validation pt 8
Title: Validation
Chapter: 8/?
Author: notochrasy
Rating: PG
Pairing: primarily Kris/Luhan (not so much in this chapter though)
Genre: AU, Drama, Sci-Fi, Dystopian
Summary:
55 years after a new radioactive mineral has been discovered and used as a new nuclear energy source for Earth,
the human population has changed. Exposure to the radiation to the natural human fertilisation process is hazardous.
Potential genetic anomalies may be overcome through the use of genetic engineering to assist IVF treatment.
Your choice to conceive naturally may be the choice that brings humanity to its demise.
Disclaimer: Don't own the characters, blah blah blah.
Word count: ~5300
A/N: Sorry for the wait. I hit a deadend and had to rewrite it after I went out to dinner with a friend on Friday night and he said that it sucked lmfao.
chapters: one two three four five six seven eight nine ten eleven
“I have a favor to ask you.”
With the sound of Kris’ faltering voice, Joonmyun sighs.
“The way you say that makes it sound like it’s gonna be something hard.”
Kris’ eyes drift from where Joonmyun is sitting and then to the door, “Whether it’s hard or not is completely up to you.”
“I’m not sure I follow, Kris.” Joonmyun clasps his hands together and lays them down on his lap.
“I hope you can use your utmost discretion with what I need you to do. I need a list of names, names of all the Invalid cases that were rehabilitated before the new database for rehabilitated cases started up.” Kris watches as Joonmyun’s expression changes, brows furrowing.
Joonmyun’s voice drops in volume, “You’re talking… maybe over 20 years worth of names… That type of list doesn’t exist. The government doesn’t even know about the new database yet.”
“Look, Joonmyun… Suho, I’m asking this because I know the list exists. There’s a faction within the Elite circle that keeps it from government.”
“Really now Kris… and you know this how? Have you actually seen it?”
“Well… no, I haven’t. I just have a feeling. I mean, it’s got to exist, something important as that list can’t not exist.”
“Kris… I wouldn’t know where to look. I could ask around at the Favona Institute, I’m sure one of my co-workers might know.”
Kris rolls his eyes. “Discretion, Joonmyun. Discretion is the key. Don’t ask anyone at Favona. And it shouldn’t be that hard to find, things are best kept hidden in plain sight.”
“Kinda like this facility hey?”
Kris is deep in thought, “Mmm, yeah. So you think you can find it for me?”
“I can definitely try. But why do you need it?”
“I just need to know more about them… You’d think that after spending so much time Invalids, I’d understand them more…but the more I learn about them, the more I feel like I don’t know anything about them.”
“Knowledge begets questions.” Joonmyun offers, “And knowledge is never an end in itself.”
“I just need to know more, and if I can talk to some of the older Invalids, ones that have already been integrated back into society…maybe I can somehow figure them out. Ugh, it’s so frustrating how much I don’t know.”
Joonmyun laughs, “I guess our postgrad professor was right, you are beyond ambitious.”
“You’re a year younger than me and we were in the same postgraduate classes, I’m pretty sure I’m not the only ambitious one here.” Kris says with a smile.
“I’m hardworking, I won’t lie, but I wouldn’t say ambitious.”
“Then I bet if you were just a little ambitious, you probably would’ve graduated a whole lot earlier.” Kris said with a smirk.
“Then we would’ve never been in Professor Wan’s classes together!”
“True, true.” Kris nods.
Joonmyun breaks from the conversation, “Hey, there’s another one working here isn’t there?”
“Another one?” Kris’ tone goes up a little.
“A brain emulation prodigy.”
“Oh you mean Luhan.” With that Kris’ tone falls flat.
“Luhan, that’s right. Heard he was pretty much pushed into this field by the Professor.”
“Yeah, he originally was doing a postgraduate in integrative neuroscience and Professor Wan almost dragged him into his classes. Totally brainwashed him into taking up brain emulation.” Kris says with a frown.
“Wow…so you only lasted a few years as the Professor’s favorite student then…guess things changed a lot after we left eh?” Joonmyun jests.
“No kidding.” Kris snorted, “Professor Wan pushed Luhan into applying here as well you know.”
“Wow… seriously? That’s… that’s… well, manipulative isn’t the right word, but it’s definitely the first word that comes to mind.”
Kris pulls at his sleeves, “Yeah, I guess he saw something in Luhan.”
Joonmyun fights a grin, “Does he have the same undying thirst for knowledge about Invalids as you?”
“I don’t think so, he doesn’t seem that ambitious, he seems a bit soft actually.”
“So he doesn’t know you’re searching for that list?”
“Definitely not. This doesn’t concern him at all.”
Joonmyun considers this for a while and takes off his watch, sticking it into his breast pocket. “You know, if anyone knows about a list, it would be your father. Since he’s the one who basically started it all.”
Kris flinches at the mention of his father and Joonmyun notices.
“Oh man…I’m sorry, Kris. That was really insensitive of me.”
“It’s fine.” Kris replies flatly.
“You don’t have to keep that wall up around me, you can trust me.”
“No seriously, I’m fine. It’s…history.”
Joonmyun’s eyes are pleading, “It may be history for some but not everyone…”
“It is for me.” Kris stresses.
“It’s not for Yoona.”
Kris glares at Joonmyun.
“Yoona shouldn-”
“But she does! You know how bad she feels about what happened to your father!”
“It’s not her fault, she was young… if I was her I would’ve said something too. And it’s not like her allegations were false…my father was conspiring against the government.”
Joonmyun smiles, but his eyes are sad. “But he’s not a bad man.”
“And Yoona knows that.” Kris clenches his jaw, “She was doing us all a favor by outing him.”
Joonmyun frowns. “You know, she was in tears when she called me. Right after she got the call from you she called me and she was hysterical. She’s so convinced you hate her.”
“Hate her…? No, I don’t hate her.”
“She said that last time she was here for one of your Cases that you weren’t even here.”
“I wasn’t avoiding her, trust me.” Kris groans.
“But does she know that?”
“I don’t know.”
“Maybe you should tell her.”
“She should know, Joonmyun.”
“You can’t assume everyone knows your thoughts, Kris.” Joonmyun pressed onwards, “Also, she renounced her validation you know.”
“Wait, pardon?”
“A few years back, she completely cracked and said that she couldn’t take it anymore and dropped out from Valid society. She only bounced back last year, but she remained a Semi.”
“She didn’t mention anything to me just before. She seemed…like before.”
Joonmyun shifts his weight in the chair, “She hides it well. But she hurts a lot inside, and it hurts her even more to think that she denied you your father when she herself was denied a mother.”
“I really don’t want to talk about that anymore.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Anyway…” Joonmyun takes a quick glance at his wrist but realizes he took his watch off before and then fishes it out of his pocket, “I better go, and Yoona’s waiting for me.” Joonmyun stands and stretches his arms above his head, “I’ll definitely look into the whole list thing and get back to you before Tuesday.”
“Thanks man.”
“No worries, anything for an old friend.” Joonmyun smiles and starts for the door, “Have you ever considered joining the Elites? I could always get a recommendation letter for you. It would be glowing.”
Kris grimaces, “…I think I’ll have to politely decline that offer Joonmyun. I don’t really want to be apart of Elite society.”
“Hm, I guess there’s more of your father in you than I originally thought. You should get in touch with him again.”
