The South Korea base of the East Asia Regional Intelligence Agency (EARIA) was an unassuming nine-story building of unpainted concrete and harsh design. It looked very much like something out of a dystopian movie. Being secret operatives and all, attracting unwanted attention was pretty much the last thing they wanted.

Inside though, was a whole other story. The building hid a sleek interior with a dark and sophisticated color base of black, found all over from the walls to the polished tiles. Caramel brown accents stood out and were courtesy of the leather furniture and calculatedly placed wooden slats that were fixed onto the walls or hung from the ceiling. To top it all off (quite literally), overhead, was a warm, honey pine ceiling that provided more balance to the imposing blackness all over.

The three Japanese operatives, fresh from a two-hour private flight from Tokyo, were escorted through the South Korean base up to the last floor, where the top intelligence chief’s office was found. When they walked out of the elevator, Boyz II Men’s “End of the Road” was playing throughout the entire level. Exchanging equally confused glances, thinking the whole thing bizarre, the Japanese trio just shrugged their shoulders. It was probably just Chief Park’s preference. The song played on shamelessly as they made their way to her main office. It played on, even as the showed them to the conference room, told them to sit, make themselves comfortable, and expect Chief Park at any second. And even after all that, it still played on.

As soon as the door shut and the three of them were left alone, Agent Hirai broke out into a little dance number in her seat and Agent Minatozaki accompanied her, snapping her fingers and tossing her head from side to side in time to the beat. Agent Myoui wondered why she even considers those two goofs as her best friends.

The song faded to a close and just like that, the door burst open to reveal Chief Park in all her divine glory. She stood before them, serious and all professional when…

“Hello, Seoul Sister!”

Agents Myoui and Hirai almost facepalmed themselves at how Agent Minatozaki addressed EARIA South Korea’s Chief of Operations.

Agent Minatozaki was not one for withholding affections as she hopped up to Jihyo and hugged the and personal space out of her.

“Agent Minatozaki,” Jihyo acknowledged, patting Agent Minatozaki’s back awkwardly. She was clearly unprepared for the onslaught of skinship.

“Oh, please. It’s Sana! Just Sana.” Sana tightened her hug (viselike hold) on Jihyo that it eventually compelled Jihyo to hug her back.

“Okay, Sana. That’s enough,” Momo said, gently prying Sana off of the person of whom they were under direct command. “Mina and I want to say ‘hi’ too, you know.”

Sana finally released Jihyo with a small pout. “Fine,” Sana said, stepping aside. “All yours. You happy?”

“Very,” Mina and Momo answered in unison as they took turns embracing Jihyo themselves.

After the pleasantries, all four women sat themselves around the glass conference table. Jihyo started handing out folders to the Japanese agents - their briefing materials.

“I sent Agent Myoui the basic info already but I think these will still be of use,” Jihyo said, gesturing to the sets of print-outs. “What you will find in those folders are more detailed reports and attachments pertaining to the mission.”

Once she made sure everyone had had a complete kit, Jihyo pressed a button on the intercom at her end of the table. She spoke into the receiver. “Agent Im?”

A little buzz and then, on loudspeaker, a strong, bubbly voice comes through with a, “Yes, Chief Park?”

“Please load the presentation.”

“Sure thing, Chief. Oh, and I had the transitions removed, as requested.”

“Oh, thank God(Jihyo) for that,” Jihyo huffed and proceeded to tap some keys on her laptop. “If I ever see another slide shattering like glass again I swear I’m going HAM.” She stood up and then, with an abrupt clap of her hands, Jihyo cranked up the energy, getting the Japanese agents more in the mood for the briefing-slash-headache.

Turns out the conference room’s display screen was actually an entire wall. It lit up so suddenly and so intensely, that the three foreigners had to lean further back into their seats.  

Jihyo, unbothered because she was used to it, started laying down the details. “Alright, you three, I know you’re well aware of most things, but it’s mandatory procedure for me to give you a briefing again so listen up.”

The first slide came up, showing different high-end automobiles, each paired with a picture of a well-known businessman or politician. “Japanese AI technology in ‘Smart Cars’ was stolen recently from Saisentan Robotics. The tech was initially promised with high security measures and client privacy but there eventually came a problem. At first the stolen tech was just used to track the routes and routines of persons of interest. See where they go, what their habits are, where they get their coffee, who they’re having an affair with. Things like that to use against them. These include death threats, blackmail and the like.”

The three nodded to indicate that they got that part down. Chief Park continued. “We suspect it’s an extremist communist group subsidized by the North Korean government,” she said, her lips then pressed together in a grim line. “We have been monitoring their manpower and capabilities and it’s been confirmed that they have a highly trained and capable group of computer specialists and mechanical engineers specifically tasked for cyber warfare. They must’ve rewritten the AI tech’s code so now they can hi-jack these cars.”

The next slide showed posters and notices of missing persons, CCTV footage of cars suddenly and inexplica