Chapter 6. Life in 2078(2)
[Gibraltar Watch Point, April 16th, 2078.]
Kim was sitting in front of a large computer screen. He had just finished studying the history, and world trends since after the 1980 to 2078. This time, Athena did not help him from the beginning, but instead, he was able to listen to her explanations about computers and the Internet, developed after the 1990s, and learn how to use them, so he was able to find the information that he wanted.
"Huh, the Omnics, this thing, man. It's a very difficult thing to understand. I thought it was just a simple human-made robot, but these are now separated from the concept, 'control', and living and developing on their own."
"It's a concept that everyone couldn't even imagine in 1986, isn't it, Kim?"
"Truly it was, Athena. By the way, this omnic called Aurora. She has done such a great job, for both humanity and omnics. I thought the title, 'the great man' would only be given to humans, but I think it's time to change that knowledge, Athena."
What struck to Kim, was the result of the Anubis program's outrun, the ensuing Omnic crisis, Aurora's sacrifice, and global peace that could have been sustained by the early Overwatch's activities. And at the center of it, there was Dr. Mina Liao, one of the developers of the Omnica Corporation and one of the founding leaders of the Overwatch, with Jack, Ana, Reinhardt, and Thorbjorn, and Vivian, who Kim now knows. The more he sees this person, the more amazing it was. Although she was already dead, based on the fact that there was an A.I. called Echo, who almost perfectly modeled her, Kim thought he'd have more conversations with her later on.
"G' morning, Kim."
"Hey, Cole."
"What are you watching so hard from early in this morning?"
Cassidy said, as he came out to the lounge lobby with a steaming coffee cup.
"I was studying history between the time I lived, and to the time of your generation. That way, I can live more normally in here."
"Oh, what. Are you gonna settle down in this age, completely?"
"I should have to do, if Winston cannot find out any solutions. And, I started to like this place more than I thought."
Cassidy laughed, then he found Dr. Liao on the screen, where Kim was just watching.
"Why are you watching about Dr. Liao...?"
"Hmm? Oh, there are so many incidents related with Omnic in the history of the world so far, so she got often mentioned."
When Kim found Cassidy's complicated expression, he remembered a story that he told, while talking with him.
"Oh, right. You said, she was meant a lot to you. Yeah. I heard you were her security guard."
"I did... And, well…"
"That's enough to talk about. I'm sorry."
The two couldn't open their mouths in an awkward atmosphere for a while.
"I want to talk with Echo if there's a chance. It may not be perfect, but didn't you say that Dr. Liao's inner world, memory, and spirit are in her now?"
"That's right. So, sometimes when I saw her, I still feel guilty to her. Even though I know Echo is not Dr. Liao herself no more."
Kim circled the Zippo lighter he held, in his hand without saying anything, then put it down on the table.
"I'm just gonna ready the breakfast. I'm a little hungry after a sweating-run."
"Mind I join?"
Kim and Cassidy rise up from the seat.
[10:40 A.M. The Base Hangar.]
The sound of the strong jet engine and the blast wind swirled in the hangar, and a white airship exited, through the open hangar door in the ceiling.
No matter how secretively the Gibraltar Watch Point base is maintained, there should be periodical supplies needed for living, and maintenance on the base from outside. No matter how advanced the delivery service is now, abusing such a platform to a secret base here, is openly advertising "there are still people here" under the radar and tracking networks around the world, so some heroes needs to go out the base, to the mainland, and bring some supplies directly, even if it was a little uncomfortable.
As usual, the captain of the airship was Lena, and passengers were Song Hana, Brigitte, Lùcio, and Kiriko. They were very youngers in Overwatch, so they were able to disguise themselves to not get recognized by civilians on the outside, and to some extent, supported by their respective abilities, they were perfect for participating in these secret airlift operations. As they hear every time in the operation, Commander Jack, Second Commander Ana, and Sojourn were always emphasized to "keep your covers in everywhere", but all three of them had no idea that there was also another person in board on the airship.
As Second Commander Ana was performing her duties on the base as usual, she suddenly felt something uneasy. When she came out to the lounge lobby, she couldn't see where the Kim goes, who was supposed to be doing something with other heroes, or acquiring knowledge about the present era through Athena, if nothing special happened. She immediately ran to the fitness training room. While doing high-intensity muscle exercise as usual, Zarya made eye contact with Ana.
"Zarya, did you see Kim before?"
"No, ma'am. Come to think of it, strangely, I haven't seen him since after this morning."
Ana seemed to know what causing the anxiety she felt in her head, for a moment.
The airship was flying peacefully towards the UK's mainland. Gibraltar Island was no longer visible, and it had now flown to a distance, that would only impede the operation, if there's a return to base order came in. Brigitte once more determined the flying distance, and hit a large cargo box twice, embedded at the far rear of the cabin.
"You can come out now, Kim."
As Kim opened the cargo box and stretched out, he beats his whole body.
"Ugh, my joints. Why did I say I'd stay in here?"
"It's very cramped inside, isn't it? You did good. Come out and open your arms and legs as much as you want."
After Kim stretched his hand to the tip of his foot once, he went to an empty seat, and sit down.
"That's a lot of patience you have there, Kim. To stay half an hour in that narrow box."
Lùcio said cheerfully.
"No, I've spent more than five hours in a worse place than there once."
"Really? Where was it?"
"The Vietcong tunnel, it is. I've seen that so many times during the Vietnam War. The North Vietnamese army built an underground base like an ant nest. Sometimes, I had to crawl into that narrow place and do a search for the danger that I might not know. And if you lost the way in there, well, then you have no choice but die in there. Oh, the Christ."
"Okay, that's enough. That's not a very pleasant thing to hear."
Hana, Kiriko, and Brigitte laughed when they heard their conversation. In fact, no one likes military stories, but Kim's story, it was more of a history knowledge than a lanky military story, so it was more fun to listen to than others.
When Kim heard about the operation last night, he begged the participants to take with him, secretly. First, although he can use a washing machine and a dryer every day, but still, it was frustrating to wear the same combat boots and uniforms every day. In addition, it has been more than eight years since he had matched the glasses he's wearing now, so improvement was desperately needed. But more than that, most of all, since he has been stuck in Vietnam for six years, he was most curious about what the world would look like now, except for the United States or his homeland, South Korea, which he sometimes visited on regular furlough.
Kim took a quick glance inside the airship. Until now, the only aircraft he had ever ridden in Vietnam, was a Huey helicopter or a Ch-47 Chinook, and, if lucky, a C-130 transport aircraft. Even during the service of the Republic of Korea Air Force, when his first dispatch to the Vietnam, he and the other colleagues did not arrive the Vietnam by plane, but rather boarded the ship with other army personnel, and arrived at Quy Nhon Port after a two-and-a-half-week voyage.
"So, Kim, what do you think about this plane?"
Lena asked from the cockpit.