Kris ignores the comment,“Take care of Yoona.”
“Will do.”
“And, take care of yourself, Joonmyun.”
* * *
Kyungsoo stops Kris at the door into the South Wing, “Kris, hyung… where are you going?”
“I have some business to take care of. Can you let everyone know I’ll be off until Monday…or possibly Tuesday?”
Kyungsoo’s eyes widen, “You’re going now? You have to be here tomorrow…the dental checkups happen tomorrow.”
Kris curses, “Ah shit. I totally forgot about that.”
“Is everything okay? You seem a little distracted.” Kyungsoo reaches up and puts a hand on Kris’ shoulder. But Kris shakes it off.
“I just have something I need to do. I’ll reschedule my own appointment when I get back.” And he meanders around Kyungsoo with his black bag slung lazily across his shoulder.
* * *
Electric cars are relatively common in this day and age, but communing has become a very popular means of travel and it is rare for individuals to own their own vehicles.
The drive is long and Kris’ head and heart are aswim with mixed feelings. He hasn’t been on a long drive in a while, and knowing that the destination will be at his father’s place makes him slightly queasy. He packed only essentials, a change of clothes, toiletries and a few high energy snacks to keep him going for the drive. Another essential item is the Kyrkou low frequency oscillator, a small black device that fellow co-worker Baekhyun had invented while in high school. Each Kyrkou is unique and designed specifically for each owner. It imitates the electromagnetic field emitted by the wearer and oscillates between that frequency and a higher frequency emission. This creates disturbances in the local electromagnetic field of the wearer and because Invalids (especially those with powers) are very sensitive to local interactions within low frequency electromagnetic fields emitted by Validated humans, utilizing a device like the Kyrkou allows the wearer some indication as to when an Invalid approaches. The greater the triggered adverse reaction is in the Invalid, the more likely the Invalid approaching has powers.
After an hour or so, Kris surrenders to the stasis of the drive and the hum of the engine and lets the car go onto autopilot but his fingers are locked tight onto the steering wheel, eyes dazed, gazing on the road ahead.
At some point in the night, Kris learns to trust autopilot and finally lets go of the wheel.
* * *
The sun is bright and glaring when Kris opens his eyes. He quickly straightens up and takes a look at the time displayed on the dashboard. It’s already past midday. In the car seat, Kris tries to stretch his limbs, shaking the stiffness from his cramped muscles. He stares out the window and notices the change in scenery. From the stark grey of urban society to the soft greens and yellows of bush and shrubbery, the change leaves Kris with a feeling of nostalgia swimming around in the pit of his stomach.
The car pulls up to a driveway lined with white gravel, Kris turns off the engine and pushes the car door open. He swings his long legs out and scan the surroundings.
There are is a cobblestone pathway that leads into the property and Kris starts treading softly along it after hearing the crisp sound of his shoes on some loose stones knocking against each other.
“Is someone there?” A voice calls out from the garden.
Kris clears his throat, “Hi.”
There’s a tall boy standing along the paved path, “I’m sorry but Mr Li is not taking any interviews.”
“I’m not a journalist.”
“Then, salesmen... disciples, fanatics, researchers, milkmen, postmen, whatever, he’s not entertaining anyone today.”
Kris takes a few steps closer to the tall boy, “Please let me see him. It’s important.”
“I’m sorry, but I can’t just let anyone through. Please leave.” And the boy turns around and continues sweeping.
“Wait! Tell him his son is here.”
The boy turns around, fingers tightening around the handle of the broomstick.
“Li Jiahong?”
Kris locks eyes with the boy and notices a slight saccadic movement in his eyes.
“…you mean Jiaheng.”
“I was testing you.” His eyes flicker again.
“Well, regardless, my name is no longer that. Please call me Kris.” And Kris extends his hand as a greeting.
“I’m Huang Zitao…Kris, how can I trust that you are truly his son?”
“Just let me see him, he’ll know. By the way, is there something wrong with your eyes?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You’re experiencing biphasic ocular oscillation. Your eyes are experiencing some movement but it doesn’t seem natural for it to be lasting this long. Is it pathological or physiological?
“I… don’t know.” Zitao steps right up to Kris and for the first time Kris notices how tall Zitao is. There’s a strong tug at his belt and he realizes that Zitao has pulled the Kyrkou low frequency oscillator from its holster. He pushes it up in Kris’ face and then relaxes his fingers, letting the small device drop onto the ground. Zi Tao brings his foot down onto the Kyrkou and with a loud crack, Kris notices that the saccadic movement in Zitao’s eyes stops.
“You’re an Invalid. You have powers?”
“What was that thing?”
“It’s the Kyrkou, only Invalids get effected by it, and those with powers even more so. But… your response was a little different. I’m not making a diagnoses here, but it seems like it’s nystagmus.”
“Side effect to my treatment.”
“Your treatment? Offered by my father?”
Zitao gives a curt nod.
“So you believe that I’m his son.”
“I never said that.”
“But you didn’t try to prove me wrong when I asked if the treatment was offered by my father.” Kris raises his eyebrows.
Zitao eyes Kris,“…why do you want to see him?”
“Personal reasons. I have no obligation to discuss personal matters with you.”
“Go ahead then. Down the path and to your right.” Zitao points with his broomstick.
“Thank you.” Kris replies with a nod.
“Don’t.”
Shaking his head, Kris walks away. The path towards the main house is worn, the cobblestone rendered almost smooth compared to the other paths around the garden. Long grasses grow from beside the path, some blades grow right through between the cobblestones. There’s an opening in the path where it widens to a small courtyard that leads up to a red bricked house. Kris swiftly climbs up the steps and places his hand on the dark wooden door and takes a deep breath in before he enters.
The door creaks as it opens, it catches the attention of a man in his late 50s, hair peppered with grey hairs, skin spotted with age. He looks up but says nothing and looks back down to the notebook he is scribbling in.
Kris closes the door behind him, cringing at how worn the hinges sound.
“Have a seat.” Kris hears the man say, “Pour yourself some tea maybe.”
Kris walks straight up to the long wooden desk the man is sitting at, and presses his fingers against the top of the desk.
“Hi. I a-”
“You have questions? Be quick, I am on the brink of an amazing discovery.” The old man places the pen down into the folds of the book, the pages curl around it and he closes the cover. Tarnished silver glasses frame his eyes, tired with age.
“Father.”
“I am no priest. I am no leader. Please, let’s just stick with Mr Li.”
Something tugs in Kris’ chest. At first Kris was relieved that his father wasn’t angry with him, but now that he realizes that his father even didn’t remember him, it made him feel cold inside. Perhaps he preferred it if his father was angry, if he was filled with wrath and hatred, at least it would be some kind of reaction….but the way it is now, his father didn’t even recognize him.
“Is there something you need? I’m a very busy man.” The old man pursed his lips as he drew bold strokes onto a stray piece of paper on the desk.
Kris walks slowly around the wooden desk, “What are you working on?” For some reason his voice sounds a little higher than usual, like there’s some sense of desperation laced in it.
The man takes off his tarnished silver frames. “Are you interested in finding out the secrets of life?”
“I’m not sure.”
“Don’t be shy. You look like someone who is interested.” The old man folds up the piece of paper and places it into the draw of his desk, then he grabs his notebook and holds it up to Kris. “Look at it. Go on.”
