Chapter 22: IF-684 ‘Dragon’ (1)

“Mr. Hartmann.

Are you feeling unwell anywhere?

If you just say the word, we can move you to the prepared room right away…”

“That room may be called solitary confinement, but from what I saw, it’s about the level of a hotel suite.

It’s fine.

Warden, we should follow the rules.”

“Oh dear, Warden”?

No need for formalities.

If those lowlifes ever bother you, just say the word, and I’ll show you what a five-minute response team can do.”

“Take it easy.

I heard you’re on break right now….”

Giselle Hartmann, a former researcher of FPL’s 4th Research Institute and now a Gamma-class personnel, was conversing with the warden.

But in the back of her mind, she was thinking of someone else.

They had only spent half a year together, yet that face was vividly imprinted in her memory due to the sheer impact of their time together.

“Senior, look at IF-017.

Judging by its smile, it must be having a nice dream, right?”

“Don’t personify unknown phenomena.

If you keep doing that, someday… you’ll end up like me—covered in blood.”

“Hehe, that’s why I don”t go anywhere near other unknown phenomena.

If I die, I won’t be able to see IF-017 anymore….”

“You’re completely insane.”

That junior always had an idiotic grin plastered across their face, as if everything in the world was amusing.

But…

“Junior, I need to keep watching this, so I can’t get up.

Hand me the file on the table.

Junior.

Junior?”

“Zzz… Zzz…

Ah, huh!

Yes!

I was totally not dozing off and listening intently!”

“What did I just say?”

“Uh, um…

You told me to go get coffee?

Or was it citron tea…?”

“You dumb little shit…”

…She didn’t particularly miss them.

Her beloved team members were all stationed at 017-1’s auxiliary base, making it hard to even see them.

After years, she had finally found a potentially useful assistant, only for her hopes to be completely dashed.

“The only researcher capable of working on IF-017 right now is Kang Hana… Is she handling it carefully?”

When dealing with unknown phenomena that possess self-awareness, the first impression is crucial.

At such a critical moment, she was stuck as a Gamma-class prisoner, unable to do anything.

That frustrated her more than anything.

What if they kept messing around and IF-017 finally lost patience and escaped?

Was that happening right now?

Giselle shook her head.

No, surely not.

But the fact that she even considered that possibility spoke volumes about how little faith she had in her junior.

And the reason she was thinking about that junior at all was simple—

“Wow, I’ve never seen a warden this scared before….”

Because someone who suspiciously resembled her escaped junior was standing right in front of her.

The appearance was different.

Her junior had a rough, borderline violent physique, making people question whether they were actually younger than her.

But this person in front of her?

They barely looked like a middle or high school student.

“Hey, researcher lady, what are you doing?

Wanna play Tic-Tac-Toe?

I’m bored.”

“I’m not a researcher.

I’m busy analyzing bio-wave patterns.

Go play by yourself.”

“Come on, no Gamma-class prisoner does work like that in their cell.

Everyone is saying you were a famous researcher and that you”ll be reinstated soon.

Otherwise, the boss wouldn’t have left me alone here.”

She had been struggling to progress with her personal research, unable to access the necessary lab equipment.

And now, some random weirdo was trying to strike up a conversation?

Giselle felt like she was going insane.

If there was one difference between this person and her junior, it was that—

Her junior at least made good drinks.

This person?

Completely useless.

Her irritation flared.

“I said I’m busy, you little shit.

Get lost.”

“If I remind you of your junior, that means it’s a good thing!

Hehe, come on, just pretend to tolerate me this once.

Look at that guy’s eyes over there….”

Even their dumb laugh sounded exactly like her junior”s.

Giselle got up, about to complain to the warden.

But then—

She saw something.

The boss, the one they called “leader”, was glaring at this newcomer with murderous intent.

A 2-meter-tall, scar-covered, one-armed brute of a man—

And judging by his expression, he had definitely killed before.

