17.

September 14, 2217- Samseongdong the Old KOEX Building Arcade, Seoul I.C

A cry of joy came from Asem Hospital, which was located in the innermost part of the KOEX Arcade’s Canyon Walk. Paul Greengrass who was the director of the hospital and the only doctor at Asem Hospital and Papa’s personal physician ran out of the building waving both hands. Paul grabbed the vigilante committee member nearest to him and shouted.

“Relay the news to Papa! Jeon Ilgi has woken up!”

The vigilante member was momentarily stunned but after realizing what Paul had said, he smiled and ran to relay the news. Papa heard the news from the vigilante committee members and darted to Asem Hospital. Paul greeted Papa with a smile of triumph.

“You seemed so lost. How did you finally do it?”

Paul adjusted his circular glasses and started to explain as he led Papa to the interior of Asem Hospital.

“I did it through what is commonly known as cognition conversion. When examining Joen Ilgi’s body closely, I discovered that when his heart beat, I could feel a pulse in his wrist and ankles but not in his temple. That’s impossible, you know. Someone may be brain dead but that does not mean hematocele does not run through his brain. I realized that the artery at the top of his neck was completely blocked off, which explains why his face was so pale. It acted as a kind of on off switch. The brain cells made of silicon do not suffer necrosis because they fail to encounter oxygen for a long time. Therefore, when the artery is blocked in this matter, it pushes the brain to an inert status.”

When Paul’s explanation was about finished, Papa was face to face with Jeon Ilgi who was staring at the ceiling with unfocused eyes.

“I see you’re sitting down already.”

Paul approached Jeon Ilgi and lit up his eyes with a small flashlight. As his pupil constricted, Jeon Ilgi closed his eyes. Paul gently slapped Jeon Ilgi’s cheeks while talking.

“Wake up. Do you still think you’re at the Blue House?”

Jeon Ilgi who was able to focus again after the external stimuli urgently cringed his body and fell off the bed. Jeon Ilgi spoke out of breath.

“W-W-What is this? Where am I? Is this the afterworld?”

Papa approached Jeon Ilgi and started to explain things very slowly.

“I know you are confused. Please relax and listen to my explanation. There is something you must do.”

Papa brought Jeon Ilgi his clothes and started to tell him the significance of renewing into a mechanized body. He was saying that the extraction and transplantation of the hippocampus did not exist in the beginning. And we saved you to expose this kind of corruption.

“In other words, if you go to the Blue House or on television and show yourself, that alone will have people understand the situation.”

Jeon Ilgi listened carefully to what Papa was saying and spoke while laughing.

“Ha ha. That’s what happened. I was wondering how I was still alive.”

“……?”

“Did you say you were Papa? Among what you’ve told me, do you think there’s anything I haven’t heard before?”

“What are you talking about?”

Papa’s face turned pale.

“We knew this from the beginning.”

“W-W-We… who is we?”

“Politicians… We made a contract with Dugall, Papa. Dugall’s original intention was to drive out the soul and perform transplants. Although Dugall made many efforts to examine the existence of the soul, he could not prove dualism through physics. His conclusion was that since souls could not have existed in the fertilized egg in the beginning, he said that the soul was created naturally after long term experiences and the accumulation of emotions. That it why he thought of restoring long-term experiences and accumulated emotions in the mechanized body. He might have been depraved but he was a genius.

Do you know what the thirty-two days it takes to renewal stands for? It is a time to dream. While one side dreams unceasingly, the other side receives experiences and emotions through those dreams. Since dreams accumulated experiences and emotions, the solution was very effective. Although Dugall was successful in realizing his intentions, he felt confusion when he saw two souls existing. He believed that the soul was one and only as the Bible taught, and after finishing renewal, he thought his wife would reach some state where one soul would disappear.

His long-term agony resulted in nothing but a human clone. And this was a human clone that had the defects of the standard clone completely eliminated.”

Papa felt as if he had swallowed a razor blade and had a hard time breathing. Breathing heavily, Papa asked questions.

“W-W-Why did you hide that from the people knowing full well the truth? You’ve been renewed nine times, right? You’ve died nine times! Pretty horrific, isn’t it?”