Kris’ hand shakes as he holds up the notebook. He flips through it carefully, skipping over some of the blank pages until he reaches one filled with messy shorthand. Shorthand symbols litter the page, along the pages, right up into the corners. There’s symbols scribbled on top of other symbols, creating an illegible lattice of words.
“I don’t really know if I can read this.”
“Ah, hand it here.”
“No…I can try…”
“Go on. I don’t have all day.”
“Can you hold on a moment, I just want to record this.” Kris takes out his wallet from his back pant pocket and takes out a slim recording device and clips it to his collar. He throws his wallet back down onto one of the coffee tables.
“ ‘In Invalid Rehabilitation theory there does not exist any simple expression of the rate of rehabilitation, because one cannot ask for the simultaneous rehabilitation for candidates and momenta. Moreover, it is not possible to derive a simple expression even for the relative rates of the candidates alone, as is given in classical theory….’ ” Kris looks up from the notebook at his father, the old man has his eyes closed, listening intently.
“ ‘As is given in classical theory where
one sees this by considering that this expression would give at once the wave function of the lowest state of equilibrium required for rehabilitation success when
is inserted and on the other hand we now that it is not possible, in general, to derived a closed formula for the latter.’ ” Kris pauses, confused but the old man tells him to continue.
“ ‘The ultimate quantum system is in principle, however, given by a formula of Newpamnn, who has shown that the mean value of any physical quantity of Invalid power force is (apart from a normalizing constant depending only on the heat of snow), the sum of the diagonal elements of the rehabilitated matrix is equal to the Hamiltonian system.”
Kris blinks. And stares at the old man sitting in front of him, a mere shell of his once brilliant father.
The old man opens his eyes, “You stopped again, are you intrigued?”
“I don’t understand it.”
“It is plain and simple. My best work up to date.” He says, beaming.
“You’re not making any sense here.” Kris says, choosing his words carefully.
“What are you saying?”
Kris keeps searching for the right words to say. “It’s complete gibberish.”
“Obviously you’re not smart enough to understand.”
“You’re demented... You’re… crazy.”
Completely enraged, the old man stands, towering over the desk, “How dare you! Who do you think you are to call me crazy?!!” He strikes Kris across the face with the back of his hand, snatching the notebook out of Kris’ hands.
Kris is shocked by the sudden outburst and tears prick his eyes. He backs away slowly before turning around and making a dash for the door.
Rushing outside, he sits down on the stone steps, he buries his head in his hands and feels the pull of all his anguish beating against his chest. His father is insane, he thinks he’s writing something profound but all it is…is a mess. He touches his cheek and feels the sting left from the blow of his father’s hand. Out the corner of his eyes, Kris sees Zitao’s shadow approach him.
With his head still buried in his hands he can only manage to choke out half a question at a time. “How long has…” “How…” “Long…” Kris wheezes with distress between each word, “has he been like this?”
Zitao folds his arms in front of him, “As long as I can remember. His lucid moments come and go, but he hasn’t been lucid for weeks. You really caught him at a bad time.”
Kris lifts his head, eyes narrowing at Zitao, “Then why did you let me go see him?”
“There was no getting anywhere arguing with you. I had to let you see for yourself. It may seem cruel, but it is reality.”
Kris groans in frustration, “This is not going the way I want it to.”
“Things hardly do.” Zitao replies sadly.
“I need him to be lucid. He needs to remember.”
“You can’t just force things like that to happen.”
“But I can try.”
Kris stands and runs back into the house.
His presence back inside the house startles the old man. Within a few long strides he is right up at the desk and he leans over and pulls up his father by the collar of his shirt, forcing past the boundaries of father and son.
“You need to help me. There are too many things at risk. You need to remember.” His hot breath ghosts over his father’s unresponsive face. His father’s eyes are glassy as he turns away from Kris.
Suddenly the old man’s face twitches and there’s a flicker of recognition in his eyes. Kris loosens his grip on his father’s collar and follows the old man’s gaze. He’s staring at Kris’ open wallet lying on the coffee table.
“You found him…?”
“Excuse me?”
The old man pulls out from Kris’ grasp and scrambles along the book-cluttered floor towards the coffee table. Pushing over the vase of dried flowers with his elbow, he snatches the wallet up in his hands, bringing it up to the light.
“What are you doing?! That’s my wallet!”
“Y-Y-you found…him.”
“What are you talking about??”
His father’s face has softened as he lifts his gaze off the wallet, in his left hand he has pulled out a photo that was tucked inside the wallet.
“That’s my graduation photo, with my friend Joonmyun.”
A wrinkled finger shakily points to the aged man between them. “Him…You found him…”
“I’m sorry? That’s my postgrad professor, Professor Wan.”
“Wan… I guess he changed his name…” The old man blinks for what seems like a minute before opening them up again, tears forming. “He’s the man from my stories, son.”
Kris feels his heart leap into his throat hearing the word “son” uttered from his father’s lips. All the suppressed emotions form as a lump in his throat and he tries to swallow and push it down before opening his mouth to speak again.
“The man from your stories?”
“That man I fixed.” Kris’ father says, fondly.
“He’s an Invalid.”
“Yes.”
“Shit.” Kris grabs the photo and shoves it back into his wallet, “He’s a fraud.”
“No! Don’t say such things!” His father protests forcefully.
“I can’t believe it. The irony of all of this.”
“What is ironic?”
“He roped one of my co-workers into the brain emulation and the Trident Facility as well. An Invalid bringing someone into Invalid rehabilitation. That’s rich.”
“Is that his son?”
“He has a son?” This has spiked Kris’ interest.
“Yes but… nevermind, forget what I said.”
Kris exhales and mutters to himself loudly, “Man, how did the Professor get through all the security checks, they would’ve never let an Invalid through, let alone one with powers.”
“Open the top draw of the filing cabinet over there,” Kris’ father points to the other side of the room. “There’s information there that might interest you. It’ll explain how he slipped through the system unnoticed.”
Kris trudges across the room towards the filing cabinet and pulls it open roughly. The draw is surprisingly bare, Kris was expecting it to be filled with papers that would yield a fine explanation for this problem, but there was only a bundle of papers tied together with some worn string. He takes out the bundle and goes to untie the string but hesitates to read it. He decides against it, tucks it under his arm and walks back towards his father.
“I have another question.”
“No more questions.” The old man says, is voice strong.
“Excuse me?”
“I am tired. Please leave.” He says offhandedly, resuming back to his own papers.
“But father…”
The old man looks up from the papers in front of him,
“Who are you?”
* * *
Outside the house, Kris stumbles about confused. A few minutes ago he didn’t even notice when his father lost it again and it tore him apart. He opens up the bundle of papers and skim over them.
The sketches on the first few pages were crude, some were faded and smudged, but they were defined enough for Kris to make out the details. There were perhaps over 40 illustrated explanations of some kind of contraption. It was long, with a rounded base and a pointed tip. The long arm of the contraption was made up of smaller segments with protrusions lined up along its sides. The segmentation allowed flexibility, the protrusions…Kris wasn’t so sure yet. His eyes flick up and down the page looking at the shorthand notes scribbled along the edges. He can’t make up half the notes so he’ll have to bring them back to the Trident Facility to get someone to help him decipher them.
