Blindy stopped at a railing,
staring down into the lower levels.
On his mask lenses, a red warning kept flashing:
DANGER. DO NOT REMOVE MASK.
A triangle. A skull. An X.But the workers below…
didn’t care.
One had a metal clip on his nose
like he was blocking the smell of garbage,
not plasma fumes,
and calmly ate a burger
that crunched under a layer of soot.
Others lifted their masks
just to shout louder over the machinery,
gesturing, arguing.
Someone told a joke
and laughed
like it was the last pleasure left in his life.
At that moment, Zeros stepped up beside him,
silent as always.
Blindy flinched when he noticed the metal presence next to him.
He pointed down at the workers
and said quietly, almost thoughtfully:
“Man…
if I had a pappy…
heh… I’d probably—
yeah… probably end up just like that…School…
college… or—whatever…
paper thing… diploma…and a job right here…
in this—this gas… shithole…”
But the mask muffled everything.
To Zeros, it sounded like:
“Mur-mur-mur—khrr—mur-mur…”
Zeros shook his head, turning slightly toward him.
“I don’t give a fuck.”
And he moved on,
following Shiori,
who was already stepping into the control hall
and waving them forward.
[But suddenly the broadcast was cut by a deep, heavy THUD.
Once again, Ma Dong-Rho had set the barrel down in a way that made the entire station shudder under his existence][Systems screamed at full volume]“WARNING! GRAVITATIONAL DESTABILIZATION.
REDUCE LOAD.
ALERT! STATION COLLAPSING TOWARD TERRA!”
[Dick and Jackie nearly jumped out of their seats][Ma Dong-Rho, without even getting up, tapped the wall with his elbow and barked:]“DAKCHYEO-YA!”
[The alarm instantly shut up,
as if it got scared itself][Ma Dong-Rho grunted with authority and added:]“I’ve heard about this station…
It ain’t no gas processing facility, ya ssibal.“
[He glanced at Jackie, his tone softening slightly]“It’s all a front. They sucked the gas out
and dumped it into space.”
[A short, dry chuckle]“Hah. Real work was darker.
They were building an army of killer machines.
Ones like that mi-chin droid
next to that…
meong-cheong Blindy.”
[Jackie immediately puffed her cheeks]“Samchon! I told you not to interrupt!
We’re live! And Dick is working!”
[Dick, hearing his name, instinctively tried to hide inside the microphone]“Hey… uh… Baby… well…”
[But Ma Dong-Rho slowly clenched his fist][Dick instantly switched strategy]“… I mean—colleague—yeah, colleague… now, let’s not talk to your uncle like that.
He can sit here… as long as he wants…”
[Jackie snorted and crossed her arms][Ma Dong-Rho stood up. A whole mountain rising]“Alright, uri gongju-nim…
I’ll head home.
You’re going to be a superstar.
But if you keep frowning like that, you’ll get wrinkles.AND!..
When you finish your broadcast—go straight home.Araess-eo?!“
[He lifted the kimchi barrel,
swallowed the last of it like a pill,
and left behind nothing but the smell… and trauma][When his ship undocked,
the station seemed to exhale,
twitched—
and all system errors disappeared][Dick slowly relaxed,
like a man who had just survived childbirth… twice]“Sweet mother of—
we’re alive.I thought he was about to strangle me
with his cyber arm…”
[Jackie shot him a look that clearly said:
Don't you dare talk about my uncle like that][Dick chose silence. Survival first. Broadcast second]“Damn…
he really loves kimchi…You didn’t exaggerate—
you undersold it…”
[He turned back to the microphone,
let out a professional sigh]“Alright… while we’re still alive—
let’s continue the story…”