The Little Prince in the Ossuary

00070

# Past (5), Psychotherapy (1)

The woman had now turned the steering wheel.

She was heading to China, the Central Region of the Post-Insurance Corporation, for there was someone she wanted to meet.

It was the only place she could meet this person.

The road to the facility was eerie. It felt like one was entering a different world. The barbed wire surrounding the wide space was built in triple layers, with warnings of high-voltage currents attached. Beyond that, a concrete barrier had been built, and a watchtower stood at a distance of thirty meters.

There were no people in the tower. Instead, there were unmanned turrets controlled by Post-Insurance control AIs.

Soldiers at the checkpoint waved red lightsticks when they saw the vehicle. The woman pulled up in front of the barrier.

The approaching soldier was surprised to see her. The woman felt a little embarrassed.

‘Will he recognize me?’

He didn’t. It was very clear that he couldn’t see her eyes easily. The woman covered her face out of habit. She put her fingertips on her forehead and looked at him through her fingers. The soldier held out his hand in regret.

“Let me check your ID for a moment.”

The woman took out her resident registration card, and the soldier took it and swiped the card on the portable terminal. After a couple of seconds, the terminal lit up with a green light.

“Post-Insurance official. Permission to enter.”

The soldier, who had read the identity and purpose of the woman’s visit, nodded and returned her ID. “You made a reservation in advance. Come on in, Doctor.”

Fortunately, her fake identity had not been detected.

She was free to enter, even in her natural state. Actually, she was indirectly related to Post-Insurance. However, the woman didn’t want anyone else to know about her visit.

The barrier went up. The woman carefully stepped on the accelerator.

Her car entered the parking lot south of the concentration station. The parking lot was vast. At the time of its establishment, the number of visitors had been expected to be huge. The area seen on the ground was just the tip of the iceberg. There were twelve wider underground floors. Right after the introduction of Post-Insurance, the prediction had been right. There had been endless crowds of people who came here.

It was different now. There were only a few vehicles parked.

Perhaps it was because of the tricky visit procedures? Anyway, it couldn’t be helped.

Post-Insurance was the world’s most advanced virtual reality/artificial intelligence complex and the biggest growth engine of the Korean economy. Therefore, many countries, companies, and organizations coveted their technology.

There was also a physical threat: terrorism by extremists who opposed Post-Insurance and artificial intelligence politically, religiously, and ideologically. Even now, it happened often. It was a frequent source of news these days.

In the same vein, the communication route between Post-Insurance subscribers who extracted their brains and the outside world was limited to Teletype, and countless security programs were needed in the process. Although there might be no problem sending via unilateral methods like broadcasting, there was a concern of hacking in through two-way communication.

Eventually, communication with the facility was only available within the facility. This was what the woman knew and what was generally known to the world.

‘No matter… it’s so lonely here.’

Here in central China alone, 800,000 brains were enshrined. Was there no longing for their families? In front of a loving heart, there would be no point in long-distance, long-time, or difficult procedures.

The woman entered the building.

Central China, or the Post-Insurance Corporation’s central brain accommodation, was majestic and overwhelming. People called this building a “charnel house.”

It was a form of sarcasm. The people inside wouldn’t even see it anyway, so why waste money on looks? The government replied that it was for the sake of national prestige. The woman knew another reason: since ancient times, politicians have loved civil engineering and construction.

Still, there were some positive aspects. The durability of a concentrated country was more than that of a nuclear power plant.

The woman glanced inside the building. There were more guards than there were visitors.

The waiting line was marked out, but no one was waiting. A guided drone flew from the hangar. It identified the woman with facial and iris recognition and reconfirmed the purpose of her visit.

「Dr. Song Soo-ah. Is it correct that you have requested to visit Gyeo-ul Han, Post-Insurance registration number B-612?」

“That’s right.”

「Your visit request has been submitted in advance. Gyeo-ul Han has accepted the visit. You can visit because he is currently on standby. Do you want guidance now?」

“Yes.”

「I see. I’ll guide you to the grade B area.」

A flat, circular drone came down to the floor. As the woman followed, it began to slide.

The facilities in the central area were formed into asymmetric fan-shaped structures. From the hall in the center, a grand hallway extended in seven directions. Looked down on from a high place, one side looked like a worn-out wheel.

Each direction was also the boundary of a different zone. The standard to distinguish between them was the size of deposits. Class S was the highest and Class F the lowest.

As such, zone B was shorter than zone C but longer than zone A and above.

The drone slowed down. B-612 was written in black on the white wall.

「We’re here.」

“Thanks.”

The meaningless greeting was for herself. As a salute, the drone tilted its body slightly.

「If you’re done visiting, or you need to move to another location, you can call an information drone. This control AI can detect voice calls at all locations in the Post-Insurance facility. However, it may be difficult to detect voices below ten decibels, so please speak clearly.」

“Okay.”

The drone flew near-noiselessly away.

The surroundings fell into silence. The woman was now looking straight ahead. Class B life support, which also served as a virtual reality interface, could only be seen on one side. It looked like a circular door attached to the wall. A long cylinder shape would have been hidden inside the wall.

The woman approached quietly and touched it. The brain and spinal cord would be in here. It gave her a chill to think so.