Jeon Ilgi spoke as if it was common knowledge.

“It’s horrific. I remember the moment the assembly suggested that I get renewed. Their eyes looked so placid. I could see no inclination of murderous intentions. However, I have no regrets. We all swore to keep the rules.

Look here, Papa. I think you also know as you govern people, too, how ignorant the masses are. What kind of chaos would ensue if they knew the politicians governing them were no more than clones of figures the people had supported in the previous generation? Don’t think of it too horrifically, Papa. Forget about that trivial emotion, and think about how much this society can really develop. Although 170 years is the record, the life span will continue to increase. We’re talking about not only 400 or 800 years, even a 1000 years is possible. What kind of wisdom can someone who had lived for a 1000 years teach us? Aren’t you curious?”

In contrast to Papa’s pale face, Jeon Ilgi’s face was flushed with excitement. It seemed as if Papa had suffered some form of mental shock- he coughed violently and coughed up blood. Jeon Ilgi who had been rancorous stopped and looked at his hands.

“Slowly cooling down… It seems as if the lifespan of my mechanized body is finished. Shall I tell you how I feel, Papa? This body has lived for nineteen years, but at this moment, I can remember 160 years. I’m happy about that. I don’t think they are false…”

Jeon Ilgi slowly lowered his head as he finished speaking.



18.

September 17, 2217- Seoul Asan Bio Research Center, Seoul I.C

Unexpectedly, his grandfather’s funeral was taking place at the Seoul Asan Bio Research Center. Inside the automated taxi that was traveling back on the same road he had taken to get home from renewal, he thought about his grandfather.

The long row of street lamps transformed into a long strand of light and brushed by the car window. Gyeonga was nervous and Jinseok grabbed her hand and tried to organize his thoughts.

As Seoul city had become one of the few specialized cities around the world, the housing prices were incomparably high compared to the regional provinces. While living in Seoul, Jinseok was building a hospital in the regional provinces that would not make any money. This was all possible because of his grandfather’s support.

In the face of his grandfather’s death, Jinseok realized that he was not a very innocent person. Of course, he was sad about his grandfather’s death.

During his childhood, his grandfather had shown him a lot of love. Although his grandfather had four other grandchildren, whatever the reason, he cared for Jinseok the most.

Until the time Jinseok had suffered an accident at the age of eleven and had one of his legs amputated on the railroad, he had spent more time with his grandfather than his parents. After Jinseok suffered the accident, his parents decided on a mechanized body rather than treating his injury; after receiving very brief emergency treatment and being stitched up, he received his first renewal at the young age of eleven.

He was undoubtedly sad about his grandfather’s passing, but it did not feel real. Therefore, Jinseok felt conflicted. However, he knew that recalling the emotions from his youth and fostering emotions was nothing more than consolation. Despite all this, he needed “that.”

While Jinseok was lost in his thoughts, the automated taxi had reached its destination.

The funeral place was crowded with mourners and the mass media. The mass media was busy trying to be the fastest to report on Dr. Gang Wontaek who opened the era of immortality with Dr. John Dugall. As soon as Jinseok and Gyeonga got out of the car, the reporters who recognized them rushed towards them. Jinseok felt overwhelmed as the camera lenses and the eyes of people gathered around him. The reporters pressed closer to Jinseok and shoved microphones into his face while firing questions.

“Do you have any special memories of Dr. Gang Wontaek?”

“Did you two get along? In Dr. Gang Wontaek’s memoirs, he mentions Mr. Ha Jinseok the most…”

“Do you know why Dr. Gang Wontaek so adamantly adhered to his mortality?”

“Is it true that Dr. Gang Wontaek’s assets amount to 100 million dollars?”

Jinseok did not know which question to answer and into which microphone, and since he felt no responsibility to answer the questions, he grabbed Gyeonga’s hand and rushed across the press line.

The interior of the bioresearch center, which was off limits to reporters, was very quiet, strikingly different from the outside. The corridor was filled with garlands and condolence banners from important figures from various parts of society. Not only were there garlands from domestic politicians like President Jeon Ilgi, but also important foreign figures who respected Asian customs.

