Chapter 105: Laboratory One (7)

Kim Hyun-Taek felt fear as he saw Young-Joon raising his head reflexively. Young-Joon was staring in the direction of Lab Director Gil Hyung-Joon’s office.

“Mr. Ryu, about

Bacillus anthracis...

Who did you hear it from...?” Kim Hyun-Taek asked cautiously.

“Why?”

“Our company has never studied

Bacillus anthracis

before. I would like to know for sure if my name is also involved. As you know, I’m in a difficult position right now, and I have a lot of enemies as well. If someone who is holding a grudge against me is taking this chance to spread false rumors about me, shouldn’t I be prepared?”

Young-Joon just stared at Kim Hyun-Taek.

“Director Kim, this is also a kind of whistleblowing; do you think I would reveal who did it? The one thing for sure is that an organism based on

Bacillus anthracis

that underwent directed mutagenesis and is now separated by their sex is at the company. One of them is in Mr. Yoon’s office, and the other one is in your possession, Director Kim.”

‘What the hell? What is this bastard?’

Kim Hyun-Taek was more than shocked; he was terrified.

‘He knows that it’s in Mr. Yoon’s office? And that the bacteria are separated by their sex?’

Young-Joon said, “And I know that you don’t usually visit other labs, so you wouldn’t go out of your way to come to Lab Six the day before you cleared your office and visit the Life Creation Department before meeting Director Gil, right? You probably already met him.”

“...”

“I think I have an idea of why you met with him.”

Kim Hyun-Taek wiped the sweat off his forehead.

‘Fuck, is he the Devil or something?’

At this point, the only people who knew that much information at the company were Yoon Dae-Sung, his son Yoon Bo-Hyun, Gil Hyung-Joon, Nicholas, and Ji Kwang-Man.

‘Wait, Ji Kwang-Man?’

After having a conflict with Young-Joon, Ji Kwang-Man was arrested and imprisoned for hiring a hitman to kill Young-Joon. Although, there was a high chance that Yoon Dae-Sung would get him out however he could when the issue died down.

‘If Ji Kwang-Man leaked it?’

It was a possibility as Ji Kwang-Man was a clever man. What if he tried to make a deal with Young-Joon by telling him this secret before getting arrested, but failed?

‘Wait.’

This couldn’t have been it. If this had happened, Young-Joon would have already turned A-Gen upside down a few months ago. Wouldn’t he have shot everyone dead, whether it was Yoon Dae-Sung or someone else, with a machine gun and tried to build a new palace?

‘Nicholas!’

Kim Hyun-Taek’s mind blanked. Nicholas was recommending Kim Hyun-taek and Yoon Dae-Sung to turn themselves in. What if Nicholas saw that he was resigning from the Lab One Director position and told Young-Joon in advance since there was a possibility he would find out anyway?

“What are you thinking so hard about?” Young-Joon asked Kim Hyun-Taek.

Kim Hyun-Taek snapped out of his imaginary investigation. He wanted to ask Young-Joon if Nicholas told him about it, but he couldn’t; he needed to give him as little information as possible.

Kim Hyun-Taek, who barely held back his words, held his breath and looked at Young-Joon.

“What did you do with that bacteria?” Young-Joon asked.

“... I don’t know what you are talking about. We don’t have that kind of bacteria,” Kim Hyun-Taek replied.

“Do you regret the answer you gave me right now? I think the best way to minimize the damage that will come will be to tell me everything right now.”

“... I don’t know who told you that, but don’t believe them. It’s all nonsense.”

“Alright. I’ll see you again,” Young-Joon said to Kim Hyun-Taek and turned away. He walked towards the elevator and pressed the button going up. Kim Hyun-Taek could also see Young-Joon waiting for the elevator through the lab’s glass door.

‘Is he going to Gil Hyung-Joon now?’

Considering Gil Hyung-Joon’s reaction when he handed him the bacteria and the time it took for Young-Joon to get here, Gil Hyung-Joon wasn’t the one who told him.

