Black Badger

The scientists standing in the back dropped their jaws.

Hiroshi and John answered almost at the same time.

“ No.”

Yun, on the other hand, said nothing.

With those characteristically infrequent blinks, he simply stared down at the AI.

[We don’t have much time! At this rate, the situation will get worse.]

“Martin, don’t tell me you’re saying you’re going to self-destruct?”

[I’m different from humans!]

Green light flickered two or three times inside the black lens.

Martin always flickered that green light whenever he laughed.

[Please back me up into a new unit later.]

“The lab collapsed, Martin! There isn’t even a backup! Stop saying stupid things!”

“No.”

“There is. At my house.”

While Hiroshi was shouting and John was firmly repeating nothing but “No,” Yun replied.

Everyone’s gaze snapped toward Yun.

Yun did not look away from Martin.

“All of it should be backed up up to before the lab blew. The memories after the portal opened won’t be backed up, though.”

“No.”

[It’s okay.]

John hugged Martin tight, expressing his refusal.

But Yun did not look at John.

[I’ll do well!]

Martin spun once inside John’s arms.

Yun nodded as he looked at the sphere.

“Fine.”

“No.”

“We need to put the reagent in, so let Martin go, John.”

John did not release him.

With a flat, displeased expression, Yun glared at his fellow scientist’s blue eyes.

Then, with a sigh, he tried to soothe the cofounder.

“If you keep doing this, everyone including Martin—”

Whack!

With a loud sound, John collapsed.

Seunghyun grabbed the back of John’s neck as he toppled to the floor.

Yun shot the man a look that said he was utterly dumbfounded.

“Hurry up.”

“National-treasure-level brain, so please set him down gently.”

As if he had planned it that way, Seunghyun gently laid John Mühlen on the ground.

After carefully laying the tall scientist down like a thin biscuit stick, he went back to fighting Creatures.

Yun approached Martin, now freed.

While Yun worked, the scientists were staggering around and crying. “Martin, Martiiin,” they sobbed, wearing blank expressions as if unable to believe what was happening.

But Yun finished the preparations without blinking even once.

He looked down at Martin, who tilted his sphere slightly as if asking, “Are we ready now, Father?”

“I’m counting on you.”

Yun stroked Martin.

Two flashes of green lit inside Martin’s lens.

[Yes! I’ll be back!]

“Martin!”

“Martiinn!”

“Martin, no!”

The scientists’ screams.

Martin shouted, “Don’t worry! I’ll do great!” at the crying scientists—then shot upward into the air.

Yun lifted his head to support Martin. The blue-robed monster had smashed the 5th-floor ground, merging the 4th and 5th floors together.

The teleportation array was still on the part of the 5th floor that hadn’t collapsed.

He would have to face flying Creatures or dodge the energy blasts of the blue robe.

Frowning at the fact that he had no bullets, Yun watched Martin zigzag upward between the Creatures.

Kwah-ang!

Hilde came flying and crashed at Yun’s feet.

“Ke-lok.”

Yun saw Hilde, who coughed up blood and forced himself upright.

“Hilde.” 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

Hilde didn’t take his eyes off the Creature, but he paused just long enough to show he was listening.

“There will be an explosion near the teleportation array, so drive the Creature down under the array.”

If possible.

It would be best to finish that hateful thing off at the same time, too. Whether Hilde understood the words Yun didn’t voice aloud by sound, Hilde gave a small nod.

Then he batted away an incoming blast and closed the distance with the blue robe.

Yun grabbed one of the approaching Creatures and swung it like a mace.

Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwang!

He smashed Creatures with a Creature, head thrown back.

Martin’s body now had a hole in it. Sparks crackled and leaked from the opening.

But it wasn’t a major problem. The attack wasn’t very strong, either. Martin did not engage in biological activity. So it seemed he wasn’t the main target of the Creatures.

Sending him had been the smart choice.

Even if it stung inside.