As soon as he entered the funeral place, relatives who he had not met for a long time approached and greeted him. Because a funeral itself was such a foreign event, the majority of people did not prepare funeral garments and many people did not know the bowing customs for funeral services and would look at someone doing it and clumsily imitate. Jinseok had been to old man Bak’s funeral services and was able to adhere to the customs without any problems. Gyeonga and Jinseok paid their condolences to the picture of their grandfather, and as soon as they left the funeral room, Gyeonga chatted with relatives she knew for the first time in a long time; Jinseok started speaking to the young man approaching him.

“Hello, uncle.”

“How are you? No kid yet?”

Jinseok felt out of place looking at this man in his early twenties and calling him uncle. His uncle lamented that his father had passed away because of his stubbornness and moved to talk to other relatives. His uncle looked at a man who looked younger than him and cried out “uncle.”

For Jinseok who had just returned from old man Bak’s funeral, this scenery was very strange. In a funeral place filled with young men and women, the portrait of his grandfather who was smiling awkwardly stood out.

“We have all become orphans.”

Jinseok spoke in a melancholy voice. At that moment, something blunt pressed into his back. Jinseok was surprised and when he tried to turn around, a strong force pressed his shoulders forward.

“Stay still, Ha Jinseok. You may not believe this but I have a gun pressed against your back. Do you want to see?”

Jinseok was flustered, but he said he would look at it later.

“Good. Very cool, I see. Shall we head towards the door. Act natural.”

Without much resistance, Jinseok headed for the exit of the funeral place. He saw his uncle calling him from a distant.

“Jinseok, where’re you going? You’re not leaving now, are you?”

The stranger behind Jinseok released the strength of his hand which grabbed Jinseok’s shoulder and pressed the gun harder into his back.

“No. My friend has come. I’m going to go out and talk with him.”

“There’s a written will left for you. Make sure you return before the will is read.”

The stranger brazenly smiled at Jinseok’s uncle and pressed Jinseok on even harder. They left the funeral place and headed out of the vicinity of the hospital. Gyeonga realized a little late that she could not see her husband; she searched for him in the funeral place but could not find him anywhere.


19.

Silica Lucy was perhaps the most famous woman in modern history. She was named after Lucy who was the first human being and despite her fame, this woman never showed herself in public. As Dr. Dugall presented his whole body package substitute, he first mentioned her name and the press was overly zealous in uncovering who this Silica Lucy was, but Dr. Dugall did not give them any hints. As time passed, although Silica Lucy was mentioned in Dr. Dugall’s thesis as being the first mechanized body, it was the mainstream belief that Silica Lucy was an imaginary figure created to help in the explanation. However, Silica Lucy who was the first human with a mechanized body actually existed, and her real name was Kiyosiki Annabel.

Kiyosiki Annabel went to the site of the Sinuiju pressurized water reactor explosion as a volunteer and was exposed to 6 seiverts (Sv) of radiation for an extended period of time. She caught a disease where her cells abnormally multiplied. Dr. Dugall was bitter against god who had handed him this fate but he never gave up on his wife.

The research that had come to a halt after Silica Alpha, which was the first carnal substitute, started up again, and he was successful in creating bone marrow, the optic nerve, and brain cells, which were commonly known as points unattainable through silicon life form. Using his wife’s genetic information, Dr. Dugall was able to create a reproduction of Silica Lucy, the first mechanized body in the world. But Dugall did not have that much time. Annabel’s health was deteriorating quickly, and he had no choice but to use a mechanized body renewaler that had not been tested.

After 32 days of hell for Dr. Dugall, Silica Lucy finally woke up. And his wife Annabel woke up, as well. The exchange of happiness and despair in a split second… Dugall could not tell the women that two women existed.

Dr. Dugall told Annabel that the test had failed, and he told Lucy that the test had succeeded. Dr. Dugall felt as if his own mind was splitting and tearing into two, as he went back and forth between these two women. Outside of the health issues, the two women were very similar, and when Dr. Dugall was with Annabel, he forgot about Lucy and when he was with Lucy, he forgot about Annabel. Despite being sick, Annabel lived for a long time. Even after the birth of Lucy, Annabel had lived ten more years- on the day she died, he could not help but despair at himself for feeling relieved by her death.