"I don't know if you all heard about the Boeing 737. It was a pretty popular aircraft in the '80s. I rode it once, on my way from Guam to New York, but it was definitely smaller than the inside of this aircraft."
"Huh, those planes. They've all been in the museum for a long ago from now."
"Then if they're still using a plane that made in 100 years ago, it's not a miracle, it's poverty. Brigitte, I admit you have more mechanical knowledge than I do, but I'm not a stupid, either."
Kim, then, looked around the inside of the airship a little more, and found photos neatly attached to the wall.
"What, everyone took pictures and decorated them in here."
Kim peered into each and every picture. There were already familiar people were, and in some pictures… Well, some of the peoples are someone that he had never seen before. If there are pictures left here, guessing by the fact, they must be not hostile to them, probably more likely to someone who are cooperating with Overwatch… Kim thought that maybe they would be okay to get to know each other, when he has time later. Meanwhile, only a unique photo caught the attention of Kim.
"Lena, in here... The one who is kissing you... Is it she?"
Lena answered while concentrating on manipulation.
"Yes! That's right, she's my girlfriend, Emily."
"Girlfriend? I'm sure you're a girl… Are you gay?!"
A moment of freezing silence hung over the plane. Lena was also embarrassed at the moment and could not say anything.
"Actually, it's not gay that girls love each other. It's called lesbian. Don't you know what LGBTQ is?"
Brigitte corrected Kim's words, right next to him. Kim asked back with a look of uncomfortable mystery.
"LGBT… What? What's that? Don't tell me, please don't just say that it's related with that goddamn hippie culture or something."
Lena got up from the cockpit after turning on the autopilot. Lùcio, Hana, Kiriko, and Brigitte, who were sitting in the cabin, clenched their fists in an instant of rising tension. Lena stood still in front of Kim, and clear the throats once. Kim also sitting upright, rather than leaning obliquely on a chair as before, in the unusual atmosphere with her and those around between them.
"Brigitte is right. Yes. I'm a lesbian. A woman is loving another woman. Up until the 1980s, homosexuality could be a very uncommon culture, but it's very different now. Why, is it a little uncomfortable to ya?"
Lena told to Kim, in an uncomfortable voice. Kim also stood up straight in front of Lena, by quietly getting up from his seat. Even a man from the past, Kim, who is 6'1 tall, is well over Lena's height, of 5'3 high.
"I know well about I cannot care or do something about who you like, what you do about, Lena Oxton. And I want to respect you for that. But can I ask you one more question? You sure you're not both of the a… Um, hippie, or a 68 revolutionist person either...?"
"What... Revolution?"
Kim released his fist and face, which he had held firmly until now.
"Phew, thank God you're not on the same side as them, though."
Kim looked sorry and asked Lena to shake hands.
"I apologize for the choice of that word just now. Les…bian? Did I say that right? This may sound lame, but up until 1986, the concept of homosexuality, yes, that was surely unfamiliar to me. But, I don't care what you like or what you advocate. I don't really care about that. I don't care about personal orientation or ideas at all, as long as that 'someone', is nice to me, to be as a friend or a colleague."
Lena also remembered something she had forgotten for a moment. Perhaps Kim's words stemmed from pure ignorance of the past, not self-deprecation. The perception of homosexuality and pan-sexuality at the time was certainly worse than that of the present, and as a result, it was natural that it was still impossible for him to fully master the concepts established in the present age.
"Sorry for coming out sharp. I've already had a few frictions with other peoples about this."
Although Lena was a little uncomfortable, but she accepted the handshake of reconciliation after accepting Kim's statement, that it was unintentional. Although awareness is still much better now, until recently, homosexuality and other pan-sexuality hate movements often occurred, causing conflicts between societies, and Lena and Emily were also close to being caught up in the uncomfortable situation, so some were particularly sensitive to her. Others were also relieved that the atmosphere was gradually easing.
However, Lena and others have just questioned about the 'peoples', that Kim just mentioned.
"By the way, Kim. The thing you just say, 'that peoples'. Who are you referring, specifically?"
Lena asked as she was about to return to the cockpit. Kim sighed deeply and began to talk.
"…. Have you ever heard of 'Baby Killer' before?"
Kiriko said after pondering.
"Uh, a few weird serial killers were often caught for kidnapping/murdering children intensively, but..."
"No, Jesus, God no. Not a such thing like that. Christ."
Kim fed up with Kiriko's words, then look at everyone's face.
"I should have known, labeling a soldier as an 'infant killer' is probably no longer the term anymore, isn't it? But, in 1985, as soon as I stepped on the ground with other colleagues at the airport, I heard that word with an egg on our face. By those fuckers."
"Who?"
"Hippies, or half-baked anti-war gurus. You know, have an intelligence, but not with that deep understanding. Actually, it seems to me that they're just releasing their contempt, cynicism, and resentment to the society act, because they think themselves that they're not got God-bless talented enough. Christ, I still remember that dyed-hair bitch's face."
Through Kim's words, everyone was able to remember the records related to the Vietnam War, that they had seen a while ago. Most wars, not only the Vietnam War, are not well-received worldwide in history, but the Vietnam War at that time, was got more socially criticized, because it was known to the world as the product of its horrors, U.S. hegemonic competition, and unreasonable East-West conflicts.
As a result, especially for the young people and hippie cultures, who were the subjects of the 68 revolution, who called for social reform, the all veterans visiting Vietnam were recognized as that they had done an unimaginably bad things to the sinless foreign citizens in the far away countries.
In fact, the U.S. military had nothing to say either, because war crimes and massacres were not a made-up story at all. It was because the atrocities committed by the U.S. military during the war, starting with the Mirai massacre in 1968, since long before that Kim was got dispatched, were never a made-up story. However, those who did it be not directly insulted by society, but even with the other innocent soldiers who belonged with them, were insulted at once.
He still had vivid memories of that day. Countless insults, ridicule, and anti-war slogans thrown at him and his colleagues. The scene of a hippie woman in a hippie style dress, with the word, 'peace' on, shouting to him, "Butcher!" to his face, still remained as the greatest shame and insult to Kim. Kim just held his chin, and looked out at the open ocean.
It was true that Lena also felt unpleasant, but she knew that it was difficult to pass the blame entirely on Kim. It was true that the pacifist and progressive movements of that era, had some good influence on the present era, but it was also true that it was too much to criticize the veterans unilaterally, not because of the war itself. Lùcio, Hana, Kiriko, and Brigitte were also quietly watching each other's faces. Kim only looked out the window.
The airship finally landed at a secret base in Housle Bay, the southernmost tip of the UK's mainland, which it had visited two weeks ago. Everyone got off the airship, with stretching their limbs.
"I really have to say this, flying about 970 miles in an hour. What a world we're living today."
"Well, thank you for saying that, but, can't you stop talking like an old man, Kim? It looks really weird to see that."