The next pages have detailed sketches of the contraption, specifically the base and the tip. Kris noticed the words “Scorpion Tail” scribbled along the top of every page. He lets his feet guide him back to the front garden where Zitao is standing, tending to the trees.
“Zitao, can I ask you for something?”
“Depends on what it is, I guess.”
“I need to know if my fath-”
“He gave you those papers?”
Kris glances down to the bundle of papers in his hands that he tucked under his arm on the way out. He wasn’t counting on Zitao to be that observant.
“Yeah, I’m just borrowing them. He was only lucid for a few minutes after he recognized a man in a photo I had in my wallet, so he didn’t really get time to explain things to me.”
Zitao snatches the papers from Kris’ hands and begins flicking through them.
“He gave you information on the scorpion tail?”
Kris snatches the papers back, “Yeah he did. You know anything about it?”
“I have one.” Zitao turns around and pulls up the back of his shirt. Kris bends down and sees the very small incision scar around the lumbar area near the base of the spine.
“The person who put it in wasn’t very good with cosmetic surgery. The scarring is too obvious.”
“That person is your father.”
“That explains it. He should’ve cleaned up the scar tissue.”
“He would’ve, but I was bleeding too much.”
“Ah I see… Can you tell me more about the Scorpion Tail?”
Zitao looks at Kris suspiciously, “What do you want to know about it?”
“Look, I know that it’s used in Invalid rehabilitation, but I just don’t know the mechanics and I don’t have time to sit down and decipher all the shorthand notes.”
“Invalid rehabilitation? That’s where you’re wrong. It doesn’t rehabilitate, it suppresses Invalid power.”
“That’s not possible, is it?”
“Wow, I thought you would be smarter.”
“Hey, we don’t need those kind of comments.”
Zitao raises his hands defensively and then motions Kris to sit down on the stone steps. As Kris sits down, Zitao snatches the papers out of Kris’ hands and shuffles up the order. He pulls up one of the pages with a small sketch of the contraptions base with masses of illegible shorthand underneath. He points to the drawing and then points to the scar that is just above the base of his spine.
“That’s where the base is fitted in, it’s the useless part of the Scorpion Tail, so it can go anywhere really, but the Tail is more effective if it covers a larger area of your spinal cord.”
“So it’s actually attached onto the spinal cord.”
“Yeah, these…spindly things…I call them spider legs,” Zitao smiles sheepishly, “they feed into the little openings of your vertebra and fuse with your spinal cord. And then there’s the tip of the Tail. This is the most important part…”
“It connects to the brain stem.”
“Yeah.” Zitao replies with a smile. “The Tail is designed according to your bioelectromagnetism. I guess you can say it acts like a parasite and feeds off the electromagnetic field you emit, and somehow it draws down your frequency.”
Kris continues with the explanation“…To the point where it would be impossible for manifestations of unnatural powers to occur, right?”
“Yup. And with a lower frequency, no one suspects you to be an Invalid.”
“So basically my father cheated this entire time.” Kris face darkens.
“Cheated…?”
“He basically built the entire Invalid rehabilitation field…on a foundation of lies.”
Zitao wrinkles his nose, “But he helped people.”
“But he still lied.”
“Did he?”
“Yeah, we’ve all been working on real rehabilitation techniques that require time and constant attention…while he just… smacked a stupid contraption onto them and voilà, they’re cured. What a rip off on society this entire thing is.”
Zitao’s jaw drops in disbelief, “You shouldn’t say things like that. Sure it may have been a method that seems like a shortcut, but it’s cutting edge technology…don’t you see how many people it has helped?!”
“Actually I don’t see. I don’t know who the Tail has helped. You wouldn’t happen to have a list handy would you?” Kris asks sarcastically.
The sarcasm slips by Zitao and he suddenly stands up, pulling at Kris’ arm. “Come on, I’ll show you.”
They walk past the main house and through the back garden to a small greenhouse. Zitao wanders around the side of the greenhouse’s glass windows and fumbles around looking for something. A few minutes pass and Zitao signals Kris to head into the greenhouse.
The interior of the greenhouse is filled with lush color. Kris is taken aback at how green everything is. Most of what is green back at the Facility is artificial or chlorophyll enhanced. He moves closer to all the plants and brushes his hand against the leaves. His hand trails along the top of all the green and Kris is delighted by the cool touch. There’s one plant that grows along a trellis against the back glass wall of the greenhouse. Kris is drawn to its dull green color and its twisted branches. He lifts his hand up to touch the small leaves and as soon as his fingertips brush the leaves, they fold up and shy away.
“Enjoying yourself there?” Zitao is suddenly at Kris’ side, causing Kris to stagger back a little, surprised.
“What type of plant is that?” Kris points to the trellis.
“Oh that’s Mimosa, you touched it didn’t you?”
“Was I not supposed to?” Kris asks, slightly concerned for some reason.
“Oh nah, don’t worry.”
“It’s amazing.”
“It’s my favorite.” Zitao says, tickling the plant and watches the intricate leaves fold up.
“I’ve never seen anything like it before.”
“It’s been around for centuries, but most of it has died out in the wild. It’s very sensitive to the nuclear waste from the processing of Modena.”
Kris shuffles closer to the trellis, entranced by the plant. “So what were you doing out there after you told me to go in here first?” Kris asks without looking at Zitao.
“Getting this.” Zitao holds up a blue folder and then hands it over to Kris, “It’s the list of people the Scorpion Tail has helped.”
“Oh wow.” Kris smiles weakly and mutters under his breath, “I didn’t think you would actually take me seriously.”
Kris flicks through the folders plastic sleeves and his smile fades. The list of clientele is long, but what catches Kris’ attention is where the Scorpion Tail surgery was administered.
“Most of the surgeries for the Scorpion Tail is done at Favona Institute.”
“Yeah, do you know it?”
“My friend Joonmyun works there.”
“Oh… what a small world.”
“Too small.” Kris keeps flipping through the folder and something else catches his eye. A name this time, 2 hanzi characters that stand out amongst the rest.
鹿晗
Lu Han
a/n:
next chapter find out what is happening back at the facility while kris is away,
please enjoy your stay at the trident rehabilitation facility,
if you ever find that natural truths are spat at you like insults
remember that truth is cruel, but it can be loved,
and it makes free those who have loved it.
hi. read and leave comment? or tweet me @notochrasy
ps. good grief, long chapter eh? ohohohohohoho. to make up for such a late update ;w;
i just want to thank everyone who is reading this story, i didn't think i'd get many readers for this because it's i'm not really addressing many popular themes... and i'm happy that people can stomach all the science and pseudo-science i throw into my story haha, and the pairing is for writing purposes and not romantic lol, so i'm really grateful for everyone who is reading this, and whether you've commented before, or tweeted me, or dropped a message in my tumblr askbox, or you're just a lurking silent reader, i love you all ;w; ♥
here's an extra gift for those who have read this far, this is an original song i wrote back in may. and now you know that when i'm not writing, i'm singing haha.
(i'm also in an exo angel collab as suho that will be finished...sometime...in the near future, and i'll link you guys in upcoming chapters once it's done :'D)
pps. that segment from mr li's notebook is actually gibberish. so don't worry if you don't understand it. it's based off of a 1930s quantum physics paper i was reading and then i just mixed up everything and yeah lol...you're not meant to understand anything :D
Chapter: 8/?
