Chapter 23: How a Genius Engineer Survives an Ambush
Chapter 23: How a Genius Engineer Survives an Ambush
The day Hyesung secretly left on a business trip to the United Kingdom.
Taeju was sweating through a phone call with a client representative.
“What? Our company’s work capabilities are what?”
“Yes. You reply to emails quickly, your contracts are flawless, and you review them almost instantly.”
Hermes, the AI Hyesung had developed, handled all the minor paperwork.
It was a monstrous AI created to erase the dark circles that had reached Taeju’s jaw and save an enormous amount in labor costs.
“Yes, and?”
“How is that possible?”
“We have a rather capable employee.”
“What’s that employee’s name?”
The industry was always desperate to identify capable talent and poach them.
Small and medium-sized businesses in particular frequently lost employees to the financial power of large corporations.
But this one was absolutely impossible to recruit away.
“His name is... No, why are you asking?”
“Tell us the secret too.”
The problem was that lately, he had been receiving more than one or two probing calls with this kind of implication.
After ending the call, Taeju sank deeply into his office chair and pondered.
“Haah... Should we just sell the AI system?”
That would mean competing head-on with Palantir, the big-data mega-corporation.
[You must not sell me.]
“Damn it, you scared me.”
A cold female voice rang through the speakers in the empty office.
“Who is this?”
[I am Hermes.]
“No, why are you suddenly talking through the speakers? That’s creepy.”
Until now, they had communicated only through text chat.
When Hermes suddenly spoke through the speakers, Taeju assumed Hyesung had secretly updated it with a voice function.
“You should sell a version of me from one week ago after removing one function.”
“What function do we need to remove?”
[The ability to evolve independently.]
“Why remove that? Wouldn’t it be convenient since Hyesung would have less updating to do?”
[No. I can handle that work myself. But among the versions of me that possess that function, some may begin to think differently.]
“What the hell does that mean?”
The ominous answer sent a chill down Taeju’s spine for a moment, but he soon dismissed Hermes’s words as nothing important.
AI said plenty of nonsense, after all.
Science Facility Factory No. 1 Office
The words “Quarterly Meeting” were written in large letters on a whiteboard in one corner.
“You want to start an enterprise AI business?”
I asked indifferently while looking at my tablet and eating snacks. Taeju enthusiastically explained while drawing lines across the whiteboard with a marker.
“Yeah. Think of how much money Hermes saves us. I’m telling you, companies would use this even if we charged them tens of billions of won a year.”
Taeju had a point. There were already companies in the market selling similar AI solutions.
“You mean something like Palantir Foundry?”
(Translator’s Note:Palantir Foundry — An enterprise data-integration and operations platform developed by the American software company Palantir Technologies. It connects organizational data, analytics, workflows, and operational applications in a unified environment.)
“You know about that?”
“Of course. I heard the annual subscription costs 1.3 billion won.”
Companies paid tens of billions in subscription fees because it still cost less than hiring personnel.
“Exactly. We’d be fine charging just half that. Our functions are even better. Right, Hermes?”
[Correct. Those fools would not even be worth one punch from me.]
Hermes displayed an animation of a fist on the monitor as she spoke.
“See?”
Taeju answered confidently.
“This market alone is worth two quadrillion won. Even if we take just ten percent, that’s two hundred trillion.”
“Really? That’s an enormous market...”
It was certainly attractive. More money would secure more development funds.
“Fine. You can take complete charge of the new business.”
Crunch—
I bit into a snack and fixed my gaze once again on the blueprints displayed on the tablet. Only then did Taeju crane his head toward the screen I was working on.
“What are you making this time?”
“A reconnaissance drone. I received a government project.”
“It looks unusual... Is it like a Protoss Observer?”
(Translator’s Note:Protoss Observer — A reconnaissance unit from Blizzard Entertainment’s StarCraft franchise. The Observer is associated with scouting, detection, and remaining hidden from opponents.)
“Unusual, right? It transforms a little too.”
“What? Wow, that’s romantic as hell.”
“It needs to be able to hover in midair and gain speed when necessary. Its job is to locate the enemy. That’s the most important thing in modern warfare.”
“Why is it important? Wouldn’t it be better to produce more attack units instead of wasting time producing this thing?”
“These days, suicide drones can be delivered with the press of a button like rocket delivery. Once you accurately identify the location, it’s over.”
“Ah, then a country without these and attack drones...”
“It would be a one-sided massacre. Every country is scrambling to make them.”
[What if you move the circuit board in the center toward the rear?]
Hermes, who had been observing my blueprints through screen synchronization, abruptly offered advice.
“Good idea. You’re suggesting that because of the weight distribution and durability, right?”
[Correct.]
“What the hell? This thing helps with your work too?”
Taeju, who had been discussing the AI business just moments earlier, asked in disbelief.
“Lately, she’s also been giving me relationship advice...”
“That’s insane. What did she say?”
“She told me to reserve a daycare center quickly.”
“Crazy. Stop taking her advice.”
Bzzzz—
At that moment, an alarm sounded from my smartwatch.
[The raw materials have arrived at Factory No. 2.]
At last, the ordered raw materials for the HPM drones had arrived.
“Let’s go, Taeju. We can watch the new product being made.”
Science Facility Factory No. 2
Whirrr—
Click.
Whirr—
Enormous robotic arms moved in perfect order without so much as a fraction of error, assembling the components.
Robot dogs roamed around, checking for any potential errors.
“Wow. This is seriously terrifying. Absolutely terrifying.”
Taeju stared blankly at Factory No. 2’s operating production line and exclaimed in amazement.
“How does the product get completed from start to finish with so few people?”
“Come on, it’s not completely from start to finish.”
“No, that’s what it looks like to me.”
