There was a metallic pop-pop-pop as gunfire riddled the sides of the 
van. The windscreen shattered, showering Conwell in broken glass. 
Swearing, Conwell swerved, sending Ekblad and Ralph pinballing 
around the backseat. He was, through it all madly jamming at his 
console, able to push the button to get the sunroof down. 


As Conwell drove them around the front of the plane, Ralph dragged 
Ekblad upwards against gravity and propped him out of the sunroof 
like a puppet. Almost as soon as he'd done so, the KPA began 
shooting a the van again. Quickly dropping to the floor, they could 
still see the inflatable ladder descending from the side. 


Conwell slammed on the brakes, and they booked it out of the car to 
the plane. A few agents leaned out of the now-opened door to the 
plane and returned fire at the KPA cars, keeping them at bay. 


Finally inside, the trio collapsed onto the ground. The agents 
detached the safety slide from the side of the plane, and slammed 
the door shut. "Hey, let's get out of here, it's way too hot!" 


The plane, battered by gunfire, took off into the sky, leaving the 
troubled nation behind. 


Sunrise Land Hotel 
Kyoto, Japan 


This Kyoto hotel room had an extremely pleasant view. Looking out 
over a bustling boulevard of people, it was a nice change of pace 
from the grim grubbiness of Pyongyang. Streetlights illuminated 
denizens of the city bustling about their business, many with 
briefcases or shopping bags in hand. The roads were loaded with 
vehicles, bumper to bumper almost all of the time. 


Unfortunately, this was not their hotel room. It had been Vang's and 
now it belonged to nobody. Ralph and Conwell stepped over the 


strewn underpants, toiletries, papers, furniture and bedding. Water 
was leaking out of the bathroom, where every faucet had been left 
running. Every lightbulb had been smashed with the tiny pieces of 
glass resting in every light fixture. 


Picking up the shattered remnants of a coffee mug from beneath the 
upturned television, Ralph began shining a blacklight around the 
room. "So, do you think he left it this way for us, or do you think he 
just likes to live his life on the free and easy?" 


"| think this looks like a rush job." Conwell picked up one of the 

papers from the floor. "Seems like he left a lot of papers behind. 
This one's got..." squinting, Conwell read the small print paper, 

"some kind of low-budget recipes on it." 


Ralph looked at a small table next to the television stand. There was 
a filthy coffee pot perched in an equally dirty brewer. Brown stains 
were soaked into the wood and carpet all around the setup, and at 
least two other mugs like the ones Ralph had found were lying in 
brown puddles on the bed. "Looks like he was pulling some kind of 
an all-nighter. Memorizing all this stuff, maybe?" 


"Something like that. Or perhaps he's leaving us with a bunch of 
random papers to send us on a wild goose chase." 


Walking into the bathroom, Ralph splished and splashed his way 
over to the faucets, shutting them off. The toilet was also overflowing 
but that was something to be solved another day. As the flow dried 
up, Ralph's flashlight found a piece of paper taped to the mirror. 
"Hey, Jacob! | found a suspicious piece of paper!" 


"One second!" 


When Conwell made his way into the bathroom, he had taken the 
time to wrap his feet in towels. 


Raising an eyebrow, Ralph pointed to his footwear. 
"| don't like getting my socks wet, okay? Not if | don't have to." 


Chuckling, Ralph flicked his flashlight back on."Sure. Check this 
out," shining his light at the piece of paper, "Seems like it was left 


here for someone to find." 


"Or maybe it's setting a place for negotiating his surrender. He can't 
have made anything too damaging in the time and space he had." 


"| don't think a guy who's fled halfway across the world is going to 
give up the goat as soon as we're on the same land mass. If you're 
so sure about it, you check it out." 


Grabbing the paper off of the glass, Conwell began shining his 
flashlight and reading whatever was printed on the paper. 


After a few moments, Ralph looked over to see what he was 
reading. 


lt was then that everything went black. It was the morning light that 
woke Ralph next, blinking and opening his eyes. He was lying on his 
back in the bathroom, with his head poking into the small hallway 
where the door was. From the window, a thin line of light had crept 
up across the carpet and over to his face. 


Ralph suddenly became aware of Conwell, lying face-down in the 
water. Quickly flipping him over, relief swept through Ralph when he 
saw Conwell was still breathing. Shaking him awake, Ralph tried to 
speak with urgency. "Hey, | don't know what happened, but we just 
wasted a day on our backs." 


"Wha..." Conwell coughed, slapping his face and clutching his 
soaking clothing. "Ugh, I'm freezing... what the hell happened, 
Ralph?" 


"| don't know. Last thing | remember is... looking at something you 
were looking at." 


Nodding, Conwell rose to his feet. "Some kind of cognitohazard... It 
was green, that's all | can remember." 


Ralph walked back into the main room, throwing open the curtains to 
look out upon Kyoto. "Get outta there. We can't waste another day 
wasting away in this room. | think I've got an idea of where he might 
be, anyways." 


