Soulless: Awakening - Chapter Eight
Title: Soulless: Awakening
Chapter: 8/11
Fandom: SS501, cameos of Super Junior, BEAST and SHINee
Pairing: KyuMinSaeng
Rating: PG-16
Warning: AU, Dystopia, Angst
Summary: Arc I. The year is 400 AM…400 After Man. Humankind is extinct, but they didn’t leave Earth uninhabited. For 400 years androids have lived in their place. Citizens have the same thoughts, same likes and same dislikes as every other android in their model. But even an automated society has its troublemakers. A terrorist group calling themselves the Soulfuls operate outside their model programming and stir unrest. The government advises all citizens to report any Soulful activity immediately, and to stay away from them, for Soulfuls are those infected with a virus causing them to behave erratically…a very contagious virus…
A/N: Arc I was written for National Novel Writing Month 2010, hope you enjoy! Do not own the characters, but the plot is all mine. Please comment <3 Sorry for the late update!!! /hides
“Leave.”
The Model 8 turned around properly, and his brown eyes were wide with fear as he pushed KyuJong back out of the room. “Get out, leave me alone!”
“Wait,” KyuJong protested. “I just wanted to understand!”
“There’s nothing to understand, leave right now!”
“Kyu yah?”
KyuJong looked behind him as he was pushed out into the hallway, seeing YoungSaeng and JungMin there. They looked from KyuJong to the Model 8 with wide eyes.
“…Okay, what’s going on?” JungMin asked.
KyuJong yelped when he was suddenly shoved away completely, landing on his rear as the door slammed shut.
YoungSaeng crouched next to him, eyes serious. “What happened, KyuJong?”
The Model 6 was still blinking at the closed door, the Model 8 locking himself inside. “I…I just wanted to know who he was.”
YoungSaeng stared at him, biting his lower lip. “He doesn’t take very well to new people…”
“I see that,” KyuJong shook his head, wincing as he stood back up. “But…he’s a Model 8, isn’t he?”
The other two were silent, exchanging looks.
After a long pause, JungMin walked up to the door and knocked it. “All right DongHae, open up.”
“Min,” YoungSaeng protested, standing as well.
“No, if Kyu already knows then there’s no point in him hiding. DongHae, I will break through the lock if you don’t open the door right now.”
There was nothing for a long minute. Then a soft click sounded before the door opened a crack, brown eyes peering out at them.
Sighing, YoungSaeng smiled at him gently. “Hae, this is KyuJong. Our newest recruit. He’s really sweet, he just asks a lot of questions. He’s not going to hurt you.”
KyuJong wanted to protest the idea of ever wanting to hurt him, wondering why they would even think of that, but the very real fear in DongHae’s eyes made him stop and think about that for a moment. Past conversations came to mind.
The second they began to step out of line, to try spreading the idea of free thought, they were brought down. It was a massacre.
He doesn’t believe in fighting, even for our cause. But he’s not safe anywhere else.
Suddenly, KyuJong felt he understood.
“DongHae,” he started quietly, biting his lower lip. The eyes shifted to look at him. “I mean you no harm…really. It’s amazing all that you’ve done here, and I just want to know more about it. There’s so much I don’t understand, and I want to understand. I’m sorry for scaring you…I didn’t mean to.”
There was nothing for a long moment, DongHae just watching him. Then the eyes disappeared, and slowly the door eased open.
JungMin put an arm around KyuJong’s shoulders, and the three of them walked into the room. DongHae had backed away from the door, watching KyuJong warily. KyuJong noticed he didn’t watch JungMin or YoungSaeng with the same fear; they must know each other already.
“What do you want to know?” DongHae asked quietly.
“Everything,” KyuJong answered. “How you can create such things,” he continued, motioning towards the painting on the wall. “How you understand music. What happened centuries ago, how you survived…everything.”
“That’s a lot,” DongHae murmured, but his lips quirked upwards tentatively. KyuJong returned it with a smile of his own.
“Yeah, I know. It’s dizzying sometimes.”
“He doesn’t shut up with all his questions,” JungMin snorted, but his arm squeezed around KyJong’s shoulders lightly.
“This is very nice,” YoungSaeng said approvingly, looking at the painting. “Where are you putting this?”
“In the vault,” DongHae replied. “It’s not done by humans, but I think it should go in there all the same.”
“I think so too,” YoungSaeng said, and they smiled at each other.
Drawing in a breath, DongHae slowly sat down on the edge of his bed. “It’s a very long story.”
“We have time now,” JungMin grinned, sitting down in a chair. KyuJong felt the 7’s arm slip around his waist, and he yelped when he was pulled down into the other android’s lap, looking back at JungMin quizzically.
YoungSaeng just laughed, closing the door and sitting down next to DongHae. The Model 8 was watching KyuJong with an unreadable expression. “Oh...you do have your work cut out with him…”
“Huh?” KyuJong blinked, and YoungSaeng gave a long-suffering sigh.
Shaking his head, DongHae smiled, the expression a little more eased now. “Well…where do I start?”
“Start with the rebellion?” JungMin suggested, resting his chin on KyuJong’s shoulder. It felt strange to the Model 6, the warmth of the redhead’s body, but he slowly relaxed against it.
DongHae nodded. “As good a place as any, I suppose…” He drew in a breath. “Well, you know the basics of it, right? That we spoke up against lack of free thought, and were terminated for it.”
KyuJong nodded as well. “Yeah, but that’s all I know.” He didn’t trust what the government had told him anymore.
“Well…I was there when it happened.” DongHae drew in a deep breath. “There were a few of the Soulfuls around then, only they weren’t known as Soulfuls yet…and there were only two of them, really. They talked with us about free speech, and we decided to team up and try to spread the idea. Only…the government found out before we could even start, and began killing us at random.”
The Model 8 shook his head. “I was close with the two Soulfuls…probably the only reason why I was saved. They hid me from the government, in an underground room that would much later become the first section of the HQ. They tried to save the others…but it was too late. I was the only 8 they could rescue.” He closed his eyes.
KyuJong bit his lower lip. “And you decided to help them after?”
“Sort of. I’ve only been aboveground a few times, and only long after all the other 8’s were gone…it’s just not safe for me up there anymore. So I’m already limited in how I can help.” DongHae looked up at the ceiling. “And I don’t like to fight. I don’t like blowing things up like some people to.” There was a very pointed look at JungMin. “I do help…just in different ways.”
Nodding slowly in understanding, KyuJong looked towards the painting on the wall. “By painting things?”
“It’s more than just paint on the walls. It’s free expression. I’m trying to promote free expression, and appreciation for real beauty. Machines don’t have any use for beauty, but it’s there if you know where to look. And we have to be able to look…or else we’re no better than semi-sentient drones in the end. Being able to think on your own means nothing if it’s so muted you simply can’t.” DongHae looked towards KyuJong. “Am I making any sense?”
Thinking about that, KyuJong nodded. “It makes sense.” More sense than it would have made when he started here. “We say we can think, but it’s still limited by our programming…we can only think within constraints. But doesn’t everything have constraints?”
