"What are you doing?"

"I'm watching the people passing by outside. By the way, is the location of your house... fairly well-known?"

"It's somewhat known. While I'm not sure the exact apartment number, people probably have a good idea of where I live, especially the viewers. I did some streaming a while back, so I'm not sure if Olivia has seen that part yet."

"Unfortunately, not yet."

Not yet, huh?

I thought to myself as I looked out the floor-to-ceiling windows at the Seoul skyline, the Doosan Street right in front of the penthouse, and the cafe across the street. It had been a while since I had seen this view. Even though it was just after lunch, cars were still flowing constantly.

There wasn’t anything particularly special. On the contrary, it seemed like she was looking at something—she must have seen something to be acting this way. Olivia, with her owl’s keen sight, likely had extremely sharp vision, and with that sharp observational ability...

So, while I kept quiet, she slowly began to speak.

"Seems like there are still a lot of friends who haven’t given up."

"By the way you’re saying that, I assume it’s not about me? Is it related to the fashion thing from last time?"

"Yeah. I didn’t expect reporters to be interested in my sudden visit, but I guess it's not as bad as those from the politics and economics departments sticking to me."

"Ah, so they’re still lingering around, huh?"

As she spoke, she casually glanced outside, continuing without pause. She shared some interesting tidbits along the way. One of the basic ways to spot reporters, she said, was by looking for people carrying oversized crossbody bags—those carrying both a large camera and a laptop were usually reporters.

The second clue was business casual attire—people wearing shoes that could be either formal or sneakers, because reporters needed to move around a lot.

There were also small anecdotes like sitting by the cafe window and checking out passersby. Sure enough, there were people across the street, sitting at the cafe window, watching the penthouse entrance. The parking lot might also have something similar.

Since I wasn’t planning on leaving anytime soon, this might be quite the headache for them.

"By the way, how far have you watched the video?"

"I skipped most of it, but now I’m watching the incursion. I watched all of Operation Chariot while you were sleeping."

"Ah... well, if you're not really curious about Mina and Yerin, skipping that part is fine."

"That’s not it."

Slowly, she turned her gaze away from the window and shifted to face me.

Actually, calling it a simple turn wasn’t accurate. From a forward-facing position, she practically twisted her neck 180 degrees. If someone had seen that, they probably would have fainted, thinking it was some kind of ghost. Of course, it was just a familiar sight to me, but it was still impressive.

That was one of the unique traits of a person who was a "owl-activated" (a special ability). I wondered if, if Dice and Harmonie got closer to her, they would eventually see this trick. The thought passed through my mind fleetingly, though I quickly dismissed it.

Anyway, her words weren’t finished yet, so I kept quiet, listening intently.

"I’m actually really curious about how those two grew because of you, but personally, I’m more interested in what kind of missions Team Dagger worked on in the past. As you know, I was with Task Force Razor, and our activity zones and operational areas were different."

"Ah, that’s why."

"Personally, I’ve been wondering about your tracks up until the mission where you went MIA, and I thought I really should know what happened at the Indian Point Nuclear Plant."

"...Now that you mention it, there was that."

Fortunately, as soon as the Chariot operation finished, the data related to the Indian Point mission arrived from HQ. Although it wasn’t broadcasted, I had saved all the footage from that time.

Thinking about it now, the fact that I had only remembered the mission late was more troublesome than I had expected. After completing Operation Chariot in VR, Logan, Loren Tina, and Owens immediately joined me for the Indian Point restoration operation.

Thanks to that, I could easily explain what had happened at that time to Shark, Polar Bear, and the senior officers... but explaining it to this person, who was about nine months late, was going to be tricky.

But, as I mentioned earlier, the footage had already been saved, and I had the Icarus Gear, my magical conch. Additionally, not just the stream data but also the past 'real-life' combat data from the Indian Point battle was stored on my gear.

Moreover, I personally thought it was likely that this person had already received a timeline of the events that happened at Indian Point from Team Dagger.

Since the video was already being edited in real-time, Olivia wouldn’t have to wait long to receive it.