Toweling himself of, Conwell stepped out of the bathroom. "And 
where might that be?" 


Ralph pointed out at the towering monuments of nature framing the 
horizon around the city. "If things are getting too hot in the city, 
where else do you go but the mountains?" 


Mount Atago, Kyoto, Japan 
The sun was setting in the sky when they reached Mount Atago. 
"So how sure are you about this whole mountain thing?" 


Ralph looked back, wiping his brow. It had turned out that going out 
and climbing up mountains was not as easy as it looked. As 
someone raised and accustomed to working in offices, with 
enclosed flat spaces plus air conditioning, mountain climbing was 
turning out to be tough. "I'm about sixty to fifty percent sure now." 


"| think it is sensible, but... there's got to be a better way than 
checking out every cave in the area." 


Looking down at his map, Ralph marked their progress and took a 
swig from his canteen. "It's not every cave. Just all the ones that 
meet the two criteria— off the beaten path, and close to a source of 
fresh water." 


They continued climbing in silence for a few moments, until Conwell 
cleared his throat. "So, you've been chasing this guy around halfway 
across the globe. He's wronged your family, and you've got the 
backing of the most powerful organization in the world." 


"What're you trying to get at?" 
"What are you going to do when you finally catch him?" 


Pausing as he attempted to scale a large rock, Ralph looked 
towards the sky. "I don't know. | think | might ask him why he did all 
of this, but that's still assuming a lot." 


"What do you mean?" 


"Well..." Ralph hoisted himself upon the boulder, sitting facing 
Conwell. "The only real evidence we have against Vang is 
circumstantial. The only reason we have suspicion is because he 
ran. So while I'm almost sure he's the one who hurt my sister, | have 
no idea if it was his idea or if he was on someone else's dime." 


Conwell leaned against a tree. "It's the only thread you've got. If you 
pull on him, the whole... whatever went on's going to get unraveled." 


Nodding, Ralph looked back down at his map. "That's what I'm 
hoping for too. Let's get going, the last cave is just over this bluff." 


As they made their way past the steep rock, the pair quickly noticed 
that this cave was not like the others. There was a campfire 
smoldering in front of the mouth, with a dried half-skinned squirrel 
skewered in the center of it. Closer to the mouth, a clothsline hung 
between the craggy rock and a skinny tree, with black pants and a 
lab coat swaying in the breeze. Ralph walked into the clearing, and 
immediately began stamping out the campfire. 


Walking ahead, Conwell ducked into the cave. The smell of ash and 
smoke burnt his face, causing him to quickly retreat. "Looks like he 
torched whatever he had in here before he left. | guess he didn't 
expect to come back." 


Ralph began rummaging through the ashes. "He must have left 
something about where he's going next. If he's resorting to a 
scorched earth strategy, then he must be getting desperate." 


A small scrap of burnt newsprint emerged from the black dust. 
Wiping it clean, the image of a large warehouse was revealed, with 
an identifier in Japanese. Flipping it over, the number six was written 
in red marker. "This could be something... could be nothing, but it 
could be something." 


Walking over, Conwell peered down at the paper. "Maybe it's a 
meeting place, and a meeting time." 


"Could be." Ralph paused. "If we... find out where this place is, can 
you get backup? | think this is something | need to do by myself." 


Conwell nodded. "Sure, Ralph. Let's go." 


Warehouse Lot 
Kyoto, Japan 


Pulling his jacket close, Ralph pressed his face against a cold chain 
link fence. Past it lay the Nichero Gyogyo warehouse. It was the one 
they found photographed in the fire and it was, Ralph hoped, where 
Vang was. 


It was an oddly shaped building, angular then circular like a lemon 
wedge with plain brick walls and a red zigzagging cube logo painted 
on the side. There was a red door with a big glass circle right in the 
center, with a doorknob dead-center within that. 


Ralph threw his jacket over the barbed wire, and struggled over the 
fence. Catching his pant leg on a stray barb, he tore the hem and fell 
awkwardly on his leg. Swearing and struggling to his feet, Ralph 
walked to the door and let himself inside. 


Most of the warehouse was dominated by large stacks of wooden 
and cardboard boxes, each one damp in its own way. An odious 
smell reeked from each of them, resembling something akin to 
boiled fish heads and carpeting. The floor was slick and oily, with 
every step requiring precise movements in order to avoid slipping 
into the millimeter-deep pool of biological oils that covered most of 
the floor. 


Standing beneath one of the few rays of sunlight still shining from 
the high windows was another hooded figure. Looking towards 
Ralph, he hesitated for a moment. In that moment, Ralph 
involuntarily felt his fingers gripping the gun he had so neatly 
concealed beneath his hoodie. But then he waved Ralph over and, 
with some relief, Ralph complied. 