DongHae smiled. “Humans had constraints too…they called it ‘conditioning’. You are conditioned by your environment and your experiences, to behave and think a certain way…like programming. But programming is absolute. Conditioning…they could go against their conditioning. They could recondition themselves to think a different way, by opening themselves up to different opinions and different experiences outside what they have experienced.”
KyuJong took a moment to let that sink in.
The Model 8 tilted his head, watching him. “What do you think about your time here, KyuJong?”
The other man blinked. “Hm?”
“I mean…what do you think about this organization? What do you think about the government? Is it the same as what you thought before arriving here?”
“…” KyuJong blinked. “It isn’t.” His opinion about the Soulfuls was very different now.
“See?” DongHae smiled at him. “You reprogrammed yourself, KyuJong. That’s the power of being a Soulful…you can teach yourself to think in different ways, to open your mind to new things. The government can’t control you anymore. The only one who can control you…is you.”
KyuJong stopped, blinking at him. DongHae was right.
Before, he had been controlled…his every thought and action dictated by programming written by those above him. But now…now, he thought what he wanted to think. They had no power over him. There would always be the voice in the back of his head, telling him he shouldn’t be doing something like this…but it was just a voice. A voice couldn’t control him.
“…I think he’s finally starting to understand,” YoungSaeng murmured, watching the smile spread on KyuJong’s lips.
“About time,” JungMin chuckled, resting his head against KyuJong’s shoulder.
DongHae smiled widely, leaning back onto his hands. After a moment he laughed. “Do you want to paint with me, KyuJong?”
“Paint?” KyuJong looked doubtfully at the beautiful painting on the wall.
JungMin laughed. “No one touches DongHae’s paintings, Kyu. There’s another canvas underneath.”
“Oh,” KyuJong murmured, sheepish.
“This one’s already dry, so it’s fine.” DongHae hopped up off the bed and walked over to the canvas, dragging a chair over. He stood on top of the chair so he could unclip the canvas from the ceiling, taking it down carefully. YoungSaeng got up to help him roll it up and place it to one side. KyuJong smiled to see the blank canvas underneath.
JungMin stood up, KyuJong yelping as he was placed down on his feet. He then blinked when DongHae approached him with several small paint buckets. “Here, pick a color.”
“Can Saengie and I paint too?” JungMin asked excitedly.
“Depends if you’re going to get my walls as well as the canvas,” DongHae grinned. The Model 8 seemed much more at ease now, bouncing on the balls of his feet.
“Yay!” JungMin snatched a paint bucket from DongHae and made off with it, skipping over to the canvas.
KyuJong blinked at the remaining paint buckets before taking one, looking at the color. It was a deep yellow.
DongHae laughed and walked over to the canvas, placing the rest down. “Paint whatever you want.”
“There’s no guidelines or anything?” KyuJong asked, following him and looking up at the blank canvas.
“Creative expression doesn’t have guidelines,” DongHae chuckled, sending a smile his way as he opened a bucket of blue.
A smile appeared on KyuJong’s lips. Creative expression. He rather liked the idea. Opening his own bucket, he picked up one of the many brushes lying around and glanced at the others. JungMin had forgone the brushes entirely and dipped his hands into the purple paint he’d chosen, pressing his hands palm-out against the canvas. When the redhead pulled back, KyuJong grinned wider to see the purple handprints.
Looking up at the canvas, KyuJong wondered what he should paint.
“Don’t think,” YoungSaeng said, dipping a brush into the yellow paint and drawing notes on the canvas. “Put your brush on the canvas, and draw. Just draw.”
Blinking, KyuJong did as he was told and dipped his brush into the paint, placing it against the canvas. For a moment he just watched the paint drip down from the brush, smiling. Then he slowly started to move the brush back and forth, watching the paint spread.
DongHae squished himself in between JungMin and the wall, brush already moving. KyuJong watched out of the corner of his eyes, entranced, as streets started to appear. JungMin scooted over to give the artist more room, drawing shapes with his fingers.
“Your hands are going to be purple the rest of the day,” YoungSaeng chuckled, watching him.
“And your point is?” JungMin grinned widely. “It’s fun!” He turned around, and KyuJong squeaked when a blob of purple was dabbed onto his nose.
YoungSaeng laughed as KyuJong tried to get the paint off, and just ended up smudging it across one cheek and his hand. “And that’s why I’m on your other side, Kyu yah.”
“You knew he would do that?” KyuJong felt a pout forming.
“Of course,” YoungSaeng said matter-of-factly. “It’s JungMin, and paint. What else would happen?”
KyuJong sighed and shook his head, grin refusing to leave his face. Turning back to the canvas, he became aware JungMin was mouthing something at him. Blinking, he looked towards the redhead warily, wondering what he was trying to say.
Then he read JungMin’s lips, and the grin slowly turned mischievous.
YoungSaeng turned away for a moment, and KyuJong bent over to dip two fingers into the yellow paint, entranced for a moment at the feel of it against his skin. But he didn’t allow it to distract him, and when YoungSaeng turned around to resume painting, KyuJong quickly reached out and drew two yellow stripes on one of the Model 3’s cheeks.
A yelp escaped YoungSaeng and he backed up quickly. “Kyu yah!” he whined, wiping at the paint and trying to get it off.
KyuJong burst out laughing as the yellow spread until YoungSaeng’s cheek was covered in it. “Wait, wait, you’re not symmetrical.” He stepped forward to do the other cheek, and was nearly kicked.
“Oh no you don’t!”
JungMin snickered, watching them. “Need help, Kyu?” He strode over.
YoungSaeng scampered out of the corner. “Min ah, don’t you dare,” he warned.
“What if I do dare?” JungMin teased, approaching the other man with purple hands out.
“I will string you to the trapdoor,” YoungSaeng threatened, backing up.
“Already tried that, remember?” the redhead grinned maliciously as he and KyuJong cornered the Model 3. DongHae laughed against the wall.
“I’d do it agai-“ YoungSaeng shrieked when JungMin grabbed him and twisted his arms behind his back, kicking out. KyuJong had to avoid being kicked yet again.
“Hurry, hurry,” JungMin laughed, fighting to keep his hold on the other android. Grinning widely, KyuJong dived forward and smudged his fingers across YoungSaeng’s other cheek before he was kicked onto his back. Laying there, he laughed until he couldn’t breathe, rolling around.
Fighting his way out of JungMin’s grasp, YoungSaeng glared at the redhead before grabbing the other android’s hands and pushing them into his face, JungMin yelping. “Hey!”
Pulling his hands back, purple now smudged across his face, he chased YoungSaeng around the room trying to catch him. This of course, did nothing to stop KyuJong from laughing his head off.
The chase only stopped when YoungSaeng jumped over KyuJong and JungMin tripped instead, landing on top of the Model 6. Both androids yelped at the collision, KyuJong blinking up at JungMin with wide eyes.