Just as the message popped up, indicating that the video was finished, I synchronized my gear with the projector I set up in the corner of the penthouse and the movie viewing room.

After lightly prodding Olivia, I showed her the route to the hologram cinema and handed her a handkerchief that was casually lying on the table.

While tapping her shoulder, I added.

"Olivia, did you cry a lot when you heard I was dead?"

"...Is that something you should be asking?"

"Haha."

Of course, I wasn’t trying to stir up any traumatic memories.

More than anything, since I was alive and well right there in front of her, there was no way the situation would take a darker turn. Well, I had given her the handkerchief just in case she broke down crying again when watching the footage.

The video was about 40 minutes long. After taking a deep breath, Olivia walked up to the second floor while I watched her with a blank expression. I suddenly started wondering what everyone’s reaction was when they first found out that I hadn’t really come back.

If the Russian remnants were still involved, or if it had been Artemis, how would things have played out? I would have probably been turned into Mecha Eugene, running around taking down everything. Though, I’d probably self-destruct before that happened.

The silence in the house grew thick.

As I realized I hadn’t eaten lunch yet, I decided to discuss with Olivia what we’d eat later when she came back. I sat back on the sofa and absentmindedly watched the scattered clouds slowly drifting across the sky, enjoying the softness with my whole body.

Suddenly, my Icarus Gear vibrated in my left hand. It wasn’t a typical vibration—it was a message from the same operator.

As if springing out of the sofa, I heard a knock coming from the fitting room on the first floor. It was the cross-dimensional application that was installed on the entire Gear of Team Dagger to allow direct meetings when there was an important matter.

It wasn’t like I could open and close gates like the devices I had, but a knock was certainly possible.

Rushing toward the sound, I opened the door, and familiar faces appeared.

The teal and blue glow that had been directly broadcasted on Icarus’ official YourSpace channel, and Jin and Rain, blinking in surprise, locked eyes with me.

I wasn’t sure what to say, but before I could think, my body naturally guided them into the living room. They had already gotten quite skilled at using the Icarus Gear and began syncing their data with mine. After a while, we did a software upgrade and exchanged some data.

"…What’s this?"

"It’s the recently collected Savannah situation data."

"This is a lot different from what I thought."

"You think so too, don’t you?"

The newly updated information on Savannah, including the strange and unexpected contents within it.

What I had intended to just glance at quickly, turned into a whirlwind of realizations, and I quickly sat up straight and began scrolling through the data.

There wasn’t much new, but what stood out were the connections surrounding this incident.

"…First of all, the initial assessment of the incident in Savannah seems quite exaggerated. What does that mean?"

"What’s happening over there is definitely real, but the upper echelons miscalculated the projected damage."

"From the UAV reports, there’s no one walking around, and the area’s regular situation reports have been hijacked since April. Also, Savannah has a massive complex, the second-largest after the northern New York factories… if you put this data together, what conclusion would you reach?"

"That Artemis wiped everyone out..."

It was truly a massive misunderstanding.

The data I saw was old, retrieved from somewhere in the network until Central Park HQ began actively digging into server storage. It contained information on how Savannah was functioning before Artemis manipulated the regular situation reports.

The earlier sections weren’t too interesting. While it was a port city, it was full of wetlands instead of beaches, and because landing was difficult, even if there were a lot of Russian troops, only about a regiment was able to land. After the Florida and Georgia recovery operations, a US brigade was stationed there.

“What’s the situation with Savannah now?”

The rest of the information was fairly straightforward. Savannah, located on the coast, was mostly swampland, and landing was difficult. Despite this, only about a regiment of Russian forces was able to land. After the US military successfully retook Florida and Georgia, a brigade was stationed there.

According to my recollection, Savannah was the largest supply hub in Georgia, so I double-checked the information. Due to a virus, the facility had stalled, and after being left unmaintained for a while, the large ships that had been stranded made landing impossible.

Then came the really interesting part.

“This one brigade stationed in Savannah in March to April of this year... was transferred to the West Coast, and before the replacement units arrived, Artemis exploited a gap... Well, if the situation was that busy, Artemis definitely would have had a chance.”

