Pluto’s red eyes, which had been tracking steadily, went still — brightening and dimming in a slow, rhythmic blink. It seemed as though his life was running out.
“That’s right. That’s exactly it. But you are not the culprit. Because it was not your free will — it was a hidden command buried inside you by Dr. Jang, nothing more.”
Mika’s eyes trembled.
“Dr. Jang’s hidden command.”
Pluto nodded with great difficulty.
“After Jo In-chul died, I, as programmed, hung Jo In-chul in a hanging formation from a high-altitude crane and sent a declaration of war to Oracle. Because of that I was made out to be the culprit, but that too was Dr. Jang’s will. It was more right for me to take the blame than for you to be taken away.”
Mika shook her head.
“How can you say that! I won’t let Dr. Jang get away with this. Making me like this! Making you like this! Let’s get out of here. I’ll fix you and turn myself in.”
“Stop saying naive things. Don’t you still know who I am?”
At those words, Mika suddenly looked at Pluto. Just who was the ‘self’ inside that black helmet? Something clicked. Ah — it’s you — yes, it has to be you —
“That’s right. It’s me. I am Jang Jeong-guk. I am connected to this Pluto.”
Woooong —
It was as though a great howling was resonating from inside Pluto’s black helmet.
“I was Dr. Jang Jin-gyu’s son, and the head of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency’s Intelligent Crime Investigation Team. And above all else —”
Pluto’s breathing grew rough. Shuck — shuck —
“My beloved woman. I was Yoon Mika’s fiancé.”
Mika’s legs gave out and she crumpled to the floor. Nothing could have been more shocking than this.
“My memories of you — I have none —”
Even as Mika’s voice broke — raw, like a cry wrenched from somewhere deep — Pluto’s voice resonated deep and distant, like the darkness inside a cave.
“The memories of me — I did not connect them to you. Only the data from your days as a society reporter is connected to you. You, who had only your cerebellum mind-uploaded, needed the minimum amount of time to adapt gradually, without feeling confusion.”
Pluto’s eyes flickered and dimmed, as though weeping.
“Now that I have conveyed all the facts to you —”
Pluto’s system monitor floated in the air. A record incineration command was being entered.
“I will incinerate all records.”
Pluto’s entire record data list appeared, and they were erased at a rapid speed. Suddenly, fwap — all the footage burst into view at once, then szzzt — glitching, fracturing into red Missing files, and then even those all vanished from the air with a pop —
“There are no records, no evidence left now. Yoon Mika.”
Pluto drew his last breath.
“Even if they hack me here, they won’t find anything.”
On Leo’s monitor in front of the Zone 3 building, Pluto’s footage appeared.
“Footage shared with Pluto has been deleted. Would you like to recover it?”
The automated system’s question appeared.
The cursor blinked, waiting. The pointer drifted. ‘No’ was clicked with a clack.
“All records shared with Pluto have been deleted. Deleted files cannot be recovered.”
As if already knowing, a single cursor blinked silently on the empty screen of Leo’s monitor.
Inside the factory, Pluto’s red eyes had already turned white. From those eyes, now turned white, Pluto’s deep sorrow was transmitted to Mika.
“Is this what people call death?”
Pluto looked at Mika, wanting to see her even one more time. From Pluto’s broken chest came a sound — shwick — like the last of his hydraulic pressure bleeding out.
“Are you sad that I’m dying? Yoon Mika?”
Mika wept, unable to say a single word, and looked at Pluto.
“Many things will happen before you now. You will have to endure all of it. When you can no longer bear it, I will come to save you without fail.
But, if perhaps… if perhaps something goes wrong with you… I will erase everything. My rage will sweep across the world like a great storm.”
Pluto’s voice was calm, yet his eyes flared red for a moment before fading to white.
“Don’t worry. I am merely being transmitted — I won’t die. The one who made me, my father — he will make me a god. Immortality, omnipotence, eternal life. The promises mankind has always begged of God — he means to deliver them through science. If he succeeds, I will become the first human to sail through the universe. The age of Homo Sapiens will end, and the age of Homo Deus will begin.”
Pluto’s white eyes blinked out to black. “Farewell, Yoon Mika. I will miss you…”
The sound of breathing that had been hissing inside Pluto’s helmet fell silent. Pluto’s monitor, which had been floating in the air, disappeared too — szzzt — pop —
“The first human to sail through the universe… the age of Homo Deus…”
Pluto’s last words echoed in Mika’s chest, leaving a deep resonance. “Goodbye, Pluto. I will miss you too…”
It was then that Leo, silent until now, broke the stillness.
“My lady. Dr. Jang Jin-gyu and Rachel are under attack.”
“What? By whom?”
“A swarm of 150 police agency drones are swarming, attacking every part of the mansion.”
It was a shock. Police agency drones were attacking the home of the police agency’s robot control center chief? It was certain that Talos had somehow discovered the connection between Pluto and Dr. Jang Jin-gyu.
“The police agency special forces are also being dispatched to this location right now. They will arrive within one minute and thirty seconds.”
Then she had to get out of here at once. Mika looked at Pluto’s body, now cold. He had died, and yet had not died. And now she had to face the one who had built him — and built her. Dr. Frankenstein.
“To Dr. Jang’s mansion.”
“Yes.”
Vroooooom — Leo’s Black Car Y switched to its quantum turbo engine and cleared the Terra Motors Second Factory in ten seconds.
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