Chapter 348 - BTA

"What? You're pregnant?" Captain Tang exclaimed over the phone. 

"Yes," Halia confirmed, "That's why I would like to request for an 18-month break from the force. Will that be OK, Captain?"

She needed to give birth and spend some time with her child too, so 18 months sounded reasonable.

Halia knew it was a lot to ask. Especially when she had only been transferred to the SPU not long ago. But, she and Captain Tang had grown quite close during this time and she had helped him crack a couple of big cases, so she hoped he would take it into consideration.

Captain Tang sighed, "I'm honestly happy for the both of you. But, we have a small problem. You're currently the first and only 'Brain Tap Agent (BTA)'."

"Brain Tap Agent?" Halia asked.

"Yes, that's what Dr. Li has decided to name people like you. He will be presenting your results to a secret branch of the UN next week. It's been almost 7 months of testing and we haven't seen any adverse effects so he is confident about it. If this technology is approved, it will be strictly monitored and used. And, it will probably be restricted to top international security agencies only. So, it's highly likely that you will be the only mainstream BTA in China, or they will transfer you to an international agency like Interpol. It would have been nice to use your help for a little longer, but I understand the situation you're in. All I can ask is, if we urgently need your help, or if you suddenly remember something useful, please provide your assistance," Captain Tang requested.

Halia immediately nodded her head, "As long as it doesn't involve anything physical, I am always available to help!"

"OK, I'll notify Dr. Li of your break later. In the meantime, please stay safe," Captain Tang said before he hung up.

Halia breathed a sigh of relief as she looked at Jackson. She didn't realize how important she was to the SPU, but the captain was right, no one else had the abilities that she had.

However, Halia didn't truly understand how special she was. Sure, her abilities were surgically provided to her by Dr. Li, but she had no idea that Dr. Li's 'Brain Tap' didn't work on just anyone. It had been mentioned to her on the day that she signed her contract that she was chosen because she had an exceptionally good memory. How good, though? 

Countless psychological experiments had shown in the past that, on average, the longest sequence a normal person could recall, without previous exposure, contained about seven items. This limit became known as the 'brain's working memory'. But, when it came to Halia, she managed to recall 50 numbers accurately before she started making mistakes! These results were never shown to her, but it was the main reason why she was selected. Without a good memory, the effectiveness of the Brain Tap would be greatly reduced. Just like in the case of the 50 numbers that Halia recalled. Imagine those 50 numbers made up a password and that password was given to just an average person with average memory. If they couldn't recall all 50 numbers in the right sequence, what use did it have?

Perhaps, one day, someone would discover a way to make the Brain Tap work on the average person, but for now, Halia was an important asset.

So, when Dr. Li heard Halia was going on a break, he immediately panicked. "Where is she right now? I need to gather a bit more data from her before I present to the UN!" he said.

"She is in Korea, but she will be flying back to China in a few days," Captain Tang replied.

"Tell her to drop by the lab first. I need to run a few small tests. It won't take up much of her time," Dr. Li requested.

Captain Tang agreed and quickly recalled the message to Halia. In the end, Halia and Jackson booked a flight back to Guiyang City with a 24-hour stopover in Beijing.

But, before they returned, they still had the rest of their honeymoon to enjoy. So, after sorting out all their important affairs, Halia and Jackson met up with Sean and Natalie and they headed out to explore Seoul. 

Although Seoul was a busy, modern city with highrises, fast transport, and advanced technology, there were still historical areas where old palaces and traditional villages remained.

The most famous, largest, and arguably most beautiful palace was Gyeongbokgung; the main royal palace of the Joseon Dynasty. 

The two couples caught the metro to the closest stop and hopped off to have some breakfast first. Due to its location near the palace, they visited a famous restaurant that served Samgyetang, a.k.a. Chicken Ginseng Soup. The traditional-looking restaurant had a long queue, but because they were early, it didn't take long before they were seated at a table inside. 

Although it was summer in Korea, hot soups like this were very popular. In fact, it was a tradition to eat Samgyetang on the hottest days of summer. The Koreans had a saying for this: 'yi yul chi yul', which literally meant 'fight fire with fire'. So, the four friends wanted to partake in this tradition.

As a steaming hot stone bowl of soup arrived in front of each of them, they looked at each other and questioned whether they had made the right decision. Just looking at the steam made them sweat. But, as soon as they started digging into the soup, the heat slowly became bearable and it felt oddly refreshing. 

After breakfast, the four friends spotted a group of young girls dressed in traditional Korean hanboks. At first, they thought they were entertainers or performers, but when they spotted some foreigners stepping out of a shop also dressed in traditional clothing, they asked in curiosity, "Excuse me, why are you dressed in traditional clothing?"

A young German man replied in English, "Many of the shops along this street have hanboks for hire. If you wear a hanbok, you get free entry into the palace, and sometimes you get a professional photographer to accompany you for the day. It is a very common activity. My friends recommended it to me."

Halia and Natalie immediately jumped in excitement. "I want to wear a hanbok and look like a princess!" Natalie squealed.

The two men smiled at each other. Although it didn't really excite them, they were willing to do anything to make their wives happy, so they followed them into a rental shop.

"I guess we're wearing hanboks today..." Sean whispered to Jackson.

"I guess so..." Jackson replied.