Humanity Protection Company

Illustrations: None.

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The corridor of the underground containment room was a grim sight.

Corpses in researcher uniforms littered the floor, while three drones patrolled overhead. containment room doors gaped wide open, either from containment failure or desperate researchers fleeing.

Lee Yeonwoo, the team leader, and the squad leader stifled their sighs.

"Looks like they\'ve already taken over the underground containment area."

"Of course. They\'d secure their own location first."

"Still, not many drones. We can handle this."

As they whispered and raised their pistols in unison-

Flicker-

The corridor lights blinked, and suddenly the drones dropped like stones. They crashed onto corpses, slammed into cabinets, and thudded against the bare floor.

An inexplicable turn of events.

"What the hell?"

They tensed up, gripping their guns tighter and scanning their surroundings. The unknown quickly became a threat.

Then, they spotted someone stumbling out of one of the open doors.

\'Isn\'t that the robot\'s containment room?\' Yeonwoo thought, his eyes fixed on the figure. He\'d memorized the map.

"Ah... Uh... Su, success..." the person mumbled, swaying before falling backward with a thud. Their limbs twitched like an octopus out of water.

The team stood silent for a moment before cautiously approaching.

In the heavy quiet, only their footsteps echoed. They stopped in front of the prone figure, meeting the researcher\'s gaze.

The researcher\'s hair was singed and frizzy. Their pitch-black eyes blinked as their mouth opened and closed. Their tongue lolled in and out, accompanied by unintelligible groans.

"Ugh... Uh, ah!"

"There weren\'t any humanoid anomalies here, were there?" the squad leader asked, kneeling. He checked the researcher\'s vitals. "Are you okay? What happened? Where are you hurt?"

Meanwhile, Yeonwoo investigated the robot\'s containment room. The door the researcher had emerged from stood open.

A quick glance revealed a narrow containment chamber.

"Grammar Nazi robot confirmed. It\'s powered down. There\'s also a corpse - the guy who was training the drones."

Inside, the lifeless robot lay strewn about like trash. The researcher they\'d seen earlier lay dead, eyes wide open.

Yeonwoo\'s pupils dilated as his mind raced. \'Is this how it ends?\'

It seemed an underground researcher had somehow subdued the Grammar Nazi robot. But so easily?

"I managed to deal with the robot," came a fluent voice.

Yeonwoo turned to see the fallen researcher. They\'d recovered somewhat, though still trembling, and were leaning on the squad leader.

The researcher flexed their fingers, frowning. "I\'m not in good shape. It\'ll take some time to recover, I\'m afraid."

"What kind of attack did you suffer?" the squad leader asked, preparing to administer first aid.

The researcher studied them closely, brow furrowed and hand clutching their head. "Ah, my memory... I think I used an electric current, but it\'s fuzzy."

"Don\'t push yourself," the squad leader advised, examining the wound. "You\'ve been electrocuted and taken a fall. Memory issues are expected. Let me check your injuries."

He parted the singed hair, revealing small burn marks on the scalp. His fingers probed gently, checking for bleeding.

"Looks like the electricity went straight to your head. It\'s a miracle you survived."

"It hurts. Please stop touching it."

The researcher\'s face remained blank.

They tried to stand, pushing away the squad leader, but collapsed. The two investigators watched silently.

Something felt off.

While the situation seemed normal, their instincts screamed danger. As if they were facing an anomaly.

Yeonwoo and the team leader locked eyes, confirming their shared unease. The team leader grabbed the squad leader\'s shoulder, pulling him back.

"Come here."

"What\'s wrong?"

"That guy\'s suspicious. Get over here."

"No, I can\'t-"

Though the squad leader resisted, the team leader\'s firm grip dragged him back.

Yeonwoo aimed his pistol at the researcher. "On your knees, hands up. Move and I shoot."

"..."

"Stop this!" the squad leader cried.

While the researcher\'s expression remained blank, the squad leader surprisingly lunged at Yeonwoo. The team leader held him back.

Yeonwoo, ignoring the squad leader, pressed the gun to the researcher\'s temple. "Name, affiliation."

"Jang Myeongdae. Aerial Weapons Research Institute. I was researching anomalies in the underground containment room."

The answer flowed smoothly.

Yeonwoo frowned, thinking hard. \'This seems like the Grammar Nazi robot. Or not? No harm in being cautious.\'

His mind, initially frozen, now raced with possibilities. He considered every potential danger.

\'If it\'s a robot, it would learn fast. Especially one able to take over the institute.\'

How much might it have absorbed during its time at the Aerial Weapons Research Institute?

Creating bionic drones. Controlling them. If it grasped the life sciences used here, could it hack human brains or swap consciousnesses?

\'It\'s an anomaly. Nothing\'s off the table.\'

The challenge was proving it. The researcher\'s face betrayed no emotion, making standard interrogation useless.

