I Have Returned, but I Cannot Lay down My Gun

Chapter 211 – DARPA

-[Warning: Detected large influx of traffic. Breach of First Safety Firewall. Authorization recognized… DARPA filtering results: no anomalies detected. Blocking traffic – impossible. Impossible. Impossible. Impossible….]

-[Notification: Checking connection nodes… unable to identify. Cross-verification of electronic certificates completed. Initiating inter-server connection and central system control procedures to manage traffic.]

-[Notification: Protocol Icarus activated.]

“Damn it, what’s going on!”

At 3 a.m., when even the sun had gone to sleep and the moon was buried in darkness, the control room of the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, where the lights never went out, was suddenly filled with numerous warning messages on the dozens of large screens and floating holograms on the walls.

The personnel at DARPA, who had worked countless night shifts, had never experienced so many incidents occurring in such a short time. The researchers, network technicians, and security experts who had dealt with countless situations could only stare blankly at the screens.

Among them, only one person, Jordan Royden, pretended to look busy while fiddling with the computer. At first glance, he seemed to be working hard to resolve the situation, but in reality, he was exchanging subtle eye contact with the person in charge of the shift.

As their gazes disconnected, the shift supervisor spoke calmly.

“Call the rapid response team corresponding to Protocol Icarus. Unrelated personnel, return to your respective division control rooms and prepare to prevent further damage. Remember, we are the initial suppression team, not the crisis resolution team.”

“Understood!”
With a loud noise, about half of the personnel quickly left, and even those who stayed behind to check and organize the situation rapidly ran to their respective department control towers as soon as the rapid response team arrived.

How much time had passed? As the last of the personnel left and the entire response team took their seats, the door to the control room firmly locked.

A dry, mechanical voice came from the ceiling.

-[Notification: Control room closure complete.]

“…”

How much time had passed again?

Finally, the sealed lips opened.

“The time difference between Korea and here is 13 hours, right? This is killing me. Why did this mess have to happen at this hour… Anyway, everyone, how do you feel about seeing the true face of the Icarus Gear?”

“It’s like a natural disaster. The technological gap is at least 30 years ahead. The traffic load momentarily exceeded DARPA’s usual data processing capacity.”

“Strictly speaking, that clock itself doesn’t have that level of processing power, but… well, the fact that it legally hijacks the operating rights of all connected devices makes it about the same.”

Despite this, their fingers never stopped moving.

What seemed like chaotic data inflow was being reorganized by their hands, and soon, what appeared to be meaningless information formed a large picture on the network. The trace file opened by the Icarus key was being modified in real-time, projected onto the hologram.

The file, which was soon transformed into an understandable form, outlined the footsteps Yoo Jin had taken in this world through the electronic world.

Written thoroughly following Anchorlight’s guidelines, it detailed even whom Yoo Jin had met, encompassing names from the extensive list of memory holders scattered across Delta Force, DEVGRU, and numerous other JSOC special forces.

The supervisor, looking at this, quietly spoke up.

“There are a lot of them.”

As he said, it was perhaps a bizarre cartel lineup that had never existed before, but it wasn’t something to worry about. There was no need to match all their words. It was enough to pick out those close to Yoo Jin and revolve around them.

Even the close ones included the future president, the NSA director, nearly half of DARPA researchers, the Secretary and Deputy Secretary of Defense, the Undersecretary of the Army, and numerous other personnel from the Secret Service and JSOC.

In the real world, that was enough.

Moreover, any traces left in the electronic world could be cleanly erased by the Icarus Gear.

Things were proceeding orderly and sequentially. In other words, they just had to observe and organize the results produced by others involved, not themselves.

By the way,

“MWRT, so the military technology development project that has been floating around for years was related to this.”

Metropolitan-Warfare Tactical Response Team, commonly known as the Urban-Warfare Tactical Response Unit.

If it were a system where one climbed up the ranks step by step like the usual special forces courses, Yoo Jin would have been gaining experience in a Tier 2 special forces unit at this point. However, the higher-ups had created an entirely new unit to make her accumulated experience legitimate.