20.

September 17, 2217- Seoul Asan Bio Research Center, Seoul I.C

After moving to the Board of Electricity in the basement, the mysterious man continued to point the gun at Jinseok and threw him an electric chord. Jinseok was only then able to turn around and see the face of the mystery man. He looked very cold-blooded. Jinseok was also able to see the heavy gun he was carrying.

“Tie your legs together and then let’s talk.”

“Listen here. There’s no need to do this if it’s money you want.”

“Quiet, Ha Jinseok. Do I look like a stupid robber? Hurry up and tie yourself up.”

Jinseok tied up his legs and spoke in a sullen manner.

“If you’re not a robber, why are you doing this? There’s no need to do this to me.”

Ha Jinseok tied up his legs and the mysterious man did not let down his guard and asked a question:

“Fine, Ha Jinseok. I don’t have that much time either. I will ask you quickly. What did you do on the day of July 22?”

“What is this? Are you investigating me? Are you the police?”

“Let’s assume I am the police. You wouldn’t be far off from the truth. So, answer my question, Ha Jinseok. What did you do on the day of July 22.”

“If it was July 22, it was a weekday and I was probably seeing patients at Cheonan.”

The mystery man snorted in disbelief and asked the question again.

“You stink at lying. I will tell you what you did. On July 22, you went to Seoul International Station and met a lens dealer. You asked him to copy your iris! Didn’t you?”

This hit Jinseok from out of the blue and he raised his voice.

“What are you talking about! I have never been near Seoul International Station!”

“Don’t make me laugh. The lens dealer said you made copies of your iris. Talk to me Ha Jinseok. Where have you taken Jeon Ilgi?”

Jinseok could not reply and while he was hesitating, the shadow of another mysterious man with a dark, long barreled rifle approached and aimed his gun.

“Perhaps I can answer that, prosecutor Yi Seongchan.”

“Huh, who the hell are you?”

Yi Seongchan let out a tisk-tisk sound before putting the gun down. In the blink of an eye, the young man hit Yi Seongchan’s head with the butt of the long barreled rifle, and without putting up much of a fight, Seongchan collapsed to the floor. The young man asked Ha Jinseok a question.

“Make a choice. Do you want to be hit with the butt of this rifle or do you want to be blindfolded and quietly follow along?”

At this point, Jinseok was curious as to what was going to happen.

“I choose the latter.”

Satisfied, the young man laughed and threw him a black cloth.

“Blindfold yourself.”

As soon as Jinseok covered his eyes, he heard the footsteps of numerous people around him; somebody untied his legs and stood him up; the person locked armed with Jinseok and started to move. Listening to the sounds around him, he also heard them lifting the prosecutor known as Yi Seongchan and moving him, as well. Jinseok was led out the same way he had entered the Board of Electricity and the person who had guided him pushed him down; Jinseok bent over and entered the car.

The car started moving somewhere. Jinseok did not know many things but he was sure this was a hydrogen fueled car and as five minutes elapsed, Jinseok felt the dim light that had shone through the black cloth disappearing. He guessed they were underground. The car stopped running after two hours, Jinseok got out of the car, and he started walking again for a long time. He could see light very dimly through the cloth once again. Cold, hard, and judging from the sound of the shoe hitting the floor, the floor seemed to be made of marble. Jinseok was tired of waiting and just as he was losing hope that his blindfold would be removed, the young man who had guided him said, “We’ve arrived” and took off the blindfolds. Jinseok’s eyes grew stiff as his iris constricted very quickly. Jinseok regained his senses and when he looked in front, he saw an old man who looked unquestionably ill.

“We meet like this for the first time, Ha Jinseok.”

During the course of the day, two strange people had called him by his name; he realized that being Gang Wontaek’s grandson was a big deal. The old man looked familiar and the old man made Jinseok aware of this fact.

