Round 10: Work and No Play Make Good Men Crazy (1/2)
Title: Work and No Play Make Good Men Crazy
Team: AU
Rating: PG13
Fandom: 2pm
Pairing: Taecyeon/Jaebeom
Summary: One strange package makes Taecyeon’s life do a complete 180 and change him from boring, old, routine mechanic to much more.
Prompt Used: KARA - "Lupin"
Author's Note: Thank you so much to my beta’s (this was a monster I love you soooo much) and to all of my team who kept me going to actually complete this. Oh and readers, I thank you for giving this a chance and I hope you like it!
Taecyeon wakes up to his alarm blaring and an angry next door neighbor next door banging on the wall. It's a plain way to start his day, but his whole entire life is exactly the same. He'll turn off the alarm, the neighbor will yell something about breaking the wall down, and then he'll go to the bathroom and get ready. It's routine, it's normal, and it's boring.
His day at work starts with him turning on the computer so he can be connected to the rest of the world. There are no messages popping up or missed calls that need to be replied to, so he sits back in his chair and slowly spins around. He guesses he should get up and make breakfast, but he's not hungry and he hardly doubts he has anything to make breakfast. Fast food is the norm for every meal and who is Taecyeon to defy the unsaid rules in society. Even if he, unlike the unsaid rules, does go out and run once in a while, or that he has a bathroom from fifty years ago, or he actually goes out to places with his friends. He gives a large sigh, before standing up and heading to the kitchen because it's at least something to do.
He walks into the doorway and the lights turn on and illuminate the kitchen that has no windows to the outside world. The coffee pot starts gurgling, though Taecyeon doesn't really want any, and the mini fridge's display lights up to tell him what food he has. He bends down and reads that there's only spoiled leftovers and half a carton of milk.
There's a particular ringing from his computer that alerts him of a call. It has him searching all around for a shirt so that he can answer as if he's ready to go anywhere. When he sits back down in front of the desk, he smiles at the caller's I.D.
"Taec!" Yubin smiles and gives a slight wave, "You aren't working today?"
"I work every day," he frowns, "all day and weekends."
"Are you choosing to work today?" She gives a knowing smirk when Taecyeon eyes dart around the room.
"I haven't decided yet, depends on how much the first customer will pay me."
"So you don't even have a first customer yet," Yubin says slowly and Taecyeon raises an eyebrow. "I just happen to have one-"
"No, not you. When I tried to help you last time you got angry because you thought I was doing everything wrong."
"That's because you were!"
"You don't know a thing about a 3D television!"
"Whatever. It's not me anyway; it's a friend of mine. When I mentioned I knew a mechanic he asked if you were any good and of course I told him no, but he told me to ask that you help anyway."
"There's got to be a catch-"
"No catch," she says and Taecyeon just stares back. "What? He's a nice guy...the weirdest thing is that he wants you to degrade."
"What?" Taecyeon blinks.
"Told you it was weird, but he assures it’s for a good reason."
Taecyeon looks at the screen, waiting for her to mention some catch like the guy lives a state away or that he's crazy. His interest is piqued, despite himself, so he gives one last hard look before saying, "Alright, send me his address and tell him I'll be there soon."
"Great," her smile spread across her whole face, "I just sent him the email and you'll be getting his address in one second." She moves the mouse around and clicks, causing an immediate beep on his computer alerting him of a new email."Okay, he's a nice guy so there's nothing to worry about."
"Yeah, yeah," Taecyeon goes over to the email and finds he lonely lives a few streets over.
"He's not the richest guy, but I'm sure he could pay you back in some other way-"
"What?"
"Gotta go, Taec. Be good to my friend!"
***
When he's just about to leave, the doorbell rings. He opens the door to see a short stubby guy rummaging through a pack on his side, the suit he's wearing looks just like a mailman that he's seen on those old time television shows. He didn't know his city still had humans delivering mail, but he does live in one of the most technology-declined areas of the world.
"Taecyeon Ok?"
"Yep," Taecyeon smiles just to have a clipboard shoved into his chest and a pen after that.
"Sign please," the man asks and goes back to rummaging through his bag. Taecyeon stares at the clipboard for a second; he hasn't ordered anything in the last few days. Actually, he hasn't ordered anything ever. In the confusion of the moment, he looks for the dotted line and signs his name to hand it back to the guy. A box is shoved into his chest this time and before he can ask anything the man walks away, presses a button on his wrist, and fades into the air. He's never heard of or seen handheld teleportation before, but he's sure it would become the next big thing to increase the laziness of the population.
He looks down at the package in his arms and goes back inside the apartment, kicking the door shut with his foot. The return address isn't familiar and if it was a test trial of some new machine the company name would be stamped all over the box. It shouldn't be dangerous, it can't be dangerous; the government is said to check over each and every package to make sure nothing harmful gets out to the people. That doesn't stop Taecyeon from putting the package on a table and poking it from an arm’s length away to see if anything moves or if it makes a noise. The government can't really check every single box in the whole world, at least Taecyeon thinks that's highly unlikely.
With no nothing emitting from the box, he takes a large breath and opens it. There's a machine inside that he gingerly picks up and inspect thoroughly to find a name of a company or anything, but all he can see is that it’s a circular item made of a black metal that shines in the light of the room. Running a hand over it, Taecyeon finds little bumps at the edges that he inspects for any sign of use. It looks familiar to him and under the buttons are either triangles or squares. He brings the machine closer to his face because he knows those signs and the button with one triangle is supposed to be pushed-
As soon as he presses the button the top opens to blow dust or particles or whatever it is right into Taecyeon's face. He falls to the ground and starts to hack and cough in a fit, tears starting to develop in his eyes. It feels like forever, but eventually the coughing subsides and he can take in a deep gulp of air to ease his lungs. Next to him on the ground are the pieces from it being dropped, hard, and he hurriedly stands up and backs away. All he wants to do is throw it out the window, but instead he grabs his coat and briskly walks out the door.
***
Taecyeon's used to a lot from his line of work, having been stretched from one side of the neighborhood to the other, but he's just plain surprised when he gets to Yubin's friend's place. A man greets him, smiling like an actual person as he told him his name was Nichkhun, and he's handsome, but not in the plastic way that has taken over the country. The man actually looks like he takes care of himself, skinny from exercising, handsome from birth. The person isn’t the only surprise, as the man’s apartment stretches over half the floor with everything being neat, orderly, and clean. It's not that odd, but there's no sign of a cleaning robot or robot maid that would have made the apartment this way.
Actually, the man has little technology at all, leaving Taecyeon gaping as he shows him around the rooms. His lights require a switch to turn on; his television, radio, computer have no voice activation; his bathroom was almost worst then Taecyeon's. It's different and new and has Taecyeon treating the man's apartment like a museum except it doesn't feel old. Taecyeon feels completely natural in this place; more so then he's felt anywhere else.
He's led to the kitchen, where the man flicks on the lights and reveals the only shred of evidence that shows the rest of the world's current lifestyle. The fridge was automatically dropping ice into a glass, then changing to water to pour into it until it was almost full. There's a monitor on the fridge with a pixelized women, who smiles and has a question underneath that asks what should be taken out for lunch. It's the latest model, nowhere in the city could you find this.
"Is it too complicated?" Nichkhun's voice cuts through his thoughts, "I mean, you shouldn't work for free if it's that hard-"
"No, it's just...you want me to degrade this?"
"Well, only if you can," he pauses, "and if you're willing."
"You could sell it for a whole lot more money," Taecyeon opens the fridge to see the robotic arms inside that could, if he asked, get an object from inside the fridge and push open the door to put it on a nearby counter.
"I don't want to sell a gift."
"Then," Taecyeon turns, "why degrade it? You could just use it as a fridge and simply not pay attention to the other parts."
"It's a long story," he gives a small smile, "if you don't want to, it's okay."
"That's not it." Taecyeon steps back and looks over the fridge, he doesn't know the reason he's so confused. People ask him to upgrade things all the time, this is just a case of doing the opposite which isn't that different.
"Is it too much? I could call you back when I have money-"
"Yubin would force me back," Taecyeon smiles, "Doesn't seem that hard anyway. I'm only confused of why, but that's not really my problem."
"There's just some other circumstances...well, thanks-Taecyeon, right?-I'll be sure to spread your name around." He smiles and Taecyeon blinks back at him. A beat skips and the smile drops from his face as he starts to shuffle around, "I'll let you work now. Just...call my name or something." And he leaves.
Taecyeon stares after him, Nichkhun's a completely different customer then what he could ever expect.
***
When he opens the door to his apartment, he feels like he's going to burst out of his skin with how much food Nichkhun managed to stuff in him. He would have been happy to have gone home and ordered some pizza since he had finished relatively early, turns out degrading isn't as hard as he thought. Instead, he was taken to the kitchen table as Nichkhun used his new fridge to serve him up as much food as he probably had. It wasn't bad, actually it was pretty good, but it was different, way different. He didn't even remember how unique home-cooked meals tasted.
He walks past his monitor which is flashing to alert him of new emails, probably from customers. He's entirely too full to do much of anything right now, but he sees the pieces from before scattered around the floor. They should probably be thrown away, but he pauses. He has a vague feeling of loss and anger at himself when he realizes he completely destroyed the machine and he no longer wants to throw it away. There should be an empty bag in the kitchen that he can stuff the pieces in for now. When he comes back with it, he wonders why he's even doing this but listens to his brain and places all the pieces in the bag then stuffs it in the cupboard like a bad secret.
***
He wakes up before the alarm this time. Sitting up, he blinks the sleep out of his eyes and confusedly looks all around the room. One simple change and his whole routine is messed up. It turns to two when the alarm rings and he's holding his head as splitting headache racks through his entire brain. Slamming his hand down on the alarm, it finally stops and he stares at the carpet to wait for the ringing in his head to subside. When he feels like he can stand up, he tries to walk only to have each step echo throughout his body. He stops and the headache only lessens, never completely goes away, but that's still heaven compared to before. The next step he takes the whole world spins and he has to grab onto the nightstand to stay up. This is probably a way of telling him that he should just stay in bed all day, but he dares to take another step and only sways. Compared to everything else that happened, it’s the best thing to occur all day.
When he tries to do every day normal tasks, he realizes it's not his head that only feels funny. Every inch of his body feels different and new, almost like he's trying to get used to his own skin. The towel he touches feels so different, when he splashes his face with water it's icier, and when he brushes his teeth he pokes himself in the cheek once or twice. It can't be normal, not for him or anyone. He throws the towel in the clothes bin and walks to the kitchen, head now residing in a dull throb.
Sorry about that.
It resounds in his head when he decides to sit down in his chair and turn the computer on. It sounds like a voice, different from any he's every heard before. He whips his head around the room to search for where it came from, but it makes him feel like something is crushing his skull in. He thinks he hears a few more words, something along the lines of "shouldn't move your head," but the pain clouds whatever was said.
"What?" he calls out after the pain lessens. He stands up and walks around the room to see if he can hear the voice again, but the search through his entire apartment ends up with nothing. He simply has to settle that he imagined it from the headache.
***
Taecyeon's spacing out at the screen, surfing the web, but not really paying attention to it, when it happens again.
Don't you work or something?