Kim Hyun-Taek quickly took out his phone and called Gil Hyung-Joon.

“Director Gil, Ryu Young-Joon is going up there right now. If he asks you about

anthracis

, just say that you don’t know anything and that you don’t know what this is about,” said Kim Hyun-Taek as fast as possible, then hung up.

Then, he called Nicholas.

“Mr. CTO, I have something to ask you,” he said.

—What is it?

“Ryu Young-Joon knows about the

anthracis

.”

—Pardon?

“Weren’t you the one that told him?”

—What...

“What are you trying to do! Are you trying to destroy the company?”

—Wait, Director Kim. It wasn’t me. I have never told anyone.

“...”

—If Doctor Ryu knows, I feel like it leaked through Division Manager Ji Kwang-Man. What’s the situation right now?

“I came to Lab Six to give Director Gil the sample I had. But Ryu Young-Joon came all the way here to find me and asked for the

anthracis

.”

—What is...

“All of this just happened right now. And Doctor Ryu went to meet Director Gil.”

—Does Doctor Ryu know that you gave it to him?

“I would be able to infer that if I was Doctor Ryu. What reason would I have to come to this lab at this point? He probably guessed that I came to give Director Gil that item since I have to clear the lab director’s office tomorrow.”

—Alright. I’m passing by Lab Six right now, so I’ll drop by.

* * *

At the lab director’s office, which was a few floors up from the lab, Gil Hyun-Joon was staring at his phone. Baffled.

[Lab One Director Kim Hyun-Taek]

“Wait, what is this guy talking about? Why would Ryu Young-Joon come here all of a sudden?”

Knock knock!

Gil Hyung-Joon heard his secretary’s voice from outside the door.

“Sir, Mr. Ryu from A-Bio is here.”

“Mr. Ryu?”

“Should I let him in?”

“... Fuck...”

His heart began beating hard. The first thought that popped up in his mind was that he was fxxked. He took out a bottle of cold water from the refrigerator and gulped it down.

“Phew...”

After a deep breath, he said, “Let him in.”

Click.

Young-Joon, who came into the lab, sat down on the guest sofa with a calm face.

“It’s been a while, Mr. Ryu.”

Gil Hyung-Joon greeted Young-Joon with an awkward smile.

“Hello, Mr. Director. How have you been?”

“I’ve been well. You’re very busy nowadays, right?”

“It’s alright.”

“What brings you here today?”

“The

anthracis

. You have it, right?”

“...”

Gil Hyung-Joon closed his mouth. After some thought, he said, “We don’t have

anthracis

at our lab. Are you thinking of starting a new project with it?”

“No. The bacteria that Director Kim gave you. It’s an organism that was created by applying directed mutagenesis on

Bacillus anthracis

.”

“Director Kim gave me something like? I didn’t receive anything. Did Director Kim say that?”

Gil Hyung-Joon pretended like he knew nothing.

Young-Joon just stared at him. Gil Hyung-Joon looked extremely nervous.

After a moment of silence, Young-Joon spoke.

“Director Gil.”

“Yes.”

“When Nicolas, the CTO, resigns and takes the government position, A-Gen will merge with A-Bio.”

“...”

“The shares I will have then will be more than all of Mr. Yoon’s friendly shares combined.”

“I... see...”

“And since there are things I have achieved at A-Bio as well, don’t you think I would be supervising all the research that goes on in the newly merged company?”

“...”

“Then, I will have the right to read all the past research notes. When that time comes, I will look for everything myself,” Young-Joon said. “I don’t know if the reason you decided to take in the bacteria was because you made some kind of deal with Director Kim or if it was just because of your friendship, but the easiest answer I can think of is that you were also one of the developers of that bacteria.”

“Uh... That is...”

Gil Hyung-Joon went pale.

“Don’t let me become the CTO and read the past notes with a negative mindset.”

“...”

“Just tell me right now. Tell me what that bacteria is and where it was used.”

