The Empire I Create Chapter 6

Chapter 6. Allies and Doubt, and the Key that Opens the Door

A chilly stillness settled in front of the apartment entrance. Hamin and Dr. Lee Jin-young exchanged glances for a few seconds—one filled with the desperate will to change the future, the other with caution and curiosity in equal measure. The motion sensor light at the entrance flickered on and off several times in their silent standoff. The atmosphere between them was anything but ordinary.

After a lengthy pause, punctuated by the yapping of the dog behind the door, Dr. Lee spoke as if resigned. “Research on spacetime transfer is top secret. I can’t just do what I want with it. But come in for now.” She opened the door and let Hamin into her apartment.

The moment the door was open, a small white Maltese came bounding toward her. The interior of her place was minimally furnished—exactly what you might expect from a military research scientist. Some stacks of documents and a laptop sat atop the dining table. She locked the door behind them, petted the dog, and fed it dinner. Feeling a bit awkward, Hamin took a seat at the living room table and checked his smartphone. Before long, Dr. Lee joined him, sitting across the table and booting up her laptop.

“In short, the power source and control mechanism needed to actually carry out a ‘time warp’ are located inside the Silent Gateway facility. It can only be activated with dual authorization from me and Dr. Michael Kim. Like you said, I’ve dedicated my life to this project, and even now, with humanity on the brink of extinction, I still want to see the results. Of course, secretly conducting human experimentation without proper protocol is unethical and difficult. But considering the state of things, the military control tower that oversaw this project has collapsed under the war, and the global big-tech company that funded us is too caught up in the chaos to keep track of the project. Essentially, it’s just me and Michael left to make any decisions. I’m sure he feels the same way I do. So if I can get his approval, bypass facility security, and designate you as the test subject, we might be able to carry out the final time-warp experiment.”

She wordlessly turned the laptop around to show Hamin the screen. It displayed countless formulas under the heading “Spacetime Realignment through Applied Quantum Mechanics,” along with simulation results concerning paradoxes that might arise from time travel.

“I don’t know if you’ll understand what’s here, but these are the findings of my research. Going to the past alone is technically possible. The problem is the paradox. If we alter the past, the future could vanish completely, or be rebuilt into a different form. In other words, the present world as we know it might cease to exist.”

Hamin nodded in agreement. He already knew quite a bit from hacking into the Silent Gateway’s data, but he listened to her explanation. Hoping to dispel the heavy atmosphere, he shifted the conversation. “I understand. But this future is already at a point where it wouldn’t be strange if it disappeared. Radioactive fallout, global warming that has destroyed the planet’s self-recovery ability, food shortages, endless conflicts… If even a few more nukes detonate, the collapse of human civilization in mere days is what most experts predict, right? But Dr. Lee, how did you get started on this time-warp project in the first place?”

She let out a deep sigh before answering. “I originally studied quantum mechanics, looking at the ultimate possibilities it offered, and published my findings. Dr. Michael Kim had been researching quantum mechanics longer than I have, and apparently was inspired by sci-fi films like Interstellar, Ant-Man and the Wasp, and Avengers: Endgame—the idea of studying spacetime travel sparked by pop culture. Kind of childish, I know.”

Hamin thought to himself, Every scientist I’ve met becomes open-minded and excited when it’s time to explain their research. Hearing her laugh raised his confidence somehow; he relaxed internally.

Her voice grew more animated as she continued: “When the global big-tech company and the U.S. Department of Defense decided his idea had some merit, they began funding his work. Later, he saw my quantum mechanics research and asked me to be his partner. Back then, I was eager for a new challenge, and his proposal was so… fresh. The notion of trying to achieve time transfer through quantum mechanics—like in a sci-fi movie—was almost laughable at first. Yet that’s how this project started, and this ‘impossible’ endeavor has come this far. And now you show up, saying you want to save Earth, just like Cooper in Interstellar. The way you rushed in reminded me of Cooper.”

Wanting to encourage her enthusiasm, Hamin gave her a look of keen interest. She noticed his rapt expression, then let out a long breath, as though resigning herself to a decision.

“Alright, why don’t we try making our own hero Cooper out of you? Things are already beyond normal. Let’s do it. I want to see the results before I die anyway. You volunteered for this yourself, so don’t call me selfish.”

“Of course not. But you mentioned there’s another person—Michael Kim. What about him? If he won’t agree, we can’t do this, right?”

“I think he wants to see the final results of this experiment as much as I do. After all, he was the one who came up with the original idea. I’ll tell him about you, but I can’t guarantee how he’ll respond.”

Hamin glanced at her with a small smile and then checked the time. It was already past 10 p.m., and there was so much more he wanted to know. Her dog was yawning out of boredom at her side, and Dr. Lee began typing on her laptop again.

“We developed a secret temporary subnet for ourselves during the project. I’ll give you a backdoor access route. Take a look at whatever else you need.”

Using the connection path she provided, Hamin linked his AI core, “Thanos,” to a portable device and accessed additional Silent Gateway data via the backdoor. This subnet was separate from the main network, so there was more detail here than in the files Hamin had hacked previously.

One thing that caught his eye was that the Silent Gateway apparently only allowed time travel to the period “after the 10th century.” In other words, it was not possible to jump to the Paleolithic era before human civilization or to the B.C. era before Christ.

“It’s a safety feature designed to control paradoxes. If you go too far back, you risk changing the very course of civilization, and then things become unmanageable,” she explained in a murmur.

Hamin mulled over her words. The question remained which point between the 10th century and the current era they should travel to. If they entered Joseon Dynasty–era Korea or later, the centralized authority might already be too rigidly established, with ingrained tax systems and bureaucratic frameworks that would be tough to change.

“Alright… I’ll contact you later, Mr. Hamin. It’s late.” She gathered the papers on the table and cast another resolute glance his way. Hamin gave her a grateful smile. “Sorry for staying so long. I’ll wait to hear from you. My number is 010-xxxx-xxxx.”

In the early hours before dawn, Hamin left her apartment and returned to the rented SUV parked nearby.

A few hours later, he climbed into his truck and looked out the window. The sun was rising faintly on the horizon.

“Thanos, switch to standby mode. Go through the new data we’ve collected and back up whatever we need.”
“Understood. Beginning collection and analysis.”

Thanos’s voice resonated through the truck’s interior speakers. Hamin murmured to himself, like a pledge:

“If I can just get to the past, I might be able to stop all this destruction. If I fail, I’ll only bring my own end sooner… but I could be hit by a missile tomorrow anyway. At least choosing my own last stand is better than waiting for an unknown death. A five percent chance is something, right?”

He pictured the upcoming meeting with Dr. Michael Kim and the era that lay beyond the boundaries of spacetime. His feelings were a strange mix of anxiety and cautious hope.

The next day at 11 a.m., he received a message from Dr. Lee:

“I told Michael about you. He wants to meet.”

At last, the operation to persuade Michael Kim was about to begin in earnest. Despite it being midday, the sky outside the truck was filled with gray dust, blocking the light. Among the rubble, scrap metal, and muddy roads, people struggled to survive, weaving through the crumbling buildings. For a moment, Hamin watched them from the truck window, then closed it firmly with a determined look.

“Soon, I’ll be on my way to open a new era.”

His voice bristled with resolve.