It's the same exact voice as before, he knows it is. He sits straighter in his chair and slowly spins around to see no one and nothing behind him. He gets up and checks each room with a glance over, because there really isn't anywhere to hide in his apartment. Unless the man could hide in a cupboard or a drawer in his desk, there can't be anyone here. It had to have been a fluke; he's just tired from working.
You haven't been working at all.
Taecyeon whips around again and there's still nothing behind him. It’s far from what his voice sounds like, but he's going to treat this as fatigue and nothing more. The other option is he's crazy and that's not preferable.
Cool down and think for a minute, it's the age of technology. Remember the cd player?
"What," he asks. He doesn't know why he's talking to himself, especially when he already thinks he's going crazy. Sleep. That's all he needs and it will go away.
Sorry to burst your bubble, but that's not happening.
He starts to worry because he's rather confused on how or why this could happen. Is he really going crazy? This shouldn't suddenly happen out of nowhere, usually there's a cause. At least, he guesses there has to be a cause for something like this.
The doorbell rings, kicking Taecyeon's worry out the door for a second. He ordered pizza a while ago when he wasn't worried about his lack of sleep causing him to go crazy. Taking a large breath, he tries for a smile and goes to open the door. He's met with bored, dark looking eyes and a slouch that keeps shifting his weight from foot to foot. The deliveryman looks up at him, motioning with the pizza and putting out his other hand. He looks young and very familiar; it has Taecyeon's stomach doing flips.
"Wooyoung?" He blurts out, except he doesn't. It sounds like a name, but he's never heard of it before and with the way the man looks up at him surprised he got it right.
"What," his voice is leaded with doubt and caution, as his eyes start to glare.
"Wow, young," Taecyeon corrects himself and takes out his wallet from his pocket, pulling out enough money to probably pay for five pizzas before putting it in the guy's palm. Taking the pizza from the other hand, he waves once and closes the door saying, "Keep the change."
Woah, I didn't know I could do that.
There's a pause, the voice didn't know it could do what? Can it control what he says? Is that why he said someone's name he didn't even know?
Man, it's okay. Listen to me and I can explain everything, alright?
He's done listening; he'll put the pizza on the counter and hop right into bed because everything goes away after a night's rest. This has to be one of those sleep-deprived things. When you're really sleepy you get hyper, right? Just like when you're about to freeze to death your body warms up. That's why he feels perfectly fine right now; it has to be.
***
I swear to god, you are perfectly fucking fine.
The night's rest didn't work, actually a week's long rest didn't work. Taecyeon's in his bed at three in the afternoon also figuring out that staying in bed all day resting doesn't work either. He's going crazy at a young age, why did this happen to him?
Listen dipshit, I've tried to tell you about fifty times that I'll leave your head if you can manage to get a group of people together.
He's also been told that the voice in his head is a person that's alive, but incapacitated. Supposedly, in order to become recapacitated he needs the group to go find him or something along those lines. It's the weirdest thing he's ever heard in his life and he's about a day away from calling a doctor and getting himself admitted to a hospital.
You are not going crazy, it was that cd player you broke to hell.
Taecyeon snorts, just like it was Mrs. White in the ballroom with a candlestick.
What?
He sighs, it's an old time game his parents had way back in there closet. Wait, why is he even talking to a voice? He's growing crazier with ever second that passes by.
You dumbass just listen to me. The machine that you picked up, there was dust inside, right? Technology means that dust could have been tiny nanobites that are currently in your system that are wireless connected to the ones inside mine. They're connected to your brain passing electronic currents and-
His mind is going to blow up, he's a mechanic not an inventor. He knows how to fix things to make them work, not how they work.
It means that I'm only a voice in your head through robotic means and sooner or later they'll fry out like every robot. Though, robots take like fifty years or so to break down.
Taecyeon sits up and runs a hand straight down his scalp, it sounds possible. There's the slightest chance that this could all be because of that machine he randomly received in the mail. Besides, if he does whatever, the man will leave his head before he's seventy. Of course, this all runs on the faith that he's correct and not setting him up to mass murder the world.
What the hell is wro-no! I only need you to round up five people and one you already met. That wow, young guy.
Taecyeon scratches the back of his head, stands up, and stretches. The one plus is that he won't be working for some time. He might as well get up and find some breakfast so he can start whatever this is on a full stomach.
***
It's been another week and nothing has improved. The one guy he did manage to find he has no way to contact (other than the voice's idea of ordering pizza every day until he comes back) and he has no idea where in the world the others are. The voice suggested that they could be in that group that hates technology, but neither of them knows the name for it. He's actually getting really annoyed and thinking about just keeping the voice in his head for fifty years. It's not that bad actually. The only problem is the voice leaves every night just to come back in the morning, leaving him with an aching headache.
The voice has a nice ring to it, all ominous, mysterious, and shit.
Taecyeon's learned that the voice's name was Jay Park days ago, but he has trouble using the name without a face attached. To him, he's just a voice and that's what he calls him.
As long as I can call you the giant.
He can't stop his grin because what? The man has never seen him before, he can't tell how tall he is.
When you look down it's like you're at the top of a fucking skyscraper or something, besides you have giant teeth too.
That's not the first time he's heard it, but he still looks at his computer screen while making faces to show off his teeth. He thinks he's making the face of a goat when the computer chimes about an email alert.
It's from Yubin about that one friend from before that Taecyeon had helped. It reads that the man now has money to repay him and another job for him to do, if he can. The last line is a smiley face with a line telling him he'd better do it and the address one more time. He might as well; he needs the money to be able to buy food.
Your fault for giving wow, young that much money.
The voice is never going to let that go.
Nope.
***
He sighs to himself, he's going to regret this day for the rest of his life.
"Oh shut up, you pansy," he says. Except, it's not him.
"Don't be mean," Nichkhun looks him in the eyes and gives a sympathetic smile.
It's Jay, who grumbles with his voice and lies back on the couch with his arms crossed. Taecyeon can't comprehend the feeling of being a stranger in his own body and being unable to control anything. This is his luck to have this happen to him. It could have literally happened to anyone in the world and it's him.
"This is all good luck."
Of course it's good luck that he opened the door to Nichkhun's apartment, with the man smiling at him and inviting him inside. His eyes unfocused and he almost fell to the ground as the world started to shake. Then he felt like he was watching a movie when his eyes phased over and "that was a drug trip" managed to come out of his mouth. That's how he became Jay, the voice he never wanted.
"Thank you, asshole."
"It's weird to hear one side of the conversation," Nichkhun says, "I hope you don't do this in public."
He probably seems crazy right now, but this whole situation is exactly that. There's this small feeling where he wants to cry because it's so stressful seeing everything be done without his consent. Maybe, he wants to scream more than cry. Only the voice would hear it, which might cause him to switch whatever this is back.
"You even try it and once I figure this out I'm making you deaf from the inside out."
"Can't you think these things, it's kind of awkward," Nichkhun asks.
The voice shakes his head, because they figured out pretty quickly that no matter the situation Taecyeon's the one with his thoughts read while the voice gets to decide. It's not fair in the slightest, the only thing Taecyeon has is the ability to feel the voice's emotions. He's pretty ecstatic to see Nichkhun and whenever he looks at him there's a wave of all these emotions mixed into one, like seeing a long lost friend in what feels like forever and a day.
"I'm not gay like you."
Nichkhun gives a large sigh and rolls his eyes, "Why are you treating the one who basically gave you his body like this?"
Without his consent-
"It's not like he can hear you, dumbass."
"You should give Taecyeon his body back-"
"What, do you want me gone now?" the voice pouts.
"That's not it and you know it. It's his body not yours."
Taecyeon likes this guy, the voice should listen to him.
"You, shut up-"
"What?" Nichkhun frowns and immediately there's a feeling of regret.
"Not you!"
Nichkhun's face doesn't change, "I think you should figure this out because it's your machine. You probably can think of some way to change this back."
"It's better this way, since I can talk to you directly-"
"But it's not right this way," Nichkhun tries for a small smile, "getting your body back can wait until you give Taecyeon back his." The voice tries to say something, but Nichkhun shakes his head and gets up to walk over to the door, opening it and leaning against it.
"I hate you," he mumbles, but inside there is no malice. He actually feels sort of saddened which Taecyeon did not expect.
"It's not like you were forced out of your body, but Taecyeon was. The worst feeling in the world is when you think you can't do anything," Nichkhun smiles as the voice stands up and grumbles some incoherent things.
"Why can you do that to people," he pauses at the door, "Everything...Everyone's okay, right?"
"Perfectly fine and hidden away so not even a superman could find us. We don't even get to talk, though. A wise old man from Seattle told us that if we directly talk to each other we'll definitely be found out quick."
The smile spreads almost across his entire face, "I'm surprised you listened."
"You're our leader, why wouldn't we?" Taecyeon feels his heart drop and there's this large lump in his throat. "Now why you were selected is hard to figure out."
"You dick," the smile falters a little, but he covers it up by lightly punching Nichkhun on the shoulder. There's a second where everything hits him entirely too hard as Nichkhun's arms make their way around him and he feels like if he blinks tears will fall. He hugs back for a second then pushes the man away, making him pout with large eyes. "I always knew you were gay."
"Go and figure this out," Nichkhun rolls his eyes, but then he smiles, "the sooner you do, the sooner we have you back."
The voice pats Nichkhun on the shoulder then walks out the door, waiting until he hears the door close to wipe at his eyes.
***
The voice has been having loads of fun at his expense. He's rummaged through every single part of his apartment and every single folder of his computer despite Taecyeon's avid protests. Lots of times, the voice complained that if the house weren't so messy it wouldn't have taken so much time to go through everything. Taecyeon countered by telling him he should help clean up instead of putting everything back or creating more of a mess. After a while, the voice had gotten bored and laid on the couch, the television flipping through channels as the voice looks up at the ceiling. Really, he should turn off the T.V. if he isn't going to watch at all.
"The life of a giant is kind of boring," the voice yawns.
Taecyeon's sorry if he has nothing to do with the current situation of finding any way possible of getting the voice out of his head.
"Everyone has a hobby."
Pretty much, his job is his hobby. There's nothing much he's done lately other then wake up, go to work, catch up with friends, and then sleep. That's a good life right there.
The voice scoffs, "That's a boring as shit life, you had to have some other dream then of being some mechanic making house calls."
As far as Taecyeon remembers, his whole entire life was centered around earning a good enough job to get his family away. They pretty much lived in the area that was the heart of the war in what was the United States. Turns out, when Taecyeon was able to work the world leaders finally decided to come together and end the war.
"There has to be some hobby that you had, like some far off dream that would never happen in a million years, but you still dreamed about it."
Taecyeon thinks the voice has been under for some time. No one dreams anymore, from start to finish everything they do is the norm. They go through school to learn what they need to work as, end up working where they have the most skill and become basically human robots.
"You don't seem that way."
He's surprised because he pretty much was the same way. If he slacked off the slightest bit, it would be seen on his profile, which would mean less customers. Less customers meant less money and that means he'd be one of the first people to live on the streets since the war ended.
"It's just," the voice pauses, "most people wouldn't have known what to do with the cd player. That's way before our time and someone like that has to have more of a life then being a human robot. Or at least, not liked the idea of becoming one."