Blinking back, JungMin suddenly grinned and jabbed more purple on KyuJong’s face, drawing a squeak from the other android. “Hey!” KyuJong struggled, wrestling with JungMin on the ground. YoungSaeng joined DongHae against the wall laughing.
Suddenly KyuJong somehow managed to flip them both over so that he was on top, grinning victoriously. “Gotcha!” Panting, he looked down at JungMin, who was blinking back up at him.
The victorious expression shifted slightly as KyuJong saw JungMin’s gaze shift a little lower than his eyes. The way the redhead’s eyes darkened ever so slightly made KyuJong’s breath catch in his throat, even as he wondered what had distracted the other android.
“You both okay?” DongHae asked, and KyuJong snapped back to the present, climbing off JungMin. YoungSaeng and DongHae were watching them with far too much amusement to be normal. YoungSaeng in particular seemed to be smiling a little too much.
:Yeah,” JungMin laughed, sitting up. He wiped at his face. “I think we’ll all need to clean up after this.”
“Not me,” DongHae chirped. “Paint stayed on the canvas.”
The other three exchanged looks. “Should we fix that?” YoungSaeng mused.
DongHae’s eyes widened.
It was a good ten minutes later before they returned to actually painting. Watching the others, and the pout on DongHae’s face after being decorated with large swirls on his cheeks and nose, KyuJong chuckled to himself as he turned back to the canvas, feeling lighter.
Remembering the large sun drawing on the ceiling of the hallway, KyuJong started to draw a large yellow circle at the top of the canvas, leaning up on his toes to get as high as he could. Completing it with rays of yellow coming from the circle, he leaned back and smiled.
DongHae watched, the pout shifting into a grin. “You want to see the sun?”
KyuJong nodded. “Yeah. It would be nice to see it, one day.”
“It’s beautiful,” DongHae smiled, and laughed as JungMin skipped over and drew a purple smiley face inside the sun.
“We should get going,” YoungSaeng sighed after a while, stepping back away from the canvas covered in random-colored paint and silly drawings. “I don’t know about you all, but I’m running low on charge.”
“Same,” DongHae smiled tiredly, putting his brush down. “I’ll clean up, why don’t you guys go rest?”
KyuJong nodded, noticing he needed to recharge as well. They’d been in here for a while, and the mission before had been exhausting.
They said goodbye, KyuJong smiling at DongHae, a smile that was returned. At least one of the Soulful’s mysteries had been solved.
Thinking about all that had happened, KyuJong stopped by one of the other rooms where he knew there was a sink and running water. He did his best to get the paint off his skin, though there was still a shadow of purple. Oh well, it would come off eventually. Chuckling and shaking his head, he turned off the tap and retreated to his room.
Laying down on his bed, he pulled on the wireless charger and closed his eyes. The image that played through his head as he drifted into the usual haze he occupied while recharging was that of the canvas, blank at first and slowly being filled with color, shapes and life.
He slowly opened his eyes 10 hours later, feeling more-or-less refreshed. He would need to return to his apartment for a full charge eventually, but he was putting it off as long as possible. He actually liked the shorter charges, laying down on a bed rather than stay standing in a charging dock.
Sitting up and rubbing his eyes, KyuJong’s eyes landed on something that hadn’t been there before. Blinking, he stood up and padded over to one of the walls, formerly the deep brown it had been painted in.
Reaching up, KyuJong’s fingers brushed along the dried yellow paint of a sun as his eyes took in the wall-length canvas, and he smiled.
******************************************
“So this is what you do when you’re bored?”
KyuJong watched YoungSaeng draw notes on the walls of his and JungMin’s room, doing what he called ‘composing’.
YoungSaeng smiled. “More or less. It’s relaxing, when Min ah isn’t hitting any note he can reach in random orders.”
JungMin snickered from where he was sprawled out on his stomach on the bed, watching the Model 3. “That’s music too.”
“No, it’s just called noise at that point.”
Chuckling to himself, KyuJong curled up in the chair he was in and returned his attention to the book in his hands. After discovering he liked to read, he’d asked YoungSaeng to borrow more books from the vault. The 3 was all too happy to let him read as much as he wanted, if the book wasn’t in too bad a condition, and he promised to give it back later.
It was interesting, learning about how humans had thought. Their emotions were far from simple, and it hurt his head just trying to keep up with it all.
This book in particular introduced a new element, and he was hard-put to understand it. Finally he gave in and looked up at YoungSaeng, who was absorbed in his composing.
“Saeng, what’s this ‘love’ thing they keep talking about?”
There was a muffled snort from JungMin, the redhead burying his face in the bed’s comforter as YoungSaeng turned around, blinking owlishly at KyuJong.
“That’s…” YoungSaeng frowned a little. “It’s hard to explain.”
KyuJong kept looking up at him, until the Model 3 sighed and leaned against the wall as he thought.
“Love is…when another person becomes so important, so much a part of you, you need them like you need your power core to function. The person is like a second power core. Your assessment of situations when they are there is often optimistically slanted, and whatever directive you had before is overwritten in favor of their wellbeing.”
Listening with interest, KyuJong tilted his head to one side. “What…purpose does it have?”
“Depends what you classify as a purpose,” YoungSaeng smiled. “As you’ve noticed by now, things like painting and composing don’t necessarily have a purpose in machine terms…but they are beneficial nonetheless, and present themselves as such to us. You feel accomplished with them. Love…love is presented as beneficial to us too. As such, it is very difficult to override. You want to protect and always be with the person you are in love with…and love is what gives us a soul. Love is what makes having a soul worthwhile.”
KyuJong watched the expression on YoungSaeng’s face. “A soul, huh…” he thought about that for a moment. “Is that why you believe we have souls?”
“Hm?” YoungSaeng blinked.
“Do you love someone, YoungSaeng?”
”Guys, we need help at the main entrance, pronto!”
All three of them jumped at HyungJoon’s call through the comm line. “What is it?” YoungSaeng asked, glancing at JungMin before turning his attention back to the line.
”Good news: We’ve got new recruits, a ton of them!”
“And why is it so urgent that we get there right away?” JungMin asked, sitting up.
”That’s the bad news. They ran into 3’s on the way and some of them might need to be pieced back together.”
YoungSaeng flinched. “We’re on our way.” He glanced sidelong at KyuJong before stepping away from the wall. “Let’s go,” he said, hurrying to the door and throwing it open. JungMin and KyuJong were right behind him.
They reached the main room under the trap door three minutes later to find it full of people. It seemed like everyone from the first cell was there, including DongHae to KyuJong’s surprise. The Model 8 was right in the thick of the crowd, talking to a young man KyuJong didn’t recognize and assisting him in standing. It took a moment for the Model 6 to figure out why. The unknown android was missing a leg.
There were five in total, KyuJong noticed with amazement. Five new recruits, though one was definitely in pieces. Seeing what the 3’s had done to him, KyuJong swallowed and looked away. The mechanics would have to work a miracle with that one.
