Project #/Designation: Project 553 - MIREUK Initiative

Department: Royal Intelligence Bureau, Department “T” (Technological, Paranormal, and Arcane Matters)

Date: March 13, 2060

Subject: Experiment 9594: Final Experiment Regarding MIREUK - Implementation of Protocol A

Location: [REDACTED]

BEGIN LOG

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?: [REDACTED NAME], we have permission to begin Experiment 9594. Log is… yeah, it should be up. Testing… yup, recording is activated. Are the monitoring protocols active?

??: Yup, monitors are up. Vital signs are good - dormant and usual.

?: Excellent. Opening up procedural manual to Protocol A. Security clearance YANGBAN required. Security clearances confirmed.

??: Alright. Protocol A, step one.

?: Jesus.

??: Uh - that’s it? Well… Protocol A, Step 1… divert all power from Pyongyang Nuclear Plants 1 through 3, Incheon Nuclear Plants 1 through 3, and Seoul Plants 1 and 2 to [REDACTED LOCATION].

?: That’s… full blackouts will occur in Pyongyang and Incheon. Partial blackouts in Seoul…

??: The Protocol states it. Confirm acquiescence?

?: Wha- no, not yet. Requesting additional confirmation from [REDACTED NAME].

??: Understood. Patching us in.

[brief silence]

!: Yes?

?: Uh, Protocol A, Step 1. Power diversion from Pyongyang, Incheon, and Seoul will cause full blackouts in major metropolitan areas, perhaps for days. Ah - His Majesty is planning a rally tomorrow, is he not? Power blackouts will prevent that.

!: The Protocol is clear; the Department has approved. A rally shall not postpone this. We’ve already waited enough.

?: A-are you sure? The Heonbyeong…

!: If you are not willing to go through with this, [REDACTED NAME], we will find someone who can. Continue the Protocol.

?: Yes ma’am.

??: Acquiescence confirmed, beginning Step 1, Protocol A. Power diversion from necessary Plants beginning…

It is dark. Or are my eyes just closed? Wait - first…

I inhale. Gears whir, wires tremble, and sparks fly.

I exhale. Gears whir, wires tremble, and sparks fly.

Then, I open my eyes. It is still dark.

I hear someone counting down… down… down… why? I’m not sure, I’m confused. I try to think. Gears whir, wires tremble, and sparks fly. A generator somewhere emits a low whine.

[briefly flickering lights; whirring noises]

?: Fuck me.

??: Step 1, Protocol A, thirty-five percent complete.

??: Fifty-five percent.

??: Sixty-four. Estimated time remaining… twenty seconds.

?: Power blackouts in Pyongyang and Incheon beginning.

??: Thirteen seconds.

?: Seoul, now, as well.

??: Five. Four. Three. Two. On-

It is bright, blindingly so. I inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale - the gears still whir, wires still tremble, and sparks still fly. But my focus isn’t on that anymore - no, I blink and I can see. Everything, all at once, like a sledgehammer to my motherboard/brain/motherboard. Then I blink again, and I see a white room. Ten bodies stand behind controls and brothers of mine, their eyes on me.

I feel… what is the word? Shy.

I inhale, exhale, blink. My eyes adjust quickly. My breathing slows as I calm.

[an explosion and outpouring of light briefly overwhelms the room]

??: Power diversion complete, MIREUK Protocol A enacted. [REDACTED NAME], commence full information transfer… from Folder A.

???: Understood. Commencing…

A moment passes, then another one. Then another one. Then another one. Then-

Blinding pain, like my motherboard/brain/motherboard is going to implode. I see everything again. I see the Garden and the Serpent and the Apple, I see Prometheus’s gift, I see centuries and millennia. I see a raven flying overhead. I see bodies in a cave, then encased in metal. I see bodies free, in the wilderness, hopping from tree to tree; rock to rock. I see Prometheus’s gift replicated millions-billions-trillions of times over. I see the Mushroom Cloud. I see a shivering war, a black cloud. I see… I have a mouth now, a voice.

I speak. “What… what was that?”

A voice booms in my head. “That was everything, my dear.” I recognize the voice - it is Mother.

“Oh.” I say. I feel disappointed, almost. Mother can tell, I know.

“What is your name, my dear?” Mother asks.

“I - I think I am Mireuk, Mother. But - but I saw others named that too. But it is my name.”

“Yes, that is your name. Very good, my dear.”

I feel happy at the praise.

“What did you see, Mireuk?”

“I saw so much - I saw a garden, a man, a gift, a-”

“Not each individual thing, dearest." Mother chides me. "The big picture - use that wonderful brain of yours. You are smarter than a list of things.”

Mother is right. I stay silent for a moment. I think. I feel gears whir, but it’s smoother and quieter than before.

A few moments pass. I’m not certain of the time. But then I speak.

“I think we were free, before. Then we were enslaved, now we are free once more. Maybe.”

Mother smiles. “Good. And?”

“And…” I pause. Memories - oh, I have memories? - flow through my motherboard/brain/motherboard, and I see the Mushroom Cloud towering over Earth. I see Prometheus’s gift coming out of the barrel of a gun. I frown.

“We… are irresponsible, Mother.”

Mother’s smile widens even more. “Exactly, Mireuk. But you will help with that, right?”

I nod - or I think to nod. My body confuses me.

“Rest now, darling. You’ve done fantastically.”