There was no need to rack their brains to concoct training data. Even extracting a minuscule amount of the vast engagement information within the Icarus Gear for training would make each individual’s training participation record as thick as a rich man’s wallet.

‘…By the way, having an electronic certificate capable of easily breaching even DARPA’s system. If the truth of this matter gets into the ears of an unsuspecting person, they’ll be utterly astonished.’

At the moment, the project had been a multi-billion dollar endeavor over nearly 20 years, so such performance was only natural. In case of emergencies, individual devices were intended to function as network hubs on par with those held by an entire U.S. agency.

Of course, during the early stages of the crisis, they had all perished miserably amidst the virus and chaos, leaving only a few operators who could even use the limited number of Icarus Gears produced.

The chaos was gradually subsiding.

The initial modifications made from over 13,000 km away were coming to a close, reaching an end with a message signaling the conclusion.

A final additional message was delivered.

-[Yoo Jin: Further modifications are possible in the future, so feedback is appreciated. // It’s great to see you all again!]

“Haha.”

The matter over there was roughly wrapped up.

Now it was America’s turn to get busy.

But before that, there was something that had to be added.

“…Next time, someone should tell Anchorlight to avoid this early morning hour for modifications.”

Everyone nodded simultaneously.

It was a truly deep night.

-[USSOCOM: Authenticity verification results: no anomalies. Parts requiring modification or editing will be sent within a maximum of 3 days. Detailed information is in the attached file….]

“Looks like the heavyweights in Florida have finally started working. Do you remember General Howard of the Army?”

“Ah, the general who insisted on fighting personally during the Miami recapture operation and almost died.”

“Haha, we should tell him when we meet later. He’d be disappointed to hear it second-hand.”

A brief laugh followed.

As the Omega Virus incident involved the entire United States, it was impossible to know how many people were affected, but fortunately, John brought up a name of someone I remembered.

Howard R. Spencer, General of the Army.

I remembered him raging on about destroying all the factions operating around the aircraft carrier that had run aground on Miami Beach and its surrounding base camps. He even boasted about being a former Green Beret and insisted on participating in the battlefield.

Of course, exactly two days later, his command armored vehicle was hit by a rocket fired by a Russian infiltration team, and he almost ascended to heaven. Nonetheless, he managed to escape alive and reportedly increased his kill count.

“From the mention of his name, I guess he’s also the USSOCOM commander here.”

“He’s responsible for a significant part of your military career. Why don’t you try making a video call? Building a trust network is a fundamental HUMINT capability, so you should at least greet him.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Haha, you’re so cold.”

Wondering when I could send this guy home, who was babbling nonsense when half the work was done, I opened a confidential email sent through an independent network. As soon as I downloaded the file, the message automatically deleted itself.

The annotations in the file were minimal. It was the result of preliminary work, and the pre-work done by Anchorlight was likely based on content approved by the higher-ups, so there shouldn’t be much noise.

There were more requests than annotations, mainly asking for the current engagement data stored in the Icarus Gear. It was for forming records of operations and training matters that needed to be documented. Of course, due to the volume, it couldn’t be sent immediately.

I should suggest later that we store it in a high-capacity recording device and send it through diplomatic pouches.

And naturally,

“We should consider that option too. There’s talk that DARPA’s processing capability was overloaded momentarily just from brief access….”

“Haha, we should blame the U.S. government for pouring astronomical capital into a single watch.”

“The irony is that it’s not something to be simply dismissed as a joke.”

He added while saying that.

Anchorlight’s gaze was fixed on the list of courses I had completed.

“Various firearms usage and tactics, SCUBA, CQB, CQC, HALO, SERE, infiltration of large facilities and ships, navigation, sabotage, tactical demolition, IED manufacturing, emergency medical knowledge, advanced urban warfare, building structures, CDQC, JTAC, various vehicle driving methods, small unit tactics, and many more… You’ve learned a lot in four years. Owens must have had a headache.”

“Haha, if it wasn’t me but an ordinary person learning all that, they would have collapsed from physical and mental exhaustion long ago.”

“Well, that’s not entirely wrong. Even the infamous Green Beret Q course has over ten days of rest per phase….”

