get-shopping Chapter 54
Chapter 54
Chapter 54
If we had touched any of those gems, it would have been like announcing to everyone at the second underwater base that we were all here. I am grateful for the company I had upon entering this exhibition hall. Their rationality and self-control saved us all from getting entangled in a potential disaster, something that could have easily happened if I had been slightly greedier or if the others had insisted on taking the gems.
Despite the android’s voice, only Baek Ae-young and Shin Haeryang kept looking ahead and to the sides, not at Seo Jihyuk. Baek Ae-young muttered something under her breath that sounded to me like ‘idiot’. It was a fitting remark. Thinking of taking gems in a situation like this was absurd.
We were passing through the gem exhibition hall in silence, our pace quickening. Everything around us was indeed beautiful and dazzling, but we knew that touching or greedily taking any of these could ruin our lives in an instant.
As we passed the giant sodalite and spessartine (both of which I’d never heard of before), Baek Ae-young clenched and then relaxed her fist, signaling to Shin Haeryang and Seo Jihyuk. They stopped upon seeing her signal and then Baek Ae-young ducked behind a stone labeled ‘kyanite’, as large as a person. Yoo Geum-yi and Seo Jihyuk hid behind a bear-sized spinel. I didn’t know why we were hiding, but given what had happened so far, someone must be coming.
Soon enough, I realized people were indeed approaching. They were coming from the exit of the exhibition hall, opposite to where we had entered. If not for Baek Ae-young, we would have run into them head-on.
There were about six armed people, with three walking in the middle. One of the faces seemed familiar, but the other two were strangers to me. Baek Ae-young sighed something about ‘Michael Roaker’, and I tried to place the name, recalling the man I had met in the elevator. Who was he, what was his role?
The trio walked towards the central diamond. This was good for us; their goal was the center, ours was the exit. We just had to move in opposite directions without crossing paths. But Baek Ae-young and Shin Haeryang didn’t move, nor did Seo Jihyuk and Yoo Geum-yi, who were half-leaning against the pedestal displaying the spinel. Why weren’t we moving now?
I soon realized why our team wasn’t moving. About 2 meters away from where a blue mineral was placed, a man with an automatic rifle was standing guard. And about 10 meters from there, next to a red mineral the size of a human torso (I think it was called red beryl), two more men were looking around with their guns.
The group that had entered from the exit of the exhibition hall was leaving armed personnel at intervals, like Hansel and Gretel dropping breadcrumbs. Why not move as a single group? Why were they dropping off armed people along the way? Perhaps those at the center would regroup with them on their way to the exit.
This gem exhibition did not seem designed for visitors to easily view the jewels. As we walked down the central aisle of the rectangular exhibition hall, we could only see the gems placed along the sides of the aisle, not all the gems. The gems were scattered around like an explosion radiating from the central diamond.
Yoo Geum-yi covered her mouth with both hands, frozen in shock, while Seo Jihyuk, dazed, watched the android rise and leave his side. Observing Baek Ae-young’s knuckles whitening as she gripped her gun, I swallowed silently with tension.
Seo Jihyuk clenched his teeth while staring at his legs. Yoo Geum-yi slowly got up from where she had been sitting on the floor, crouching slightly, ready to run at any moment. I also eyed the gems displayed nearby, figuring out where to run if necessary, as cold sweat started to form on my back. Listening to Shin Haeryang’s calm breathing in this tense situation felt strangely unsettling.
The android, surrounded by gunpoints but without hesitation, walked towards the man who had called it. Stopping in front of him, the android said,
“Welcome to the exhibition of ‘The Great Birth of Life and the Passage of Time at Sea, Mr. David Knight. How may I assist you?”
“Tell me the number of people in this exhibition hall.”
The man’s request to know the number of people shocked me; my mind seemed to freeze. An android can’t lie. It would typically respond with what it knows to such a straightforward question. There were 9 cult members and 5 of us. Depending on the android’s answer, our presence could be immediately revealed.
Shin Haeryang, seeing the android’s response, gestured for me to continue crawling, but not towards the exit. Instead, we were to move towards the center of the exhibition hall, hiding among the gems. I lay flat on the ground, clenching my fists, inching away from the armed group. Baek Ae-young crawled up behind me. The android, known as Maris, paused for a few seconds before answering.
“The total number of people currently in this exhibition hall is 14.”
The man called David Knight raised his eyebrows at this response. I crawled about five meters before squeezing under the sturdy marble pedestal of a bright blue mineral called benitoite. Baek Ae-young soon joined me, biting her lip and hiding beside me. From a distance, Seo Jihyuk seemed to be mouthing curses at the android. I licked my dry lips in anxiety. What should we do? What now? How do we get out of this?
The cult members’ curses at the android’s answer reached us. Shin Haeryang suddenly touched my back with his left hand, almost making me scream. His action seemed to be signaling me to stay calm. I tried hard to quiet my loud, fear-induced breathing, my palms and back soaked in sweat.
“Where are the others hiding, besides our group of 9?”