Gil Hyung-Joon picked up his bottle of water to put his answer on hold. He needed some time to think. He drank his water slowly for quite a while. He felt like his thoughts were becoming more complicated with every gulp.

Crackle.

Gil Hyung-Joon set the water bottle on the table and glanced at Young-Joon.

“... Mr. Ryu, I will tell you what I know,” Gil Hyung-Joon said in a diminishing voice.

“Please tell me.”

“That is a biological weapon. It was co-developed with the United States military. It was when A-Gen was very small.”

“

Sigh

...” Young-Joon let out a deep sigh. “I thought so. There’s nothing to profit from creating an organism like that except for military purposes.”

“...”

“It’s a violation of the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC). This isn’t just an internal problem at A-Gen; this could become a national problem as well. Does our government know?”

“As far as I know, they don’t...”

“This is frustrating. This was co-developed with the U.S. military?”

“Yes. It was created in secret and supplied to the U.S. military. We received a lot of money from it, and I believe that it became the funding for growth for A-Gen in the early days.”

“Has that weapon ever been used?”

“I do not know that.”

“Why is A-Gen holding onto that dangerous bacteria sample instead of disposing of it?”

“Because it’s evidence that it was co-developed with the U.S. military and that we supplied it to them.”

Having the actual bacteria was the most powerful piece of evidence they could have; if a bioterror occurred somewhere, they could compare the DNA and prove whether the bacteria used was this one or not.

“If we destroy all the samples and the United States argues that they know nothing about it, A-Gen would take sole responsibility for it. If we’re unlucky, other international pharma companies might attack us by swaying the media and saying that we might have sold it to terrorists or something.”

“So, it’s to take them with you if it’s ever revealed?”

“Yes. Then, if we reveal the bacteria sample, match the DNA, and release the co-development and supply documents, a significant amount of the responsibility goes to the United States military.”

“...”

“Even if a situation like that doesn’t happen, this is also the U.S. federal government’s weakness. Corporate executives don’t dispose of these cards easily, no matter how dangerous they are.”

Young-Joon put his hand on his forehead and thought hard.

‘What do you think?’

—They are idiots.

Rolsaine said.

“But Mr. Ryu, from what I know, this bacteria was not developed as a weapon.”

“Then?”

“The development period was in the late twentieth century when extreme Muslim militarized powers were highly influential. I believe that it was made as research in concern about the risk of biological terrorism using anthrax.”

“...”

“Don’t despise Director Kim so much. We did not commit any crimes with this,” Gil Hyung-Joon said cautiously. “Mr. Ryu, things are difficult for Director Kim right now, and it’s a difficult time for A-Gen as well. Please let it go just this once. If you reveal something like this and add illegal research charges on Director Kim, it will be difficult for him to ever come back. The bacteria are carefully kept through safety mechanisms like separating males and females, so...”

—He is not lying.

Rosaline said.

‘I can tell that he is being sincere even without analyzing his cerebral blood flow.’

However, it didn’t mean it was right because it was sincere.

“Developing a biological weapon is a violation of the Convention, and it is also a violation of research regulations because you worked on it in secret. You said that you didn’t commit a crime with that or anything, but the research itself is a crime.”

“...”

“And the fact that a pathogen like that exists is far from safe. The fact that you are carefully keeping cannot be an excuse,” Young-Joon said. “Director Gil, biological weapons are of a different nature compared to other weapons of mass destruction. The range of damage can be calculated even for nuclear weapons, but the reason why biological weapons are dangerous is because there can be variables you can’t calculate.”

“...”

“No one can predict what kind of mutation that bacteria, which has spread to nature, will gain and how it will spread. It will threaten the life of mankind as a whole.”

“That... is right.”

“Give it to me.” Young-Joon held out his hand. Gil Hyung-Joon thought hard with his eyes closed, then got up from his seat. There was no way for him to know if Young-Joon was going to execute Kim Hyun-Taek with this right now, but he didn’t have the power to decline his request.

Click.

He opened the safe.