Author: notochrasy
Rating: PG
Pairing: primarily Kris/Luhan (not so much in this chapter though)
Genre: AU, Drama, Sci-Fi, Dystopian
Summary:
55 years after a new radioactive mineral has been discovered and used as a new nuclear energy source for Earth,
the human population has changed. Exposure to the radiation to the natural human fertilisation process is hazardous.
Potential genetic anomalies may be overcome through the use of genetic engineering to assist IVF treatment.
Your choice to conceive naturally may be the choice that brings humanity to its demise.
Disclaimer: Don't own the characters, blah blah blah.
Word count: ~5300
A/N: Sorry for the wait. I hit a deadend and had to rewrite it after I went out to dinner with a friend on Friday night and he said that it sucked lmfao.
chapters: one two three four five six seven eight nine ten eleven
“I have a favor to ask you.”
With the sound of Kris’ faltering voice, Joonmyun sighs.
“The way you say that makes it sound like it’s gonna be something hard.”
Kris’ eyes drift from where Joonmyun is sitting and then to the door, “Whether it’s hard or not is completely up to you.”
“I’m not sure I follow, Kris.” Joonmyun clasps his hands together and lays them down on his lap.
“I hope you can use your utmost discretion with what I need you to do. I need a list of names, names of all the Invalid cases that were rehabilitated before the new database for rehabilitated cases started up.” Kris watches as Joonmyun’s expression changes, brows furrowing.
Joonmyun’s voice drops in volume, “You’re talking… maybe over 20 years worth of names… That type of list doesn’t exist. The government doesn’t even know about the new database yet.”
“Look, Joonmyun… Suho, I’m asking this because I know the list exists. There’s a faction within the Elite circle that keeps it from government.”
“Really now Kris… and you know this how? Have you actually seen it?”
“Well… no, I haven’t. I just have a feeling. I mean, it’s got to exist, something important as that list can’t not exist.”
“Kris… I wouldn’t know where to look. I could ask around at the Favona Institute, I’m sure one of my co-workers might know.”
Kris rolls his eyes. “Discretion, Joonmyun. Discretion is the key. Don’t ask anyone at Favona. And it shouldn’t be that hard to find, things are best kept hidden in plain sight.”
“Kinda like this facility hey?”
Kris is deep in thought, “Mmm, yeah. So you think you can find it for me?”
“I can definitely try. But why do you need it?”
“I just need to know more about them… You’d think that after spending so much time Invalids, I’d understand them more…but the more I learn about them, the more I feel like I don’t know anything about them.”
“Knowledge begets questions.” Joonmyun offers, “And knowledge is never an end in itself.”
“I just need to know more, and if I can talk to some of the older Invalids, ones that have already been integrated back into society…maybe I can somehow figure them out. Ugh, it’s so frustrating how much I don’t know.”
Joonmyun laughs, “I guess our postgrad professor was right, you are beyond ambitious.”
“You’re a year younger than me and we were in the same postgraduate classes, I’m pretty sure I’m not the only ambitious one here.” Kris says with a smile.
“I’m hardworking, I won’t lie, but I wouldn’t say ambitious.”
“Then I bet if you were just a little ambitious, you probably would’ve graduated a whole lot earlier.” Kris said with a smirk.
“Then we would’ve never been in Professor Wan’s classes together!”
“True, true.” Kris nods.
Joonmyun breaks from the conversation, “Hey, there’s another one working here isn’t there?”
“Another one?” Kris’ tone goes up a little.
“A brain emulation prodigy.”
“Oh you mean Luhan.” With that Kris’ tone falls flat.
“Luhan, that’s right. Heard he was pretty much pushed into this field by the Professor.”
“Yeah, he originally was doing a postgraduate in integrative neuroscience and Professor Wan almost dragged him into his classes. Totally brainwashed him into taking up brain emulation.” Kris says with a frown.
“Wow…so you only lasted a few years as the Professor’s favorite student then…guess things changed a lot after we left eh?” Joonmyun jests.
“No kidding.” Kris snorted, “Professor Wan pushed Luhan into applying here as well you know.”
“Wow… seriously? That’s… that’s… well, manipulative isn’t the right word, but it’s definitely the first word that comes to mind.”
Kris pulls at his sleeves, “Yeah, I guess he saw something in Luhan.”
Joonmyun fights a grin, “Does he have the same undying thirst for knowledge about Invalids as you?”
“I don’t think so, he doesn’t seem that ambitious, he seems a bit soft actually.”
“So he doesn’t know you’re searching for that list?”
“Definitely not. This doesn’t concern him at all.”
Joonmyun considers this for a while and takes off his watch, sticking it into his breast pocket. “You know, if anyone knows about a list, it would be your father. Since he’s the one who basically started it all.”
Kris flinches at the mention of his father and Joonmyun notices.
“Oh man…I’m sorry, Kris. That was really insensitive of me.”
“It’s fine.” Kris replies flatly.
“You don’t have to keep that wall up around me, you can trust me.”
“No seriously, I’m fine. It’s…history.”
Joonmyun’s eyes are pleading, “It may be history for some but not everyone…”
“It is for me.” Kris stresses.
“It’s not for Yoona.”
Kris glares at Joonmyun.
“Yoona shouldn-”
“But she does! You know how bad she feels about what happened to your father!”
“It’s not her fault, she was young… if I was her I would’ve said something too. And it’s not like her allegations were false…my father was conspiring against the government.”
Joonmyun smiles, but his eyes are sad. “But he’s not a bad man.”
“And Yoona knows that.” Kris clenches his jaw, “She was doing us all a favor by outing him.”
Joonmyun frowns. “You know, she was in tears when she called me. Right after she got the call from you she called me and she was hysterical. She’s so convinced you hate her.”
“Hate her…? No, I don’t hate her.”
“She said that last time she was here for one of your Cases that you weren’t even here.”
“I wasn’t avoiding her, trust me.” Kris groans.
“But does she know that?”
“I don’t know.”
“Maybe you should tell her.”
“She should know, Joonmyun.”
“You can’t assume everyone knows your thoughts, Kris.” Joonmyun pressed onwards, “Also, she renounced her validation you know.”
“Wait, pardon?”
“A few years back, she completely cracked and said that she couldn’t take it anymore and dropped out from Valid society. She only bounced back last year, but she remained a Semi.”
“She didn’t mention anything to me just before. She seemed…like before.”
Joonmyun shifts his weight in the chair, “She hides it well. But she hurts a lot inside, and it hurts her even more to think that she denied you your father when she herself was denied a mother.”
“I really don’t want to talk about that anymore.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Anyway…” Joonmyun takes a quick glance at his wrist but realizes he took his watch off before and then fishes it out of his pocket, “I better go, and Yoona’s waiting for me.” Joonmyun stands and stretches his arms above his head, “I’ll definitely look into the whole list thing and get back to you before Tuesday.”
“Thanks man.”
“No worries, anything for an old friend.” Joonmyun smiles and starts for the door, “Have you ever considered joining the Elites? I could always get a recommendation letter for you. It would be glowing.”
Kris grimaces, “…I think I’ll have to politely decline that offer Joonmyun. I don’t really want to be apart of Elite society.”
“Hm, I guess there’s more of your father in you than I originally thought. You should get in touch with him again.”