The moment Giselle stood up, the man shifted his gaze.

The newcomer leaned in, whispering—

“My little brother was on the same mission as me.

But he got slaughtered so brutally, there weren’t even bones left.

And because I survived… that bastard wants me dead.”

The person pretended to be confident—

But their voices were full of pain.

It made sense.

One of their eyes was completely covered in burn scars, rendered permanently shut.

Their entire body was covered in wounds.

Giselle responded calmly.

“Yeah. He’s insane.”

The person froze for a moment.

Then, as if not believing what they had just heard, their remaining eye trembled.

A low, indifferent voice followed.

“Stay here.”

Their faces lit up.

So much so that they tried to hug Giselle—only to get their face shoved away by her palm.

“Wow…!

Even though my face just got squashed, I’m still happy because I survived!”

“What the hell are you even saying?”

“Oh, wait, is this not a meme in the West?

It’s an old, classic meme from the early 2020s.

Basically, it”s a satire of situations exactly like being a Gamma-class prisoner—”

They scratched their heads awkwardly.

Giselle handed them a file.

“If you’re bored, sort column Y-axis 4.

It’s repetitive, so even a Gamma-class like you can handle it.”

“I-I’ll do it quietly….”

Giselle frowned.

Her junior and this idiot—

Both reacted as if paperwork was some kind of unknown, horrifying phenomenon.

“Haaah….”

Because lights-out was strictly enforced, she was only allowed to work 12 hours a day now.

Next to her, the newcomer stood still like a decorative statue.

The sound of pen scratching against paper filled the silence.

And behind them—

The one-armed man, G-6031, continued to glare at them, his murderous gaze never wavering.

Deep in the Night

Everyone else had collapsed from exhaustion.

But Giselle couldn’t sleep.

Unlike the Gamma-class “meat shields”, she was exempted from heavy labor due to her special treatment.

But that wasn’t the real issue.

The real problem was—

She had gone to bed six hours earlier than usual.

“I usually sleep right before sunrise, but now I have to go to bed at exactly midnight?

What the hell…”

For Giselle, waking hours = working hours.

In a twisted way, her quality of life had actually improved after becoming Gamma-class.

Her dark circles had faded considerably.

“Damn morning people….”

At this hour, even her junior, who could fall asleep in three minutes while sitting up, felt like a miracle to her.

She clicked her tongue, then sighed instead.

‘How long has it been?’

– Rustle, rustle.

Still wide awake, Giselle frowned at the noise coming from a nearby bed.

-Gasp.

Guh, ngh…

Everyone should be asleep.

Was that sleep talking?

Or something… else?

“Goddamn lunatics.

They’re at it again.”

“…Due to repeated violations of regulations and disqualifying behavior, I formally request disciplinary action against Gamma-class prisoner G-6031.”

With a casual flick, Giselle placed two sheets of paper onto the table.

The woman sitting across from her—a red-haired twin-tailed officer in uniform—glared at her as if she were insane, then reached for the papers.

“You fucking insufferable bitch.”

Just like the one-armed man, prisoner G-6031, this woman was also missing an arm—from the shoulder down.

But there were two differences between them:

Vrrr—

First, in place of her missing arm, an intricate mechanical prosthetic made of an unknown metal smoothly picked up the papers.

Second, draped over the back of her chair was a gray coat—the mark of an Alpha-class officer.

“So, what?”

She sneered.

“What the fuck am I supposed to do with this?

If you handed this to the warden, that bastard would’ve gotten an instant bullet to the head.

Why the hell did you bring it to me?

And seriously, how did you even get in here when you’re just a fucking Gamma-class prisoner now?”

—BANG!

Her mechanical hand slammed onto the table, crumpling the papers. They bounced off Giselle’s body before falling to the floor.

Giselle remained unfazed.

“I heard from the IF-684 department staff that someone of my caliber still meets the deployment conditions for the ‘Siegfried’ unit”.

