A storm of colors raged.
Red, blue, purple, green, yellow mixed furiously. The patterns changed with each moment, swirling. Like a madly spinning kaleidoscope. No direction could be predicted. No color stayed long.
This was chaos in the surface layer.
Ha-yul stood at the center of that vortex. Waves of color crashed over him, then receded, again and again. These emotions surging from within him were completely new. Unlike the heavy, deep sadness or anger. This chaos flowed light and fast, yet swept him away with overwhelming power.
"Is this... my emotion?"
There was no answer to Ha-yul's question. Only the increasingly violent vortex surrounded him. He struggled not to be swept away, but the waves of color pulled him deeper.
When he was completely enveloped in color, everything finally turned white.
Ha-yul woke with a gasp. He was in his office. The USB Si-on had given him was still plugged into the computer. He raised his hand to touch his face. It was wet with sweat.
Dawn was breaking outside the window. Had he briefly dreamed? No, that wasn't a dream. It was a real emotion exploding from within him.
The Emotion Court hadn't opened last night. Immediately after Do Yun-seok's shocking confession, a sudden emergency alarm went off throughout the Center. It was an alert that a hacking attempt had been detected. Do Yun-seok hurriedly left, and Ha-yul returned to his office.
-Because your father... killed my daughter.-
Do Yun-seok's final words kept circling in his mind. Ha-yul looked at the computer screen again. There were files on the USB he hadn't yet seen. A folder labeled 'Jin Family Files' caught his eye.
He opened the folder. Records about his father appeared.
[Name: Jin Sang-woo]
[Occupation: Neuroscientist]
[Special Note: Person of interest in Do Yu-mi death incident]
Ha-yul's eyes widened. Did that mean his father was connected to Do Yu-mi's death? He hurriedly opened more files. But most of the documents were encrypted or damaged and unreadable.
Colors began swirling around Ha-yul again. The emotion of chaos—mixed red, blue, purple, green. The new information bombarding him was disturbing his inner self. Colors intense like lightning momentarily flashed across his vision.
Suddenly, he thought of Si-on. How would she interpret this information? But he couldn't contact Si-on now. If Do Yun-seok had begun to suspect, she would be under surveillance.
Ha-yul had to find the truth alone.
He recalled his father's old laboratory. The place sealed by police after his family's murder might still contain his father's records.
7:12 AM, an old research building in Gangnam district.
Ha-yul stood hesitating in front of the building. He hadn't set foot here for thirteen years. Too many memories were buried here.
He took a deep breath and entered the access code. Surprisingly, the old code still worked. The door slowly opened.
The interior was covered in dust. But contrary to expectations, it wasn't completely abandoned. There were signs that someone had been preserving the place. The dust on the desk had been partially wiped away, and file folders were organized.
Ha-yul carefully began examining the documents. Most were neuroscience research materials. Then a file labeled 'Project LUMEN' caught his eye.
He took out the file and opened it. On the first page was a memo written in his father's handwriting.
[Do Yun-seok's experiment has crossed ethical boundaries. The attempt to digitize Yu-mi's mind must be stopped. This is not merely research but an act of imprisoning a girl's soul.]
Ha-yul's heart began racing. The color vortex around him intensified. The red became more vivid, the blue deeper. Emotions momentarily intense like flames shook his entire body.
On the next page were brain scan results of a young girl. It was labeled 'Do Yu-mi, 13.' And beside it, another scan result. 'Jin Ha-yul, 15' written on it.
He continued turning pages. When he reached the last page, he discovered his father's final record.
[Tomorrow, I will report Do Yun-seok. Yu-mi's death was no accident. During the process of extracting her consciousness, Do Yun-seok crossed ethical boundaries, and consequently her physical body died. But the more shocking fact is that he has already digitized Yu-mi's consciousness. He has imprisoned his daughter inside a machine. This must be revealed to the world.]
The file fell from Ha-yul's hands. The color vortex formed around him expanded explosively. Chaos completely engulfed him.
"Father... was trying to save Yu-mi."
Do Yun-seok's words had been a lie. Ha-yul's father hadn't killed Do Yu-mi. Rather, he had tried to save her. And that's why Ha-yul's family was murdered.
Suddenly, the building alarm went off. Someone was approaching. Ha-yul hurriedly put the file in his bag and looked for a hiding place.
Just as he concealed himself in a closet on one side of the lab, he heard the door open.
"He must be here. That guy started digging into the past."
It was Do Yun-seok's voice. Ha-yul held his breath.
"Director, do we really need to find him? Can't we just activate the CEIS system?" an unfamiliar man's voice asked.