Kris ignores the comment,“Take care of Yoona.”
“Will do.”
“And, take care of yourself, Joonmyun.”
* * *
Kyungsoo stops Kris at the door into the South Wing, “Kris, hyung… where are you going?”
“I have some business to take care of. Can you let everyone know I’ll be off until Monday…or possibly Tuesday?”
Kyungsoo’s eyes widen, “You’re going now? You have to be here tomorrow…the dental checkups happen tomorrow.”
Kris curses, “Ah shit. I totally forgot about that.”
“Is everything okay? You seem a little distracted.” Kyungsoo reaches up and puts a hand on Kris’ shoulder. But Kris shakes it off.
“I just have something I need to do. I’ll reschedule my own appointment when I get back.” And he meanders around Kyungsoo with his black bag slung lazily across his shoulder.
* * *
Electric cars are relatively common in this day and age, but communing has become a very popular means of travel and it is rare for individuals to own their own vehicles.
The drive is long and Kris’ head and heart are aswim with mixed feelings. He hasn’t been on a long drive in a while, and knowing that the destination will be at his father’s place makes him slightly queasy. He packed only essentials, a change of clothes, toiletries and a few high energy snacks to keep him going for the drive. Another essential item is the Kyrkou low frequency oscillator, a small black device that fellow co-worker Baekhyun had invented while in high school. Each Kyrkou is unique and designed specifically for each owner. It imitates the electromagnetic field emitted by the wearer and oscillates between that frequency and a higher frequency emission. This creates disturbances in the local electromagnetic field of the wearer and because Invalids (especially those with powers) are very sensitive to local interactions within low frequency electromagnetic fields emitted by Validated humans, utilizing a device like the Kyrkou allows the wearer some indication as to when an Invalid approaches. The greater the triggered adverse reaction is in the Invalid, the more likely the Invalid approaching has powers.
After an hour or so, Kris surrenders to the stasis of the drive and the hum of the engine and lets the car go onto autopilot but his fingers are locked tight onto the steering wheel, eyes dazed, gazing on the road ahead.
At some point in the night, Kris learns to trust autopilot and finally lets go of the wheel.
* * *
The sun is bright and glaring when Kris opens his eyes. He quickly straightens up and takes a look at the time displayed on the dashboard. It’s already past midday. In the car seat, Kris tries to stretch his limbs, shaking the stiffness from his cramped muscles. He stares out the window and notices the change in scenery. From the stark grey of urban society to the soft greens and yellows of bush and shrubbery, the change leaves Kris with a feeling of nostalgia swimming around in the pit of his stomach.
The car pulls up to a driveway lined with white gravel, Kris turns off the engine and pushes the car door open. He swings his long legs out and scan the surroundings.
There are is a cobblestone pathway that leads into the property and Kris starts treading softly along it after hearing the crisp sound of his shoes on some loose stones knocking against each other.
“Is someone there?” A voice calls out from the garden.
Kris clears his throat, “Hi.”
There’s a tall boy standing along the paved path, “I’m sorry but Mr Li is not taking any interviews.”
“I’m not a journalist.”
“Then, salesmen... disciples, fanatics, researchers, milkmen, postmen, whatever, he’s not entertaining anyone today.”
Kris takes a few steps closer to the tall boy, “Please let me see him. It’s important.”
“I’m sorry, but I can’t just let anyone through. Please leave.” And the boy turns around and continues sweeping.
“Wait! Tell him his son is here.”
The boy turns around, fingers tightening around the handle of the broomstick.
“Li Jiahong?”
Kris locks eyes with the boy and notices a slight saccadic movement in his eyes.
“…you mean Jiaheng.”
“I was testing you.” His eyes flicker again.
“Well, regardless, my name is no longer that. Please call me Kris.” And Kris extends his hand as a greeting.
“I’m Huang Zitao…Kris, how can I trust that you are truly his son?”
“Just let me see him, he’ll know. By the way, is there something wrong with your eyes?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You’re experiencing biphasic ocular oscillation. Your eyes are experiencing some movement but it doesn’t seem natural for it to be lasting this long. Is it pathological or physiological?
“I… don’t know.” Zitao steps right up to Kris and for the first time Kris notices how tall Zitao is. There’s a strong tug at his belt and he realizes that Zitao has pulled the Kyrkou low frequency oscillator from its holster. He pushes it up in Kris’ face and then relaxes his fingers, letting the small device drop onto the ground. Zi Tao brings his foot down onto the Kyrkou and with a loud crack, Kris notices that the saccadic movement in Zitao’s eyes stops.
“You’re an Invalid. You have powers?”
“What was that thing?”
“It’s the Kyrkou, only Invalids get effected by it, and those with powers even more so. But… your response was a little different. I’m not making a diagnoses here, but it seems like it’s nystagmus.”
“Side effect to my treatment.”
“Your treatment? Offered by my father?”
Zitao gives a curt nod.
“So you believe that I’m his son.”
“I never said that.”
“But you didn’t try to prove me wrong when I asked if the treatment was offered by my father.” Kris raises his eyebrows.
Zitao eyes Kris,“…why do you want to see him?”
“Personal reasons. I have no obligation to discuss personal matters with you.”
“Go ahead then. Down the path and to your right.” Zitao points with his broomstick.
“Thank you.” Kris replies with a nod.
“Don’t.”
Shaking his head, Kris walks away. The path towards the main house is worn, the cobblestone rendered almost smooth compared to the other paths around the garden. Long grasses grow from beside the path, some blades grow right through between the cobblestones. There’s an opening in the path where it widens to a small courtyard that leads up to a red bricked house. Kris swiftly climbs up the steps and places his hand on the dark wooden door and takes a deep breath in before he enters.
The door creaks as it opens, it catches the attention of a man in his late 50s, hair peppered with grey hairs, skin spotted with age. He looks up but says nothing and looks back down to the notebook he is scribbling in.
Kris closes the door behind him, cringing at how worn the hinges sound.
“Have a seat.” Kris hears the man say, “Pour yourself some tea maybe.”
Kris walks straight up to the long wooden desk the man is sitting at, and presses his fingers against the top of the desk.
“Hi. I a-”
“You have questions? Be quick, I am on the brink of an amazing discovery.” The old man places the pen down into the folds of the book, the pages curl around it and he closes the cover. Tarnished silver glasses frame his eyes, tired with age.
“Father.”
“I am no priest. I am no leader. Please, let’s just stick with Mr Li.”
Something tugs in Kris’ chest. At first Kris was relieved that his father wasn’t angry with him, but now that he realizes that his father even didn’t remember him, it made him feel cold inside. Perhaps he preferred it if his father was angry, if he was filled with wrath and hatred, at least it would be some kind of reaction….but the way it is now, his father didn’t even recognize him.
“Is there something you need? I’m a very busy man.” The old man pursed his lips as he drew bold strokes onto a stray piece of paper on the desk.
Kris walks slowly around the wooden desk, “What are you working on?” For some reason his voice sounds a little higher than usual, like there’s some sense of desperation laced in it.
The man takes off his tarnished silver frames. “Are you interested in finding out the secrets of life?”
“I’m not sure.”
“Don’t be shy. You look like someone who is interested.” The old man folds up the piece of paper and places it into the draw of his desk, then he grabs his notebook and holds it up to Kris. “Look at it. Go on.”