“I don’t think you’re seeing me for the first time. You don’t remember me, huh?”

Jinseok squinted his eyes and carefully looked at the old man. Although he had weakened, the old man was healthy for his age.

“Ah, you’re the man I saw at grandfather’s house…”

“I see you remember. More than that, you don’t feel anything when you see my face?”

Jinseok continued to look at the old man’s face but did not know what he was hinting at. Unexpectedly, someone else answered the question.

“Ugg, I see it’s you, Ha Jinseok.”

It was Yi Seongchan’s voice. Yi Seongchan who had been dragged to this place along with Ha Jinseok gathered his senses and slowly stood up. Jinseok looked back at Seongchan and snapped at him.

“Why are you calling me as if you’ve never seen me?”

“You’re blind as a bat. Not you, the old man over there.”

“What?”

It was then that Jinseok realized that the old man looked like his father.

“I see the prosecutor fellow has gotten up, too. I knew our methods may have been a little rough but please understand. We heard someone was snooping around but we didn’t know it would reach all the way to Jinseok. I praise your deftness.”

“Don’t mention it. I was barking up the wrong tree anyway. More than that, mechanized body cloning is incredible. Even identical twins have different irises but the fact your irises are exactly the same…”

“Dugall was obsessed with ‘the same.’”

“Something was amiss. It seemed like this Ha Jinseok had seen my gun for the first time. But since he was my only clue, I took a shot but I felt like nothing would come of it. Where is President Joen Ilgi, Ha Jinseok.”

With the mention of President Jeon Ilgi’s name, the old man’s eyes grew noticeably melancholy. The foreigner wearing the circular glasses who was standing next to the old man responded instead.

“The life span of Jeon Ilgi’s mechanized body expired and he died. Renewal occurs when the life of the mechanized body reaches the limits of its life span. Therefore, it’s not an odd occurrence.”

Yi Seongchan plopped down to his seat in defeat.”

“What is this? I was planning on brining President Jeon Ilgi to the Assembly and exposing everything but my joker card has become defunct.”

Jinseok could not understand what the people around him were saying. The mysterious man that looked like some kind of thug was a prosecutor; the old man in front of him had the same name; and the president was dead. What was going on? While falling into a state of confusion, the old man called Jinseok.

“Ha Jinseok, do you remember this?”

The old man rolled up his pants and showed Jinseok his knees. The incision had faded and it would have gone unnoticed without scrutiny, but the parts below the old man’s knees were carnal substitutes.

“At the time I must have been eleven years old. I was chasing after a lilac colored ball and my leg got stuck in the railing.”

Jinseok opened his eyes widely. The old man’s face resembled his own more than it resembled his father’s face. If he had not used a mechanized body and aged naturally, the old man was what he would look like. However, Jinseok had a difficult time grasping the situation unfolding around him. A truth he had believed without question was collapsing.

“I will speak concisely, Ha Jinseok. The hippocampus organ you believe is in your head is in my head. It is the swindle among swindles that fooled the human race. The renewal of mechanized bodies is not a technology that extends life- it is simple a technology that clones human beings. You see what I am saying?”

Jinseok who had just been renewed the previous day started to feel nauseous. Jinseok threw up the gastric juices. He recollected the moments he had entered the hospital to receive his renewal. He could remember them clearly. He remembered marrying Gyeonga and he remembered the sunrise at the Grand Canyon, which he had watched during his honeymoon with Gyeonga. Not only that, but also he remembered the death of old man Bak. He remembered the thoughts he had in front of the icy corpse. Oddly enough, he remembered everything. But Jinseok had no choice but to be skeptical.

“Was I there?”

He didn’t know the answer. With his eyes fixed on the floor, he asked a question.

“What do you want from me? What is the reason for telling me this after all this time has passed?”

The old man Ha Jinseok came straight to the point.

“I need your mechanized body. Ha Jinseok, I am going to die pretty soon. I have at most two months left to live. But I can’t die yet. So you need to become me.”

“If I don’t agree?”

“You have no veto rights, Ha Jinseok.”

“Even if you do get renewed, you know as well as I do that it won’t be an extension of life?”