As Ralph began approaching, he realized that the figure was almost 
certainly Vang. The hair and chin peeking from beneath the pulled 
hood's shadow was all the evidence he needed. Pulling the 
vengeance weapon from its hiding place, Ralph opened his mouth to 
say something cool. The silence was stolen from him, however, 


when Vang hurled a blade at his blaster, sending it skidding across 
the floor. 


"Nice try," said Vang "But it turns out that the old wisdom of guns to 
a knife fight... was wrong. I'm not coming with you, Ralph." 


Vang began cautiously closing the distance between himself and 
Ralph, now brandishing a large, steel knife. Its blade glittered in the 
air, and looked as sharp to Ralph as any blade he'd ever seen. 
Glancing at the ground, Ralph quickly picked up the knife Vang had 
hurled at him. 


"Ah! You've... picked up my other knife. This is all part of my plan 
to... Keep you busy, while my friends come to my aid!" 


Ralph grinned. "Funny, that's my plan too." 


"Ah, fuck it!" Vang charged forwards, swinging his six-inch steel 
blade wildly in the air. Diving to the side, Ralph skidded on the slick 
oil floor and flew out of sight. 


Vang was looking around wildly while struggling to on his feet. "Don't 
— |—... Where are you?" 


Ralph pulled himself up with a crate. Taking a breath, he dropped 
the knife, stretching for a few moments. Taking a running step and 
sucking in his breath, Ralph dove across the floor, accelerating into 
Vang's legs and knocking him into a crate of squids. 


Ralph had only a moment to celebrate his victory before plunging 
head-first into a cardboard box of fish heads. Shaking his head and 
coughing, he extricated himself and began looking over to Vang. He 
was stuck head first in a crate of squishy squids, with porous fish 
finding every opportunity to cover him with their floppy forms. 


Ralph found himself yanking Vang out of his tentacle prison. "We're 
coming to take you away, haha." 


Saying nothing, Vang instead kept digging himself deeper. Slipping 
out of Ralph's grasp, he'd soon disappeared from sight entirely. 
Ralph frantically dug through the pile, until a bright light blinded his 
eyes. Vang's voice cried out "Good-bye, Ralphie!" 


"Wait—" The words had hardly escaped Ralph's lips when Vang 
hopped into the crate. If things had gone according to plan, it was at 
this point that Vang would have disappeared. Instead, his face 
bounced off the Way and broke his nose. 


A voice whispered from the aura as it faded away. No Foundation 
face shall ever besmirch the Library again... 


"Ooooorggghhhfff...." 


Grabbing Vang by the ear, like he meant it this time, Ralph pulled 
the star-seeing scientist out of the squidbox. It was time to wait for 
the cavalry. It wasn't long before the Psi-7 agents came a callin’, 
Conwell and Ralph watched as Vang was led into custody. It was 
time to go home. 


Site-77 Directors Office 


Director Gillespie perused the two men seated before her. One of 
them was her grandson, his face filled with joy as he looked at her. 
The other was the sour security Director, seated with his arms 
crossed and his eyes firmly fixed on Ralph's smiling face. Lis hadn't 
been able to make it. 


"Congratulations on solving the case, Ralph.” Gillespie smiled 
warmly. "I just had a few questions about the handling of the 
case..." 


"Sure, anything!" Ralph beamed at her. "What's on yer mind?" 


"I can't believe you went all the way around the world for me. You 
could have sent someone, but you chose to take care of it 
personally. It exposed a major conspiracy in the Foundation aimed 
at disrupting one of our most important projects, and for that we are 
indebted to you. Justice can also be served because of you." 


"| did my best, gram," said a beaming Ralph. 


"So, to recap... in my absence, you alienated your chief of security, 
called a group | hand-picked for you ‘dregs’, then left them behind 
with no instructions or preparation and jetted off to Pyongyang 


instead of delegating so somone could continue to run the site?" 
"Uh." 


"Go to your room. We will discuss this further once I've begun the 
arduous task of cleaning up your mess. | have to say, it wasn't all 
bad but | am still disappointed in you, Ralph." 


Stone-faced, Ralph walked dejectedly from the room. As soon as he 
was gone, Anderson turned to look at her. "So, what do you actually 
think?" 


"The entire Site wasn't destroyed, despite his best efforts." 


"He's got most of the ringleaders, but there were most likely more 
who slipped away unnamed." 


"Oh, believe me, | know. But he stopped the immediate threat." 
"That's good enough for you?" 


Pausing, Shirley nodded. She looked at a picture frame on her desk, 
two figures cut out with Ralph standing in the middle. "It's a start." 


« | Was Not Magnificent | Resurrection | And Another Thing... » 


Date: 1/17/2015 

Time: 12:15 

Duration: Exactly 5 min 

Observed: Dr. King came out exactly five minutes after having 
entered, swearing profusely. Eventually, he calmed down enough to 
explain what he saw. As soon as the vision began, the forest 
immediately filled with apple seeds up to just below the tree house. 
lt was at that point that he decided he was done testing it. 


Name: Agent Masterson 

Date: 5/11/2016 

Time: 16:25