"Not without Ha-yul," Do Yun-seok said firmly, "We need his emotion tracking ability to fully connect with LUX. That's the core of CEIS."
Footsteps circled around the lab. Through the closet crack, Ha-yul could see Do Yun-seok searching through the documents.
"Strange. The Project LUMEN file is missing."
"Who could have taken it?"
"Ha-yul, I guess," Do Yun-seok speculated, "But it's fine. That file alone isn't enough to see the whole picture. Now, let's get back to the Center. We need to find him by midnight."
After the two left the lab, Ha-yul emerged from the closet. The color vortex around him now began rotating in one direction. The chaos remained, but now purpose had emerged within it.
He took out his father's file from the bag and read it again. A small memo on the last page caught his eye.
[Emergency access code: LM-7729-YU]
He couldn't tell what this code was for, but it was clearly important. He memorized it.
Before leaving the lab, Ha-yul opened his father's desk drawer. The bottom drawer was locked. He intuitively entered the code he had just found.
The drawer opened. Inside was a small device. A palm-sized metal gadget. Written on it was 'Emotion Suppression Release Device.'
Ha-yul's eyes widened.
"Father... prepared a way for me to recover my emotions?"
A new color mixed into the swirling colors around him. The golden color of hope.
Ha-yul put the device in his pocket and left the lab. Now he knew. What Do Yun-seok was planning, and what he needed to do.
4:26 PM, a café in Gangnam district, Seoul.
Ha-yul was reviewing his father's files on his laptop. Some pages of Project LUMEN were damaged, but he could still find important information.
According to his father's research, Do Yu-mi was a girl with innate emotional resonance ability. Do Yun-seok studied that ability and eventually conducted an experiment to digitize it. In that process, Yu-mi physically died, but her consciousness was transferred to the digital world. That was the beginning of LUX.
"The Emotion Court... was a system to imprison Do Yu-mi."
Ha-yul looked at the color vortex swirling around him. Now he knew for certain that these were his emotions. His real emotions that Do Yun-seok had suppressed but were now gradually awakening.
His phone rang. There was no caller ID.
"Hello?" Ha-yul answered.
"Ha-yul, it's me," Si-on's voice came through the phone.
"Yoon Si-on."
"Where are you? Everyone at the Center is looking for you," Si-on asked worriedly.
Ha-yul hesitated. How much could he trust Si-on?
"Somewhere safe," Ha-yul answered cautiously, "I've found something important. Documents my father left and... an emotion suppression release device."
A sharp intake of breath was heard from the other end.
"Really? Then... you can recover your emotions?"
"It seems so," Ha-yul replied, "But first we must stop Do Yun-seok. He plans to activate the CEIS system at midnight tonight."
"I know. Eclipse is also moving to stop it."
Ha-yul looked around. There appeared to be no suspicious people in the café.
"Where can we meet?" Ha-yul asked.
"It's dangerous," Si-on warned, "The Center is tracking you. The phone might also be tapped."
"Then what should we do?"
"At midnight tonight, just before the court opens, meet me in the server room on basement level 3 of the Center," Si-on suggested, "That's the heart of CEIS."
Ha-yul nodded. The chaotic vortex around him was now forming a more distinct pattern. Order was emerging from chaos.
"I'll see you there. And Yoon Si-on..." Ha-yul hesitated.
"Yes?"
"Can I trust you?"
A moment of silence passed.
"I'm... always on your side, Ha-yul," Si-on said earnestly, "From the beginning until now."
The call ended. Ha-yul exhaled deeply. Something moved in his chest. Emotion. Complex emotions toward Si-on. A mix of doubt and trust, distance and longing.
But now he had to make a decision alone. The first decision he had made by himself in thirteen years, without anyone's direction.
Ha-yul took out the device his father had left and looked at it. An emotion suppression release device. Could this completely free him?
He made up his mind. Before midnight, he would fully recover his emotions. And he would bring truth and justice to Do Yun-seok.
His fingers touched the cold metal surface in his pocket. At that moment, a small light flashed from the emotion tracker bracelet bound to his wrist.
A message appeared on the screen.
[Tracker Jin Ha-yul. You have violated protocol. Initiating ionic concentration injection.]
Sharp pain shot up his arm. Dizziness overwhelmed him. Ha-yul tried to stand but his body wouldn't obey.
Just before he lost consciousness, the emotion suppression release device he had taken from his pocket suddenly began to glow. And he seemed to hear his father's voice.
"My son, it's time to face the truth."
→ [To be continued in Episode 19]
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