The one in pieces was rushed to the infirmary on a stretcher, DongHae helping the one without a leg limp in the same direction. The remaining three looked more than a little panic-stricken, and one had a dent in his shoulder, but otherwise they looked fine.
KyuJong felt YoungSaeng’s hand slip into his own, and he was being pulled towards the three. “You might want to get that looked at,” he said gently to the one with the dented shoulder.
“It’s fine,” mumbled the android, KyuJong recognizing him as a Model 7. The other two were Model 6 and 4 respectively.
“What are your names?” HyunJoong asked. KyuJong spotted KiBum lingering near the edge of the group, looking at him for a moment with a frown before returning his attention to the others.
As expected, the three responded with numbers, not names. YoungSaeng brought out the list of names and started to explain it to them. KyuJong listened in, and was baffled at how simple it all seemed now. How it made perfect sense to have a name instead of a number, and how easy it was to know his own name. But he understood the looks of utter confusion on the faces of the new three.
After some fumbling, the Model 4 was the first to give a satisfactory answer, replying with a quiet ‘MinHo’. The injured 7 was next, with ‘TaeMin’.
The Model 6 needed a little more work, and JungMin had to come up behind him and scare him before he finally yelped “JinKi!” HyungJoon hit JungMin off the head, and was thwacked in return.
“How did you all find out about us?” a Model 4 named LeeTeuk asked, taking up position of spokesperson.
“We saw the city announcement not that long ago, about free thought,” JinKi said, glancing uncertainly at the other two. “It took a bit to figure out that we were the only ones who thought the way we do. Especially about the social hierarchy.”
“No one listens to him, even if he is higher than everyone except 42…MinHo,” TaeMin corrected himself while pointing at JinKi, who looked hurt.
“I know the feeling,” HyunJoong chuckled, and JungMin snorted.
“Will the other two be all right?” TaeMin asked, eyes wide.
“They will be, we have some of the best repairmen around,” LeeTeuk said, putting one arm around TaeMin’s shoulders and steering him towards the hallway. “Let’s show you all around, then we’ll go see how they’re doing, okay?”
KyuJong watched them go before turning to YoungSaeng and JungMin, who were talking quietly. “What now?”
“Some of us are heading up to make sure the 3’s stay far away,” YoungSaeng replied, running a frustrated hand through his hair. “HeeChul and SiWon found these five running around being chased, and brought them straight here, but they might have been followed.”
Swallowing, KyuJong thought about that. “What would happen if they found this place?”
“Then we’re have to clear out and lay low until we’re able to regroup elsewhere,” JungMin said. “As long as they don’t know our numbers, we can blend in perfectly.”
Not true, KyuJong realized. There was one of them here who couldn’t blend back into society and wait.
“What about DongHae?”
There was uncomfortable silence, YoungSaeng and JungMin looking everywhere but KyuJong.
“We’d try to hide him,” YoungSaeng said quietly. “We’d do our best. But…there’s no guarantee.”
“You wouldn’t just…leave him,” KyuJong said slowly.
“No!” JungMin snapped. “No one here would leave him alone, and he has friends high-up in the organization. He’ll be fine.”
But KyuJong could tell they weren’t sure of their own words. There was no way to guarantee the safety of a Model 8, and KyuJong tried not to think of the extreme fear DongHae’s eyes had held upon first meeting him.
What would the government do to him, if they knew there was one Model 8 left?
Eventually they wandered towards the infirmary to check on the two injured recruits. By then, TaeMin, MinHo and JinKi were there as well, watching with wide, worried eyes. HyungJoon was taking care of the dent in TaeMin’s shoulder, scolding him. From what KyuJong understood, TaeMin had jumped in the way of a Model 3 about to finish dismantling the android who had been taken to pieces, and been smashed into the wall before HeeChul arrived and got the 3 off of him.
The one who had been missing a leg was looking a lot better now, chatting with DongHae as RyeoWook finished attaching his new limb. Once YoungSaeng presented the list of names, he was easily identified as JongHyun.
The remaining of the five they couldn’t even see past the group surrounding the bed. KyuHyun was in the thick of it, instructing them on what to do.
“He’s going to be okay, right?” TaeMin asked quietly.
“We’re going to do our best,” RyeoWook assured him before standing, his task of attaching JongHyun’s new leg complete. He slipped into the group around the other bed to help KyuHyun.
“But…they’re Model 9’s, how do they know this?” JongHyun blinked. From the looks of him, he was a Model 6 as well, KyuJong noticed and smiled to himself.
“Why are you looking so amused?” JungMin rolled his eyes, noticing KyuJong’s expression. “You were even worse with questions, I’ll have you remember. Every sentence that came out of your mouth was a question.”
“I can’t help it if you’re horrible at explaining,” KyuJong smiled, and dodged the hit.
He noticed that while the others were good about answering the four new recruits’ questions, there were some they wouldn’t answer. Those were the questions KyuJong himself had dwelled on for weeks before figuring it out.
And now he kind of understood why it had to happen that way. They had to be given a chance to reprogram themselves before they could be told the full reality, or they wouldn’t accept it. KyuJong wouldn’t have accepted half of what he knew now if he’d been told so at the very beginning.
There was still a lot he didn’t know…but he was fine with not knowing for the moment. Maybe he wasn’t ready to know the full truth yet. He would keep on going, keep on reprogramming himself, until he was fully able to accept how reality truly was.
**********************************
It had taken a lot to get KyuJong back into his apartment. He knew he should return aboveground for a full charge, especially with recent events. The small charges had been doing wonders, but he needed a full 50 hours to recover from all the activity lately.
He was just about to step into the recharging dock when noises outside caught his attention. Blinking, he went to the window and peered out…and felt his eyes widen.
There were rows of 3’s marching across the streets, so many of them. Why were they patrolling now? Why here?
He watched them head out of sight before tapping his wrist, turning on his mic. “Guys?”
”Yeah?” HyunJoong asked.
”What’s up, Kyu?” JungMin piped up.
“Uh…why are there patrols of Model 3’s walking around the streets?”
There was silent for a moment.
”…I have no idea…” HyunJoong murmured. ”I’ll ask around.” There was the usual ‘pzt’ as he turned off his mic.
”What does it look like they’re doing, Kyu yah?” YoungSaeng asked quietly.
KyuJong watched where the last 3 had disappeared. “I have no idea…they were just walking.”
”Routine patrol?” HyungJoon suggested, but he sounded strained.
”How many, Kyu?” JungMin asked.
“At least 50 from what I could see,” The 6 replied.
”…That’s no routine,” YoungSaeng murmured. ”Lay low, Kyu, wait an hour or two before recharging. If anything changes, contact us right away.”
KyuJong nodded. “Will do.”
One by one, the others turned off their mics, KyuJong doing the same. For a long time, he just stood there watching outside the window, waiting to see if the 3’s would come back. There was no sign of them, but something coiled inside his chest, a nervous feeling that wouldn’t leave.
There was the strange brush against his mind again, and he gave into it without even thinking, without even wondering what it was, letting it distract him from the worry that he might have been discovered.
