Black Badger

Walker had truly caught a bunch of illegal augmentees in one go.

Shu and I had managed to catch a similar number. The police hauled away the illegal augmentees, who had been turned into limp messes by the Green Dream, one by one.

The people being taken away were in pretty bad shape overall.

I watched the police cars disappear from view, leaving a sour taste in my mouth.

"Useful haul."

Walker glanced at us and said curtly.

"Won't embarrass myself taking them to the old spider."

"Thank you."

Not that I did anything special.

Walker turned and walked away without another word.

Shu and I followed suit, reading the room. The chaos had made us quite late. Evening had long since passed. I was hungry and a bit tired. It stung that I'd gone to the game store and hadn't even bought a single game.

But now that things had turned out this way, I had to meet the old spider before leaving.

I felt a little bad for Shu, who hadn't eaten dinner because of this.

We walked in silence until we reached our destination. The old spider's house wasn't far. It was a rundown steel-frame building deep in the Harlem District, with rusted beams starkly exposed.

Walker flung open the door of the house, which looked completely disconnected from the noisy Halloween atmosphere outside.

"Wow."

Shu, standing in front, peered inside and let out an exclamation.

"What a rich person's place."

Just like the senior said.

As the weathered iron door swung open, an interior that contrasted sharply with the exterior unfolded before us.

A marble foyer with a gold-plated sculpture hanging from the ceiling. A sleek mirror that looked over two meters tall. A taxidermied bear holding a silver tray.

Nothing about it looked cheap.

I stepped inside with my mouth agape, onto the ivory marble floor.

A faint musk scent wafted through the air.

Following Walker, I inhaled the pleasant aroma. Soon, we entered a reception room carpeted with warm-toned Persian rugs.

Someone was already waiting for us on the sofa in the spacious room.

With only one person there and drinks prepared for exactly three, it was obvious she was the rumored old spider.

I blankly looked down at the small elderly woman sitting there in a cable-knit cardigan, holding a cup of cocoa.

She looked small and kind.

"Walker, you're here."

Even her speech was like a friendly grandmother's.

"Those fools causing trouble again, making you late, I suppose."

I immediately reconsidered that earlier impression.

Her words were vicious, despite the smiling face.

But she still gave off a strong vibe of a sweet, generous grandmother—one you'd want to help if you passed her on the street.

Walker didn't respond and just stood in the corner of the reception room.

The old spider smiled faintly and turned her gaze.

"Hildebert."

Ah, she knew my name.

"And young badger. You haven't had dinner, so sit and have some panini with us."

"Get to the point and wrap it up quick."

"You might not be hungry, but the other two probably are."

Sipping her cocoa, she sounded exactly like a warm grandmother.

"Sit. No poison in it. Goodness, look how skinny you both are."

Shu quietly went and sat next to the old spider.

And just like that, we ended up having an unexpected dinner at a table decorated with cute Jack-o'-lanterns.

I swallowed the stretching cheese and glanced at the old spider sitting nearby.

She knew me.

But I had no recollection. It wasn't like with Ye-hyeon, where memories flickered in and out; she just seemed like a complete stranger.

Was it because time had etched lines on her face?

In the smooth reception room, filled only with the sounds of eating.

Just as I thought the old spider might finally start talking, she looked at Walker and Shu.

"Could you two step out for a bit?"

Shu and Walker alternated glances between me and the information broker.

"I have some private words for this new recruit badger."

"Don't pull any funny business on the junior."

Walker stood without hesitation.

As he did, he looked down at the old spider and added,

"The Supreme Commander dotes on this subordinate; I don't want to get chewed out for failing to protect him."

With that meaningful warning, the senior smoothly exited the reception room.

Shu followed without a word. Right before leaving, she mouthed, "Contact me if anything happens."

I nodded, and the door closed in front of me.

As soon as the footsteps of the two faded, the old spider spoke.

"Do you remember me?"

Oh no.

I looked awkwardly at the old spider, who gazed back at me with a kind smile.

"...Sorry. Not at all...."

"Ah, that's understandable."

The old spider didn't seem offended.

Instead, she chuckled softly, holding her cocoa cup. Her face suggested she'd anticipated this response.

Feeling uneasy, I apologized to the woman sipping her cocoa.

"I'm sorry."

"Not at all. It's really understandable. I was the one who admired you one-sidedly; it would be a stretch to say we really knew each other."

"You admired me?"

Why?

My inner thoughts must have shown on my face.

The old spider laughed heartily and set down her cocoa cup.

"Looks like it's true that all your memories are gone."

"Yes...."

"You were someone a young girl could admire."

She met my eyes and smiled gently.

"With that stylishly spiked white hair, always standing at the center of people, smiling leisurely. Whenever I went to the lab holding my parents' hands, I'd watch you from afar."

"The lab?"

I'd heard about the long hair before, so that wasn't surprising.

A spotless white floor came to mind. Memories of sitting there playing games with Ray. So, I must have been in something like a laboratory.

Had I given eternal youth to humans there?

Meeting someone who knew me from back then, when I spent time on that pristine floor, made my stomach churn.

Ye-hyeon didn't know that version of me, and Colton had no intention of telling me about it.

Maybe this person could give me answers.

The old spider swallowed a marshmallow floating in her cocoa.

"My parents were brilliant scientists, and at the time, I was recognized as a scientist in my own right, regardless of my age."

She must have been a prodigy.

"Thanks to that, I could occasionally visit even the most heavily secured lab's reception area. Though, unlike authorized scientists, I couldn't go further inside."