That's true, but he doubts anyone likes that idea. No one talks about it, Taecyeon doesn't even mention it with his friends, but it's become too normal to do anything about.
There's a loud sigh, "well, I wanted to dance. The war always had people so dreary and shit, but whenever people heard music, they lightened up a bit. I wanted to add something to it, make people watch me and forget about what the hell was going on around them. I could've taught people too, back in my hometown I had this group of people and we learned together. Sometimes we randomly went into the middle of town with an old boombox and blasted music to dance too, everyone came out of their house."
He can feel the man's excitement everywhere, from his heart to the tip of his finger. The voice kept talking about everything in his hometown, ranging from the group to his family. When he starts on the topic of having to leave, he goes silent, but starts to hum some old tune when the silence goes on for a long time. Taecyeon listens to it for a long time and he starts to think about his life before the one he has right now. His mom basically forced him out of the house because his talent was too good to be wasted, though the only reason he left was because she smiled so brightly. It had been so long since she smiled so wide.
The voice stops humming, "what."
The only hobby he could think of is wanting to make people smile. The war had everyone so damn in the dumps that Taecyeon did anything he could to have them laugh. It was sort of like those stars from before until everyone was drafted to go into the war. Whenever he managed to get someone to crack a smile, he'd try to get better at whatever it was.
"Oh," the voice smiles.
He wants to laugh because it's all so stupid now. His mother figured out he was good with technology and sent him away to study to become better at it. Making people happy doesn't pay that well.
"Too bad, a comedian called the giant would attract attention."
Taecyeon wants to smile and laugh with Jay, but he's only a voice in a head. It hits him entirely too hard that he's technically not there and that the only one in the world that could actually pay attention and hear him was Jay. It's a numb feeling that settles in his stomach, or what should be his stomach.
"I think I understand now, Taec." The voice sighs deeply then his eyes fall out of focus like last time. In about a second, he's back to seeing out of his own eyes. He lifts his hand to reach out and grasp for the ceiling above.
You're not that tall, dumbass.
Taecyeon laughs.
***
Taecyeon's back to searching on his computer for any leads about a way of finding the other members of the group the voice needs. The only thing that could possibly help them is that technology hating pack, but it has a name he can't remember.
IHT?
His finger pauses on the mouse because he has no idea where that came from.
I hate technology, I.H.T?
He's definitely sure it's not anything like that in the least. He knows it's one word and not an acronym.
Technophob.
That's not it.
Technohate.
Not that one either.
Antitech.
It's starting to get annoying now.
Technodie?
Taecyeon sighs loudly and the voice gets the message. He's probably still thinking inside, but Taecyeon can't hear that.
The only thing he can look up is 'group that hates technology' but he knows that's not the smartest idea. There's a lot of rumors about the government getting really upset over the group because it's starting to grow more active. He knows that there have been buildings burned down and signs painted some places to let everyone know that they're not some little group to be ignored.
Techno...
Why is he back to be annoying.
I'm trying to help, you ass. Is it Technoend?
He pauses, that seems right. Typing that into the search engine, he gets a lot of websites related to it but not in direct name. It's always "seems like a certain group is involved" or "might be the work of one group." It's a start and more then he's had for however many weeks; it kind of makes him want to hug Jay.
You can't, gaywad. I don't want to be suffocated anyway.
Wait, if the other would be suffocated then he's got to be a lot shorter then him. Plus, he calls him the giant and Taecyeon's really not that tall.
Fuck you, I'm not short. You're image has been skewed because of your genes.
***
Two days is all it takes for his tireless search of the internet for Technoend to have a negative effect. It's not in the shape of carpal tunnel, but instead it occurs with the government calling his landline. Technically, the only reason he had the old telephone is because the government wanted to have a foolproof way of getting in contact with all its citizens.
He's pretty sure that's too much of an invasion of privacy, but the call did seem to do what the government wanted. Taecyeon is still scared to search anything more on his computer, fearing the government is no closely monitoring his every move. Suddenly, there are rocks in his stomach and a cloudiness in his head before his head is entirely clear.
Taecyeon's confused for the longest time, usually the clear state of mind was always due to Jay leaving his head before he slept. The reason was that if Taecyeon tried to sleep with him still inside, his mind would never be able to rest, but he thinks Jay likes the idea of pranking him into thinking that everything was just a dream. It's not a second later that his mind has this sense of pressure in it.
Do I need to always be here with you? You get that lonely? You're even starting to call me Jay now.
He rolls his eyes, wondering why he was even worried the voice was gone. The phone rings loudly in the background and he picks it up by instinct before thinking that it’s the government calling him again. The silence that greets him isn't a great sign.
"This is Taecyeon?" the voice on the other side is rough and almost like the harsh government worker's voice from the other day.
"Um, yeah."
"Come down to the city and knock twice on the red door. We need to talk to you and not over the phone." The line cut off before Taecyeon gets a chance to agree or disagree, but it wasn't like that was in the form of a question either.
Are red doors rare or something?
Taecyeon blinks then remembers that this isn't exactly the place where Jay normally lives. The “city” is the poorest neighborhood in the entire actual city. For some odd reason a lot of people choose to live there, usually consisting of old people trying to get their lives from before technology invaded. Wait a second-
Wait, what?
Taecyeon quickly gets his jacket before running out the door, slamming it as he leaves. This might be the biggest break they get.
***
After the war and with an increase in use of energy, the sky has only the vaguest change from night to day. The government fixed this right away, installing high-powered street lights in the cities that could afford them. Now, when they're turned on, it's as bright as the days Taecyeon can only remember and as time progresses they're dimmed accordingly. This isn't really anything people need to know, but if you walk into the city without this knowledge it'll be a slap in the face. Taecyeon goes from stepping on the teleportation pad in the bright of "day" to being transported to the city where he has to squint his eyes to be able to see.
He's very careful as he walks down the street, passing by buildings that look old and areas that definitely look shady. Sometimes cars drive by, showing how old the area acts, down the one long street that goes through the entire city. The way you get around is just follow the street because it goes everywhere somehow and that's how Taecyeon's always navigated this place. When his chest starts to vibrate he knows he's reached the heart of the city, where people just crowd around this one building and dance. They're always there when Taecyeon is, so he doubts that they ever sleep.
People dance here? They play music here?
Taecyeon smiles, because Jay's happiness is too much for him not to. He has to burst the man's bubble though, because the last time he was here, there were a lot more dancers and they were a lot more rowdy. They even dragged this one guy away and Taecyeon only just managed to find him before he was about to get beaten for whatever reason. He doesn't even know why the dancers let him go.
Well, you should probably stop walking towards them, then.
Pausing, he looks down the street that always guides him wherever he wants to go. He sighs and walks down some back alley; if he gets lost he can always turn around. There's a slight feeling of sadness when the beat stops vibrating his ribs and the ground stops shaking.
The thing is, the farther you get away from the main street the darker it gets and there's only one teleportation pad in the whole area. The biggest thing is he has no idea where he is going, except that he is looking for a red door amongst many doors. He shouldn't have listened to Jay; if this is his last night alive, he's blaming it all on him.
If you die, you won't be able to blame me, dumbass.
Taecyeon ignores him and starts to stare at every building he passes by with more alert eyes. Perhaps, by a stroke of luck, he went the right way and the red door will shine a few steps up ahead.
"Thought I heard someone." Taecyeon nearly jumps out of his skin when he sees the figure approaching. "C'mon."
"Um, where?"
"You step on this street, you owe some pals up there money."
Taecyeon starts to slowly back up, "I didn't know that."
Way to go....hey, I think if you get murdered I can take your body-
"Shut up," Taecyeon says because now isn't the time to be distracting him with this. But he said that out loud...didn't he?
"What did you just say?" And with that tone he heard, he's going to die.
Jesus, don't stand there like a dumbshit; turn around and run!
Taecyeon starts to do that, but when he turns he rams right into another person and falls down. He can't see who it is, but he's not that tall and not that large so if he has to he could probably fight his way out.
You fighting, ha.
"Hey Phil," the one closest to him says.
"Why are you here?"
"New recruit," he looks down at Taecyeon, "let's go. Taecyeon Ok."
His name is actually pronounced correctly and, in the moment, it's enough for Taecyeon to trust him. He stands up, dusting off his pants, and gives a slight glance back down the alley. When he turns back to the nicer guy, he's already walking down the street.
"Always getting in my business," the man grumbles and a door shuts behind them.
***
The red door in question was only a building away from the one the dance mob stands in front of. Taecyeon passes by humming the tune of the song, which he blames on Jay, having the man in front of him turn and smile.
"You know this?"
Taecyeon can't exactly say no if he's humming the tune so he nods his head, "this is the right building?"
"Why would I lead you to the wrong one," the man smiles and it has his eyes crinkle up into little crescents. It causes Taecyeon eyes to shift over and it takes all he has to stand up straight and not alert the man to a problem. The time it takes for the other to put a hand on the security pad and have it ding of acceptance is enough for Taecyeon to sort it all out. He takes a deep breath and enters, greeted by hooded figures in all black sweaters.
"Oh Junho," the one in the middle steps forward and takes off his hood. A chain dangles out and there’s a gold letter ‘A’ attached that hangs right in the middle of his chest. His large white smile contrasts with his skin, "You didn't knock."
"You told me to go," the man who led him here walks over.
"Safety first," he says and all the rest take off their hoods. There are two guys that cross their arms and look straight at Taecyeon with dark eyes. Both have similar chains to the first guy, but have the letters ‘O’ and ‘M’ attached respectively. All the people behind them go about their business in the large area.
This is interesting...
Taecyeon doesn't have time to ask as the shortest one steps forward and gives him a once over, "this is Taecyeon?" He's not going to tell him he said his name all wrong, accents in all the wrong places, because he's still kind of scared of "city" people.
"Let's see, do you know Khun?" the one in the center asks.
"Nichkhun?"
He nods, "You're the one who knows Jay?"
"Um, yeah?" As soon as he says that, Junho's head snaps up and his eyes are focused on Taecyeon.
"And you know what you're talking to us for?"
"I think?"
"Then you're Taecyeon. 'Sup, I'm Cha Cha," he smiles.
Taecyeon tries his best not to say anything as he feels a rush of new information on the top of his tongue.
It's been a while, man.
"Well, Khun got you in this with much persistence because of this 'thing' that is occurring. He said it's the best way to have you all connected and away from prying eyes. I don't really care as long as you don't get in the way and help out sometimes."
"Um, thank you?" Taecyeon has no idea what to say because the man's being way too cryptic. The response is a laugh so he guess it's good enough.
"Everyone's involved in one way or another, it's like a club of all of you. Seems I'm not allowed in it, but this one here," Cha Cha clasps Junho on the shoulder, "he is, I think. There's Nichkhun, that one rich guy, the delivery man, the tall dancer, and that's it."
Taecyeon kind of understands now, or to the point that he's incredibly happy this is all going to end soon. He's kind of creeped out that Junho's staring at him like he's got some disease.
"I guess you both should talk then," Cha Cha says before giving the silence time to take over. He leaves to talk to some group of people near a computer and the other two with the chains follow. Junho stays.
"So," Taecyeon starts, "You know about all this, huh?"
"Yes and you know Jay?"