Chapter: 8/11
Fandom: SS501, cameos of Super Junior, BEAST and SHINee
Pairing: KyuMinSaeng
Rating: PG-16
Warning: AU, Dystopia, Angst
Summary: Arc I. The year is 400 AM…400 After Man. Humankind is extinct, but they didn’t leave Earth uninhabited. For 400 years androids have lived in their place. Citizens have the same thoughts, same likes and same dislikes as every other android in their model. But even an automated society has its troublemakers. A terrorist group calling themselves the Soulfuls operate outside their model programming and stir unrest. The government advises all citizens to report any Soulful activity immediately, and to stay away from them, for Soulfuls are those infected with a virus causing them to behave erratically…a very contagious virus…
A/N: Arc I was written for National Novel Writing Month 2010, hope you enjoy! Do not own the characters, but the plot is all mine. Please comment <3 Sorry for the late update!!! /hides
“Leave.”
The Model 8 turned around properly, and his brown eyes were wide with fear as he pushed KyuJong back out of the room. “Get out, leave me alone!”
“Wait,” KyuJong protested. “I just wanted to understand!”
“There’s nothing to understand, leave right now!”
“Kyu yah?”
KyuJong looked behind him as he was pushed out into the hallway, seeing YoungSaeng and JungMin there. They looked from KyuJong to the Model 8 with wide eyes.
“…Okay, what’s going on?” JungMin asked.
KyuJong yelped when he was suddenly shoved away completely, landing on his rear as the door slammed shut.
YoungSaeng crouched next to him, eyes serious. “What happened, KyuJong?”
The Model 6 was still blinking at the closed door, the Model 8 locking himself inside. “I…I just wanted to know who he was.”
YoungSaeng stared at him, biting his lower lip. “He doesn’t take very well to new people…”
“I see that,” KyuJong shook his head, wincing as he stood back up. “But…he’s a Model 8, isn’t he?”
The other two were silent, exchanging looks.
After a long pause, JungMin walked up to the door and knocked it. “All right DongHae, open up.”
“Min,” YoungSaeng protested, standing as well.
“No, if Kyu already knows then there’s no point in him hiding. DongHae, I will break through the lock if you don’t open the door right now.”
There was nothing for a long minute. Then a soft click sounded before the door opened a crack, brown eyes peering out at them.
Sighing, YoungSaeng smiled at him gently. “Hae, this is KyuJong. Our newest recruit. He’s really sweet, he just asks a lot of questions. He’s not going to hurt you.”
KyuJong wanted to protest the idea of ever wanting to hurt him, wondering why they would even think of that, but the very real fear in DongHae’s eyes made him stop and think about that for a moment. Past conversations came to mind.
The second they began to step out of line, to try spreading the idea of free thought, they were brought down. It was a massacre.
He doesn’t believe in fighting, even for our cause. But he’s not safe anywhere else.
Suddenly, KyuJong felt he understood.
“DongHae,” he started quietly, biting his lower lip. The eyes shifted to look at him. “I mean you no harm…really. It’s amazing all that you’ve done here, and I just want to know more about it. There’s so much I don’t understand, and I want to understand. I’m sorry for scaring you…I didn’t mean to.”
There was nothing for a long moment, DongHae just watching him. Then the eyes disappeared, and slowly the door eased open.
JungMin put an arm around KyuJong’s shoulders, and the three of them walked into the room. DongHae had backed away from the door, watching KyuJong warily. KyuJong noticed he didn’t watch JungMin or YoungSaeng with the same fear; they must know each other already.
“What do you want to know?” DongHae asked quietly.
“Everything,” KyuJong answered. “How you can create such things,” he continued, motioning towards the painting on the wall. “How you understand music. What happened centuries ago, how you survived…everything.”
“That’s a lot,” DongHae murmured, but his lips quirked upwards tentatively. KyuJong returned it with a smile of his own.
“Yeah, I know. It’s dizzying sometimes.”
“He doesn’t shut up with all his questions,” JungMin snorted, but his arm squeezed around KyJong’s shoulders lightly.
“This is very nice,” YoungSaeng said approvingly, looking at the painting. “Where are you putting this?”
“In the vault,” DongHae replied. “It’s not done by humans, but I think it should go in there all the same.”
“I think so too,” YoungSaeng said, and they smiled at each other.
Drawing in a breath, DongHae slowly sat down on the edge of his bed. “It’s a very long story.”
“We have time now,” JungMin grinned, sitting down in a chair. KyuJong felt the 7’s arm slip around his waist, and he yelped when he was pulled down into the other android’s lap, looking back at JungMin quizzically.
YoungSaeng just laughed, closing the door and sitting down next to DongHae. The Model 8 was watching KyuJong with an unreadable expression. “Oh...you do have your work cut out with him…”
“Huh?” KyuJong blinked, and YoungSaeng gave a long-suffering sigh.
Shaking his head, DongHae smiled, the expression a little more eased now. “Well…where do I start?”
“Start with the rebellion?” JungMin suggested, resting his chin on KyuJong’s shoulder. It felt strange to the Model 6, the warmth of the redhead’s body, but he slowly relaxed against it.
DongHae nodded. “As good a place as any, I suppose…” He drew in a breath. “Well, you know the basics of it, right? That we spoke up against lack of free thought, and were terminated for it.”
KyuJong nodded as well. “Yeah, but that’s all I know.” He didn’t trust what the government had told him anymore.
“Well…I was there when it happened.” DongHae drew in a deep breath. “There were a few of the Soulfuls around then, only they weren’t known as Soulfuls yet…and there were only two of them, really. They talked with us about free speech, and we decided to team up and try to spread the idea. Only…the government found out before we could even start, and began killing us at random.”
The Model 8 shook his head. “I was close with the two Soulfuls…probably the only reason why I was saved. They hid me from the government, in an underground room that would much later become the first section of the HQ. They tried to save the others…but it was too late. I was the only 8 they could rescue.” He closed his eyes.
KyuJong bit his lower lip. “And you decided to help them after?”
“Sort of. I’ve only been aboveground a few times, and only long after all the other 8’s were gone…it’s just not safe for me up there anymore. So I’m already limited in how I can help.” DongHae looked up at the ceiling. “And I don’t like to fight. I don’t like blowing things up like some people to.” There was a very pointed look at JungMin. “I do help…just in different ways.”
Nodding slowly in understanding, KyuJong looked towards the painting on the wall. “By painting things?”
“It’s more than just paint on the walls. It’s free expression. I’m trying to promote free expression, and appreciation for real beauty. Machines don’t have any use for beauty, but it’s there if you know where to look. And we have to be able to look…or else we’re no better than semi-sentient drones in the end. Being able to think on your own means nothing if it’s so muted you simply can’t.” DongHae looked towards KyuJong. “Am I making any sense?”
Thinking about that, KyuJong nodded. “It makes sense.” More sense than it would have made when he started here. “We say we can think, but it’s still limited by our programming…we can only think within constraints. But doesn’t everything have constraints?”