"There was a reception room in the lab?"

"Of course. You always came out as the representative, but you don't remember?"

The underworld information broker said something bizarre.

"You and Kyle were their representatives, right?"

What?

I leaned forward toward the old spider.

"What do you mean I was?"

"The leader."

The information broker looked at me with sharp, intelligent eyes.

"You were their leader, Hildebert."

My body stiffened.

For a long moment, I forgot how to move. I stared blankly ahead, not even registering what expression I was making.

Soon, voices emerged from somewhere in my brain.

It wasn't just one or two voices approaching me. Multiple voices spoke to me in as many different tones. I recognized each one: Deltei, Nol, Ivon, You, Rin....

And countless others.

The people I had sworn to protect until my last breath.

And the moment I had set foot on Earth with them.

Another bundle of memories came crashing down.

Bile rose in my throat.

"Where's the bathroom?"

"Go out of the reception room and straight down the hall to the end."

Even as I shot up and asked, the old spider didn't flinch.

"If you need a sedative, just say so."

I headed to the bathroom without looking back.

I flung the door open roughly. No time to close it properly.

Standing in front of the toilet, I vomited up everything from dinner.

Even after that, my stomach didn't settle, so I heaved up stomach acid too, retching.

The sour smell of stomach acid stung my nose. My vision blurred with tears.

After a long bout of dry heaving, I slumped against the wall and sat down.

I barely suppressed the urge to cry. The memory of swearing on my sword to dedicate this life to my people stabbed at my heart. That memory lingered only as a faint, daydream-like image. Every time I tried to make it clear, it faded into haze.

With the sword I swore to protect my people, I had ordered Ray's death.

While saying we should hope a fragment of emotion remained for Ray.

And that sword was now in Ye-hyeon's hands.

"Enough reason to grind your teeth and want to kill him."

I let out a hollow laugh, recalling what Jin had passed on.

"Even drinking his ground-up corpse wouldn't sate the rage."

Why did I betray them?

Why did I turn my back on Kyle and point a blade at Ray? Why did I abandon those I swore to protect and side with the humans?

I knew war was coming. I knew the time to fight Ray would arrive. It must have been a carefully considered decision.

But no matter the reason, the fact that I betrayed my people remained unchanged.

That sin wouldn't erase even if I atoned for it my whole life. Even if I took back the sword from Ye-hyeon and slit my own throat with it. Even if I died gruesomely cut down by Colton's hand, the one I once clasped.

"And on top of that, I'd forgotten it all so comfortably."

I spat out a bitter laugh in self-mockery.

"Aren't I the worst leader in history?"

I didn't even deserve to cry and say sorry.

I sat there in the bathroom, the sour stomach acid smell lingering, for a long time. Until Walker and Shu came, grabbed my arms, and dragged me out.

*

I had no strength left to stay there longer.

The old spider told me to go back and rest. She said there wasn't much more to tell anyway.

She had been a bright but young guest at the lab back then. She could watch me from afar but rarely had the chance to approach and talk. I was always surrounded by people, busy with important discussions.

She said she'd only had brief conversations with me twice.

"You gave me chocolate each time."

The old spider covered her mouth and laughed.

"You said you'd heard from my parents that I liked chocolate. The way you put it in my sulky little hand looked so cool."

"Did I do that?"

I smiled weakly.

I really didn't remember.

I didn't have the energy to recall more right now.

I gave her an apologetic smile.

"Sorry. I don't remember."

"It would be strange if you did. You met so many people back then. I was just an immature kid desperately wanting to blend in among them. My parents really liked you too."

"What were your parents' names?"

As I asked faintly, a strange smile appeared on the old spider's lips.

"If I told you that, you'd figure out my name too."

I'd completely forgotten she was a big shot in the underworld.

And with that, our brief meeting ended. The old spider handed me over to the seniors waiting outside the reception room. Walker grumbled as he supported my limp form.

The information broker saw us off to the entrance with a kind smile.

"Take care on your way back, Hildebert. Come find me anytime you want."

"You turn the kid into mush and then give a flowery send-off."

Walker said gruffly.

"The rosy glow's annoying, so cut it out."

As Walker could clearly hear, we left the old spider's house.

I couldn't ask how a promising young scientist like her ended up as a famous underworld information broker, how she knew Walker, or why someone with so much money lived in such a shabby area.

I didn't have the energy to ask.

Even as Shu kept peering at my face with faint worry on her stoic expression, I could barely react. One word from the information broker had turned me into complete mush. Without Walker, I couldn't have walked properly.

I was dragged along like a soulless doll by my senior's hand.

Somehow knowing, Walker dumped me not at the dormitory but at the cabin.

"Contact if something comes up."

Shu said, her stoic blue eyes filled with concern.

"We'll tell Yoon senior for you."

"Thanks."

I greeted the two seniors with a completely drained voice.

"Sorry to cause so much trouble."

"Grow up."

Walker said ominously as he left the cabin.

"I'll hear the story later."

The door closed carefully. The house across, decorated with dangling pumpkins, where Ami and Yoon lived, faded from view.

I was left alone like that.

Silence gradually settled in as the seniors' footsteps receded.

Even after their presences were gone, I stood there motionless for a long while.

Only when my legs ached unbearably did I turn and shuffle to the bed.

After that, I didn't remember.

Maybe I didn't want to.

*

The next day, Yoon woke me.

He entered the cabin and lightly shook my body sprawled on the floor.

"Ah."

"I heard."

The mentor got straight to the point, as was his way.

"Can you get up? Let's check that game first."