"It's definitely a little weird for me too, seeing someone in my age do that, Kim."
Hana and Kiriko shot back at Kim.
"Okay, okay. I'll be careful. But it's really amusing to me. It took me more than five hours to fly from Nha Trang to Guam by the 737 back in the day."
Kim looked back at the airship, with a curious look.
Food, various primary raw materials, and other bulky items, that needed in the Gibraltar Watch Point Base, had already been delivered right next to the secret outpost building, that was in disguised. It seems like the delivery guys just put the things down the whole pallet without change anything, same as after it's being loaded into a truck. Kim examined the cargo, wrapped in stretch film tapes.
"It's been 100 years passed, and they still use this palette method. Well, at least the material had changed into something other than wood."
"What take you so long, Kim? Come on. We have a tight schedule today."
Brigitte said behind the Kim.
The group stood in front of the green van. Kim couldn't believe his eyes for a moment.
"Is this thing, surely a 'Car'?"
"Why? And please, don't tell us that there were no cars in 1986."
"Of course not. Cars do exist even in those days. What do I look like? A Neanderthal? But, it's just…"
Lena teased him, but he roughly responded, and looked at a device that support the car could float in the midair with gravitational field technology, instead of tires and wheels. He swiped his hand under the flotation device and tried to move back and forth. Everyone looked quizzically at Kim's behavior. But they remembered the history that the floating car technology, now a popular technology, hadn't come out since the 2030s, half a century after Kim's time. When it comes to him, who had only known that wheels were absolutely necessary to the motor vehicles, would be very surprised to see today's wheel less cars.
"By the way, Kim, we understand your surprise about wheel less tech, but you said your specialty was a transportation earlier, right? Then, you must have driven all kind of cars."
"Of course. Motorcycles, normal vehicles, jeeps, trucks, trailers. I've driven them all. And, well, I don't have an official license, but I know how to fly a helicopter somehow."
"Haha, I didn't mean to go that far. Then, why don't you try driving this car? I wanna see your skills."
"Well, good for me."
As Lena suggests, Kim opened the driver seat's door. However, he froze for a moment, because the driver's seat looked too fancy for as a driver's seat, to someone who came from the 1980s.
"Are you sure this a car? Not a spacecraft?"
"That's what I expected. Brig, explain next to him."
Lena, Hana, Kiriko, and Lùcio were in the back seat. Kim sat in the driver's seat, and Brigitte took the shotgun. Kim founds out the only one that not changed since the 1980s, the seat belt, so he found it at once, then fastened it. But from then on, well, he needed some time to adjust.
"This one, I think this button is the ignition switch. You guys don't use the key anymore?"
"The key turning method was gone in 60 years ago. These days, it's all electronic keys."
"Whatever that is, where the hell did the clutch pedal go? And, also, the shifter stick?"
At this point, everyone could have gotten tired of it, but Brigitte continued to explain, still finding it funny to see Kim's reaction.
"Automatic transmissions have been the trend for vehicles since the 2000s. And fossil-fueled engines have been discontinued, and manual transmissions are no longer made. There are still very few left, but that's, uh, somewhere else. See this dial here? This is the shifter now."
"What? It's that God-damn automatic? That piece of crap is the trend now? Oh, Christ, the Lord. By the way, seeing this letter here, P, R, D... A-ha! This is the drive."
Brigitte remembered that up until the 1980s, the two or three speed automatic transmissions that were about half as lower efficient as manual transmissions, and were not that durable. The machines of that time, man, that was something she felt when she was studying abut that age's tech. At that times, only one of the best or worst things, existed.
However, the peaceful atmosphere did not last long, as soon as Kim stepped on the accelerator pedal, the car launches at a crazy speed. He managed to full-brake, and pulled over. There were no more tires and no contact with the ground, so of course, the screeching sound was not heard, but the passengers managed to overcome the crisis that could have been bounced forward.
"Kim! What the hell! You said you know how to drive!"
"Let me ask you one thing! I thought this thing is a gasoline engine? What's the matter with the torque of this thing?"
Brigitte remembered what she had forgotten to say. Today's most popular engines are electric engines, that are usually powered by ions or hydrogen, so if someone accelerate it like the old fossil fuel vehicles, they speed up like crazy.
After hearing Brigitte's explanation, Kim calmly stepped on the accelerator pedal this time. The van began to move, smoothly.
The 2075 Ford Transit van, which was running along the Helstone A3083 provincial road, got on the A39 Atlantic Highway, in Cornwall. While everyone was watching Kim's smooth and cheerful driving skills and realizing that he didn't lie, he thought about how Ford produced such a good car, even a commercial vehicle.
"Kim, your skills are pretty good. But why are you so stiff now?"
"Be quiet, Song. I never drove in a left-side driving country before...!"
Lena laughed when she remembered that Kim was only driving and living on the right-side driving country.
"By the way, I'm driving in the direction that Brigitte instructs, but where are we going exactly?"
"Plymouth. It's the largest port city in Devon. We need to get there so we can get some of the stuff we need."
Lena said, imitating Kim's beaming smile.
"Plymouth? Don't tell me that place has the Plymouth I knew."
"… Which one?"
"A motor company. I've ridden it a lot of that cars, because it often comes in as a military purpose vehicle. It's an affiliated brand launched by Chrysler dudes, but it was still good to ride one."
Brigitte thought for a moment based on Kim's words, and eventually burst into laughter.
"That brand had gone already. It had gone out of business in 2001. GM Motors screwed up really well then."
"What? Plymouth has gone? How...?"
Kim's confused voice resonated in the car for a moment. The sudden development of the story made Hana, Lena, Kiriko, and Lùcio to burst into laughter.
During the two-and-a-half-hour trips to Plymouth, Kim was somewhat accustomed to the left-side traffic, so he was able to relax a little. Brigitte, Lena, Hana, and Lùcio were fall asleep, and Kiriko was only one who wakes up, and looking at the foreign landscape, that was still fascinating to herself. Kim takes a peek look at Kiriko, through the room mirror. She wore a headset that she usually wears on top of her daily clothes on the base, looking out the window with her chin gently shaking, as if she were enjoying music and the scenery at the same time. He thought back to how he felt when he first met Kiriko.
In fact, one of his ability that make him feel proud as a biological male, was not being properly functioned right now. This was something that he couldn't even talk to the Healers, such as Dr. Angela, Brigitte, Second Commander Ana, or Baptiste, and couldn't even think of to tell to Kiriko, sitting right behind him now.
The stress-related Erectile Dysfunction, it is. What a truly terrible curse of the Nature itself. Even back in the day in Vietnam, army doctors have not been able to afford proper medical treatment to him, because they say only cure method was enough rest and have stability. Really? Even when everyone was struggling with a shortage of manpower at that time?
As a result, he was unable to pursue such a connection with a creature called 'female', even in Vietnam, but that did not mean that he could not even feel the desire, too. But even before this misfortune, Kim just did not want to pursue such a relationship.