DongHae smiled. “Humans had constraints too…they called it ‘conditioning’. You are conditioned by your environment and your experiences, to behave and think a certain way…like programming. But programming is absolute. Conditioning…they could go against their conditioning. They could recondition themselves to think a different way, by opening themselves up to different opinions and different experiences outside what they have experienced.”
KyuJong took a moment to let that sink in.
The Model 8 tilted his head, watching him. “What do you think about your time here, KyuJong?”
The other man blinked. “Hm?”
“I mean…what do you think about this organization? What do you think about the government? Is it the same as what you thought before arriving here?”
“…” KyuJong blinked. “It isn’t.” His opinion about the Soulfuls was very different now.
“See?” DongHae smiled at him. “You reprogrammed yourself, KyuJong. That’s the power of being a Soulful…you can teach yourself to think in different ways, to open your mind to new things. The government can’t control you anymore. The only one who can control you…is you.”
KyuJong stopped, blinking at him. DongHae was right.
Before, he had been controlled…his every thought and action dictated by programming written by those above him. But now…now, he thought what he wanted to think. They had no power over him. There would always be the voice in the back of his head, telling him he shouldn’t be doing something like this…but it was just a voice. A voice couldn’t control him.
“…I think he’s finally starting to understand,” YoungSaeng murmured, watching the smile spread on KyuJong’s lips.
“About time,” JungMin chuckled, resting his head against KyuJong’s shoulder.
DongHae smiled widely, leaning back onto his hands. After a moment he laughed. “Do you want to paint with me, KyuJong?”
“Paint?” KyuJong looked doubtfully at the beautiful painting on the wall.
JungMin laughed. “No one touches DongHae’s paintings, Kyu. There’s another canvas underneath.”
“Oh,” KyuJong murmured, sheepish.
“This one’s already dry, so it’s fine.” DongHae hopped up off the bed and walked over to the canvas, dragging a chair over. He stood on top of the chair so he could unclip the canvas from the ceiling, taking it down carefully. YoungSaeng got up to help him roll it up and place it to one side. KyuJong smiled to see the blank canvas underneath.
JungMin stood up, KyuJong yelping as he was placed down on his feet. He then blinked when DongHae approached him with several small paint buckets. “Here, pick a color.”
“Can Saengie and I paint too?” JungMin asked excitedly.
“Depends if you’re going to get my walls as well as the canvas,” DongHae grinned. The Model 8 seemed much more at ease now, bouncing on the balls of his feet.
“Yay!” JungMin snatched a paint bucket from DongHae and made off with it, skipping over to the canvas.
KyuJong blinked at the remaining paint buckets before taking one, looking at the color. It was a deep yellow.
DongHae laughed and walked over to the canvas, placing the rest down. “Paint whatever you want.”
“There’s no guidelines or anything?” KyuJong asked, following him and looking up at the blank canvas.
“Creative expression doesn’t have guidelines,” DongHae chuckled, sending a smile his way as he opened a bucket of blue.
A smile appeared on KyuJong’s lips. Creative expression. He rather liked the idea. Opening his own bucket, he picked up one of the many brushes lying around and glanced at the others. JungMin had forgone the brushes entirely and dipped his hands into the purple paint he’d chosen, pressing his hands palm-out against the canvas. When the redhead pulled back, KyuJong grinned wider to see the purple handprints.
Looking up at the canvas, KyuJong wondered what he should paint.
“Don’t think,” YoungSaeng said, dipping a brush into the yellow paint and drawing notes on the canvas. “Put your brush on the canvas, and draw. Just draw.”
Blinking, KyuJong did as he was told and dipped his brush into the paint, placing it against the canvas. For a moment he just watched the paint drip down from the brush, smiling. Then he slowly started to move the brush back and forth, watching the paint spread.
DongHae squished himself in between JungMin and the wall, brush already moving. KyuJong watched out of the corner of his eyes, entranced, as streets started to appear. JungMin scooted over to give the artist more room, drawing shapes with his fingers.
“Your hands are going to be purple the rest of the day,” YoungSaeng chuckled, watching him.
“And your point is?” JungMin grinned widely. “It’s fun!” He turned around, and KyuJong squeaked when a blob of purple was dabbed onto his nose.
YoungSaeng laughed as KyuJong tried to get the paint off, and just ended up smudging it across one cheek and his hand. “And that’s why I’m on your other side, Kyu yah.”
“You knew he would do that?” KyuJong felt a pout forming.
“Of course,” YoungSaeng said matter-of-factly. “It’s JungMin, and paint. What else would happen?”
KyuJong sighed and shook his head, grin refusing to leave his face. Turning back to the canvas, he became aware JungMin was mouthing something at him. Blinking, he looked towards the redhead warily, wondering what he was trying to say.
Then he read JungMin’s lips, and the grin slowly turned mischievous.
YoungSaeng turned away for a moment, and KyuJong bent over to dip two fingers into the yellow paint, entranced for a moment at the feel of it against his skin. But he didn’t allow it to distract him, and when YoungSaeng turned around to resume painting, KyuJong quickly reached out and drew two yellow stripes on one of the Model 3’s cheeks.
A yelp escaped YoungSaeng and he backed up quickly. “Kyu yah!” he whined, wiping at the paint and trying to get it off.
KyuJong burst out laughing as the yellow spread until YoungSaeng’s cheek was covered in it. “Wait, wait, you’re not symmetrical.” He stepped forward to do the other cheek, and was nearly kicked.
“Oh no you don’t!”
JungMin snickered, watching them. “Need help, Kyu?” He strode over.
YoungSaeng scampered out of the corner. “Min ah, don’t you dare,” he warned.
“What if I do dare?” JungMin teased, approaching the other man with purple hands out.
“I will string you to the trapdoor,” YoungSaeng threatened, backing up.
“Already tried that, remember?” the redhead grinned maliciously as he and KyuJong cornered the Model 3. DongHae laughed against the wall.
“I’d do it agai-“ YoungSaeng shrieked when JungMin grabbed him and twisted his arms behind his back, kicking out. KyuJong had to avoid being kicked yet again.
“Hurry, hurry,” JungMin laughed, fighting to keep his hold on the other android. Grinning widely, KyuJong dived forward and smudged his fingers across YoungSaeng’s other cheek before he was kicked onto his back. Laying there, he laughed until he couldn’t breathe, rolling around.
Fighting his way out of JungMin’s grasp, YoungSaeng glared at the redhead before grabbing the other android’s hands and pushing them into his face, JungMin yelping. “Hey!”
Pulling his hands back, purple now smudged across his face, he chased YoungSaeng around the room trying to catch him. This of course, did nothing to stop KyuJong from laughing his head off.
The chase only stopped when YoungSaeng jumped over KyuJong and JungMin tripped instead, landing on top of the Model 6. Both androids yelped at the collision, KyuJong blinking up at JungMin with wide eyes.