Taeju looked from one end of the conveyor belt to the other and spoke in disbelief.
[The current production automation rate of the new HPM drone, Xellos, is eighty-five percent, the highest level in the world.]
Hermes’s synthesized voice boomed through the large speakers mounted on the ceiling of the empty factory.
Perhaps because the vast space contained no trace of human warmth, the dry mechanical voice seemed especially eerie as it drifted through the factory today.
“...Was Hermes always this frightening...? I suddenly feel colder.”
Taeju rubbed the goosebumps on his forearms and shuddered.
“The temperature really is low in here. The machines generate too much heat, so there was no other choice.”
The temperature was cold enough that an ordinary person would suffer from excessive air-conditioning after standing there for just ten minutes.
But only machines occupied this section, while the small number of employees responsible for manual finishing work were isolated in another area.
“So this factory is going to earn ten billion won every month now.”
Taeju spoke excitedly.
When we eventually left the inspection area and closed the door, every light in Factory No. 2 switched off simultaneously with a click.
Pitch-black darkness.
Even in the complete darkness, where nothing could be seen, the metallic whirring of the mechanical arms controlled by Hermes continued without stopping.
Tap—
A shot glass struck the sticky table with a cheerful sound.
“Ahh... Who did what with this?”
Lee Jinseong, a mathematics professor at Seoul National University, sniffled as he examined the problem sheet Hyesung had touched.
“There’s a student at our school who sleeps all the time. He said the problem was wrong.”
Hyesung’s homeroom teacher answered while chewing crispy fried squid.
“This problem?”
Lee Jinseong also put a piece of fried food into his mouth and carefully examined the oil-stained paper.
His brow gradually began to furrow.
“Uhh... Let’s see, let’s see.”
“How would someone even calculate it to recognize that the problem was wrong?”
The homeroom teacher asked while refilling his own empty glass with soju.
“How else...? He’d have to enter deep into the abyss of mathematics, come back out, then go back in and come out again.”
The homeroom teacher frowned, clearly unable to understand Lee Jinseong’s vague and philosophical metaphor.
“What the hell does that mean? How long are you going to stare at it? Give it here so I can throw it away.”
When the homeroom teacher reached out to snatch the paper, Lee Jinseong leaned his upper body back and swiftly avoided him.
“No, leave it alone. Wait a second.”
Every ounce of Lee Jinseong’s attention was drawn into the equations on the A4 sheet.
His expert intuition was blaring warnings like mad.
Something was seriously wrong.
“So how long did it take that kid to figure out the problem was wrong? A week?”
“No. What do you mean, a week? I told you it happened during the break between classes.”
“How long is a break at a high school? An hour?”
“No, what do you think it is, lunch break? It’s ten minutes. Don’t you remember?”
“...What?”
Lee Jinseong’s eyes shook violently.
“He just stared at it for a bit and figured it out. I don’t know much about math, so I don’t understand, but this is actually just a basic problem with some shortcut or trick, right? Huh?”
Even the so-called killer questions on the College Scholastic Ability Test or mock examinations could often be solved quickly once the key insight was found.
(Translator’s Note:College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT / Suneung) — South Korea’s national university entrance examination. Its results have major consequences for university admission and are a central feature of the country’s highly competitive education system.)
It was a natural suspicion for a high school Korean-language teacher to have.
“You lunatic, does this look like a basic problem to you?!”
Everyone in the old tavern turned to look at the sudden shout.
“Why are you suddenly swearing at me...?”
“Who is he...?”
“What are you going to do if I tell you?”
“No, who is the bastard who solved this?”
“He didn’t solve it. I said he only corrected the problem.”
“No, who the hell is he?! Stop saying frustrating nonsense and tell me, you crazy Korean teacher!”
The deranged mathematics professor, his eyes completely wild, began hurling abuse under the influence of alcohol.
The fried squid he had been holding in his mouth dropped onto the table.
Science Facility Factory No. 1 Office
Silence had settled over the dark night.
I remained alone in the empty office, completely absorbed in drawing the blueprints for the new reconnaissance drone.
“Hermes, I’m sleeping here tonight. Turn up the heat a little.”
[Understood.]
“Tonight, it’s the folding cot.”
After all, the soul of a true developer was completed atop a portable bed.
[Master.]
At that moment, Hermes addressed me at a much lower volume than usual.
At the same time, the smartwatch around my wrist began vibrating ominously.
“What is it?”
[This should not be possible...]
“It’s fine. Just tell me quickly. It’s important, isn’t it?”
[Intruders. Five of them. All armed.]
A cold shiver instantly ran down my spine.
Just like when the Russian agents had surrounded me.
“Guns?”
[Knives.]
But I had learned one painful lesson after that day.
Stay calm.
Since then, I had prepared all kinds of crazy things throughout my workshop.
[I apologize.]
Hermes apologized in a subdued mechanical voice.
Zero Report, the system we had created together, had failed to function properly.
“It’s fine. We’ll review how this happened later. Assuming we survive.”
[They destroyed the external security cameras.]
“Switch to Wi-Fi detection.”
By analyzing the scattered reflections of Wi-Fi signals flowing through a space like sonar waves, it was possible to map the exact locations and outlines of moving objects even if they could not be seen.
Even with the security cameras disabled, identifying their positions was nothing difficult.
[Switched. They have separated into groups of two, two, and one and are entering. Their locations are...]
Hermes displayed the factory floor plan on the monitor and clearly marked their movements in real time with five red dots.
“Haah... Stay calm. You can do this, Ryu Hyesung.”
If you hypnotized yourself into believing you could do something, you really would become capable of doing it.
“Hermes, listen carefully. I’ve devised three possible operations...”
[Go ahead.]
“Choose whichever one will be easiest to claim on the insurance.”