"Uh, yeah." He technically doesn't know Jay, he's just in his head.
That's not knowing me?
"How?"
"Khun didn't tell you?"
"No," Junho shakes his head and takes a step forward, "How?"
He backs up, "You won't believe me unless you talk to Khun."
"How."
"I've talked to him pretty recently," Taecyeon lies, "Khun did too."
"Where is he?"
"I don't know." Taecyeon never really cared to ask.
"I thought they would have killed him-"
"I didn't get fucking killed, dumbass. It wouldn’t kill because of that," Taecyeon clamps a hand over his mouth. Jay needs to stop doing this because it's annoying and makes him look like someone who escaped from a mental asylum. Junho blinks at him, eyes getting hysterically wide. "I never knew your eyes could get that big."
"What?" His lips are twitching up and Taecyeon thinks he should run before Jay gets him killed.
He backs up to the door with his hand clasped around the handle, "Don't think-it's not-talk to Nichkhun, okay?" He opens the door and walks briskly down the street, managing to knock into this one guy going the opposite way with short red hair.
***
Instead of some big climax on how he's so much closer to ending this then before, Taecyeon's basically a sitting duck. There's no way for them to contact each other directly and unlike Nichkhun, the others don't really want to pass information to people only recently involved. Nichkhun had called to tell him there was one member that was going to fly out from across the country to be here and another that was highly reluctant to talk to Taecyeon. He's almost certain it's Wooyoung, the delivery boy that thinks he's some crazy stalker because Jay needed his voice to be heard.
You're such a whiner, I doubt people thought you were normal before that.
The best thing about this situation, the only possible best thing, is that Jay certainly is different from most people he's met. If Jay does posses his body, like he probably will, then it should be easier for the others to believe him. Nichkhun saw it right away and he's said that Junho has been asking random questions about whether Jay put himself in a highly realistic robot or not. Taecyeon doesn't know if he should like being called a highly advanced robot or be offended.
He's just a little slow.
Not true, since he had to be pretty quick to catch onto Taecyeon's annoying slip of the tongue. Especially after he thought Jay was killed and dead; it's almost like you think a miracle happened when someone you thought was dead was actually alive.
That's just him being dumb, considering everyone else knows I'm alive and well-
One thing about that Taecyeon doesn't know is the well part. He's actually never asked once why he was doing this, before he's just been led by trying to get the man out of his head before he's seventy. It's surprising how much he's trusted the other so far, this could be some plan to kill off the entire world.
You watch too much television. Look, I'm pretty much okay; it's that I'm stuck is all I'm worried about.
Taecyeon grins, it sounds like a little girl that fell down a well-
What? If I got stuck down a well I would be able to crawl out with my own hands. This is way more epic then that; I'm stuck in a heavily guarded area that only people who know about it can hack into. I used to work for the government...and some people wanted me gone.
That's a lot like a spy thriller TV show and it makes Taecyeon wonder how far he's gotten into this and if he can still get out.
Don't be like that, man. You don't need to do anything, just round them up.
He's not convinced, and he can't figure out whether this growing feeling of doubt in his stomach is Jay's or his. One of the biggest problems with this is their emotions are being intertwined together and Taecyeon can't differentiate anymore.
If you get hurt I will kiss Nichkhun, okay? There's no foul for you here.
***
Taecyeon sits on his couch, staring across the room at a large box positioned right in front of the door to his house. He had almost jumped out his skin this morning when he saw it there just out of nowhere. The return address was one Taecyeon had never seen before and there was no company name stamped all around the box, so it was a very familiar scene to him.
What? I can't send anything right now in a freaking coma.
He knows that since the post-it-note he snatched off the top told him nothing other than that it could help him. In a sense, that's way scarier than the random delivery of a CD player.
It's only a box, don't be such a wuss.
The last box thrust into Taec's life ended up putting him in the most annoying place of his life.
Fuck you too, but I'm pretty sure nothing in that box can top me.
He laughs because it’s pretty much the truth. There's nothing inside that could surprise him with the current situation, in his entire life nothing could surprise him more then someone possessing another. Taking a deep breath, he stands up and grabs a knife from the kitchen to cut the box open. He moves the box more into his apartment in the case that whatever inside can't be moved once he opened it.
The knife cuts through quickly and sharply around the edges and once he gets to a certain point the box just opens by itself. Inside is a robot, seated in the fetal position with its hands linked together in front of its legs. It seems unfinished, there's no overlaying coat of plastic or metal that hides all the wires that connect it together, but if it's a free trial he could use it. When he tries to approach it, his body freezes completely.
Don't touch it.
There's a pause where Taecyeon tries to find any reason of why Jay could find anything wrong with a robot, an unfinished one none the less. A deep feeling of dread sets in, in his stomach that makes him know it’s not over something trivial. To Taecyeon, it's only a robot and they're never turned on delivered. The worst option it could be was a bomb, but he knows that there’s always a timer or ticking or explosives.
Just don't fucking touch it and get out.
Taecyeon backs up because the man always has some reason or always knows a bit more then Taec that can help him out of something. When he grabs the doorknob behind his back, the robot looks up and blinks. Robots do not blink. They aren't delivered turned on. They don't have any human emotions, like having its mouth stretch up in some demented smile.
It's- this is-fuck, Taec, run.
It takes no time for him to slam the door open and book it down the hall. His neighbor will probably start banging on the wall and yelling at him about breaking the apartment building, but his greatest concern is getting out. When he's about two blocks away, he stops to catch his breath.
I don't know what the hell this is. This-why-I'm sorry.
There’s a loud explosion that knocks Taecyeon off his feet and has him land hard against the gravel of the sidewalk. His hand burns from the scratches, but smoke rises up from his apartment building, causing people to crowd the streets when the fire alarms sound and him to forget about his hand.
Get somewhere safe, robots are built fast.
Taecyeon understands and he gets up in one quick motion and runs as fast as he can to the nearest teleportation pad he can think of. He doubts that his running will change any of the result, though the slim chance keeps him going the fastest that he ever has. Questions echo all around, ranging from why he's running to did he do it to what's happening, and he can hear sirens, before he cuts through an alley as a shortcut.
***
He knocks on the door with what he feels like is the last of his strength. There's a second where he fears that the man's not home, but then the door open and the greeting he receives changes from sadness to shock to worry in such a quick succession he doubts it's normal. Taecyeon wants to laugh, but he feels like his legs will give way any second.
"What's wrong," Nickhun looks him up and down once, then pulls him inside the apartment, all the way to the couch, which he pushes Taecyeon back into. A glass of water is placed into his hand and Khun's in the kitchen with the pots and pans clanging away.
Taecyeon stares at his hand, "I'm okay-"
"You're eating," Khun shouts back. There’s water rushing, more pots clanging, then a gentle sizzling before the man comes back into the room and sits down next to him. They sit in silence as Khun leans onto his hands and Taecyeon steadily drinks the water. When the glass is empty, he moves it around in his hand for a while before sighing.
"There was-" he starts, but the other turns around so suddenly, "A robot chased me."
"I know, on the news-"
Taecyeon blinks at him and he stops talking. No way that was on the news, he doubts the government would like that. "Really?"
"Well, I sort of guessed. The reporter said a fire in your building and there were no explosives, usually that’s a robot or something..."
"Yeah," Taecyeon snorts because he's never really talked to the man before and he can tell he's lying, "it told me that the government sent it out and that I should stop doing what I'm doing." Nichkhun nods, turning back to stare at the carpet with his thick eyebrows scrunched together. "That's not surprising?"
"What, that the government sent it?"
"Robot's don't talk-"
"Oh," Khun's eyes go wide and he sits up straight, "it told you this? Wow, this must be amazing technology."
He's such a fucking idiot.
Taecyeon sighs, "I hope you never dreamed of being an actor."
Nichkhun smiles slightly, before giving a large sigh that ends with his head in his hands. "I think I know what's happening and I don't at the same time. Jay hasn't said anything?" Taecyeon shakes his head. The last thing the man had said about anything complicated was that he had to round up a group of people he'd never met before. Another job that was added was for him to be a messenger of information seeing as how Jay couldn't really talk, but it was a pretty clear cut mission type thing. It seems that new information snagged its way into the plan because nothing in life was easy, especially not things that started out so strangely.
There's no complications-
"The government," Khun starts, takes a breath, and sits up, rubbing his thighs, "is controlled by a large super computer, no human or anything, just wires and electricity."
Taecyeon stares because it's a sudden statement and about twenty words that could make anyone's life change, "But...I thought there was a group of world leaders-"
"They're figureheads, used so the world won't revolt that they're under the rule of a robot."
"Ah okay," he nods like he understands and like Khun had only explained to him how to use a computer, even though it's more like he just explained the whole entire world. Which he sort of did in a way. "So, the robot that chased me was...." He's only met with silence because he knows the answer and Khun probably doesn't feel like telling him directly that the government might be after him. Taecyeon stares out the window, trying to figure out how many people know this. In the whole space of their neighborhood, how many times has he walked down the street and someone next to him knew his whole life was a lie? Why does Nichkhun know, of all people. He's one of the most technology deprived people Taecyeon's met in his life.
He helped with it, he sort of-
"Built it?" Taecyeon's brain has officially driven into overdrive.
"What, Jay's lying if he says it’s just me! He helped too and the people you're gathering-"
"Built it," he repeats as if it will finally sink into his brain. Currently, he's talked to two different people who have actually built his entire world since the war.
Well, three since there's Junho and if you count wow young, four.
Three. He's talked with three people who created the world. It's just been a few words, a few seconds and his life as he had known it has been turned upside down and around and then thrown somewhere to be smashed into little pieces. Well, it was already turned upside down when he first met Jay.
It's not that big-
Taecyeon feels like the world is a pretty big deal.
Fine, asshole, it's not that much to worry about. You're not involved so you're safe.
"The government threatening to kill me shows that, of course, I'm in a safe situation right now," Taecyeon sighs and he's too tired to care that he said it out loud. Khun whips his head around, gaping at the sudden statement. "It's because of this, because I'm helping you."
No, that's...definitely not.
There's doubt rising up into his stomach and fear that's plenty for Taecyeon not to believe him. He runs a hand through his hair and looks back at Khun, who is now chewing on his lip with unfocused eyes. "This is a lot....more then what my life used to be." How long had it even been since he last went to work?
"It's almost impossible that they've figured out you're working with us. If they knew, there wouldn't be a warning-"
"That's great to know-"
"I mean, they would have taken you in right away if they even had an inkling. Even if they were just watching you intently, they would have found out about Junho and me, but there's no sign at all."
Aha! I got it.
All the man’s emotions from before, even Taecyeon’s emotions too, are swept away as a rush of happiness and understanding run in. It practically makes Taecyeon smile and act like nothing's happened.
It's all about Technoend! And I'm not happy, I'm so fucking relieved-you are never going back there again.
"If I never go back to Technoend, how easy will it be to find the rest."
"A lot harder," Nichkhun pauses, "Hey, this must be due to Technoend."
"Yeah, Jay said that," Taecyeon's emotions from before dropped, he was so close to having this over and done with.