“Therefore, I concluded that G-6031 is also capable of participating in Siegfried’s operations”.

“I consulted the wardens about this first, and they were kind enough to guide me here.”

The Alpha-class officer, Long Weilan, a commander of the IF-684 special strike force ‘Siegfried,’ clenched her teeth.

“Shut the fuck up with that bullshit.

“You know damn well what it means to send a Gamma-class prisoner into my unit.

“Who the hell is that bastard to you?

You don ‘t want to just kill him, so you’re trying to feed him to the lizards instead?”

Her eyes gleamed sharply.

With that, her mechanical arm reacted, shifting and reassembling itself, releasing a sharp hiss of steam.

Giselle shook her head.

“I simply reported a prisoner for violating regulations.

I did not break any rules in the process.”

“Rules, rules—god, you really love that shit, huh?

But do you know this?

“If you were still Alpha-class, you could”ve just slapped some bullshit excuse on a Gamma-class prisoner and executed them on the spot—without breaking any rules.”

“I know. Section 8, Article 4, wasn’t it?”

Weilan gave her a look of disgust, like she was some annoying know-it-all.

A bitter, exasperated sigh followed.

“Seriously, if you had just accepted your damn Alpha-class promotion back then, we wouldn’t be in this situation.”

“HQ wouldn’t have thrown that asshole into a Research Director’s seat.

And you wouldn’t be here in my face, demoted over some bullshit excuse, acting all polite like it’s gonna change anything.”

“I didn’t want to get too involved with HQ.

The demotion was… unexpected.”

“Weilan, don’t trust anything related to HQ—except the regulations.”

“The fuck did you just say?”

Weilan’s expression twisted with fury.

Unlike Giselle, who had long since distanced herself from the front lines, Weilan was still an active elite officer—and it showed.

But Giselle?

She didn’t even flinch.

The tension in the room grew heavier.

Ting.

Ting.

Weilan kept flicking her mechanical fingers against the table, irritated.

Then—

“Hah.

Whatever.”

“Our psycho lizard has been rampaging nonstop lately.

We’re fresh out of meat shields anyway, so… fine.

I’ll take him.”

“Thank you.”

The moment those words left Giselle’s lips—

—GRAB.

“You fucking bitch.”

Weilan lunged.

Her metallic fingers clamped around Giselle’s throat with crushing force.

If she squeezed just a little harder, it would be over.

“Are you sure you’re not included in the whole ‘instant execution’ rule?”

“Ghk—”

Giselle struggled, but it was pointless.

“You ran like a coward, and now you’re still walking around like you own the place?”

“Keep acting like this, and the next Siegfried deployment list is gonna have your name on it.”

“…I know.

And I also know you’re being…very patient with me.”

Giselle gasped, trying to loosen the grip.

Weilan let out a deep sigh and finally threw her to the ground.

“Hah… fuck.”

Catching her breath, Giselle looked up—

Weilan had already turned away, sitting back in her chair, completely ignoring her.

“Get the fuck out of my office.

Right now.”

“Understood.

Thank you for accepting my request.

Take care.”

Giselle gave a small nod and headed toward the door.

Step. Step.

But then—

“….Hey.”

She froze.

Hand on the doorknob, she turned back toward Weilan, who was still facing away.

“That one-eyed brat—G-6022.

“You talk about them a lot in this damn report.

“Don’t tell me you”re still… seeing that overlap?”

At those words—

A memory resurfaced.

A scene that few people still remembered—except for Weilan.

Giselle immediately understood what she meant.

But even so—

“No.

It’s someone else.

“Compared to them…”

—”Senior, as an apology, I prepared something for you…!

A special six-in-one transforming T-Rex robot lunchbox—”

She didn”t even bother hiding her disappointment anymore.

“…They’re just an idiot.

A hopeless, clueless idiot.”

“Hah.

Didn’t expect that.”

Weilan’s quiet response was the last thing Giselle heard before she left the room.