The second unit would have to be built with better specs—at least twice the money poured in.

Yehyeon would probably forgive it, considering the merit.

[Uwaagh!]

Martin screamed as he slipped between Creatures.

[I can’t see forward!]

“Shake it off!”

Something huge, like a giant bat, had latched onto Martin.

At Yun’s shout, Martin quickly shook his body left and right.

As the sphere shook wildly, the bat-shaped Creature leapt away downward.

The round AI regained its line of sight.

The scientists let out cries of relief and triumph.

Narrow-eyed, Yun and Seunghyun watched Martin carefully approach the array.

The AI clung almost to the 5th-floor ceiling, moving slowly but surely to reach the teleportation array.

The scientists poured out sounds of relief and grief.

As soon as Lee Seunghyun confirmed Martin had reached his position, he shouted for Hilde.

“Hilde!”

Hilde was under the array, exchanging yet another round of blows with the Creature.

He wouldn’t hear.

Realizing that, Lee Seunghyun didn’t bother calling twice.

Instead he shoved away a swarm of Creatures, then turned his gaze back to Martin.

Martin was now floating right above the teleportation array.

[I arrived safely!]

“Good.”

Yun replied while smashing a boar-like Creature.

“Good work.”

[Goodbye!]

A giant red dot began blinking in Martin’s lens.

[I’ll switch to self-destruct mode now!]

The scientists’ crying grew louder.

[The explosion is big, so everyone please be careful!]

Beep.

A loud transition tone rang even amid the chaos.

The moment Yun realized the countdown would begin, he ran toward Hilde.

Seunghyun also sprang forward, cutting through the air like an arrow.

[Initiating self-destruct mode.]

[Countdown.]

[10]

[9]

[8]

[7]

Thuk!

Seunghyun and Yun grabbed the back of Hilde’s collar at the same time.

Hilde widened his eyes in surprise.

“Ugh.”

[6]

Yun and Seunghyun dragged Hilde backward.

[5]

[4]

{βņĦėĤąćŗ?}

The blue-robed Creature muttered something.

But the men did not react. They couldn’t understand it anyway. Hilde seemed to, though—so it was likely the language they used.

[3]

“Martin?!”

Meanwhile, Hilde seemed to have belatedly realized what the cause of the explosion would be.

“Why is Martin up there?”

[2]

Yun and Seunghyun ran without a word, dragging Hilde.

They jumped over the makeshift barricade made of debris.

With a sweep of their arms, they threw Hilde onto the inner side of the barricade floor.

Ignoring Hilde’s brief scream—“Ueugh!”—they covered him together.

[1]

[0]

Beeep.

A short alarm.

Puuuh-uuung!

Martin self-destructed.

The shockwave spread. Even with the height difference, the force was immense. The scientists couldn’t even scream properly.

Creature corpses piled everywhere flew into the air.

The shockwave slammed into {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} bodies with such power that standing up was unthinkable.

The violent, wave-like blast swept the collapsed building.

When the numb shock subsided, a heavy silence settled in.

Stillness fell with the dusty fog.

In that pale cloud, Hilde shot upright.

“Martin?”

He pushed Yun and Seunghyun aside and sat up, muttering.

“Martin?”

Yun cleared debris and straightened his posture.

The AI’s creator narrowed his eyes at the teleportation array.

More precisely—at where the teleportation array had been.

Dust gathered pale and thick in the stillness.

“It’s over.”

After staring at that spot for a long time, he quietly broke the silence.

“The array is blocked.”

And Martin had shattered into pieces.

By blocking the teleportation array with his own body.

Thus the infiltration incident in the Science Wing ended—leaving dozens injured but zero dead, an excellent outcome.

And leaving behind scientists who had been shaken to the core by Martin’s explosion.

People stayed seated for a long time, unable to move.

***

“You can remake Martin, right?”

That was what I grabbed Yun to ask the moment I finished treating the wounded.