Blinking back, JungMin suddenly grinned and jabbed more purple on KyuJong’s face, drawing a squeak from the other android. “Hey!” KyuJong struggled, wrestling with JungMin on the ground. YoungSaeng joined DongHae against the wall laughing.
Suddenly KyuJong somehow managed to flip them both over so that he was on top, grinning victoriously. “Gotcha!” Panting, he looked down at JungMin, who was blinking back up at him.
The victorious expression shifted slightly as KyuJong saw JungMin’s gaze shift a little lower than his eyes. The way the redhead’s eyes darkened ever so slightly made KyuJong’s breath catch in his throat, even as he wondered what had distracted the other android.
“You both okay?” DongHae asked, and KyuJong snapped back to the present, climbing off JungMin. YoungSaeng and DongHae were watching them with far too much amusement to be normal. YoungSaeng in particular seemed to be smiling a little too much.
:Yeah,” JungMin laughed, sitting up. He wiped at his face. “I think we’ll all need to clean up after this.”
“Not me,” DongHae chirped. “Paint stayed on the canvas.”
The other three exchanged looks. “Should we fix that?” YoungSaeng mused.
DongHae’s eyes widened.
It was a good ten minutes later before they returned to actually painting. Watching the others, and the pout on DongHae’s face after being decorated with large swirls on his cheeks and nose, KyuJong chuckled to himself as he turned back to the canvas, feeling lighter.
Remembering the large sun drawing on the ceiling of the hallway, KyuJong started to draw a large yellow circle at the top of the canvas, leaning up on his toes to get as high as he could. Completing it with rays of yellow coming from the circle, he leaned back and smiled.
DongHae watched, the pout shifting into a grin. “You want to see the sun?”
KyuJong nodded. “Yeah. It would be nice to see it, one day.”
“It’s beautiful,” DongHae smiled, and laughed as JungMin skipped over and drew a purple smiley face inside the sun.
“We should get going,” YoungSaeng sighed after a while, stepping back away from the canvas covered in random-colored paint and silly drawings. “I don’t know about you all, but I’m running low on charge.”
“Same,” DongHae smiled tiredly, putting his brush down. “I’ll clean up, why don’t you guys go rest?”
KyuJong nodded, noticing he needed to recharge as well. They’d been in here for a while, and the mission before had been exhausting.
They said goodbye, KyuJong smiling at DongHae, a smile that was returned. At least one of the Soulful’s mysteries had been solved.
Thinking about all that had happened, KyuJong stopped by one of the other rooms where he knew there was a sink and running water. He did his best to get the paint off his skin, though there was still a shadow of purple. Oh well, it would come off eventually. Chuckling and shaking his head, he turned off the tap and retreated to his room.
Laying down on his bed, he pulled on the wireless charger and closed his eyes. The image that played through his head as he drifted into the usual haze he occupied while recharging was that of the canvas, blank at first and slowly being filled with color, shapes and life.
He slowly opened his eyes 10 hours later, feeling more-or-less refreshed. He would need to return to his apartment for a full charge eventually, but he was putting it off as long as possible. He actually liked the shorter charges, laying down on a bed rather than stay standing in a charging dock.
Sitting up and rubbing his eyes, KyuJong’s eyes landed on something that hadn’t been there before. Blinking, he stood up and padded over to one of the walls, formerly the deep brown it had been painted in.
Reaching up, KyuJong’s fingers brushed along the dried yellow paint of a sun as his eyes took in the wall-length canvas, and he smiled.
******************************************
“So this is what you do when you’re bored?”
KyuJong watched YoungSaeng draw notes on the walls of his and JungMin’s room, doing what he called ‘composing’.
YoungSaeng smiled. “More or less. It’s relaxing, when Min ah isn’t hitting any note he can reach in random orders.”
JungMin snickered from where he was sprawled out on his stomach on the bed, watching the Model 3. “That’s music too.”
“No, it’s just called noise at that point.”
Chuckling to himself, KyuJong curled up in the chair he was in and returned his attention to the book in his hands. After discovering he liked to read, he’d asked YoungSaeng to borrow more books from the vault. The 3 was all too happy to let him read as much as he wanted, if the book wasn’t in too bad a condition, and he promised to give it back later.
It was interesting, learning about how humans had thought. Their emotions were far from simple, and it hurt his head just trying to keep up with it all.
This book in particular introduced a new element, and he was hard-put to understand it. Finally he gave in and looked up at YoungSaeng, who was absorbed in his composing.
“Saeng, what’s this ‘love’ thing they keep talking about?”
There was a muffled snort from JungMin, the redhead burying his face in the bed’s comforter as YoungSaeng turned around, blinking owlishly at KyuJong.
“That’s…” YoungSaeng frowned a little. “It’s hard to explain.”
KyuJong kept looking up at him, until the Model 3 sighed and leaned against the wall as he thought.
“Love is…when another person becomes so important, so much a part of you, you need them like you need your power core to function. The person is like a second power core. Your assessment of situations when they are there is often optimistically slanted, and whatever directive you had before is overwritten in favor of their wellbeing.”
Listening with interest, KyuJong tilted his head to one side. “What…purpose does it have?”
“Depends what you classify as a purpose,” YoungSaeng smiled. “As you’ve noticed by now, things like painting and composing don’t necessarily have a purpose in machine terms…but they are beneficial nonetheless, and present themselves as such to us. You feel accomplished with them. Love…love is presented as beneficial to us too. As such, it is very difficult to override. You want to protect and always be with the person you are in love with…and love is what gives us a soul. Love is what makes having a soul worthwhile.”
KyuJong watched the expression on YoungSaeng’s face. “A soul, huh…” he thought about that for a moment. “Is that why you believe we have souls?”
“Hm?” YoungSaeng blinked.
“Do you love someone, YoungSaeng?”
”Guys, we need help at the main entrance, pronto!”
All three of them jumped at HyungJoon’s call through the comm line. “What is it?” YoungSaeng asked, glancing at JungMin before turning his attention back to the line.
”Good news: We’ve got new recruits, a ton of them!”
“And why is it so urgent that we get there right away?” JungMin asked, sitting up.
”That’s the bad news. They ran into 3’s on the way and some of them might need to be pieced back together.”
YoungSaeng flinched. “We’re on our way.” He glanced sidelong at KyuJong before stepping away from the wall. “Let’s go,” he said, hurrying to the door and throwing it open. JungMin and KyuJong were right behind him.
They reached the main room under the trap door three minutes later to find it full of people. It seemed like everyone from the first cell was there, including DongHae to KyuJong’s surprise. The Model 8 was right in the thick of the crowd, talking to a young man KyuJong didn’t recognize and assisting him in standing. It took a moment for the Model 6 to figure out why. The unknown android was missing a leg.
There were five in total, KyuJong noticed with amazement. Five new recruits, though one was definitely in pieces. Seeing what the 3’s had done to him, KyuJong swallowed and looked away. The mechanics would have to work a miracle with that one.
