which has a lot of diplomatic trouble because of the accident in Japan, Sion sent a downgraded Dimensional Rift Detector.
But even with just that, it's a product one generation ahead in this era, and it became possible to detect Dimensional Rifts that couldn't be detected much faster.
An insanely strong individual can change a country, but an individual with knowledge can change society. I think Sion is much better than someone like me. Both personally and socially.
"The Enemy Species is an enemy that threatens the survival of humanity. And also, like the Humanoid Hostile Species that appeared this time, they will definitely come again. There is no guarantee that it will end safely next time. If it's not rude, could you introduce that person?"
"I refused the immigration offer, so would I accept that?"
"Of course, that's true. But isn't it better than not asking? It's certain that Raccoon Girl is needed, but we don't want to be rude to a hero. It's a shame, but let's leave it at this."
There is also the problem of it becoming annoying, but Sion has a slight social phobia.
Even if a few acquaintances are fine, she tries to avoid the gazes of many strangers. She didn't care about that originally, but it's because of something that became a trauma in the past.
So, I don't want to push her in front of people just with my own thoughts.
"It's time, so let's start the medal award ceremony."
President Drape said as he stood up from his seat. I thought he would talk about a few more things, but he cut it shorter than I thought.
No, is it because Dr. Alion talks too much that it looks relatively short......
A person who looked like a bodyguard from the side brought a case containing the medal. When he opened the case and took out the medal, a grayish medal in the shape of a star was revealed.
"Be careful, President. It's heavier than it looks."
"Even if the medal is heavy, the size is small......um?!"
President Drape seemed surprised by the unexpectedly heavy weight as he received the medal. The size of the medal was at most a little smaller than the size of a palm, but the weight didn't seem to be what it looked like.
"My, it seems it's heavier than I thought because it's a metal not found on Earth."
"Yes?"
"It's not right to give an ordinary medal to an American hero, is it? So, I made it using a metal not found on Earth obtained from a meteorite. Of course, thanks to that, identity verification will also be possible."
The weight of the medal, which was thin and at most smaller than a palm, had the weight of a large beer can. Although it is a weight that anyone can lift unless they are a child, if you receive it without thinking, you might drop it.
.....But I feel like I've seen this metal somewhere.
Where have I seen this? It's not that I've seen it in a good sense.
President Drape said as he hung the medal around my neck.
"Because of the weight, you won't be able to wear it and walk around. You'll have to use it for decoration."
"In case of emergency, I could use it as a shuriken."
"......Please use it only for decoration."
I don't know, but I don't know about my wife's thoughts.
She has a childish side in this regard, you see.