Hypocritical act of showing false appearances to each other, for simple money or other profit, and inevitably carrying on a relationship that each other didn't even care about. It was one of the things he really hated in the world.
Kiriko, who is now sitting in the back seat, however, has made Kim raise a basic human emotion that he has never been able to take seriously, beyond all his experiences. It was not at all something that he wanted to do to relieve his basic desire. It made him want to pursue a natural meeting, between the biological male and female, and even don't know what the end will be, but the thing that at least once he wanted to go seriously, beyond just a friend.
It wasn't a that kind of vulgar reason, such as never seeing a woman for a long time. Right now, there was a lot of close female friendship companions like Kiriko right now. First, Song Hana, that was dozing off right behind him now, and similar age friends like Brigitte and Sloan (Lena, was not only already has a lover, and she's a lesbian… Kim really hated about get attracted to someone who already had a lover), so he could develop further relationship with them, if he did well, but Hana was just more likely a friendly neighborhood younger sister from same hometown, rather than someone who could be a lover, and the other fellas did not come as deep in his hearts, as Kiriko did.
However, Kim also knew well that he should not expect to develop a serious relationship with her. Regardless of what Kiriko thought of him now, he was someone who fell behind the timeline, and didn't exist anymore in this world. There are no immediate possible ways to go back to 1986, so he stays here with the Overwatch team in 2078, but he is still well aware that everyone in the base, is looking for a way to return him to the way he was.
He has repeatedly tried to change his mind in recent weeks, recognizing it again and again, but his heart flared up whenever he saw Kiriko's face, overshadowed by the expectations. Kim sighed quietly with a confused look, turn his eyesight from the mirror, and looked the front window again. At the moment, Kiriko in the backseat also took off her headset and looked ahead, as she felt something for a moment. But all she could see was the Kim's eyes, that reflected in the room mirror, watching the road ahead.
When they finally arrived in Plymouth, they did not immediately enter the shopping center to get what they needed. Firstly, Kim also had some money to buy his own desire things, but he needed to exchange them to some extent. No matter how strong the dollar was, it was still necessary to respect the pound and sterling in UK mainland. They briefly stopped in front of the local bank. However, since the moment they got out of the car, there was a problem. Kim was the only one here, who is wearing the military uniform that was issued in 100 years ago, so it was inevitable that the attention of other passing-by pedestrians would be focused on him.
"Ugh, I need to change my clothes quickly. I'm never ashamed of my uniform, but I'm sure there'll be a lot of trouble, if this focus continues."
However, even after they enter the bank, the problem continued. It was because when Kim submitted the money that he held dearly in his wallet to the banker, a fact that no one had anticipated was emphasized.
"Yes, you can exchange these to the new notes, but these are very valuable notes..."
"What do you mean, valuable?"
"Well, the U.S. dollar is still, well, if it's left intact, the notes that produced in 1914 can also be used for normal transactions, but these old notes are now usually counted as collectible items, and become more valuable."
Oh crap. Everyone, not just Kim, forgot that bills from 1986 - from 100 years ago - are now more often treated as a collectable item of the age, rather than for a general transaction. Well, still now, no one has ever thought about the premise of someone just crawls into a bank, wanting to use the money they earn as a salary, in 100 years ago.
"By the way, if you don't mind, may I ask where did you get these bills?"
The banker looked at the group with a strange look. The reason was, of course, that none of the six were too young to have received the bill in a conventional reason. They left the bank as if they were running away, answering to the banker a gibbering word.
"That was really close! We could be suspected as a thief!"
Lena got into the car in a hurry and said. Hana said, too, as if she tries to calm her startled heart.
"How did no one able to expect that? I mean, if we just show them the bills that Kim did brought directly from 1986, of course, there will be trouble?"
Kim started the car, and spoke as he drove down the street.
"Well, I didn't even expect this, either. To be honestly, I didn't expect about to stay in 2078 until a month ago, too, and you guys didn't predict that someone came from 100 years ago, would suddenly become a roommate, either?"
Everyone looked forward without saying a word.
"Now, we just can't go to the bank anymore. Then where should we go?"
Lena thought for a moment, then pulled out her cell phone.
"Leave it to me! I have an idea."
"As expected, the guidance here should have to be done by the local residents."
Lùcio said with a growl.
"Find me the nearest collection store."
Lena opened the smart map app and said.
[Calculating the route.]
One part of the LCD dashboard went over to the navigation menu. And Kim discovered another new technology of the future world, then got so surprised that he almost crossed the center line at the moment.
"Hey, it's in very good condition. Except for the fold in the middle part, it's really stiff like it came out yesterday!"
The owner of the collection store repeatedly said, looking at the bills handed over by Kim, with a magnifying glass. Before they are entering the collection store, they thought of various scenarios to prepare for dangerous situations and prepared countermeasures based on the dangerous moment that they had to go through at the bank previously. Still, of course, no one knew how things could change no matter of practice.
In preparation for the possible insight of the owner of the collection store, Kim took off his uniform shirts this time. Thanks to a short-sleeved T-shirt underneath, he didn't have to show his bare top, but it was still April, so the chilly wind that sometimes blows, and made him shrink. It could have been very troublesome if the owner found the original uniform and the military mark, during the Vietnam War.
Regardless of the clothing situation, however, the five $10 bills of the 1980s seemed to appeal to the owner of the collection store. Even more, when Kim showed a beer commercial brochure featuring Heather Locklear from the 1980s that was kept in the front pocket (with even clean condition!), he was so delighted that as he could fly into the sky.
"Hahaha! Today is a big day for sure! Such a precious thing!"
Not only Kim, the original owner and resident of the 1980s, but also other peoples looked at the collector, with a feeling of burden.
"You made me happy, so I'm on it! How about 200 pounds in all of these?"
Kim hesitated for a moment, and asked Lena in a whisper.
"How much is it in dollars?"
"Umm, about 260 dollars?"
Kim looked at the collector in horror.
"Hey mister, I know you have so much interest about these, but I think you called the price unnecessary high… Why don't we curl it around $60?"
However, it was not only the collector who was surprised, but also the others, too.
"What? Why is it so cheap?"
The collector replied, with a ridiculous look. Hana hit the side of Kim, and whispered.
"진호 오빠, 제정신이야? 고작 60달러 가지고 뭘 하려고? (Kim, you crazy? What are you going to do, with just 60 dollars?)"
"왜, 60달러면 충분히 많은 거 아니야? 2달러면 맥주 한 병에 햄버거 하나에다가 종업원 팁까지 주고 남는 가격인데… (Why? I thought 60 dollars are enough? I can afford a whole size burger, beer, and waiter's tip, just in 2 dollars...)"
Lùcio also talked in the side.
"Kim, you out of your mind or something? You're handing them over for only 60 dollars?"