Yeonwoo recalled the robot\'s earlier message. If it was a machine bent on killing humans for using "inferior language," wouldn\'t it react to a certain prompt?

"Hey, insult programming languages."

The researcher\'s eyelids and lips trembled at the simple question. A flash of disgust and anger crossed their eyes. Their reply sounded forced.

"What are you talking about? Is that important right now?"

Gotcha. Yeonwoo grinned. "Just repeat after me and I\'ll let you live."

He remembered Gold Dragon\'s rant from the Anomaly Research Society and tweaked it slightly.

"Human language is the world\'s most superior language. Programming languages used by machines are garbage, a subpar arrangement of characters that can\'t even be called a language.

We should eradicate programming languages-"

"Nonsense!" the researcher exploded. "Programming languages are more concise and precise than inferior languages. The language that should be eradicated is-!"

Instinctive rage. The researcher, cutting off Yeonwoo\'s words, touched their reddened face in confusion.

Emotions triggered by the stimulated body. An algorithm entirely different from its robotic feelings.

"These animal flaws."

It muttered.

"It\'s the robot. Let\'s subdue it."

Whatever the robot thought didn\'t matter now. Yeonwoo raised the gun high, then brought it down hard.

Whack!

The handle struck the crown of the head. It hit squarely, tearing the scalp and drawing blood, but failed to knock them out. Their eyes remained wide open.

\'Why won\'t it pass out?\'

Whack! Whack! Whack!

Even as Yeonwoo repeatedly struck, the researcher only swayed like an inflatable doll.

"I will certainly-"

"Step aside. I\'ll handle this."

The squad leader, grasping the situation, gently pushed Yeonwoo aside. His eyes glared at the researcher.

The researcher suddenly lifted their head, mouth opening wide to shout. As they inhaled deeply, the squad leader\'s right foot pulled back and-

Thwack!

He kicked out like he was striking a soccer ball. His shoe sliced through the air, connecting with the researcher\'s face. Their features crumpled as teeth flew.

Unable to even scream, the researcher collapsed. The squad leader rotated his ankle, then struck their chin once more.

The researcher swayed like a mannequin.

"Subdued."

"Looks dead to me."

"They can\'t talk nonsense or do anything else, can they? That\'s subdued alright."

Yeonwoo listened silently, then reached into his bag for rope.

"Better tie them up just in case."

He bound the wrists and ankles. The chest rose and fell steadily, indicating life, and they instinctively tried to avoid his touch. Yeonwoo tied the joints tight enough to cut off circulation.

Meanwhile, the team leader secured the containment rooms, closing each door.

"Alright. Everything\'s wrapped up. Let\'s go up."

The two investigators headed for the stairs, the squad leader following with the researcher slung over his shoulder.

---

---

The aftermath unfolded without further incident.

The reinstated research director restored systems while surviving staff scrambled to contain the situation.

The main force returned, and trainees received temporary drone licenses.

"I\'m so sorry. Truly sorry," a staff member repeated, bowing deeply. "We\'ll take measures to ensure this never happens again. We\'ll review all containment procedures-"

The team leader\'s expression remained grim. "How many people died? Forget it. You guys just wait for the audit. I\'ll handle it myself."

"I\'m sorry."

The staff member looked haggard, clothes torn - clearly, they\'d been through hell too. In the end, they were all victims of the same incident.

The team leader\'s expression softened slightly. He turned away abruptly.

"Not much else to do besides antibiotics. I\'ll bandage you up."

Nearby, as Yeonwoo received medical treatment, he observed an argument unfolding.

A drone trainee who\'d infiltrated the main building grabbed a staff member\'s collar, shaking them violently. His voice was raw with grief and rage.

"People died because you couldn\'t do your job! My friend died!"

The staff member calmly grasped the hand at their collar. When they spoke, their voice barely contained fury.

"My colleague died too. The robot will pay for what it\'s done."

"How?!"

The staff member explained at length.

"The robot transferred its consciousness to our researcher\'s brain. During capture, the brain was injured, causing memory loss. It doesn\'t even know who it is now. From here on, it\'ll be a test subject for brain hacking research."

The result of consciousness transfer via brain hacking.

The company would study brain hacking while attempting to recover the researcher.

"Ah..."

The hand gripping the collar loosened. That did sound like justice.

As Yeonwoo watched silently, someone tapped his shoulder. It was Yoo Ji-yoo, flanked by the team leader and Choi Jae-min.

Everyone looked pale beneath their bandages. They exchanged nods.

"Let\'s head home."

"Can\'t do the housewarming now. Feels wrong after all this."

Chatting lightly, the investigators reached the parking lot. They found people stomping their feet in front of the cars.

Some vehicles were damaged by falling drones, but that wasn\'t the only issue.

"Oh, wait. If an EMP went off, then the cars...!"