I gave a call to Dr. Jeong when we arrived at the entrance of the NDDC premises. There was a not-so-small building stationed just outside the actual premise, which had a checkpoint with a counter staffed with military officers to record, process, and supervise anyone coming in or going out of the NDDC ground.
However, the queue to get your entry permit wasn't that long. This wasn't because there weren't many visitors. Far from it. This was because this building by the entrance also had a large cafe spanning from the second floor to the fourth floor. Many meetings were held in this cafe, which had comfortable chairs to sit in for hours, enough space between the tables to ensure a degree of privacy, and tables big enough to accommodate several large mugs of coffee and laptops.
This is where the majority of meetings took place, as this place was open to any civilian visitors and there was no need for security clearance, which can be a real pain in the neck.
We called the place simply 'the Cafe'. It was a peculiar place where sales representatives and business development managers of civilian companies met with the NDDC engineers and researchers. This way, no confidential information or objects with security risk were going in and out of the premises, and discussions could be done freely yet in a controlled manner. The tables were far enough from each other to make it harder for anybody to eavesdrop on what the people at the next table were discussing, but it was still a public place hence no one would talk about something they legally shouldn't share.
For me and Hina though, we were actually going into NDDC premise. Technically, they cannot allow commercial sales and marketing people or business managers of defense product companies to enter. It was supposed to be a place for research and development, not for civilian-owned companies to send their people and conduct marketing activities to serve their own financial interests.
So our entry into NDDC and the meeting with the Propulsion R&D team was arranged under the guise of a 'seminar'. We all knew it was BS, but this was the easiest way to get civilians like me and Hina to get in. Even a Chan cannot just walk into NDDC. We may be in the defense industry, but we are civilians after all.
"I will come out shortly"
While we were waiting around for Dr. Jeong to come and pick us up, I had to stop Hina from going for a cup of hot chocolate and a pancake. She clearly did not learn her lesson from earlier.
"Nice to meet you again, Dr. Jeong, how have you been?"
"It's been good, thank you, Sin"
"And this is Miss. Hina Chan, the new CEO of the Chan Group"
"Nice to meet you, Dr. Jeong"
Hina smiled and offered a handshake, which confused Dr: Jeong for a second but he took up her offer and shook her hand.
"Thank you for the visit, Ms. Chan"
This was something I forgot to tell Hina.
Women and men don't shake hands in our industry. It might be strange to people in normal industry or young people in Hina's generation, but this was an unspoken rule. There were multiple reasons for it.
First and foremost, it was a male-dominated industry and most people in NDDC had an incel background at some point in their studious younger days. It was literally embarrassing for them to hold hands with a female and made things awkward.
Secondly, times were changing and even this industry and NDDC started to hire female workers. Avoiding any physical contact was a means to preemptively put a halt to any possible misinterpretation that could lead to an accusation of sexual harassment. Quite a few older members at NDDC had the misfortune of stepping over the line without really understanding what they were doing. The best solution for all parties was to avoid any physical contact in the first place.
Well, she couldn't have known all this so it was my mistake, but just a minor detail and nuance she needs to be aware of. It's not like it was a complete taboo or anything
"Please come with me", Dr. Jeong responded in a friendly tone.
With that, we proceeded to the counter where Dr. Jeong showed his staff ID and signed us in as outside visitors for his team. We then had customary security procedures, submitting ID, filling in a form with personal details, signing a document pledging confidentiality, and all that. Then the officer at the counter asked us to install a security app on our phones, which blocks the use of a camera and microphone functions while the phone is located within the NDDC premises. I already told Hina to never ever install this. Installing this app requires acceptance of the Ministry of Defense-made certificate to be installed on your phone. This certificate grants the app access and control of your phone at the system level, and this certificate is neither examined nor authorized by any phone or OS manufacturers, meaning - it could be doing all sorts of things without our knowledge and most likely it is spoofing everything we do on our phone.
Hence we opted to just keep our phones in a locker and don't bring any communication devices, which included Hina's smartwatch too but I told Ema of our schedule today so she wouldn't panic this time.
After the security procedure was complete, Dr. Jeong led the way past the checkpoint with his car and we followed him in our car. This was a 'clean' car, so to say, with zero tracking, recording, or communication devices and capabilities. No dashcam, no GPS, no wireless or Bluetooth connections, no cameras on the front and back bumpers for parking assistance, etc, etc. In addition to avoiding any nitpicking about the 'potential security risk' of our visit here, it was also a pretty plain looking medium level sedan that did not stand out as more than a few heads would turn if we drove into the NDDC ground with something like a Rolls Royce. That would be like announcing to everyone on the ground that Hina (or someone of that status) has come to visit.
"Sin, you are driving like a granny"
Hina commented as Dr. Jeong and I were driving at 30km/h for a few minutes to get to the Propulsion R&D team's building.
"Miss, this is the maximum speed limit on NDDC ground, and also on most military bases"
"Why is that?"
"For safety reasons, of course. And imagine what would happen now if we bumped into another car on this road here"
"What would happen?"
"There was this once I was driving with Chairman Chan in his Ferrari - an amazing car, I must add. I wouldn't say whose fault it was, but we had a very minor accident, crashing against an armored cash-in-transit vehicle"
"And…?"
"Their van did not get damaged at all, they were built that hard. But unfortunately, we couldn't say the same about the Ferrari"
"Ouch"
"Yes, Ouch indeed. But the bigger issue was that this accident meant the cash-in-transit had to make an unexpected and unscheduled stop on that road until the accident got sorted out. The road was closed and maybe about 20 fully armed police turned up to make sure the cash-in-transit remained safe"
"Ah, I think I understand now. So if we had an accident here, even a very minor one, that probably becomes a bit of fuss with all these security measures?"
"Yeah, precisely that"
"Welp, I guess we will follow then"
A few minutes later, we arrived at the Propulsion R&D Department building.
As we followed Dr. Jeong into the building, yet through another security check, we were greeted by Dr. Han, who was also one of the researchers here who were friendly to us.
"Nice to meet you, Miss. Chan. I am Han"
"Miss, Dr. Han is the head of the Propulsion R&D Team"
It is always a bit awkward to introduce yourself as the top man (or woman) or address yourself using a title like a doctor, so it was my role to let Hina be aware of his title and position.
"Nice to meet you, Dr. Han. Thank you for the invitation"
Well, we pretty much invited ourselves here, but this was just a customary thing to say.
"It's my pleasure. And welcome back too Sin"
"Thank you, doctor. Good to see that you are in good health again"
"Thank you", Dr. Han gave a friendly smile and led us to the second floor, where the main seminar room was situated.
Along the way, Dr. Jeong explained various posters and samples on display in the corridor. Just about enough shown to introduce to any new visitors what they were doing, but not enough to give anything away.
We then arrived at the big imposing heavy door of the seminar room, designed to seal off any sound from coming out.
"Are you ready, Miss?"
I whispered quietly to Hina as Dr. Han tactfully gave us a short moment before opening the door.
"Yeah, bring it on"
Dr. Han overheard us and grinned. Probably half amused but also half impressed that Hina wasn't phased at all.