At the moment, Kiriko suddenly asked Kim, as she just thought of something.
"Wait, Kim. 19… Hmm, the place where you were, how much did a bottle of Pepsi cost?"
"Uhhh... 75 cents."
Damn. Everyone was forgetting just one, and only one, important thing. Well, it was obvious that Kim didn't know either, but any of them weren't aware of inflation and currency fluctuations, too, between 1986 and 2078. So that's why he just offers an absurd price.
"Well… Come to 2078, the economic system has experienced a lot of changes, and prices have gone up a lot too, in the meantime. Now it's $2.5."
Kim breathing so hard in surprise, then got choked.
"What? You pay the $2.50 for just 1 bottle of Goddamn drink?"
He shouted that for a moment, and realized that the collector was looking at him in a strange way, and made eye contact with him again. Yeah, of course, the inflation. If the economic index hasn't changed for nearly 100 years, that must be crazy. Yes, absolutely.
"All right. Uh, Fine. 200 pounds. Let's go for 200 pounds."
"…. Are you all right, man?"
"Yes, uh, I can't get enough sleep for last night..."
The collector thought Kim was strange, but seeing the dark circle that was long under Kim's eyes and the tiredness that still lingered all over his face, he pulled the money out of the cash register,r thinking that was reasonable.
"We prepared for every possible situation, but still didn't expect that one thing. If we had got stood up over there too, we would have been really hopeless!"
As the car drove into the center of the town, Lena let out an angry lament. Kim had nothing to say, too. Kim really did that, how himself could be so stupid like that? Can't even think about inflation? But, also, by the way, the biggest interest to Brigitte, Hana, Kiriko, and Lùcio, was about the Kim's time, when a bottle of soda only cost for 75 cents, and with just $2, everyone can offer a hamburger, a bottle of beer and a tip.
[14:00 P.M., at a shopping center near the center of Mill Bay, Plymouth]
Except for Kim, the group was standing in front of an affordable-priced clothing store, waiting for Kim to come out of the dressing room. Finally, and although he didn't dissatisfy it, but he could throw off that dull old combat uniform and old combat boots, that everyone around him really wanted to change.
Earlier, they had to constantly hear complaints about 100-year-long inflation that now he could live out only for a week, with every money in his wallet, while everyone was helping him re-fit his glasses. Fairly enough, the $1,300 salary in 1986 cannot be treated as low payroll, but he was also not a dumbass who was carrying all of his salary by himself, in cash. Now in Kim's wallet, he only had 200 British pounds ($260) in exchange for five $10 bills at a collection store, two $1 bills and three $5 bills, and 3 quarter coins. Any other things without them, were a enlistee ID card and two driver's licenses (because Kim officially did have 2 citizenship back in 1986, the Korea one and the U.S. one…), which had expired more than 90 years ago. And the glasses were still expensive, no different from the past, so he didn't have much money left after the glasses worked, and the other fellas had to lend him some money.
"Kim, what an insist that dude was had. The optician even recommended him a new frame, with the new blue light blocking lens or whatever all that was, but he only set a new lens with keeping an old frame."
"But also, in a way, it might not be a bad choice. It was a hundred years ago at this time, but from the view of time travel, that frame must be only a year or two old, since that thing was made. Don't you think, Lùcio?"
When Lùcio telling about Kim's spirit of thrift, Hana added a word from the side.
"By the way, did you see Kim's face earlier? When he was borrowing money from us, he looked really crumpled."
"Kim is an old man. Even though he's similar in age to us, he still has the same values and ideas as our grandparent's generation. Fortunately, he doesn't seem to have any negative aspects from that era either, but he probably has a lot to say about his shame or pride, for getting help by someone."
"What? Kiri, how do you know that so well?"
"My grandma always remembered my grandpa as that way. Kim, for his historical age, will be same as just like my grandparent's generation."
Brigitte and Kiriko also spoke of the emotions that Kim shown, and could not hide from them.
"Same as what? Whatever that is, how do I look?"
Kim spoke, as calling their attention. They looked at Kim.
Still, the clothes were not having so much different from the beginning. A short-sleeved olive-green shirt, similar to that old original combat uniform, jeans that showing his slim legs, and sneakers that look comfortable, but sturdy. Though it looks like better than that plain-patterned military uniforms, but Kim's own unique military G.I. style did not seem to change even if he changed clothes.
"Well, at least you got a nice body proportion... But you'd better grow your sense of fashion, Kim. How can you even keep look like a soldier, even you changed your clothes?"
Kiriko looked up and down at Kim and said.
"I agree with you about Kiriko. Kim, let's save some money and went out shopping later, when we have time. I'll take my time to pick out some clothes for you then."
Hana said, as she disapproved of Kim's clothes.
"I like this, but... Well, that would be not bad too, though. If I didn't fit in with this era, then I should learn how to wear clothes that fit in with this era."
Kim looked back at himself and said.
"Enough is enough, right? Now, let's hurry. Our main task is not here at Kim's fashion show, it's about the goods supply."
Lena urged the group. They began to head outside the shopping center. However, they didn't notice that something, and seemingly bad-looking groups of teenagers, were watching them.
The group returned to the van they had parked in a parking lot on every corner of the mall, with a handful of supplies. But after they spotted several teenagers freely climbing or leaning on each other in their van, everyone began to feel the unusual atmosphere.
"Fellas, what are we doing on the car?"
Lena came forward and said. Mixed with both genders, but most of them were male, the group of young teens snorted once in a while, and the boy, who appeared to be the leader of the group, walked forward and spat on the floor.
"Ha, bullshit. Why do you care what we do here and play?"
They all crumpled their faces. These young, rookie hooligans, that still wet behind their ear. But, as a member of Overwatch, which protects the balance of the world, they can't go out just as bad same to those who come out bad, so they put up with it, and asked politely again.
"Because, that's our car that you guys are stepping there. Will you come down now?"
"What are you going to do, if we say, 'no'?"
A girl who is appeared as a girl's leader, and still sitting on the van, giggled and said to Lena. And the leader boy lit a cigarette, and said.
"If you really want us to step aside, then how about this? Take out everything you have in your hand, and all the cash in your wallet. Oh, and with you girls, too. If you want to play with us instead of those dumb virgin wankers standing with you, well, let me think about it."
Heroes clenched their fists. But still, everyone wants to solve this as peacefully as possible. Everyone has enough self-defense skills, but they didn't know what would happen if they misused that forces against unarmed rogue youths. No matter how much they act in self-defense, if anything goes wrong, it could have come to the worst, not only tarnished the name of Overwatch itself, but also got exposed their hiding position.
At that time, suddenly, Kim walked out alone, to the front.
"Hey, handsome fella. How you doing? Seeing your action and words you showed to us, it seems you have pretty good charms and leadership, and power of trust. I want to respect your play, but we have a way to go now, so please, let your friends get off from our car, can you?"