Kris’ hand shakes as he holds up the notebook. He flips through it carefully, skipping over some of the blank pages until he reaches one filled with messy shorthand. Shorthand symbols litter the page, along the pages, right up into the corners. There’s symbols scribbled on top of other symbols, creating an illegible lattice of words.
“I don’t really know if I can read this.”
“Ah, hand it here.”
“No…I can try…”
“Go on. I don’t have all day.”
“Can you hold on a moment, I just want to record this.” Kris takes out his wallet from his back pant pocket and takes out a slim recording device and clips it to his collar. He throws his wallet back down onto one of the coffee tables.
“ ‘In Invalid Rehabilitation theory there does not exist any simple expression of the rate of rehabilitation, because one cannot ask for the simultaneous rehabilitation for candidates and momenta. Moreover, it is not possible to derive a simple expression even for the relative rates of the candidates alone, as is given in classical theory….’ ” Kris looks up from the notebook at his father, the old man has his eyes closed, listening intently.
“ ‘As is given in classical theory where
one sees this by considering that this expression would give at once the wave function of the lowest state of equilibrium required for rehabilitation success when
is inserted and on the other hand we now that it is not possible, in general, to derived a closed formula for the latter.’ ” Kris pauses, confused but the old man tells him to continue.
“ ‘The ultimate quantum system is in principle, however, given by a formula of Newpamnn, who has shown that the mean value of any physical quantity of Invalid power force is (apart from a normalizing constant depending only on the heat of snow), the sum of the diagonal elements of the rehabilitated matrix is equal to the Hamiltonian system.”
Kris blinks. And stares at the old man sitting in front of him, a mere shell of his once brilliant father.
The old man opens his eyes, “You stopped again, are you intrigued?”
“I don’t understand it.”
“It is plain and simple. My best work up to date.” He says, beaming.
“You’re not making any sense here.” Kris says, choosing his words carefully.
“What are you saying?”
Kris keeps searching for the right words to say. “It’s complete gibberish.”
“Obviously you’re not smart enough to understand.”
“You’re demented... You’re… crazy.”
Completely enraged, the old man stands, towering over the desk, “How dare you! Who do you think you are to call me crazy?!!” He strikes Kris across the face with the back of his hand, snatching the notebook out of Kris’ hands.
Kris is shocked by the sudden outburst and tears prick his eyes. He backs away slowly before turning around and making a dash for the door.
Rushing outside, he sits down on the stone steps, he buries his head in his hands and feels the pull of all his anguish beating against his chest. His father is insane, he thinks he’s writing something profound but all it is…is a mess. He touches his cheek and feels the sting left from the blow of his father’s hand. Out the corner of his eyes, Kris sees Zitao’s shadow approach him.
With his head still buried in his hands he can only manage to choke out half a question at a time. “How long has…” “How…” “Long…” Kris wheezes with distress between each word, “has he been like this?”
Zitao folds his arms in front of him, “As long as I can remember. His lucid moments come and go, but he hasn’t been lucid for weeks. You really caught him at a bad time.”
Kris lifts his head, eyes narrowing at Zitao, “Then why did you let me go see him?”
“There was no getting anywhere arguing with you. I had to let you see for yourself. It may seem cruel, but it is reality.”
Kris groans in frustration, “This is not going the way I want it to.”
“Things hardly do.” Zitao replies sadly.
“I need him to be lucid. He needs to remember.”
“You can’t just force things like that to happen.”
“But I can try.”
Kris stands and runs back into the house.
His presence back inside the house startles the old man. Within a few long strides he is right up at the desk and he leans over and pulls up his father by the collar of his shirt, forcing past the boundaries of father and son.
“You need to help me. There are too many things at risk. You need to remember.” His hot breath ghosts over his father’s unresponsive face. His father’s eyes are glassy as he turns away from Kris.
Suddenly the old man’s face twitches and there’s a flicker of recognition in his eyes. Kris loosens his grip on his father’s collar and follows the old man’s gaze. He’s staring at Kris’ open wallet lying on the coffee table.
“You found him…?”
“Excuse me?”
The old man pulls out from Kris’ grasp and scrambles along the book-cluttered floor towards the coffee table. Pushing over the vase of dried flowers with his elbow, he snatches the wallet up in his hands, bringing it up to the light.
“What are you doing?! That’s my wallet!”
“Y-Y-you found…him.”
“What are you talking about??”
His father’s face has softened as he lifts his gaze off the wallet, in his left hand he has pulled out a photo that was tucked inside the wallet.
“That’s my graduation photo, with my friend Joonmyun.”
A wrinkled finger shakily points to the aged man between them. “Him…You found him…”
“I’m sorry? That’s my postgrad professor, Professor Wan.”
“Wan… I guess he changed his name…” The old man blinks for what seems like a minute before opening them up again, tears forming. “He’s the man from my stories, son.”
Kris feels his heart leap into his throat hearing the word “son” uttered from his father’s lips. All the suppressed emotions form as a lump in his throat and he tries to swallow and push it down before opening his mouth to speak again.
“The man from your stories?”
“That man I fixed.” Kris’ father says, fondly.
“He’s an Invalid.”
“Yes.”
“Shit.” Kris grabs the photo and shoves it back into his wallet, “He’s a fraud.”
“No! Don’t say such things!” His father protests forcefully.
“I can’t believe it. The irony of all of this.”
“What is ironic?”
“He roped one of my co-workers into the brain emulation and the Trident Facility as well. An Invalid bringing someone into Invalid rehabilitation. That’s rich.”
“Is that his son?”
“He has a son?” This has spiked Kris’ interest.
“Yes but… nevermind, forget what I said.”
Kris exhales and mutters to himself loudly, “Man, how did the Professor get through all the security checks, they would’ve never let an Invalid through, let alone one with powers.”
“Open the top draw of the filing cabinet over there,” Kris’ father points to the other side of the room. “There’s information there that might interest you. It’ll explain how he slipped through the system unnoticed.”
Kris trudges across the room towards the filing cabinet and pulls it open roughly. The draw is surprisingly bare, Kris was expecting it to be filled with papers that would yield a fine explanation for this problem, but there was only a bundle of papers tied together with some worn string. He takes out the bundle and goes to untie the string but hesitates to read it. He decides against it, tucks it under his arm and walks back towards his father.
“I have another question.”
“No more questions.” The old man says, is voice strong.
“Excuse me?”
“I am tired. Please leave.” He says offhandedly, resuming back to his own papers.
“But father…”
The old man looks up from the papers in front of him,
“Who are you?”
* * *
Outside the house, Kris stumbles about confused. A few minutes ago he didn’t even notice when his father lost it again and it tore him apart. He opens up the bundle of papers and skim over them.
The sketches on the first few pages were crude, some were faded and smudged, but they were defined enough for Kris to make out the details. There were perhaps over 40 illustrated explanations of some kind of contraption. It was long, with a rounded base and a pointed tip. The long arm of the contraption was made up of smaller segments with protrusions lined up along its sides. The segmentation allowed flexibility, the protrusions…Kris wasn’t so sure yet. His eyes flick up and down the page looking at the shorthand notes scribbled along the edges. He can’t make up half the notes so he’ll have to bring them back to the Trident Facility to get someone to help him decipher them.