Nichkhun pouts for a second then gets up and moves over to the window across from them. “They all know where I live. Wooyoung and Chansung only live a little ways away, they can come over first. They could all come over in a nonconsecutive order and-"
As Khun muses to himself, Taecyeon catches a hint of something in the air. It reminds him of the air back when he was running for his life, no more like when he was near the building. "Is this...smoke?"
Nichkhun spins around and sniffs the air twice before running to the kitchen mumbling something. It's back to silence where Taecyeon is back to being alone with his thoughts and his worries and-
You miss me that much, huh?
He's so annoying, but for some reason Taecyeon's set at ease. When there are curses from Nichkhun and more pots and pans clanging, he even gets up to figure out what he can do to help.
Next
Team: AU
Rating: PG13
Fandom: 2pm
Pairing: Taecyeon/Jaebeom
Summary: One strange package makes Taecyeon’s life do a complete 180 and change him from boring, old, routine mechanic to much more.
Prompt Used: KARA - "Lupin"
Author's Note: Thank you so much to my beta’s (this was a monster I love you soooo much) and to all of my team who kept me going to actually complete this. Oh and readers, I thank you for giving this a chance and I hope you like it!
Taecyeon wakes up to his alarm blaring and an angry next door neighbor next door banging on the wall. It's a plain way to start his day, but his whole entire life is exactly the same. He'll turn off the alarm, the neighbor will yell something about breaking the wall down, and then he'll go to the bathroom and get ready. It's routine, it's normal, and it's boring.
His day at work starts with him turning on the computer so he can be connected to the rest of the world. There are no messages popping up or missed calls that need to be replied to, so he sits back in his chair and slowly spins around. He guesses he should get up and make breakfast, but he's not hungry and he hardly doubts he has anything to make breakfast. Fast food is the norm for every meal and who is Taecyeon to defy the unsaid rules in society. Even if he, unlike the unsaid rules, does go out and run once in a while, or that he has a bathroom from fifty years ago, or he actually goes out to places with his friends. He gives a large sigh, before standing up and heading to the kitchen because it's at least something to do.
He walks into the doorway and the lights turn on and illuminate the kitchen that has no windows to the outside world. The coffee pot starts gurgling, though Taecyeon doesn't really want any, and the mini fridge's display lights up to tell him what food he has. He bends down and reads that there's only spoiled leftovers and half a carton of milk.
There's a particular ringing from his computer that alerts him of a call. It has him searching all around for a shirt so that he can answer as if he's ready to go anywhere. When he sits back down in front of the desk, he smiles at the caller's I.D.
"Taec!" Yubin smiles and gives a slight wave, "You aren't working today?"
"I work every day," he frowns, "all day and weekends."
"Are you choosing to work today?" She gives a knowing smirk when Taecyeon eyes dart around the room.
"I haven't decided yet, depends on how much the first customer will pay me."
"So you don't even have a first customer yet," Yubin says slowly and Taecyeon raises an eyebrow. "I just happen to have one-"
"No, not you. When I tried to help you last time you got angry because you thought I was doing everything wrong."
"That's because you were!"
"You don't know a thing about a 3D television!"
"Whatever. It's not me anyway; it's a friend of mine. When I mentioned I knew a mechanic he asked if you were any good and of course I told him no, but he told me to ask that you help anyway."
"There's got to be a catch-"
"No catch," she says and Taecyeon just stares back. "What? He's a nice guy...the weirdest thing is that he wants you to degrade."
"What?" Taecyeon blinks.
"Told you it was weird, but he assures it’s for a good reason."
Taecyeon looks at the screen, waiting for her to mention some catch like the guy lives a state away or that he's crazy. His interest is piqued, despite himself, so he gives one last hard look before saying, "Alright, send me his address and tell him I'll be there soon."
"Great," her smile spread across her whole face, "I just sent him the email and you'll be getting his address in one second." She moves the mouse around and clicks, causing an immediate beep on his computer alerting him of a new email."Okay, he's a nice guy so there's nothing to worry about."
"Yeah, yeah," Taecyeon goes over to the email and finds he lonely lives a few streets over.
"He's not the richest guy, but I'm sure he could pay you back in some other way-"
"What?"
"Gotta go, Taec. Be good to my friend!"
***
When he's just about to leave, the doorbell rings. He opens the door to see a short stubby guy rummaging through a pack on his side, the suit he's wearing looks just like a mailman that he's seen on those old time television shows. He didn't know his city still had humans delivering mail, but he does live in one of the most technology-declined areas of the world.
"Taecyeon Ok?"
"Yep," Taecyeon smiles just to have a clipboard shoved into his chest and a pen after that.
"Sign please," the man asks and goes back to rummaging through his bag. Taecyeon stares at the clipboard for a second; he hasn't ordered anything in the last few days. Actually, he hasn't ordered anything ever. In the confusion of the moment, he looks for the dotted line and signs his name to hand it back to the guy. A box is shoved into his chest this time and before he can ask anything the man walks away, presses a button on his wrist, and fades into the air. He's never heard of or seen handheld teleportation before, but he's sure it would become the next big thing to increase the laziness of the population.
He looks down at the package in his arms and goes back inside the apartment, kicking the door shut with his foot. The return address isn't familiar and if it was a test trial of some new machine the company name would be stamped all over the box. It shouldn't be dangerous, it can't be dangerous; the government is said to check over each and every package to make sure nothing harmful gets out to the people. That doesn't stop Taecyeon from putting the package on a table and poking it from an arm’s length away to see if anything moves or if it makes a noise. The government can't really check every single box in the whole world, at least Taecyeon thinks that's highly unlikely.
With no nothing emitting from the box, he takes a large breath and opens it. There's a machine inside that he gingerly picks up and inspect thoroughly to find a name of a company or anything, but all he can see is that it’s a circular item made of a black metal that shines in the light of the room. Running a hand over it, Taecyeon finds little bumps at the edges that he inspects for any sign of use. It looks familiar to him and under the buttons are either triangles or squares. He brings the machine closer to his face because he knows those signs and the button with one triangle is supposed to be pushed-
As soon as he presses the button the top opens to blow dust or particles or whatever it is right into Taecyeon's face. He falls to the ground and starts to hack and cough in a fit, tears starting to develop in his eyes. It feels like forever, but eventually the coughing subsides and he can take in a deep gulp of air to ease his lungs. Next to him on the ground are the pieces from it being dropped, hard, and he hurriedly stands up and backs away. All he wants to do is throw it out the window, but instead he grabs his coat and briskly walks out the door.
***
Taecyeon's used to a lot from his line of work, having been stretched from one side of the neighborhood to the other, but he's just plain surprised when he gets to Yubin's friend's place. A man greets him, smiling like an actual person as he told him his name was Nichkhun, and he's handsome, but not in the plastic way that has taken over the country. The man actually looks like he takes care of himself, skinny from exercising, handsome from birth. The person isn’t the only surprise, as the man’s apartment stretches over half the floor with everything being neat, orderly, and clean. It's not that odd, but there's no sign of a cleaning robot or robot maid that would have made the apartment this way.
Actually, the man has little technology at all, leaving Taecyeon gaping as he shows him around the rooms. His lights require a switch to turn on; his television, radio, computer have no voice activation; his bathroom was almost worst then Taecyeon's. It's different and new and has Taecyeon treating the man's apartment like a museum except it doesn't feel old. Taecyeon feels completely natural in this place; more so then he's felt anywhere else.
He's led to the kitchen, where the man flicks on the lights and reveals the only shred of evidence that shows the rest of the world's current lifestyle. The fridge was automatically dropping ice into a glass, then changing to water to pour into it until it was almost full. There's a monitor on the fridge with a pixelized women, who smiles and has a question underneath that asks what should be taken out for lunch. It's the latest model, nowhere in the city could you find this.
"Is it too complicated?" Nichkhun's voice cuts through his thoughts, "I mean, you shouldn't work for free if it's that hard-"
"No, it's just...you want me to degrade this?"
"Well, only if you can," he pauses, "and if you're willing."
"You could sell it for a whole lot more money," Taecyeon opens the fridge to see the robotic arms inside that could, if he asked, get an object from inside the fridge and push open the door to put it on a nearby counter.
"I don't want to sell a gift."
"Then," Taecyeon turns, "why degrade it? You could just use it as a fridge and simply not pay attention to the other parts."
"It's a long story," he gives a small smile, "if you don't want to, it's okay."
"That's not it." Taecyeon steps back and looks over the fridge, he doesn't know the reason he's so confused. People ask him to upgrade things all the time, this is just a case of doing the opposite which isn't that different.
"Is it too much? I could call you back when I have money-"
"Yubin would force me back," Taecyeon smiles, "Doesn't seem that hard anyway. I'm only confused of why, but that's not really my problem."
"There's just some other circumstances...well, thanks-Taecyeon, right?-I'll be sure to spread your name around." He smiles and Taecyeon blinks back at him. A beat skips and the smile drops from his face as he starts to shuffle around, "I'll let you work now. Just...call my name or something." And he leaves.
Taecyeon stares after him, Nichkhun's a completely different customer then what he could ever expect.
***
When he opens the door to his apartment, he feels like he's going to burst out of his skin with how much food Nichkhun managed to stuff in him. He would have been happy to have gone home and ordered some pizza since he had finished relatively early, turns out degrading isn't as hard as he thought. Instead, he was taken to the kitchen table as Nichkhun used his new fridge to serve him up as much food as he probably had. It wasn't bad, actually it was pretty good, but it was different, way different. He didn't even remember how unique home-cooked meals tasted.
He walks past his monitor which is flashing to alert him of new emails, probably from customers. He's entirely too full to do much of anything right now, but he sees the pieces from before scattered around the floor. They should probably be thrown away, but he pauses. He has a vague feeling of loss and anger at himself when he realizes he completely destroyed the machine and he no longer wants to throw it away. There should be an empty bag in the kitchen that he can stuff the pieces in for now. When he comes back with it, he wonders why he's even doing this but listens to his brain and places all the pieces in the bag then stuffs it in the cupboard like a bad secret.
***
He wakes up before the alarm this time. Sitting up, he blinks the sleep out of his eyes and confusedly looks all around the room. One simple change and his whole routine is messed up. It turns to two when the alarm rings and he's holding his head as splitting headache racks through his entire brain. Slamming his hand down on the alarm, it finally stops and he stares at the carpet to wait for the ringing in his head to subside. When he feels like he can stand up, he tries to walk only to have each step echo throughout his body. He stops and the headache only lessens, never completely goes away, but that's still heaven compared to before. The next step he takes the whole world spins and he has to grab onto the nightstand to stay up. This is probably a way of telling him that he should just stay in bed all day, but he dares to take another step and only sways. Compared to everything else that happened, it’s the best thing to occur all day.
When he tries to do every day normal tasks, he realizes it's not his head that only feels funny. Every inch of his body feels different and new, almost like he's trying to get used to his own skin. The towel he touches feels so different, when he splashes his face with water it's icier, and when he brushes his teeth he pokes himself in the cheek once or twice. It can't be normal, not for him or anyone. He throws the towel in the clothes bin and walks to the kitchen, head now residing in a dull throb.
Sorry about that.
It resounds in his head when he decides to sit down in his chair and turn the computer on. It sounds like a voice, different from any he's every heard before. He whips his head around the room to search for where it came from, but it makes him feel like something is crushing his skull in. He thinks he hears a few more words, something along the lines of "shouldn't move your head," but the pain clouds whatever was said.