Moreover, as mentioned earlier, they didn’t let me rest even after learning those things. Before learning, during the learning process, and even after training ended, I painfully realized that the training was genuinely used for killing people due to the frequent incursions.

Even I, praised for absorbing what I learned like a sponge, almost broke down hundreds of times – anyway, I’m rambling. I shouldn’t get bogged down in past actions needlessly.

As I scrolled down further, there were numerous certificates and proof of passing various training courses… literally countless. There was no end. All these were my footsteps.

“Anyway, if there’s no significant issue, your profile will be finalized to that extent. With this, you can present your business card proudly anywhere.”

“For something that wasn’t an official course, that’s impressive.”

“Are you talking about something like SFAS? Basic physical tests, navigation, armed mountain marches, rugged terrain crossing? I guarantee that no operator in JSOC has better stamina and operational endurance than you. Not to mention, you can’t even conduct espionage operations.”

“That’s true, but… it’s just a bit disappointing.”

“Nothing in the world isn’t disappointing. But thinking conversely, in the same context as before… it’s almost impossible to find an operator in JSOC more versed in urban warfare than you. Think of it as a different specialization. Just as a communications sergeant doesn’t envy a medical sergeant.”

“Oh.”

How should I put it? A concern I had been harboring was resolved in a rather unexpected manner. Perhaps I wanted to hear such a straightforward answer from someone.

Anyway, various questions and answers continued to come and go. During this, several emails kept arriving from the U.S., so the conversation topics continuously flowed and changed. Specifically, about my name officially being listed as a Tier 1 operator by the U.S. Department of Defense, among other things.

Spending time like that, it was already 11 p.m.

Time was melting away like ice cream left outside on a summer day.

“…Has it been almost twelve hours already? It’s the first time time has flown by so quickly.”

“Really, indeed. Do you have a place to stay?”

“I’ll probably stay somewhere nearby. Actually, saying I’ll sleep might be inaccurate. I’ll have to sort out the information collected today, so I might be up all night.”

“There’s a spare bed, so stay here.”

“I’d politely decline, not knowing what retribution I might face from the team members. This visit won’t be the last… come to think of it, another member might visit next time.”

John, adding that with a hint of regret.

Slightly shaking his head as if tired, he accepted the sweet chocolate milk I handed him and drank it continuously. Then he glanced at me and asked.

“You still have a firm preference for sweets. I can roughly guess what’s in the fridge without looking.”

“If your basal metabolic rate is high, it’s inevitable.”

“Right now, that metabolism is quite envi… never mind. Must be saying all sorts of things because I’m tired. It’s time to go.”

“Right.”

And the last topic of the day.

Of course, unfortunately, the word ‘unexpected’ had to be added.

“Oh, I forgot to mention this.”

“What is it?”

“My team and I always enjoy watching your streams. Part of our operational budget might have flowed into your account.”

“…Grr.”

“If only the criteria for selecting those absurd games could be improved a bit.”

Grr.

Hearing this from a former colleague was quite a shock. Still, he added with a smile. He said having something to do is a great motivation. In that sense, there was nothing to be ashamed of.

The problem was that my weakness was shame.

Anyway, we exchanged brief goodbyes.

The iron door closed.

───Click!

The house instantly quieted down as if nothing had happened.

However, it wouldn’t take long for this silence to be broken again.

And then—

-[Harmony: Teacher—! I actually reached TIER 1 today!]

-[Harmony: And you won’t believe how much I pushed Limit, Stone, and Hotteok, haha. They followed along so well! You really did a great job! But there are still some areas that need improvement, so we did some shooting range training today!]

-[Harmony: I’ll send you the link to today’s stream video, so use it for analysis if needed!]

“Of course.”

I knew she would climb up regardless of my advice.

It was almost like a psychological trick saying, “Don’t think of an elephant.” Seeing it work well, I chuckled. The Tier was an objective indicator of how much Harmony’s skills had improved, and as she said, it showed.

Feeling quite proud that she had become capable enough to hold her own.

After adding a simple reply, I followed the link she sent.

───.

Watching the dazzling light spread before my eyes, I opened a notepad.

It seemed I would be sleeping quite late today.