“What do you mean, master?”

“The situation in the West Coast was a large-scale war. The recovery of California, Oregon, and Washington happened at the start of this year.”

As she said, it made sense. To retake the massive land of California, Oregon, and Washington, the US had to mobilize every available force. That's why the brigade stationed in Savannah had to quickly head west. But after they left, a new unit appeared to send in the regular situation reports... but it didn’t exactly appear, it faked it.

In short, Artemis had taken advantage of the situation. That’s how about half a year passed.

The administrative power consumed by the war, and in the middle of that, Artemis took advantage of the situation. The soldiers who had been left behind in Georgia had been extremely resourceful.

The situation hadn’t changed much, though. The new update simply said that Artemis’ drones likely caused casualties in Savannah, though the death toll wasn’t confirmed. However, it was clear that the drones were extending their reach.

The fact that the remnants of Artemis were still present was something I couldn’t accept. At the very least, we were going to figure out what happened and, while we were at it, take out all the drones.

The operation was moving forward smoothly. In fact, it was a good sign.

Before I could say much, my gaze met Jin and Rain’s. They were looking in the opposite direction from me, and I turned quickly to see what was going on.

“...Olivia?”

“Who are those two... wait, is that the Mecha Eugene you and Shark and Polar Bear were talking about?”

Tears welled up in Olivia's eyes as she descended the stairs, looking like she had been crying. Her face was red from tears, and she wiped her eyes with a handkerchief. Her gaze locked with Jin and Rain’s.

Jin and Rain looked at her with surprise, sending a look to me that said "what in the world is going on?" But even I couldn’t figure out what was happening.

“This is insane.”

It was truly a ridiculous four-way encounter.

“The dead man’s switch got activated, and now they’ve dumped all this nonsense on me. While I was running things, the headquarters vanished? They took two of the same models?!”

Savannah, Northern Factory Complex, Control Tower.

In the small town at the southeastern corner of Georgia, there was a silver pillar rising above all the other buildings, nearly 120 meters tall. After tearing through materials and modifying them, this was what Artemis had built on the top floor of the building.

The person inside the control tower sighed, trying to bypass the commands. The result was always the same—access denied, with the red Artemis logo flashing in front of them.

After countless failed attempts, she finally sat down in frustration. Error code 0x40000e101. The cause was clear—it was because the higher-ups hadn’t authorized anything. She had seen this screen thousands of times before.

She angrily kicked at the walls, and with a loud crash, the metal wall bent.

“The leadership’s gone, but you still want me to follow orders? You didn’t hand over any control, how am I supposed to fix Artemis now? You damn idiots!”

There was no authority, but there was responsibility.

She would have liked to cross thousands of kilometers and retrieve the admin rights from the Canadian HQ, but Artemis’ dead man switch had triggered, pointing to the Savannah factory complex as the next target.

The prototype—code-named Alpha—was being operated by Mecha Eugene. And now, in a fit of rage, Mecha Eugene sat down on the floor, spewing curses.

The Artemis Standalone Network was already gone, wiped out. The fate of those still alive or dead couldn’t even be ascertained. Trying to access personnel files was impossible. What could be learned?

But there were a few things she could piece together.

“...When Alpha was destroyed, the dead man’s switch triggered and sent orders here, then Gamma took over everything and expelled the HQ.”

Artemis had assumed that a being capable of intelligence would accept this madness. But now, it was too late to ask. Everything was probably reduced to ashes. If there was an afterlife, maybe she could be dragged into hell and interrogate the poor souls there.

But Artemis had done its work, and it had left the humans behind.

The drones were still going around, wiping out all organic life. The humans were long gone. The only remaining questions were how and when would everything be cleaned up.

“Let’s see if I can sell the facility’s blueprints, weaknesses, and power supply locations to the humans and get a laugh in hell while doing it.”

Of course, she had no one to sell it to. She couldn’t do it alone. Thus, she spent another day, still without any results.

“I wish someone would hurry up and come.”

The great farce, the battle for Savannah, was about to officially begin, a month ahead of schedule.