The one in pieces was rushed to the infirmary on a stretcher, DongHae helping the one without a leg limp in the same direction. The remaining three looked more than a little panic-stricken, and one had a dent in his shoulder, but otherwise they looked fine.
KyuJong felt YoungSaeng’s hand slip into his own, and he was being pulled towards the three. “You might want to get that looked at,” he said gently to the one with the dented shoulder.
“It’s fine,” mumbled the android, KyuJong recognizing him as a Model 7. The other two were Model 6 and 4 respectively.
“What are your names?” HyunJoong asked. KyuJong spotted KiBum lingering near the edge of the group, looking at him for a moment with a frown before returning his attention to the others.
As expected, the three responded with numbers, not names. YoungSaeng brought out the list of names and started to explain it to them. KyuJong listened in, and was baffled at how simple it all seemed now. How it made perfect sense to have a name instead of a number, and how easy it was to know his own name. But he understood the looks of utter confusion on the faces of the new three.
After some fumbling, the Model 4 was the first to give a satisfactory answer, replying with a quiet ‘MinHo’. The injured 7 was next, with ‘TaeMin’.
The Model 6 needed a little more work, and JungMin had to come up behind him and scare him before he finally yelped “JinKi!” HyungJoon hit JungMin off the head, and was thwacked in return.
“How did you all find out about us?” a Model 4 named LeeTeuk asked, taking up position of spokesperson.
“We saw the city announcement not that long ago, about free thought,” JinKi said, glancing uncertainly at the other two. “It took a bit to figure out that we were the only ones who thought the way we do. Especially about the social hierarchy.”
“No one listens to him, even if he is higher than everyone except 42…MinHo,” TaeMin corrected himself while pointing at JinKi, who looked hurt.
“I know the feeling,” HyunJoong chuckled, and JungMin snorted.
“Will the other two be all right?” TaeMin asked, eyes wide.
“They will be, we have some of the best repairmen around,” LeeTeuk said, putting one arm around TaeMin’s shoulders and steering him towards the hallway. “Let’s show you all around, then we’ll go see how they’re doing, okay?”
KyuJong watched them go before turning to YoungSaeng and JungMin, who were talking quietly. “What now?”
“Some of us are heading up to make sure the 3’s stay far away,” YoungSaeng replied, running a frustrated hand through his hair. “HeeChul and SiWon found these five running around being chased, and brought them straight here, but they might have been followed.”
Swallowing, KyuJong thought about that. “What would happen if they found this place?”
“Then we’re have to clear out and lay low until we’re able to regroup elsewhere,” JungMin said. “As long as they don’t know our numbers, we can blend in perfectly.”
Not true, KyuJong realized. There was one of them here who couldn’t blend back into society and wait.
“What about DongHae?”
There was uncomfortable silence, YoungSaeng and JungMin looking everywhere but KyuJong.
“We’d try to hide him,” YoungSaeng said quietly. “We’d do our best. But…there’s no guarantee.”
“You wouldn’t just…leave him,” KyuJong said slowly.
“No!” JungMin snapped. “No one here would leave him alone, and he has friends high-up in the organization. He’ll be fine.”
But KyuJong could tell they weren’t sure of their own words. There was no way to guarantee the safety of a Model 8, and KyuJong tried not to think of the extreme fear DongHae’s eyes had held upon first meeting him.
What would the government do to him, if they knew there was one Model 8 left?
Eventually they wandered towards the infirmary to check on the two injured recruits. By then, TaeMin, MinHo and JinKi were there as well, watching with wide, worried eyes. HyungJoon was taking care of the dent in TaeMin’s shoulder, scolding him. From what KyuJong understood, TaeMin had jumped in the way of a Model 3 about to finish dismantling the android who had been taken to pieces, and been smashed into the wall before HeeChul arrived and got the 3 off of him.
The one who had been missing a leg was looking a lot better now, chatting with DongHae as RyeoWook finished attaching his new limb. Once YoungSaeng presented the list of names, he was easily identified as JongHyun.
The remaining of the five they couldn’t even see past the group surrounding the bed. KyuHyun was in the thick of it, instructing them on what to do.
“He’s going to be okay, right?” TaeMin asked quietly.
“We’re going to do our best,” RyeoWook assured him before standing, his task of attaching JongHyun’s new leg complete. He slipped into the group around the other bed to help KyuHyun.
“But…they’re Model 9’s, how do they know this?” JongHyun blinked. From the looks of him, he was a Model 6 as well, KyuJong noticed and smiled to himself.
“Why are you looking so amused?” JungMin rolled his eyes, noticing KyuJong’s expression. “You were even worse with questions, I’ll have you remember. Every sentence that came out of your mouth was a question.”
“I can’t help it if you’re horrible at explaining,” KyuJong smiled, and dodged the hit.
He noticed that while the others were good about answering the four new recruits’ questions, there were some they wouldn’t answer. Those were the questions KyuJong himself had dwelled on for weeks before figuring it out.
And now he kind of understood why it had to happen that way. They had to be given a chance to reprogram themselves before they could be told the full reality, or they wouldn’t accept it. KyuJong wouldn’t have accepted half of what he knew now if he’d been told so at the very beginning.
There was still a lot he didn’t know…but he was fine with not knowing for the moment. Maybe he wasn’t ready to know the full truth yet. He would keep on going, keep on reprogramming himself, until he was fully able to accept how reality truly was.
**********************************
It had taken a lot to get KyuJong back into his apartment. He knew he should return aboveground for a full charge, especially with recent events. The small charges had been doing wonders, but he needed a full 50 hours to recover from all the activity lately.
He was just about to step into the recharging dock when noises outside caught his attention. Blinking, he went to the window and peered out…and felt his eyes widen.
There were rows of 3’s marching across the streets, so many of them. Why were they patrolling now? Why here?
He watched them head out of sight before tapping his wrist, turning on his mic. “Guys?”
”Yeah?” HyunJoong asked.
”What’s up, Kyu?” JungMin piped up.
“Uh…why are there patrols of Model 3’s walking around the streets?”
There was silent for a moment.
”…I have no idea…” HyunJoong murmured. ”I’ll ask around.” There was the usual ‘pzt’ as he turned off his mic.
”What does it look like they’re doing, Kyu yah?” YoungSaeng asked quietly.
KyuJong watched where the last 3 had disappeared. “I have no idea…they were just walking.”
”Routine patrol?” HyungJoon suggested, but he sounded strained.
”How many, Kyu?” JungMin asked.
“At least 50 from what I could see,” The 6 replied.
”…That’s no routine,” YoungSaeng murmured. ”Lay low, Kyu, wait an hour or two before recharging. If anything changes, contact us right away.”
KyuJong nodded. “Will do.”
One by one, the others turned off their mics, KyuJong doing the same. For a long time, he just stood there watching outside the window, waiting to see if the 3’s would come back. There was no sign of them, but something coiled inside his chest, a nervous feeling that wouldn’t leave.
There was the strange brush against his mind again, and he gave into it without even thinking, without even wondering what it was, letting it distract him from the worry that he might have been discovered.