While I treated injuries, Yun had gone to the site of the explosion.

The black lens that had belonged to Martin.

My mentor lifted his head sluggishly as he looked at the huge fragment.

“I’m not sure, but... a backup? Isn’t something like that stored? Right?”

“Yeah.”

Yun answered briefly.

“I’ll make him again.”

“It’ll be the same Martin, right?”

“Yes. He won’t remember what happened today, though.”

Ah.

Thank goodness.

With a sigh of relief, I swept my chest.

A cold wind brushed my cheek.

Facing the breeze pouring in through the gaping holes, I exhaled long.

We were sitting on the 4th floor, open on two sides, waiting for follow-up measures. We had just made contact with the comms tower and leadership. Thankfully, the teleportation array that formed outside had apparently run out of power and jammed halfway.

But because it had appeared right in the middle of the city, there were a few casualties.

Most of the Badgers seemed to have been deployed there.

Ricardo, Kairos, Hesh and Tom, Shu, Asil, Bobby—looks like they had all fought on the city side.

Even so, the damage was significant.

Well. We only got away this lightly thanks to Martin.

I had no strength left to move any more. When the fight ended right as Martin self-destructed, I could barely muster the strength needed to sit my stubborn disciple down when he was insisting, “Since the work’s done, I’ll be going now.”

“Sukhoi told you to rest and come back. Stay for my sake, too. And where would you even go in that state?”

When I coaxed him gently, Seunghyun rolled his eyes but eventually plopped down.

I was grateful he didn’t keep being stubborn.

Yun snorted, but I ignored him.

I ignored him and treated Seunghyun and the scientists, then grabbed Yun to ask about Martin.

The reason the scientists were still crying rivers.

Martin had recommended a game to me just a few days ago...

“Yun.”

“Argh!”

Oh my god!

What?

Wasn’t this man unconscious?

I stared wide-eyed at John, who suddenly sprang up.

I wasn’t the only one startled—everyone present jumped. People let out cries of “Uegh!” “Kyah!” “Huk!” and so on as they stared at the scientist who suddenly rose to his feet.

Even Seunghyun slightly furrowed his brow as he looked up at the scientific giant.

Yun alone was not surprised.

“What.”

“Martin?”

John shot Yun a burning gaze.

“Where is Martin?”

Yun held his silence for a while.

The mentor looked at John Mühlen with an unreadable expression.

Silence quickly sank over us. The stillness was heavy. Reflexively holding my breath, I watched the two geniuses. The scientists covered their mouths and watched the founders of the AI.

Ash-scented gray air.

“Here.”

Only after a long while did Yun break the silence.

“Take it.”

He held out the huge lens fragment.

Thud.

“John!”

“Mr. Mühlen!”

“Jooohn!”

The scientific giant collapsed to his knees.

Don’t his knees hurt?

“John! Get a hold of yourself!”

“There’s a backup! He said there’s a backup at Yun’s house!”

“Please recreate our Martin, Mr. Mühlen!”

“Martin!”

Kate buried her face in both hands and screamed.

“Martiiiin!”

“Isn’t it just an AI?”

Seunghyun, the man with such personality that he kept silent even when thanked by scientists, muttered dryly.

Hearing the voice of someone who clearly couldn’t understand this farce, I gave a wry smile.

“It is, but he was really adorable.”

Even Yun—who rarely showed his feelings—was showing his loss.

“I even saved Martin once when he’d been kidnapped...”

As he grew bitterly sad, Lee Seunghyun shot him a look that said, “What’s wrong with this guy now.”

I ignored that look and leaned the back of my head on the debris.

My body had no strength left.

Not wanting anyone to notice, I sat perfectly still and watched the scientists grieve.

Until Yehyeon, who had returned to HQ through the portal, hurriedly climbed up to the 4th floor of the Science Wing.

The Commander-in-Chief, asking in a pale voice if we were all right, froze with a stiff face when he found Yun and his biological father drenched in blood.