This time, she looked sideways. There came another circle. It was a full-body access device for visitors. When she touched the flashing button, the tube quietly pushed out.

There was space for one person to lie down.

The woman did so, and a sensor adhered to the back of her head and neck. It had a lukewarm, liquid texture. Immediately, the fully-augmented reality interface appeared in her field of vision. When the equipment was activated, the tube was then pushed back into the wall. Everything was airtight to protect the connected user from external threats.

There was no time to feel closed in. The brainwave characteristics were one’s ID and password. The login was automatically done. The information she had written in advance depicted her virtual form. There was a different appearance and a different voice.

Right away, the white world unfolded before her.

The boy was waiting for her in the lobby, white space with nothing in it. His gaze felt quite different from before; it was clear to the point of emptiness. She could feel the atmosphere from being out of touch.

It was all so different from the way it looked in her memory.

“Oh…”

The woman groaned. She had thought a lot about what kind of greeting she should give. However, she couldn’t say anything right away, and she covered her face as if it were a habit.

Her head was wailing. She was wearing a mask, but it felt like she wasn’t. It would have been a disaster if it weren’t an illusion. She wasn’t prepared to face him as she was yet.

In fact, she couldn’t even explain to him why she’d come and why she wanted to meet with him. However, it seemed that she could not have endured any longer without visiting. She felt like her blood vessels had been becoming more and more clogged day by day.

The reason might be compassion or the desire to subdue sin.

‘No, that’s ridiculous. I don’t love him. Why would I?’

The boy, who had busied himself by looking at her, greeted her first.

“Hello, ma’am. I’ve been waiting to hear from you.”

It was a very calm voice.

The woman managed to rule herself. She kept her practiced smile reflectively and said hello with the utmost sweetness.

“Hello. You’re Gyeo-ul, aren’t you?”

The voice was unfamiliar. This fact quickly dispelled her agitation.

She took a step forward and reached out her hand. The boy held it while tilting his head. Then came a light handshake.

“As you already know, I’m Song Soo-ah. I’m in charge of psychological rehabilitation for Post-Insurance subscribers.”

“It’s a little weird. I’ve never heard of such a thing.”

The woman felt a little nervous as she gave her prepared answer. “No, I suppose not. That’s because you’re a special case.”

“Me? Why?”

“It’s rare for minors to be covered by Post-Insurance. People rarely have enough deposits at your age. At least, you’re the only minor in section B.”

“Aha.” Gyeo-ul nodded. Retired adults could convert their national pension into Post-Insurance, but it was virtually impossible for minors.

After this, the woman was much more relaxed. The boy wouldn’t be able to make the comparison anyway, so this excuse would last forever.

“First of all, can I change the environment in here?”

The lobby in which the two were standing remained in the default setting. Gyeo-ul nodded again.

“I’ll hand over the authority.”

The woman confirmed her authority and opened her hand. The pale white color was erased, and an environment where a comfortable conversation was possible was created. A window with a clear wind, a warm light, a chair that could recline, and calm nature outside.

This was based on her own experience of counseling. She had plenty of experience. She didn’t think it would be hard to imitate a counselor.

“Sit down.”

Gyeo-ul did as he was told. Then he asked a little awkwardly, “What should I do now?”

He was positioned a little off the front of the woman, sitting at an angle as he smiled sweetly.

“Nothing.”

“What?”

“You don’t have to force yourself to do anything. Just think of this as a time to chat. The content doesn’t matter. Small things are fine, and you don’t need a head start. It’s enough to just get out what’s inside.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. Sometimes, you get to know things about yourself that even you didn’t know.”

That was also the woman’s goal. Her insincere words followed along.

“It’s important to know who you are, what you’re sick with, and what you dream about. Even a problem that cannot be solved is better than having no idea what the problem is.”

At this, the boy stared at her, swallowing her insight and showing her habit again. A look of doubt passed through his eyes.

Then, Gyeo-ul shook his head. “I’m sorry, but I don’t think it’ll work.”

“How come?”

“I don’t know what to say to you. Today is my first time seeing you. We don’t know each other at all, so what kind of conversation can we have?”

It was the expected reaction. The woman formed a smile again.

“Right, I’m just one person to you, like so many other people. And you’re the same to me. We don’t need each other yet.”

The boy had on a vague look. However, what the woman had prepared in advance still remained to be said.

“In the process of making new friends, words are an unexpectedly bad tool. It’s easy to misunderstand. It’s hard to force it. In that case, you can start by just being together. When we get used to each other, the conversation will start naturally.”

“…”

“I’ll be back at the appointed date and time. Do you think it’ll be too much for you?”

“No, I’ve got plenty of time anyway.”

“That’s a relief. Call me whenever you need someone to talk to.”

That was the end. She kept her word, pulled out a book, and began to read. This was also one of her plays.

Gyeo-ul was uncomfortable with the silence at first, but soon, he got used to it. Naturally, the flow of his thoughts unfolded before him.

Today was the second month since the day of the deal.

It had been a long time since a real person, not a virtual one, had been around.

However, he couldn’t really feel it. It was hard to believe that this was a real person. Because of that, the weight of the stone could still be felt.

Gyeo-ul focused on the sensation. He had a vague feeling that he shouldn’t get caught.