The next pages have detailed sketches of the contraption, specifically the base and the tip. Kris noticed the words “Scorpion Tail” scribbled along the top of every page. He lets his feet guide him back to the front garden where Zitao is standing, tending to the trees.
“Zitao, can I ask you for something?”
“Depends on what it is, I guess.”
“I need to know if my fath-”
“He gave you those papers?”
Kris glances down to the bundle of papers in his hands that he tucked under his arm on the way out. He wasn’t counting on Zitao to be that observant.
“Yeah, I’m just borrowing them. He was only lucid for a few minutes after he recognized a man in a photo I had in my wallet, so he didn’t really get time to explain things to me.”
Zitao snatches the papers from Kris’ hands and begins flicking through them.
“He gave you information on the scorpion tail?”
Kris snatches the papers back, “Yeah he did. You know anything about it?”
“I have one.” Zitao turns around and pulls up the back of his shirt. Kris bends down and sees the very small incision scar around the lumbar area near the base of the spine.
“The person who put it in wasn’t very good with cosmetic surgery. The scarring is too obvious.”
“That person is your father.”
“That explains it. He should’ve cleaned up the scar tissue.”
“He would’ve, but I was bleeding too much.”
“Ah I see… Can you tell me more about the Scorpion Tail?”
Zitao looks at Kris suspiciously, “What do you want to know about it?”
“Look, I know that it’s used in Invalid rehabilitation, but I just don’t know the mechanics and I don’t have time to sit down and decipher all the shorthand notes.”
“Invalid rehabilitation? That’s where you’re wrong. It doesn’t rehabilitate, it suppresses Invalid power.”
“That’s not possible, is it?”
“Wow, I thought you would be smarter.”
“Hey, we don’t need those kind of comments.”
Zitao raises his hands defensively and then motions Kris to sit down on the stone steps. As Kris sits down, Zitao snatches the papers out of Kris’ hands and shuffles up the order. He pulls up one of the pages with a small sketch of the contraptions base with masses of illegible shorthand underneath. He points to the drawing and then points to the scar that is just above the base of his spine.
“That’s where the base is fitted in, it’s the useless part of the Scorpion Tail, so it can go anywhere really, but the Tail is more effective if it covers a larger area of your spinal cord.”
“So it’s actually attached onto the spinal cord.”
“Yeah, these…spindly things…I call them spider legs,” Zitao smiles sheepishly, “they feed into the little openings of your vertebra and fuse with your spinal cord. And then there’s the tip of the Tail. This is the most important part…”
“It connects to the brain stem.”
“Yeah.” Zitao replies with a smile. “The Tail is designed according to your bioelectromagnetism. I guess you can say it acts like a parasite and feeds off the electromagnetic field you emit, and somehow it draws down your frequency.”
Kris continues with the explanation“…To the point where it would be impossible for manifestations of unnatural powers to occur, right?”
“Yup. And with a lower frequency, no one suspects you to be an Invalid.”
“So basically my father cheated this entire time.” Kris face darkens.
“Cheated…?”
“He basically built the entire Invalid rehabilitation field…on a foundation of lies.”
Zitao wrinkles his nose, “But he helped people.”
“But he still lied.”
“Did he?”
“Yeah, we’ve all been working on real rehabilitation techniques that require time and constant attention…while he just… smacked a stupid contraption onto them and voilà, they’re cured. What a rip off on society this entire thing is.”
Zitao’s jaw drops in disbelief, “You shouldn’t say things like that. Sure it may have been a method that seems like a shortcut, but it’s cutting edge technology…don’t you see how many people it has helped?!”
“Actually I don’t see. I don’t know who the Tail has helped. You wouldn’t happen to have a list handy would you?” Kris asks sarcastically.
The sarcasm slips by Zitao and he suddenly stands up, pulling at Kris’ arm. “Come on, I’ll show you.”
They walk past the main house and through the back garden to a small greenhouse. Zitao wanders around the side of the greenhouse’s glass windows and fumbles around looking for something. A few minutes pass and Zitao signals Kris to head into the greenhouse.
The interior of the greenhouse is filled with lush color. Kris is taken aback at how green everything is. Most of what is green back at the Facility is artificial or chlorophyll enhanced. He moves closer to all the plants and brushes his hand against the leaves. His hand trails along the top of all the green and Kris is delighted by the cool touch. There’s one plant that grows along a trellis against the back glass wall of the greenhouse. Kris is drawn to its dull green color and its twisted branches. He lifts his hand up to touch the small leaves and as soon as his fingertips brush the leaves, they fold up and shy away.
“Enjoying yourself there?” Zitao is suddenly at Kris’ side, causing Kris to stagger back a little, surprised.
“What type of plant is that?” Kris points to the trellis.
“Oh that’s Mimosa, you touched it didn’t you?”
“Was I not supposed to?” Kris asks, slightly concerned for some reason.
“Oh nah, don’t worry.”
“It’s amazing.”
“It’s my favorite.” Zitao says, tickling the plant and watches the intricate leaves fold up.
“I’ve never seen anything like it before.”
“It’s been around for centuries, but most of it has died out in the wild. It’s very sensitive to the nuclear waste from the processing of Modena.”
Kris shuffles closer to the trellis, entranced by the plant. “So what were you doing out there after you told me to go in here first?” Kris asks without looking at Zitao.
“Getting this.” Zitao holds up a blue folder and then hands it over to Kris, “It’s the list of people the Scorpion Tail has helped.”
“Oh wow.” Kris smiles weakly and mutters under his breath, “I didn’t think you would actually take me seriously.”
Kris flicks through the folders plastic sleeves and his smile fades. The list of clientele is long, but what catches Kris’ attention is where the Scorpion Tail surgery was administered.
“Most of the surgeries for the Scorpion Tail is done at Favona Institute.”
“Yeah, do you know it?”
“My friend Joonmyun works there.”
“Oh… what a small world.”
“Too small.” Kris keeps flipping through the folder and something else catches his eye. A name this time, 2 hanzi characters that stand out amongst the rest.
鹿晗
Lu Han
a/n:
next chapter find out what is happening back at the facility while kris is away,
please enjoy your stay at the trident rehabilitation facility,
if you ever find that natural truths are spat at you like insults
remember that truth is cruel, but it can be loved,
and it makes free those who have loved it.
hi. read and leave comment? or tweet me @notochrasy
ps. good grief, long chapter eh? ohohohohohoho. to make up for such a late update ;w;
i just want to thank everyone who is reading this story, i didn't think i'd get many readers for this because it's i'm not really addressing many popular themes... and i'm happy that people can stomach all the science and pseudo-science i throw into my story haha, and the pairing is for writing purposes and not romantic lol, so i'm really grateful for everyone who is reading this, and whether you've commented before, or tweeted me, or dropped a message in my tumblr askbox, or you're just a lurking silent reader, i love you all ;w; ♥
Click to viewhere's an extra gift for those who have read this far, this is an original song i wrote back in may. and now you know that when i'm not writing, i'm singing haha.
(i'm also in an exo angel collab as suho that will be finished...sometime...in the near future, and i'll link you guys in upcoming chapters once it's done :'D)
pps. that segment from mr li's notebook is actually gibberish. so don't worry if you don't understand it. it's based off of a 1930s quantum physics paper i was reading and then i just mixed up everything and yeah lol...you're not meant to understand anything :D