Teenagers exclaimed, of course for the purpose of ridicule the Kim.
"What is this yellow monkey bugger?"
The leader boy approached Kim with a puff of cigarette smoke to Kim's face.
"Hey, yellow Ching-Chang-Chong. Try me, then. Make me do that."
Kim closed his eyes once and opened them. Controlling the breath, relaxed his body's tension, and measured the condition of his joints and muscles once. He could feel the energy spinning all over the body. Just like the preparation of battle, in 100 years ago, the countless times he had in the Vietnamese jungle, just seconds before the start of the fire fighting.
"Mate, I beg you one last time. Turn off your cigarettes, and take your boys, and disappear."
Kim looked through the body of the leader boy so quickly, that the boy did not even notice, and said to him.
"For fuck's sake, don't just talk. Show me in action, you weak ass zoomer!"
The leader boy blew smoke into Kim's face, again, with hitting Kim on the cheek, with his right hand.
The next moment, Kim grabbed the boy by the wrist, turned around and pulled that part as hard on his shoulder, stopping him from moving by stepping on the top of his foot. With a throbbing sound that a bone is broken away, the leader boy's piece of wrist bone, were seen as sticking out sharply from his skin and muscles, both in the eyes of the teenager gangs, and the Overwatch crew.
When the leader boy couldn't even scream, and his face began to be distorted by the pain in his wrist, Kim spun the kick into his face. The tip of his dark sneakers stuck directly into the pretty boy's nose and philtrum. Kim let go of his wrist. The leader, who was shown his imposing charm just a moment ago, now collapsed on the cement floor, splattered with broken wrists, a crumpled nose, pieces of incisors and red blood. Everyone marveled at the horribly bent wrist bone. The leader boy, on the floor, was lying down silently, dripping red blood from his face.
"You bloody hell...!"
Several other boys in the group started to running at Kim. However, Kim grabbed one the boy's neck, who was first arrived at him, and hit that boy with the edge of his hand. The boy got momentarily knocked out. The other boys who arrived later, also surrounded Kim as if they were about to lynch him collectively, but he lifted the fainted boy, and used him as a meat shield, and punched those all boys who surrounded him. Even though he hit only one or two times per person, everyone couldn't get even stand for a chance to fight back, and collapsed to the floor.
As if one of them had recovered quickly, he got up quickly and charged to Kim with the fist, screaming. But Kim's response was a bit radical again this time. He reached into the rushing boy's mouth, grabbed his lower jaw, and spun around him and punched him with all strength to the jaw. The boy didn't have any split skin wound, but his jaw joint was surely got dislocated from the normal position. The teenagers, seemed to realize that one of the men they were trying to rob, was unexpectedly too strong.
The girls prepared to run away from the moment as they saw the leader's wrist smashed, but the leader girl stared at Kim, until all the boys who ran at him, got beaten up. Just as he turned around to separate one of the boy's jaw joints, she took out a butterfly knife that was keeping in her waist, and silently ran into Kim. The sharp blade, which appeared to be about 5 inches long, flashed.
But there was one thing that no one expected except Kim himself: that he had recently been returned his revolver from Second Commander Ana, with the most serious vow about the safety, and he had brought it out, with hiding it under his clothes, as usual.
Kim turned around, as soon as he heard the cries of the crew members, and found out the flashing blade was getting closer to him. He quickly took out the revolver that had inserted in the back of his right waist, and aimed it anywhere on the girl's body, as it was seen.
[Bang!]
Once again, the horrifying loud explosion sound, of old-tech gunpowder, reverberated throughout the parking lot of the shopping center. At the same time, a wave could be seen on the belly skin of the leader girl, who was wearing clothes showing her navel, and the hole got popped in, then, the bloods were popped out. She collapsed on the floor with the force that she was running toward. The Butterfly knife left her hand, brushed just a few inches from Kim, and flew to the Overwatch crews, who were standing behind. Kiriko instinctively catches the knife.
However, something Kim did not expect happened. One characteristic in his body, that he has forgotten to some extent recently, although not for a very long time.
The remaining group of girls jumped out of the car, and began to run away. But in Kim's eyes, their appearance was overlapped as NV congs, seen in the jungle a few years ago, killing all of his allies, and retreating. Kim fixes the grip, then pulled the trigger again. Five shots rang out in succession. The crews saw all the girls who were run away, got fall down to the ground, with flesh explosion and blood squirting on their sides and thighs. Even though they threatened them first, but use this much of forces to the unarmed civilians? Everyone couldn't believe what Kim had just done. But Kim's misbehavior didn't end there. He had just begun to strangle the girl leader, who was lying on the ground and barely breathing, after being shot in the stomach. The girl already got shot in the stomach, but she somehow managed to resist from Kim's hand, then dropped her both arm as she ran out of strength. Lùcio saw the girl's face turning white.
"죽어. 죽어, 이 베트콩 자식아…! (Die. Die, you damn Viet Cong...!)"
Kim uttered it in Korean. Hana looked him in the eye when she heard it. Not the usual eyes of Kim, but the pupils were reduced to a minimum, and the wrinkles around his eyes and nose showed how much tension he applied. It was a familiar expression. The war face of a soldier, which appeared to the soldiers during the combat, which she had seen several times in the past, in Busan.
"Kim! Stop it!"
Kiriko rushed to Kim. She wrapped her arms around Kim's neck, and pulled him from behind to separate him from the girl. The girl began to breathe again, but seeing the blood coming out of her stomach, it seemed like she would not last long in this condition.
"くそー. (Dammit.) I didn't expect to use this here."
Kiriko sprayed some healing ofuda that she was keeping, for just in case. The gunshot in the girl's stomach, was getting a little smaller, but she became more energized than before, and due to the influence of the gunshot wound, she began to twist and scream more vigorously.
Follow the Kiriko's act, Hana, Brigitte, Lucio, and Lena holds Kim, tightly. No one was able to hold back the shock even after seeing nearly 10 teenagers got half-dying, because no one even expected that Kim would show this kind of aspect. However, starting from Hana, who somehow grabbed her sanity first, everyone began to stop him. Hana grabbed Kim's shoulder, and shook violently.
"You out of your mind?! Stop it!"
Suddenly, Kim shook his head a few times, then looked at the group. Then, he looked at the half-dying teens, who were all lying down on the ground. At one point, he felt the endless anger that had caught his mind, disappeared. He also can remember clearly what he had done, either. Damn, this is some familiar scene. And, I think someone told me to be careful about this.
"W... Wha... What am I just had done?"
Although the group calmed him down, everyone looked at Kim with fear. Suddenly, the voices of the buzzing people, began to be heard. Everyone awakes from the shock, and looked around. They couldn't see people yet, but it seemed like everyone was approaching here. It was understandable. The gunshots rang out for six times, not only one shot, and there's no way the people around them would just stay still. In the distance, even the sirens of the police car, began to be heard faintly.
