RAINBOW OF TEARS
SEOUL – RAINBOW TAXI FORTRESS, B2 COMMAND CENTER
The air in the command center crackled with a new kind of energy. It was no longer the quiet hum of righteous vengeance for the powerless. It was the focused, electric tension of a strategic siege against a fortified empire.
On the main screen, a digital spiderweb glowed—the nexus of Park Yong-sik's shadow operations. Lines connected shell companies in the British Virgin Islands to Kang Deok-su's brute-force land acquisitions in Bupyeong. Other threads led to compromised city officials, private security details, and the fried kill-switch module from Min-Ji's car.
Park Min-Ji stood at the center of the room, looking alien in her elegant clothes amidst the tactical gear and humming servers. Yet, she was the keystone. She pointed at a node on the web.
"This one. 'Hermes Capital.' It's my uncle's personal slush fund. All off-book payments for 'irregular expenses' flow through here. The accountant, Kwon Ji-hoon, is a ghost. He only meets Yong-sik in person, every Thursday, at the Chairman's old private study in the Luxe Heritage Club. No electronics are allowed. He carries a physical ledger."
Kim Do-gi, arms crossed, grunted. "A ghost with a paper trail. We need that book."
"The study is a vault," Min-Ji continued. "Bio-metric locks, pressure-sensitive floors in the hallway, a dedicated internal security feed that's air-gapped from the main network. Even I don't have the access codes."
All eyes turned to the corner where Min-Hyuk stood beside the Proteus fabrication unit, which was humming softly. His mind was already completing the equation.
Instant Calculation: Infiltration via standard means: probability of success 8%. Infiltration via substitution of the one person granted access: probability of success 92%. Sub-Mind Archive: Kwon Ji-hoon's public records were scant—a few tax filings, a blurry corporate ID photo. Insufficient for a Proteus blueprint.
"We need a scan of Kwon Ji-hoon," Min-Hyuk said. "A full Proteus capture. We become the ghost."
Min-Ji shook her head. "Impossible. He's paranoid. He's only seen at the club or in a blacked-out sedan."
A slow, cold smile touched Min-Hyuk's lips. It was the expression of a chess player spotting a mate ten moves ahead. "Then we don't scan him where he is. We bring him to us."
He turned to Ahn Go-eun. "The Chairman's study at the Heritage Club. You said the security system is internal. What about the environmental controls? HVAC? Fire suppression?"
Go-eun's eyes lit up. "A separate, older building management system! It's got a maintenance portal… it's online!" Her fingers flew across the keyboard. "I can access it. It's basic. Thermostats, sprinklers."
"Perfect," Min-Hyuk said. "Trigger a fault. A small, contained water leak in the ceiling above the study. Just enough to force an evacuation of sensitive documents and require an emergency repair crew."
Sung-chul leaned forward, understanding dawning. "And we provide the crew."
"We provide one of the crew," Min-Hyuk corrected. "The lead technician. Who will need to assess the damage with the only person who can authorize it and has the access codes: Kwon Ji-hoon. And that technician will be carrying a very special tool."
He placed his hand on the Proteus Capture Rig.
---
SEOUL – THE LUXE HERITAGE CLUB, TWO DAYS LATER
The club was a monument to old money, all dark wood, silent corridors, and the smell of aged whiskey and paranoia. In a hallway lined with portraits of industrialists, a discreet ceiling panel showed a dark stain of water. An alarm chimed softly.
Kwon Ji-hoon, a man with the pallor of a lifelong mole and eyes that never stopped moving, stood outside the locked study door, clutching a battered leather briefcase to his chest. He watched with palpable anxiety as two men in Hansung Engineering uniforms arrived.
The taller one, the lead technician, had a face that was forgettably earnest. It was Kim Do-gi, wearing a Proteus mask based on a real Hansung employee currently enjoying a drugged cup of coffee in a Rainbow Taxi van three blocks away.
"A leak, you say? Above the Chairman's study?" Do-gi-as-Technician said, his voice a perfect match of harried professionalism. "We'll need to inspect the cavity, assess the damage to the structural beams. We'll have to go in."
"I must be present," Kwon hissed. "Nothing can be touched without me."
"Of course, sir. Lead the way."
With a final, suspicious glance, Kwon input a lengthy code and placed his palm on a scanner. The heavy door hissed open. The room was a windowless cocoon of leather and steel, dominated by a vast, empty desk.
As Kwon hovered, Do-gi set down his toolbox. The second 'technician'—Choi Kyung-goo in a less detailed mask—set up a ladder under the stained ceiling tile.
"The leak seems localized," Do-gi said, pointing his thermal scanner at the ceiling. "But the moisture may have wicked into the insulation. Sir, could you hold this meter near the bookshelf? I need to check for dampness spreading."
Distracted, Kwon took the handheld device. As he turned, Do-gi's hand, moving with the blinding speed of his special forces training, came down on the side of his neck in a precise, silent strike. Kwon's eyes rolled back. Kyung-goo caught him before he hit the floor.
"Go," Do-gi said into his concealed mic.
Thirty seconds later, the private elevator at the end of the hall opened. Min-Hyuk stepped out, pushing a large, wheeled equipment case. He was dressed in a tailored black suit, his face a mask of cold authority. He walked past the oblivious hallway camera—its feed now looped by Julien Moreau, thousands of miles away—and into the study.