“Of course I know. Don’t feel like you been treated unjustly. I am the one dying. I just need somebody to take my place. As our ancestors did, we inherit somebody’s purpose and we continue with that will. There is no such thing as renewal. We have always lived like this.”

“I see that it’s sophism.”

“It doesn’t matter. Paul, prepare the mechanized body renewaler.”

“Let’s do it, but Papa, I cannot guarantee the results. When another self is introduced to the mechanized body that has already positioned itself as the self, there can be a collision that destroys both selves. You can turn into an idiot.”

Ha Jinseok who had gone without a name, being referred to as Papa for 58 years smiled bitterly.

“But there can be other results, too. Right?”

“You never know.”

Paul walked behind the old man Ha Jinseok and opened what appeared to be a wall and walked in. Old man Ha Jinseok asked Jinseok a question.

“Do you have any last words? Although it remains to be seen if this is the end or not…”

“Then let’s wait and see a little longer before I speak.”

Jinseok could not offer any resistance. No, he really had no reason to resist. He kept thinking that he was nothing more than a clone. Not to mention, he had been cloned seven times for that matter. If some losses had occurred at some point, he would never know. The vigilante committee member lifted Jinseok and the old man Jinseok, and they walked into the room Paul had entered.


21.

Among all the writings left behind by Dr. John Dugall, two works were the most famous. One was called “A Case for being Immortal” which was the preface of the warranty for mechanized bodies. His other work , “A Case for being Mortal,” was his will which refuted “A Case for being Immortal.”

In contrast to the “Case for being Immortal” which was a kind of manual open for the public to read, the “Case for being Mortal” was only shown to his friend, Dr. Gang Wontaek, and people were very curious to know the contents of that work. Although news reports about the release of “A Case of being Mortal” regularly showed up on the Internet, they were always false; and on several occasions, writing titled “A Case of being Mortal” appeared on the Internet that seemed like the real thing. However, despite the commotion, Dr. Gang Wontaek never mentioned a word about “A Case for being Mortal.” Some person asserted that the will of world renowned Dr. Dugall belonged to the human race collectively and insisted that Dr. Gangwontaek make public the work; however, Dr. Gang Wontaek refused saying “Please respect the wishes of Dr. Dugall.” In the end, “A Case for being Mortal” was left as urban legend.

However, as soon as Dr. Gang Wontaek died of senile decay eighty years later, people started to gain interest in “A Case for being Mortal.” The announcement of Dr. Gang Wontaek’s will resembled espionage warfare. Wiretaps were used, not to mention reporters disguising themselves as mourners flooded into the funeral place. However, after the announcement of the will, nobody knew of the location of “A Case for being Mortal.” Where had “A Case for being Mortal” gone?


22.

October 19, 2217- Samseongdong the Old KOEX Building Arcade, Seoul I.C

Ha Jinseok woke up in a room that was even further behind the Asem Hospital, which was located in the deepest part of the old KOEX Building’s Canyon Walk. After passing through a deep and serpentine corridor, the moment he saw a light, Ha Jinseok stood up in a tub filled with salt and warm water, and he coughed violently. Ha Jinseok ripped off the bandages covering his eyes. He briskly toweled off his body and looked around. The room was filled with a sour and offensive smell. Ha Jinseok looked at the bathtub that was right next to him. The old man Ha Jinseok was dead and lay in the bathtub. It seemed like he had been dead for a week. The water old man Ha Jinseok was submerged in was red from his vomiting of blood. Ha Jinseok who had been staring blankly at the body of the old man put on the clothes that were placed to one side; he tried opening the door but something was blocking it. He pressed his shoulder against the door and something started to move on the other side of the door. Ha Jinseok frowned as he opened the door and noticed dead bodies had been blocking the door. They were the bodies of vigilante committee members who had their heads blown off or had their stomachs pierced.

The old KOEX building had been completely destroyed. He did not see the corpses of women and children but he saw the cadavers of a large number of vigilante committee members scattered around. He was not sure what kind of gun was used but very few of the vigilante committee members had their limbs intact. Holes the size of human heads mottled the marble floors and walls.