"Christ! Hurry up, everyone! Hurry up! To the car!"
Kim shouts out. Everyone looked at him, as if they were mesmerized, then ran into the van with their supplies holding, by Kim's word. Instead of going out on the exit path, Kim drives into a forested flower bed. There was a sound of stones, branches, and dirt scratching on the car's body, and the car immediately jumped out onto the road, outside the shopping center. People on the sidewalk nearby were shocked as the car just came out of a place that was not the proper road at all, but no one could even remember anything other than the car was a green transit van, thanks to Kim's quick driving.
The car quickly left the Plymouth, and ran toward Helstone, running twice higher than the speed limit. Kim, who suddenly just committed a possible massacre to rogue youths, was remained silent, because he clearly remembered that he did that himself, and Hana, Brigitte, Lena, Kiriko, and Lùcio were also remained speechless, because they couldn't believe that a friend of their age who seemed really decent, could show such a terrible act of his dark side. When the van passed near Liskeard, Kim had slowed down to fit in the speed limit.
"Is everyone okay? Did any of you get hurt, or lost something important?"
Kim broke the heavy silence first, and began to speak. Everyone was forgotten to check that, but as Kim pointed that out, everyone did look around each of their bodies. Of course, no one was hurt. Brigitte looked at Kim's hand, grabbing the steering wheel, hard. The blood on his hand was still a clear red color. Lena took a deep breath, then her face got distorted with anger, and she shouted in a sharp voice that everyone had never heard before.
"Kim! The fuck was that all?! What bloody hell you've just have done!?"
Kim only focused on the front, driving without looking back, but he could feel that everyone's stinging eyes were stuck in his back of the head, just like as when he blew the Hanzo's ears, a few weeks ago.
"I just thought it was best to do that. Well, I also let go of myself during that, but still..."
"Still What? What was that all about!? You just attacked an unarmed civilian, and not just simply attacked the minors, you even attempted multiple murder with a gun!"
"10 people, Kim! 10 teenagers! What the hell were you even thinking?!"
Lùcio also shouted strongly, as he was complaining to Kim, following Lena's angry cry. Perhaps it is because his unique pacifist ideology coincides directly with Kim's actions, he thought.
"No matter how much they threatened us, they were just teenagers! What was the point of that action, shooting at them?!"
"Before simply talking about the shooting, break their limbs was out of common sense enough!"
"And beyond all of that, what could have happened if we were got exposed at that moment? It's not matters of only you got arrested! Did you ever think what will gonna happen, if we all got arrested? Lena and I have already been threatened with illegal Overwatch activities, and have you thought about what would happen, if the fact got reported, that the famous singer, Lùcio, were involved here, too? And how about Hana, a loyal member of the ROK Army and even your junior! And, what would happen if Kiriko got busted too, and cannot go back to her hometown?"
Kiriko, Hana, and Brigitte also screamed sharply at Kim.
Kim quietly tried to put up with the rage of the crews, although he had some negligence, but when there was talk of sympathy for the gang members, who threatened them first, he eventually exploded his anger.
"SHUT THE FUCK UP!"
Kim shouting louder than any of the five, with turning the steering wheel and shake the car body violently. The car regains its stability, but the shock and sound made by Kim, forced the five to freeze in horror.
"Then what do you want me to do? They were only interested in our wallets and things! And even if we gave them away, would they let us go peacefully? Didn't you remember what they said? Is it will be a great prize for all of your conscience, to try to settle peacefully with them, not thinking about other solution?"
Kim spoke to everyone in that loud voice, just the same as when he commanded and admonished soldiers in past Vietnam.
"And, even though they were teenagers, they were more many than us, and even similar in body size. They're all grown men, just only different ages with us, so shouldn't we have to use an equalizing way, if they come out so threatening like that? Most of all, I didn't even pull out the gun until after they attacked us. They didn't move for defending themselves, they moved to hurt us! Kiriko, you still hold the knife that bitch had thrown, and you still say that?"
At that point, Kiriko discovered herself that she was still holding that butterfly knife, which had been thrown by the leader girl. Everyone looked at the knife.
"Yeah, may my attacks have been too much for the little guys. But that's why I stepped in, because I am well aware of you guys were being helpless, because of that all kind of social constraints you couldn't handle. Still, I am the only one who once lived in 100 years ago, so there's no way there's any biometric/identity information about me left in this day and age. More than that, I also know the fact that only peoples who know I am still alive in this age, is only five of you, and the 19 people in the world who are waiting at the base of Gibraltar. I just couldn't stand by and watch my colleagues and my friends lose helplessly, because of that identity restrictions."
Kim came back to his normal voice again, as usual. Everyone thought about the legitimacy of what Kim said, even still they couldn't believe what he has done yet.
It was true that the response was excessive, even Kim himself, but still, some way, Kim was right. Even if Kim did not do anything back there, it was clear that they would also have had to use some force or do something against to those teenage gangs. And, of course, there should have been a lot of noise would be made during that process, and then the police would have come to the scene, as the same now. Kim handled things dogmatically, and also very quickly, so he was able to get out of sight quickly, and the result would have been the same.
In the end, everyone acknowledged that Kim's actions were only slightly excessive, not unnecessary at all. But no one could have expected that Kim was hiding that level of spark, deep in his mind, so the shock only lingered in everyone's mind longer. He glanced at the bloodstains on his hand and continued driving.
"By the way, everyone, we still have a problem."
"What is it?"
Brigitte asked back at Kim's change of subject.
"Yes, there were no direct witnesses. But what about those things?"
Kim pointed to a security camera, passing by the road. In the 1980s, the effectiveness of surveillance cameras was still poor, and even such cameras could not be properly installed in Korea and Vietnam back in the day, so it was difficult for Kim, to know the value from the beginning, but by learning the development of modern technology from Athena and Brigitte, he also knew some of the advancements in unmanned camera technology and its effectiveness.
"Right! The camera! What should we do with this? Not only the mall's surveillance camera..."
"We don't need to worry about that place, Kiriko. I peeked earlier, and the spot where we pulled up was, exactly, was an area with no surveillance camera in sight. The car might have been on the road surveillance camera, but our faces wouldn't have taken directly."
"Is that so? Then that's a relief... No, wait. Not at all. That mean the police still able to track down this car, isn't it?"
"Yeah, about that. There's actually one thing I'm thinking about right now."
Kim said, as he left the highway exit and entered a remote unpaved road. Everyone in the car was confused, because Helstone was still far away.
"You really sure that this will work?"
"Trust me! This is the best thing about for disguise."
While Brigitte and Hana were changing the license plate of the vehicle, Kiriko and Kim drew a long black sideline on the side panel of the van. Before they depart from the secret outpost base, Kim was noticing a pair of fake license plates and black paint that had been loaded in back of the car. In fact, in a way, it was natural. Their key point was "stay low, and move low", and the best way was to disturb the view, which is human's most primitive sense, such as camouflage, which can quickly pass tracking if things go wrong.