"Time?" he asked.
"Five minutes until the next security walk-by," Kyung-goo said, checking his watch.
Min-Hyuk opened the equipment case. Inside, nestled in foam, was the Proteus Capture Rig. He and Do-gi worked with silent, brutal efficiency. They sat the unconscious Kwon in the Chairman's own leather chair. Min-Hyuk positioned the silver dome over the accountant's face. A constellation of lights activated.
"Initiating full-spectrum scan," Min-Hyuk murmured. On a handheld monitor, Kwon Ji-hoon's face began to render in impossible detail—every pore, every broken capillary, the unique pattern of his stubble, the slight discoloration on his left eyelid.
Sub-Mind Archive logged it all. Perfect Memory would ensure not a single detail was lost.
Ninety seconds. The scan completed.
"Fabrication sequence is queued at base," Min-Hyuk said, dismantling the rig. "Now, the ledger."
Do-gi had already opened the briefcase Kwon had been guarding. Inside, amidst mundane financial reports, was a slim, black, cloth-bound book. Min-Hyuk took it. He didn't need to read it. He simply fanned the pages before his eyes, his Perfect Memory and Rapid Recall photographing every line, every figure, every damning entry.
₩500,000,000 – Payment to KDS Holdings (Bupyeong acquisition 'incentives')
₩200,000,000 – Security retainer for 'Special Projects' (see: vehicular incident, MJ)
₩1,200,000,000 – Transfer to Hermes Capital (Q3 dividend, source: Luxe Horizon overruns)
It was all there. The conspiracy in neat, handwritten columns.
He placed the ledger back exactly as it was. Do-gi revived Kwon with a smelling salt. The man gasped, disoriented.
"You fainted, sir," Do-gi said, his voice full of feigned concern. "The fumes from the mold in the insulation, perhaps. We've contained the leak. No damage to the room."
Kwon, confused and embarrassed, clutched his briefcase, unaware his entire visage had been stolen and his secrets copied. He shooed them out, re-locking the door behind them.
---
RAINBOW TAXI FORTRESS – FOUR HOURS LATER
In the medical bay, the Proteus Fabricator completed its work. Min-Hyuk carefully peeled the mask from the mandrel. It was Kwon Ji-hoon's face, perfect in its pallid, anxious detail.
Park Min-Ji stared at it, a shudder running through her. "It's him. It's uncanny."
"It's a key," Min-Hyuk said, his voice flat. He looked at her. "You have the codes to the study. You have the biological access as a Park. But you cannot be seen going in. He can." He held up the mask. "Tomorrow is Thursday. Kwon's regular meeting. We go in first. We download everything from the study's isolated server. We get digital proof to match the ledger."
"And then?" she asked, the weight of the impending betrayal settling on her.
"And then," Jang Sung-chul said, entering the room, "we deliver the revenge. Not with a fist, but with a flood. We leak the ledger, the server data, the connections to Kang Deok-su's violence, to the press, to the financial regulators, to the National Tax Service. We don't just remove your uncle. We dismantle his entire shadow empire in the light of day."
It was elegant. It was brutal. It was justice on a scale Rainbow Taxi had never attempted.
Min-Ji looked from the mask to Min-Hyuk's resolute face. She had asked for a hand in the dark. He was giving her an army and a masterpiece of deception.
"There's a gala tomorrow night," she said slowly. "At the Luxe Plaza flagship. The entire board, all major shareholders, the press will be there. It's a celebration of the 'Luxe Horizon' launch." A sharp, vengeful light ignited in her eyes. "It would be the perfect place for a different kind of unveiling."
Min-Hyuk nodded. The final calculation was set.
Operation: Ledger Drop. Success probability with Min-Ji's insider timing: 96%.
"Then we have work to do," he said. "Do-gi, you're with me. We need to become an accountant."
As they moved to begin the transformation, Min-Ji reached out, her fingers brushing Min-Hyuk's wrist. He stopped.
"When this is over…" she began, then stopped, the future a terrifying blank.
He looked at her hand on his arm, then into her eyes. For a moment, the genius, the vigilante, the soldier faded, and it was just the man from the garden. "One delivery at a time," he said softly. "Let's close this case first."
In the Alps, Marco received the update: "Principal has acquired key. Lockpick is being forged. D-Day is tomorrow. Prepare black-bag media drop packages for simultaneous international release."
He turned to his team. "Luca, Erik—gear up. We're moving to a forward position in Osaka. If this goes loud, the Principal might need a quicker exit. Nikolai, have you cleared the rooftop sightlines at the Luxe Plaza flagship?"
"Da," the sniper said calmly. "I have three nests. I will see everything."
The machinery of two worlds—the underground vigilantes and the elite mercenaries—spun up in unison, all focused on a single night in Seoul.
The double was ready.
The ledger was copied.
The stage was set for a fall.
[End of Episode 7]
[Status: Execution Phase]
[Proteus Mask: Ready (Kwon Ji-hoon)]
[Target Evidence: Acquired (Physical Ledger + Digital Server Target Identified)]
[D-Day: Luxe Plaza Gala, Tomorrow Night]
[Delta Status: Deployed to Forward Base (Osaka)]
[Next Episode: The Gala & The Guillotine.]