Ha Jinseok trudged along Asem Hospital until he heard someone quietly calling his name.

“Look here! Papa!”

It was Paul Greengrass. He was crawling out of the secret space underneath the hospital desk. Paul approached Papa and he was overcome with a thought that had him ask a question tentatively.

“You’re Papa, right? It was successful, right?”

Ha Jinseok did not say anything but nodded his head in agreement.

“Ha-ha-ha. The gods have not forsaken us!”

Ha Jinseok asked while looking at the ruins of the residential district.

“What happened here?”

Paul who had grown melancholy replied.

“It must have been the 20th day after you went in. The army suddenly attacked the Millennium Plaza. We didn’t have you and on top of that, we were forced to retreat because we didn’t know that the army had entered the Millennium Plaza. We turned over control to Seongchan who led the vigilante committee members and for a moment, there was a lull in the fighting. But we could do nothing against their rail guns. Seongchan made an agreement with the armed forces: if we gave up resistance and disarmed, they would treat the women and children as simple vagabonds. If a vagabond entered the underground residential district, their prison terms would be doubled. Everybody else was taken to an asylum.”

“How did the army know the geography of this place?”

“We were curious about that, too. They crushed in an instant our most fortified wall and busiest location. We found out that Byeon Hansu had given them the information; it seemed as if the army had set a high price on finding the owners of the K-2 guns that were used to attack the distribution warehouse. Since he was always crazy about money, he didn’t care about maintaining a relationship with people living underground. Son of a bitch!”

Paul glared into the empty air as if hoping Byeon Hansu would appear before him.

“Ah, I did save a few of the children.”

As soon as Paul whistled toward the desk at the pharmacy, six children cautiously stepped out.

“I could not bear to send them to the asylum. So I took as many children as I could.”

The children did not rush to Ha Jinseok as they did in the past because he looked different. Paul asked Ha Jinseok who was staring vacantly into the surroundings a question:

“What are you going to do now, Papa?”

Ha Jinseok gazed at Paul and spoke.

“Don’t call me Papa anymore, Paul. I’m Ha Jinseok.”

“Ah, that’s right. This is kind of awkward. What are going to do, Jinseok?”

“I have one task remaining.”

Ha Jinseok started walking somewhere and Paul took the children and followed behind.



Conclusion

Paul and the children followed Ha Jinseok and headed for Cheonan Station. When arriving at Cheonan, Ha Jinseok looked for Yi Aram’s house. They arrived in the late evening in front of Yi Aram’s house, which had a light attached to signify a mourning period. Ha Jinseok met with Yi Aram’s father and learned that she gave birth to a daughter after a difficult delivery. He learned that she had died from excessive hemorrhaging. Ha Jinseok asked what he intended to do with the child. Aram’s father was still enraged with the death of his daughter and said he did not really care what happened to the child that was born as a result of a rape. Ha Jinseok offered to adopt the child, and he handed the child to Jinseok without any formal procedures saying he had not registered her birth yet. The number of children rose to seven.

Carrying the infant, Ha Jinseok headed for Sangam. He reunited with Gyeonga and after selling off his home and assets, he bought ten tickets for Cape Town. Before arriving at the finals stop of Cape Town, they thought they might discover the place they wanted. Gyeonga handed Ha Jinseok the envelope Gang Wontaek had left for Jinseok.

Inside the train heading for Cape Town, Ha Jinseok opened the envelope and methodically read the letter. Surprisingly, it was not a letter sent from Dr. Gang Wontek to Ha Jinseok. The letter started with “To my only true friend and advisor in life, Gang Wontaek…” Inside the transcontinental train that moved as if gliding without any sound, Ha Jinseok finished reading the letter and then tore it into many pieces. Ha Jinseok mumbled.

“There is no need to make excuses.”

Ha Jinseok tossed the torn pieces of paper out of the window and the children in the backseat were excited that it was snowing.

Although he could see nothing but the icy grounds of Siberia, Jinseok felt as if he could see the Cape of Good Hope already. They were going to go there and die naturally and in the place of children, other children would be born. That is how the generation would be renewed.