"What?" he calls out after the pain lessens. He stands up and walks around the room to see if he can hear the voice again, but the search through his entire apartment ends up with nothing. He simply has to settle that he imagined it from the headache.
***
Taecyeon's spacing out at the screen, surfing the web, but not really paying attention to it, when it happens again.
Don't you work or something?
It's the same exact voice as before, he knows it is. He sits straighter in his chair and slowly spins around to see no one and nothing behind him. He gets up and checks each room with a glance over, because there really isn't anywhere to hide in his apartment. Unless the man could hide in a cupboard or a drawer in his desk, there can't be anyone here. It had to have been a fluke; he's just tired from working.
You haven't been working at all.
Taecyeon whips around again and there's still nothing behind him. It’s far from what his voice sounds like, but he's going to treat this as fatigue and nothing more. The other option is he's crazy and that's not preferable.
Cool down and think for a minute, it's the age of technology. Remember the cd player?
"What," he asks. He doesn't know why he's talking to himself, especially when he already thinks he's going crazy. Sleep. That's all he needs and it will go away.
Sorry to burst your bubble, but that's not happening.
He starts to worry because he's rather confused on how or why this could happen. Is he really going crazy? This shouldn't suddenly happen out of nowhere, usually there's a cause. At least, he guesses there has to be a cause for something like this.
The doorbell rings, kicking Taecyeon's worry out the door for a second. He ordered pizza a while ago when he wasn't worried about his lack of sleep causing him to go crazy. Taking a large breath, he tries for a smile and goes to open the door. He's met with bored, dark looking eyes and a slouch that keeps shifting his weight from foot to foot. The deliveryman looks up at him, motioning with the pizza and putting out his other hand. He looks young and very familiar; it has Taecyeon's stomach doing flips.
"Wooyoung?" He blurts out, except he doesn't. It sounds like a name, but he's never heard of it before and with the way the man looks up at him surprised he got it right.
"What," his voice is leaded with doubt and caution, as his eyes start to glare.
"Wow, young," Taecyeon corrects himself and takes out his wallet from his pocket, pulling out enough money to probably pay for five pizzas before putting it in the guy's palm. Taking the pizza from the other hand, he waves once and closes the door saying, "Keep the change."
Woah, I didn't know I could do that.
There's a pause, the voice didn't know it could do what? Can it control what he says? Is that why he said someone's name he didn't even know?
Man, it's okay. Listen to me and I can explain everything, alright?
He's done listening; he'll put the pizza on the counter and hop right into bed because everything goes away after a night's rest. This has to be one of those sleep-deprived things. When you're really sleepy you get hyper, right? Just like when you're about to freeze to death your body warms up. That's why he feels perfectly fine right now; it has to be.
***
I swear to god, you are perfectly fucking fine.
The night's rest didn't work, actually a week's long rest didn't work. Taecyeon's in his bed at three in the afternoon also figuring out that staying in bed all day resting doesn't work either. He's going crazy at a young age, why did this happen to him?
Listen dipshit, I've tried to tell you about fifty times that I'll leave your head if you can manage to get a group of people together.
He's also been told that the voice in his head is a person that's alive, but incapacitated. Supposedly, in order to become recapacitated he needs the group to go find him or something along those lines. It's the weirdest thing he's ever heard in his life and he's about a day away from calling a doctor and getting himself admitted to a hospital.
You are not going crazy, it was that cd player you broke to hell.
Taecyeon snorts, just like it was Mrs. White in the ballroom with a candlestick.
What?
He sighs, it's an old time game his parents had way back in there closet. Wait, why is he even talking to a voice? He's growing crazier with ever second that passes by.
You dumbass just listen to me. The machine that you picked up, there was dust inside, right? Technology means that dust could have been tiny nanobites that are currently in your system that are wireless connected to the ones inside mine. They're connected to your brain passing electronic currents and-
His mind is going to blow up, he's a mechanic not an inventor. He knows how to fix things to make them work, not how they work.
It means that I'm only a voice in your head through robotic means and sooner or later they'll fry out like every robot. Though, robots take like fifty years or so to break down.
Taecyeon sits up and runs a hand straight down his scalp, it sounds possible. There's the slightest chance that this could all be because of that machine he randomly received in the mail. Besides, if he does whatever, the man will leave his head before he's seventy. Of course, this all runs on the faith that he's correct and not setting him up to mass murder the world.
What the hell is wro-no! I only need you to round up five people and one you already met. That wow, young guy.
Taecyeon scratches the back of his head, stands up, and stretches. The one plus is that he won't be working for some time. He might as well get up and find some breakfast so he can start whatever this is on a full stomach.
***
It's been another week and nothing has improved. The one guy he did manage to find he has no way to contact (other than the voice's idea of ordering pizza every day until he comes back) and he has no idea where in the world the others are. The voice suggested that they could be in that group that hates technology, but neither of them knows the name for it. He's actually getting really annoyed and thinking about just keeping the voice in his head for fifty years. It's not that bad actually. The only problem is the voice leaves every night just to come back in the morning, leaving him with an aching headache.
The voice has a nice ring to it, all ominous, mysterious, and shit.
Taecyeon's learned that the voice's name was Jay Park days ago, but he has trouble using the name without a face attached. To him, he's just a voice and that's what he calls him.
As long as I can call you the giant.
He can't stop his grin because what? The man has never seen him before, he can't tell how tall he is.
When you look down it's like you're at the top of a fucking skyscraper or something, besides you have giant teeth too.
That's not the first time he's heard it, but he still looks at his computer screen while making faces to show off his teeth. He thinks he's making the face of a goat when the computer chimes about an email alert.
It's from Yubin about that one friend from before that Taecyeon had helped. It reads that the man now has money to repay him and another job for him to do, if he can. The last line is a smiley face with a line telling him he'd better do it and the address one more time. He might as well; he needs the money to be able to buy food.
Your fault for giving wow, young that much money.
The voice is never going to let that go.
Nope.
***
He sighs to himself, he's going to regret this day for the rest of his life.
"Oh shut up, you pansy," he says. Except, it's not him.
"Don't be mean," Nichkhun looks him in the eyes and gives a sympathetic smile.
It's Jay, who grumbles with his voice and lies back on the couch with his arms crossed. Taecyeon can't comprehend the feeling of being a stranger in his own body and being unable to control anything. This is his luck to have this happen to him. It could have literally happened to anyone in the world and it's him.
"This is all good luck."
Of course it's good luck that he opened the door to Nichkhun's apartment, with the man smiling at him and inviting him inside. His eyes unfocused and he almost fell to the ground as the world started to shake. Then he felt like he was watching a movie when his eyes phased over and "that was a drug trip" managed to come out of his mouth. That's how he became Jay, the voice he never wanted.
"Thank you, asshole."
"It's weird to hear one side of the conversation," Nichkhun says, "I hope you don't do this in public."
He probably seems crazy right now, but this whole situation is exactly that. There's this small feeling where he wants to cry because it's so stressful seeing everything be done without his consent. Maybe, he wants to scream more than cry. Only the voice would hear it, which might cause him to switch whatever this is back.
"You even try it and once I figure this out I'm making you deaf from the inside out."
"Can't you think these things, it's kind of awkward," Nichkhun asks.
The voice shakes his head, because they figured out pretty quickly that no matter the situation Taecyeon's the one with his thoughts read while the voice gets to decide. It's not fair in the slightest, the only thing Taecyeon has is the ability to feel the voice's emotions. He's pretty ecstatic to see Nichkhun and whenever he looks at him there's a wave of all these emotions mixed into one, like seeing a long lost friend in what feels like forever and a day.
"I'm not gay like you."
Nichkhun gives a large sigh and rolls his eyes, "Why are you treating the one who basically gave you his body like this?"
Without his consent-
"It's not like he can hear you, dumbass."
"You should give Taecyeon his body back-"
"What, do you want me gone now?" the voice pouts.
"That's not it and you know it. It's his body not yours."
Taecyeon likes this guy, the voice should listen to him.
"You, shut up-"
"What?" Nichkhun frowns and immediately there's a feeling of regret.
"Not you!"
Nichkhun's face doesn't change, "I think you should figure this out because it's your machine. You probably can think of some way to change this back."
"It's better this way, since I can talk to you directly-"
"But it's not right this way," Nichkhun tries for a small smile, "getting your body back can wait until you give Taecyeon back his." The voice tries to say something, but Nichkhun shakes his head and gets up to walk over to the door, opening it and leaning against it.
"I hate you," he mumbles, but inside there is no malice. He actually feels sort of saddened which Taecyeon did not expect.
"It's not like you were forced out of your body, but Taecyeon was. The worst feeling in the world is when you think you can't do anything," Nichkhun smiles as the voice stands up and grumbles some incoherent things.
"Why can you do that to people," he pauses at the door, "Everything...Everyone's okay, right?"
"Perfectly fine and hidden away so not even a superman could find us. We don't even get to talk, though. A wise old man from Seattle told us that if we directly talk to each other we'll definitely be found out quick."
The smile spreads almost across his entire face, "I'm surprised you listened."
"You're our leader, why wouldn't we?" Taecyeon feels his heart drop and there's this large lump in his throat. "Now why you were selected is hard to figure out."
"You dick," the smile falters a little, but he covers it up by lightly punching Nichkhun on the shoulder. There's a second where everything hits him entirely too hard as Nichkhun's arms make their way around him and he feels like if he blinks tears will fall. He hugs back for a second then pushes the man away, making him pout with large eyes. "I always knew you were gay."
"Go and figure this out," Nichkhun rolls his eyes, but then he smiles, "the sooner you do, the sooner we have you back."
The voice pats Nichkhun on the shoulder then walks out the door, waiting until he hears the door close to wipe at his eyes.
***
The voice has been having loads of fun at his expense. He's rummaged through every single part of his apartment and every single folder of his computer despite Taecyeon's avid protests. Lots of times, the voice complained that if the house weren't so messy it wouldn't have taken so much time to go through everything. Taecyeon countered by telling him he should help clean up instead of putting everything back or creating more of a mess. After a while, the voice had gotten bored and laid on the couch, the television flipping through channels as the voice looks up at the ceiling. Really, he should turn off the T.V. if he isn't going to watch at all.
"The life of a giant is kind of boring," the voice yawns.
Taecyeon's sorry if he has nothing to do with the current situation of finding any way possible of getting the voice out of his head.
"Everyone has a hobby."
Pretty much, his job is his hobby. There's nothing much he's done lately other then wake up, go to work, catch up with friends, and then sleep. That's a good life right there.
The voice scoffs, "That's a boring as shit life, you had to have some other dream then of being some mechanic making house calls."
As far as Taecyeon remembers, his whole entire life was centered around earning a good enough job to get his family away. They pretty much lived in the area that was the heart of the war in what was the United States. Turns out, when Taecyeon was able to work the world leaders finally decided to come together and end the war.
"There has to be some hobby that you had, like some far off dream that would never happen in a million years, but you still dreamed about it."
Taecyeon thinks the voice has been under for some time. No one dreams anymore, from start to finish everything they do is the norm. They go through school to learn what they need to work as, end up working where they have the most skill and become basically human robots.