However, it will not take long in this day and age if you just simply change the license plate, and it took too long to repaint the entire car to avoid that. Therefore, it was quickest and easiest way, by changing car to another trim, paint the sideline or fender part.
"Is the road still clear?"
Kim peeked his head slightly out of the bushes, where the vehicle was briefly hidden, and asked Lena and Lùcio, who were watching the road they had been running so far.
"It's quiet. I think we avoided the police's pursuit."
"Good, let's deal with it quickly, and run again."
The van started running on the road, again. Lena looked through a side mirror as if she was anxious as a few drops of paint that had not yet been fully dried yet, were blown away and fell onto the road. Kim was also anxious, too. He thought that they might have opened up and become close with him, but now, the relationship with them, has become reeling, because of his own craziness. Anyway, even though the teenagers insulted and threatened him and crews first, but it wasn't a crime that really deserve to die, as others said. He really wished that no one would die, because of his action.
And what worried him most, was the symptom of a 'Selective Psychopath' that he unintentionally brought from the New Mexico plateau in 1986, that was still there somewhere in his body. So far, he was holding it back somehow, but if it's shown in front of them, it could cause catastrophe beyond today's level of conflict. His earlier overlap of the girls as Viet Cong, also had a significant impact on his worry.
[19:00 P.M. The hangar of Gibraltar Watch Point.]
Lena gently landed the airship in the hangar. Everyone let off their disguise, and got ready to disembark. Kim also changed his clothes and shoes into combat uniforms, again. No one would notice him, if the supplies are started to unload from the airship, and if he's just pretending to help the unloading process.
The door of the airship's cargo compartment opened, and Winston grabbed the heaviest cargo and lifted it up. When Winston went out, Kim, along with Kiriko and Hana, picked up a box that weighed just enough for the three of them to hold. No one said anything to see the three getting off the airship with the box. Everyone was about to take a breather, thinking that Kim was fortunately not caught.
"Ahem."
At the moment, Kim flinched and jumped out. As he slowly turned his head, he found Second Commander Ana, Commander Jack, and Captain Vivian, was looking at him, full of anger. When he saw their faces, Kim thought what would have come, finally comes. Yes, how much would be this improved if he lies to them, when the situation is coming all the way here? It would be lucky if he didn't just raise their anger more.
"Second commander, ma'am. Commander, sir. And, Captain Chase, ma'am."
Kim, desperate, but saluted the three for now. Second Commander Ana said, staring at Kim with a fierce look.
"You can guess, what we're going to say now, are you?"
"… Of course, it is, Second Commander, ma'am."
Fortunately, Kim made an implicit "silent promise" with the crews, for a series of events on the mainland to avoid the worst, even if his unauthorized outing was caught by commanders, and to prevent damage to the rest of the party who helped him. At a time when past people suddenly appeared in the present era 100 years ago, Kim's unauthorized outing was dangerous enough, but no matter how self-defensive they were, if Jack, Ana and Vivian were found out about attacking the civilian, even with the gun, Kim would have nothing to say if they just pack everything else, and kicks him out to the Atlantic Ocean. And more than that, all three of them were in the ranks of officers, who Kim had to obey unconditionally to them, beyond being commanders.
However, Kim's reprimand was so generous that even he was surprise, too. Of course, he couldn't avoid the process of got roasted by those three before that, but now that it has come to this, Commander Jack's direct order, to make the training and improvement guidelines of the Overwatch team, based on the equipment that Kim brought and his memory, knowledge and know-how, was far more tolerant penalty, rather than deportation or got locked in a guardhouse (if that still exists in here, too…) as Kim expected.
[Around 22:00 P.M., Gibraltar Watch Point Base lobby.]
Jean Baptiste was just teaching Kim about how to watch the news in the public lobby. Now, he was just about to explain how to watch not only just local national news broadcasts received by local broadcasts, but also online news that allows to see news from all over the world at a glance.
"Huh, the ways of news access back in the day, was only by radio and newspapers."
"Of course, Kim. It was the only way to listen, only a hundred years ago from now."
"Hmm. By the way, Jean, there are a lot of channels to watch, but still, I'm still confused about which one to choose."
Not only Baptiste, who heard Kim's words, but also Cassidy and Genji, who were watching it from behind, burst out laughing.
"That's exactly what I expected. The most honest reaction of past people."
Cassidy spoke to Jean, in a teasing tone. Baptiste ignored Cassidy's words lightly, and spoke to Athena.
"Athena, please turn on any news channel."
"Let me recommend this one. Sergeant Kim will like it very much."
What Athena turned on, was the evening news of the Devon state's station, in UK mainland.
[…As a result, authorities in Devon have managed to track down 10 teenage gang members, in charge of armed robbery that happened in five nearby locations, as well as Plymouth. The 'Out-law Bastards', the teenage gang, originally started out as a group of bikers...]
With the reporter's voice, the horrors of the Plymouth shopping mall parking lot, which was seen to some of them during the day, began to be displayed starkly on the screen. Kim felt a cold fear in his spine at the moment. Brigitte, Lena, Hana, Kiriko, and Lùcio, who were just in the lobby too, also looked embarrassed.
"What does that relate with Kim, Athena?"
Winston asked, while he was playing with Ganymede on one side of the lobby.
[…All of them were found seriously injured. Fortunately, thanks to the early spotted and initial response, they were all able to get first aid at the local hospital, with no deaths. But that was not the only question that police have to solve. Not only that suspect "easily" subdues the large number of gang members, but also as well as the use of a firearm, which was very questionable.
"We are re-investigating with the possibility that the inspect results were wrong, but the six bullets found at the scene, were .38 special bullets. If that's all were just a common bullet, then it could have suspected as a possible collusion with an illegal arms dealer, but the first analysis by the Devon State Institute of Science identified the bullets, as those were produced in March 1986, about 92 years ago, and supplied to the U.S. military, during the Vietnam War. (Adam Lee Jason, Devon State Police Department, Police Chief.)"
As for these results, the State Police Department...]
Fareeha spewed the coffee that she was sipping. Dr. Angela and Mei shouted at the same time.
"What!?"
Zarya, Reinhardt, and Sloan immediately looked at Kim. Kim shouted quickly.
"Athena, stop the news!"
Athena turned off the news channel, and went back to her usual standby screen. However, Kim knew too well that the other heroes, except for the five who went out to the mainland together this morning, were looking at him now.
"Song, Kiri. Is there any way to solve this out smooth?"
Kim asked in an almost audible voice to the two. Hana and Kiriko answered at the same time, as Angela and Mei did.
"You think that's gonna possible?"
Kim covered his face with his hands and said.
"Of course not. Christ. What did I expect?"
He thought he would have to go through some difficult times to solve this out. Kim sighed once.