I dipped a finger into the surface, and the water rippled as four words appeared.
Please enter your signature
I held my breath, then traced the shape of Horologium into the water.
Descendants cannot afford to overlook a single moment, Hong Gildong had said.That is what this constellation reminds me.
It was the only good advice he’d ever given me, since that particular moment would be his undoing.
The water glowed white, brightness washing away my reflection. I held my breath as the light cast dizzy shapes across my vision, the water churning in a slow circle.
Then the light faded away, and all of Hong Gildong’s documents appeared in the water’s surface.
Yejun peered over my shoulder, gaping at the files. “How did you do that?”
“I’ll explain later,” I said as my watch beeped again. My fingertips ghosted over the surface as I pulled up the search bar and typed:
Yang Hana
A single file popped up in the search results.
I tapped on it with a trembling hand, and the document filled the screen. There, at the top right corner, was a picture of my sister.
It felt like something out of a fever dream—my own features stretched and pinched into a new face so similar to my own. Hana had the same brown hair that turned copper in the light, the same wide medium-brown eyes, the same straight eyebrows. Her cheeks looked softer and rounder than mine, her gaze kinder. I touched the surface of the pool, forgetting for a moment that it wasn’t paper. The water rippled, distorting her face.
I don’t remember her, I realized, the thought pulling tight at my chest. I thought that the moment I saw her face, all the memories would come rushing back. But Hana was still a stranger to me, and she always would be. I scrolled down and read her file.
YANG HANA [1475B]
Aliases:Yamamoto Hana, Hannah Young
DOB:November 21, 2005
Status:Neutralized as of March 3, 2017
Lifetime Points:345
Supervisor:Lee Siwoo [937]
Administrator Note:
Mission information has been encrypted indefinitely due to agent termination. Agent terminated on March 3, 2017, for following reason:
-[Violation 488] Accessing classified files without authorization (Operation 191H)
-[Violation 133] Verbally informing unauthorized agents of classified information (Operation 191H)
I tried to scroll down, but there was nothing left to read.
This can’t be it, I thought, my hands shaking, my whole body cold with sweat.There must be more.
“What is Operation 191H?” I said, looking over my shoulder at Yejun.
“Let me see,” Yejun said, reaching across the scrying pool and pulling up an advanced search alongside Hana’s profile. After typing in a few strings of commands I didn’t understand, he opened a file and stepped aside so I could read.
OPERATION 191H
Date of Execution:February 2, 2031