"You don't seem that way."
He's surprised because he pretty much was the same way. If he slacked off the slightest bit, it would be seen on his profile, which would mean less customers. Less customers meant less money and that means he'd be one of the first people to live on the streets since the war ended.
"It's just," the voice pauses, "most people wouldn't have known what to do with the cd player. That's way before our time and someone like that has to have more of a life then being a human robot. Or at least, not liked the idea of becoming one."
That's true, but he doubts anyone likes that idea. No one talks about it, Taecyeon doesn't even mention it with his friends, but it's become too normal to do anything about.
There's a loud sigh, "well, I wanted to dance. The war always had people so dreary and shit, but whenever people heard music, they lightened up a bit. I wanted to add something to it, make people watch me and forget about what the hell was going on around them. I could've taught people too, back in my hometown I had this group of people and we learned together. Sometimes we randomly went into the middle of town with an old boombox and blasted music to dance too, everyone came out of their house."
He can feel the man's excitement everywhere, from his heart to the tip of his finger. The voice kept talking about everything in his hometown, ranging from the group to his family. When he starts on the topic of having to leave, he goes silent, but starts to hum some old tune when the silence goes on for a long time. Taecyeon listens to it for a long time and he starts to think about his life before the one he has right now. His mom basically forced him out of the house because his talent was too good to be wasted, though the only reason he left was because she smiled so brightly. It had been so long since she smiled so wide.
The voice stops humming, "what."
The only hobby he could think of is wanting to make people smile. The war had everyone so damn in the dumps that Taecyeon did anything he could to have them laugh. It was sort of like those stars from before until everyone was drafted to go into the war. Whenever he managed to get someone to crack a smile, he'd try to get better at whatever it was.
"Oh," the voice smiles.
He wants to laugh because it's all so stupid now. His mother figured out he was good with technology and sent him away to study to become better at it. Making people happy doesn't pay that well.
"Too bad, a comedian called the giant would attract attention."
Taecyeon wants to smile and laugh with Jay, but he's only a voice in a head. It hits him entirely too hard that he's technically not there and that the only one in the world that could actually pay attention and hear him was Jay. It's a numb feeling that settles in his stomach, or what should be his stomach.
"I think I understand now, Taec." The voice sighs deeply then his eyes fall out of focus like last time. In about a second, he's back to seeing out of his own eyes. He lifts his hand to reach out and grasp for the ceiling above.
You're not that tall, dumbass.
Taecyeon laughs.
***
Taecyeon's back to searching on his computer for any leads about a way of finding the other members of the group the voice needs. The only thing that could possibly help them is that technology hating pack, but it has a name he can't remember.
IHT?
His finger pauses on the mouse because he has no idea where that came from.
I hate technology, I.H.T?
He's definitely sure it's not anything like that in the least. He knows it's one word and not an acronym.
Technophob.
That's not it.
Technohate.
Not that one either.
Antitech.
It's starting to get annoying now.
Technodie?
Taecyeon sighs loudly and the voice gets the message. He's probably still thinking inside, but Taecyeon can't hear that.
The only thing he can look up is 'group that hates technology' but he knows that's not the smartest idea. There's a lot of rumors about the government getting really upset over the group because it's starting to grow more active. He knows that there have been buildings burned down and signs painted some places to let everyone know that they're not some little group to be ignored.
Techno...
Why is he back to be annoying.
I'm trying to help, you ass. Is it Technoend?
He pauses, that seems right. Typing that into the search engine, he gets a lot of websites related to it but not in direct name. It's always "seems like a certain group is involved" or "might be the work of one group." It's a start and more then he's had for however many weeks; it kind of makes him want to hug Jay.
You can't, gaywad. I don't want to be suffocated anyway.
Wait, if the other would be suffocated then he's got to be a lot shorter then him. Plus, he calls him the giant and Taecyeon's really not that tall.
Fuck you, I'm not short. You're image has been skewed because of your genes.
***
Two days is all it takes for his tireless search of the internet for Technoend to have a negative effect. It's not in the shape of carpal tunnel, but instead it occurs with the government calling his landline. Technically, the only reason he had the old telephone is because the government wanted to have a foolproof way of getting in contact with all its citizens.
He's pretty sure that's too much of an invasion of privacy, but the call did seem to do what the government wanted. Taecyeon is still scared to search anything more on his computer, fearing the government is no closely monitoring his every move. Suddenly, there are rocks in his stomach and a cloudiness in his head before his head is entirely clear.
Taecyeon's confused for the longest time, usually the clear state of mind was always due to Jay leaving his head before he slept. The reason was that if Taecyeon tried to sleep with him still inside, his mind would never be able to rest, but he thinks Jay likes the idea of pranking him into thinking that everything was just a dream. It's not a second later that his mind has this sense of pressure in it.
Do I need to always be here with you? You get that lonely? You're even starting to call me Jay now.
He rolls his eyes, wondering why he was even worried the voice was gone. The phone rings loudly in the background and he picks it up by instinct before thinking that it’s the government calling him again. The silence that greets him isn't a great sign.
"This is Taecyeon?" the voice on the other side is rough and almost like the harsh government worker's voice from the other day.
"Um, yeah."
"Come down to the city and knock twice on the red door. We need to talk to you and not over the phone." The line cut off before Taecyeon gets a chance to agree or disagree, but it wasn't like that was in the form of a question either.
Are red doors rare or something?
Taecyeon blinks then remembers that this isn't exactly the place where Jay normally lives. The “city” is the poorest neighborhood in the entire actual city. For some odd reason a lot of people choose to live there, usually consisting of old people trying to get their lives from before technology invaded. Wait a second-
Wait, what?
Taecyeon quickly gets his jacket before running out the door, slamming it as he leaves. This might be the biggest break they get.
***
After the war and with an increase in use of energy, the sky has only the vaguest change from night to day. The government fixed this right away, installing high-powered street lights in the cities that could afford them. Now, when they're turned on, it's as bright as the days Taecyeon can only remember and as time progresses they're dimmed accordingly. This isn't really anything people need to know, but if you walk into the city without this knowledge it'll be a slap in the face. Taecyeon goes from stepping on the teleportation pad in the bright of "day" to being transported to the city where he has to squint his eyes to be able to see.
He's very careful as he walks down the street, passing by buildings that look old and areas that definitely look shady. Sometimes cars drive by, showing how old the area acts, down the one long street that goes through the entire city. The way you get around is just follow the street because it goes everywhere somehow and that's how Taecyeon's always navigated this place. When his chest starts to vibrate he knows he's reached the heart of the city, where people just crowd around this one building and dance. They're always there when Taecyeon is, so he doubts that they ever sleep.
People dance here? They play music here?
Taecyeon smiles, because Jay's happiness is too much for him not to. He has to burst the man's bubble though, because the last time he was here, there were a lot more dancers and they were a lot more rowdy. They even dragged this one guy away and Taecyeon only just managed to find him before he was about to get beaten for whatever reason. He doesn't even know why the dancers let him go.
Well, you should probably stop walking towards them, then.
Pausing, he looks down the street that always guides him wherever he wants to go. He sighs and walks down some back alley; if he gets lost he can always turn around. There's a slight feeling of sadness when the beat stops vibrating his ribs and the ground stops shaking.
The thing is, the farther you get away from the main street the darker it gets and there's only one teleportation pad in the whole area. The biggest thing is he has no idea where he is going, except that he is looking for a red door amongst many doors. He shouldn't have listened to Jay; if this is his last night alive, he's blaming it all on him.
If you die, you won't be able to blame me, dumbass.
Taecyeon ignores him and starts to stare at every building he passes by with more alert eyes. Perhaps, by a stroke of luck, he went the right way and the red door will shine a few steps up ahead.
"Thought I heard someone." Taecyeon nearly jumps out of his skin when he sees the figure approaching. "C'mon."
"Um, where?"
"You step on this street, you owe some pals up there money."
Taecyeon starts to slowly back up, "I didn't know that."
Way to go....hey, I think if you get murdered I can take your body-
"Shut up," Taecyeon says because now isn't the time to be distracting him with this. But he said that out loud...didn't he?
"What did you just say?" And with that tone he heard, he's going to die.
Jesus, don't stand there like a dumbshit; turn around and run!
Taecyeon starts to do that, but when he turns he rams right into another person and falls down. He can't see who it is, but he's not that tall and not that large so if he has to he could probably fight his way out.
You fighting, ha.
"Hey Phil," the one closest to him says.
"Why are you here?"
"New recruit," he looks down at Taecyeon, "let's go. Taecyeon Ok."
His name is actually pronounced correctly and, in the moment, it's enough for Taecyeon to trust him. He stands up, dusting off his pants, and gives a slight glance back down the alley. When he turns back to the nicer guy, he's already walking down the street.
"Always getting in my business," the man grumbles and a door shuts behind them.
***
The red door in question was only a building away from the one the dance mob stands in front of. Taecyeon passes by humming the tune of the song, which he blames on Jay, having the man in front of him turn and smile.
"You know this?"
Taecyeon can't exactly say no if he's humming the tune so he nods his head, "this is the right building?"
"Why would I lead you to the wrong one," the man smiles and it has his eyes crinkle up into little crescents. It causes Taecyeon eyes to shift over and it takes all he has to stand up straight and not alert the man to a problem. The time it takes for the other to put a hand on the security pad and have it ding of acceptance is enough for Taecyeon to sort it all out. He takes a deep breath and enters, greeted by hooded figures in all black sweaters.
"Oh Junho," the one in the middle steps forward and takes off his hood. A chain dangles out and there’s a gold letter ‘A’ attached that hangs right in the middle of his chest. His large white smile contrasts with his skin, "You didn't knock."
"You told me to go," the man who led him here walks over.
"Safety first," he says and all the rest take off their hoods. There are two guys that cross their arms and look straight at Taecyeon with dark eyes. Both have similar chains to the first guy, but have the letters ‘O’ and ‘M’ attached respectively. All the people behind them go about their business in the large area.
This is interesting...
Taecyeon doesn't have time to ask as the shortest one steps forward and gives him a once over, "this is Taecyeon?" He's not going to tell him he said his name all wrong, accents in all the wrong places, because he's still kind of scared of "city" people.
"Let's see, do you know Khun?" the one in the center asks.
"Nichkhun?"
He nods, "You're the one who knows Jay?"
"Um, yeah?" As soon as he says that, Junho's head snaps up and his eyes are focused on Taecyeon.
"And you know what you're talking to us for?"
"I think?"
"Then you're Taecyeon. 'Sup, I'm Cha Cha," he smiles.
Taecyeon tries his best not to say anything as he feels a rush of new information on the top of his tongue.
It's been a while, man.
"Well, Khun got you in this with much persistence because of this 'thing' that is occurring. He said it's the best way to have you all connected and away from prying eyes. I don't really care as long as you don't get in the way and help out sometimes."
"Um, thank you?" Taecyeon has no idea what to say because the man's being way too cryptic. The response is a laugh so he guess it's good enough.
"Everyone's involved in one way or another, it's like a club of all of you. Seems I'm not allowed in it, but this one here," Cha Cha clasps Junho on the shoulder, "he is, I think. There's Nichkhun, that one rich guy, the delivery man, the tall dancer, and that's it."
Taecyeon kind of understands now, or to the point that he's incredibly happy this is all going to end soon. He's kind of creeped out that Junho's staring at him like he's got some disease.
"I guess you both should talk then," Cha Cha says before giving the silence time to take over. He leaves to talk to some group of people near a computer and the other two with the chains follow. Junho stays.
"So," Taecyeon starts, "You know about all this, huh?"
"Yes and you know Jay?"
"Uh, yeah." He technically doesn't know Jay, he's just in his head.
That's not knowing me?
"How?"
"Khun didn't tell you?"
"No," Junho shakes his head and takes a step forward, "How?"
He backs up, "You won't believe me unless you talk to Khun."
"How."
"I've talked to him pretty recently," Taecyeon lies, "Khun did too."
"Where is he?"
"I don't know." Taecyeon never really cared to ask.
"I thought they would have killed him-"
"I didn't get fucking killed, dumbass. It wouldn’t kill because of that," Taecyeon clamps a hand over his mouth. Jay needs to stop doing this because it's annoying and makes him look like someone who escaped from a mental asylum. Junho blinks at him, eyes getting hysterically wide. "I never knew your eyes could get that big."
"What?" His lips are twitching up and Taecyeon thinks he should run before Jay gets him killed.
He backs up to the door with his hand clasped around the handle, "Don't think-it's not-talk to Nichkhun, okay?" He opens the door and walks briskly down the street, managing to knock into this one guy going the opposite way with short red hair.
***
Instead of some big climax on how he's so much closer to ending this then before, Taecyeon's basically a sitting duck. There's no way for them to contact each other directly and unlike Nichkhun, the others don't really want to pass information to people only recently involved. Nichkhun had called to tell him there was one member that was going to fly out from across the country to be here and another that was highly reluctant to talk to Taecyeon. He's almost certain it's Wooyoung, the delivery boy that thinks he's some crazy stalker because Jay needed his voice to be heard.
You're such a whiner, I doubt people thought you were normal before that.
The best thing about this situation, the only possible best thing, is that Jay certainly is different from most people he's met. If Jay does posses his body, like he probably will, then it should be easier for the others to believe him. Nichkhun saw it right away and he's said that Junho has been asking random questions about whether Jay put himself in a highly realistic robot or not. Taecyeon doesn't know if he should like being called a highly advanced robot or be offended.
He's just a little slow.
Not true, since he had to be pretty quick to catch onto Taecyeon's annoying slip of the tongue. Especially after he thought Jay was killed and dead; it's almost like you think a miracle happened when someone you thought was dead was actually alive.
That's just him being dumb, considering everyone else knows I'm alive and well-
One thing about that Taecyeon doesn't know is the well part. He's actually never asked once why he was doing this, before he's just been led by trying to get the man out of his head before he's seventy. It's surprising how much he's trusted the other so far, this could be some plan to kill off the entire world.
You watch too much television. Look, I'm pretty much okay; it's that I'm stuck is all I'm worried about.
Taecyeon grins, it sounds like a little girl that fell down a well-
What? If I got stuck down a well I would be able to crawl out with my own hands. This is way more epic then that; I'm stuck in a heavily guarded area that only people who know about it can hack into. I used to work for the government...and some people wanted me gone.
That's a lot like a spy thriller TV show and it makes Taecyeon wonder how far he's gotten into this and if he can still get out.
Don't be like that, man. You don't need to do anything, just round them up.
He's not convinced, and he can't figure out whether this growing feeling of doubt in his stomach is Jay's or his. One of the biggest problems with this is their emotions are being intertwined together and Taecyeon can't differentiate anymore.
If you get hurt I will kiss Nichkhun, okay? There's no foul for you here.
***
Taecyeon sits on his couch, staring across the room at a large box positioned right in front of the door to his house. He had almost jumped out his skin this morning when he saw it there just out of nowhere. The return address was one Taecyeon had never seen before and there was no company name stamped all around the box, so it was a very familiar scene to him.
What? I can't send anything right now in a freaking coma.
He knows that since the post-it-note he snatched off the top told him nothing other than that it could help him. In a sense, that's way scarier than the random delivery of a CD player.
It's only a box, don't be such a wuss.
The last box thrust into Taec's life ended up putting him in the most annoying place of his life.
Fuck you too, but I'm pretty sure nothing in that box can top me.
He laughs because it’s pretty much the truth. There's nothing inside that could surprise him with the current situation, in his entire life nothing could surprise him more then someone possessing another. Taking a deep breath, he stands up and grabs a knife from the kitchen to cut the box open. He moves the box more into his apartment in the case that whatever inside can't be moved once he opened it.
The knife cuts through quickly and sharply around the edges and once he gets to a certain point the box just opens by itself. Inside is a robot, seated in the fetal position with its hands linked together in front of its legs. It seems unfinished, there's no overlaying coat of plastic or metal that hides all the wires that connect it together, but if it's a free trial he could use it. When he tries to approach it, his body freezes completely.
Don't touch it.
There's a pause where Taecyeon tries to find any reason of why Jay could find anything wrong with a robot, an unfinished one none the less. A deep feeling of dread sets in, in his stomach that makes him know it’s not over something trivial. To Taecyeon, it's only a robot and they're never turned on delivered. The worst option it could be was a bomb, but he knows that there’s always a timer or ticking or explosives.
Just don't fucking touch it and get out.
Taecyeon backs up because the man always has some reason or always knows a bit more then Taec that can help him out of something. When he grabs the doorknob behind his back, the robot looks up and blinks. Robots do not blink. They aren't delivered turned on. They don't have any human emotions, like having its mouth stretch up in some demented smile.
It's- this is-fuck, Taec, run.
It takes no time for him to slam the door open and book it down the hall. His neighbor will probably start banging on the wall and yelling at him about breaking the apartment building, but his greatest concern is getting out. When he's about two blocks away, he stops to catch his breath.
I don't know what the hell this is. This-why-I'm sorry.
There’s a loud explosion that knocks Taecyeon off his feet and has him land hard against the gravel of the sidewalk. His hand burns from the scratches, but smoke rises up from his apartment building, causing people to crowd the streets when the fire alarms sound and him to forget about his hand.
Get somewhere safe, robots are built fast.
Taecyeon understands and he gets up in one quick motion and runs as fast as he can to the nearest teleportation pad he can think of. He doubts that his running will change any of the result, though the slim chance keeps him going the fastest that he ever has. Questions echo all around, ranging from why he's running to did he do it to what's happening, and he can hear sirens, before he cuts through an alley as a shortcut.
***
He knocks on the door with what he feels like is the last of his strength. There's a second where he fears that the man's not home, but then the door open and the greeting he receives changes from sadness to shock to worry in such a quick succession he doubts it's normal. Taecyeon wants to laugh, but he feels like his legs will give way any second.
"What's wrong," Nickhun looks him up and down once, then pulls him inside the apartment, all the way to the couch, which he pushes Taecyeon back into. A glass of water is placed into his hand and Khun's in the kitchen with the pots and pans clanging away.
Taecyeon stares at his hand, "I'm okay-"
"You're eating," Khun shouts back. There’s water rushing, more pots clanging, then a gentle sizzling before the man comes back into the room and sits down next to him. They sit in silence as Khun leans onto his hands and Taecyeon steadily drinks the water. When the glass is empty, he moves it around in his hand for a while before sighing.
"There was-" he starts, but the other turns around so suddenly, "A robot chased me."
"I know, on the news-"
Taecyeon blinks at him and he stops talking. No way that was on the news, he doubts the government would like that. "Really?"
"Well, I sort of guessed. The reporter said a fire in your building and there were no explosives, usually that’s a robot or something..."
"Yeah," Taecyeon snorts because he's never really talked to the man before and he can tell he's lying, "it told me that the government sent it out and that I should stop doing what I'm doing." Nichkhun nods, turning back to stare at the carpet with his thick eyebrows scrunched together. "That's not surprising?"
"What, that the government sent it?"
"Robot's don't talk-"
"Oh," Khun's eyes go wide and he sits up straight, "it told you this? Wow, this must be amazing technology."
He's such a fucking idiot.
Taecyeon sighs, "I hope you never dreamed of being an actor."
Nichkhun smiles slightly, before giving a large sigh that ends with his head in his hands. "I think I know what's happening and I don't at the same time. Jay hasn't said anything?" Taecyeon shakes his head. The last thing the man had said about anything complicated was that he had to round up a group of people he'd never met before. Another job that was added was for him to be a messenger of information seeing as how Jay couldn't really talk, but it was a pretty clear cut mission type thing. It seems that new information snagged its way into the plan because nothing in life was easy, especially not things that started out so strangely.
There's no complications-
"The government," Khun starts, takes a breath, and sits up, rubbing his thighs, "is controlled by a large super computer, no human or anything, just wires and electricity."
Taecyeon stares because it's a sudden statement and about twenty words that could make anyone's life change, "But...I thought there was a group of world leaders-"
"They're figureheads, used so the world won't revolt that they're under the rule of a robot."
"Ah okay," he nods like he understands and like Khun had only explained to him how to use a computer, even though it's more like he just explained the whole entire world. Which he sort of did in a way. "So, the robot that chased me was...." He's only met with silence because he knows the answer and Khun probably doesn't feel like telling him directly that the government might be after him. Taecyeon stares out the window, trying to figure out how many people know this. In the whole space of their neighborhood, how many times has he walked down the street and someone next to him knew his whole life was a lie? Why does Nichkhun know, of all people. He's one of the most technology deprived people Taecyeon's met in his life.
He helped with it, he sort of-
"Built it?" Taecyeon's brain has officially driven into overdrive.
"What, Jay's lying if he says it’s just me! He helped too and the people you're gathering-"
"Built it," he repeats as if it will finally sink into his brain. Currently, he's talked to two different people who have actually built his entire world since the war.
Well, three since there's Junho and if you count wow young, four.
Three. He's talked with three people who created the world. It's just been a few words, a few seconds and his life as he had known it has been turned upside down and around and then thrown somewhere to be smashed into little pieces. Well, it was already turned upside down when he first met Jay.
It's not that big-
Taecyeon feels like the world is a pretty big deal.
Fine, asshole, it's not that much to worry about. You're not involved so you're safe.
"The government threatening to kill me shows that, of course, I'm in a safe situation right now," Taecyeon sighs and he's too tired to care that he said it out loud. Khun whips his head around, gaping at the sudden statement. "It's because of this, because I'm helping you."
No, that's...definitely not.
There's doubt rising up into his stomach and fear that's plenty for Taecyeon not to believe him. He runs a hand through his hair and looks back at Khun, who is now chewing on his lip with unfocused eyes. "This is a lot....more then what my life used to be." How long had it even been since he last went to work?
"It's almost impossible that they've figured out you're working with us. If they knew, there wouldn't be a warning-"
"That's great to know-"
"I mean, they would have taken you in right away if they even had an inkling. Even if they were just watching you intently, they would have found out about Junho and me, but there's no sign at all."
Aha! I got it.
All the man’s emotions from before, even Taecyeon’s emotions too, are swept away as a rush of happiness and understanding run in. It practically makes Taecyeon smile and act like nothing's happened.
It's all about Technoend! And I'm not happy, I'm so fucking relieved-you are never going back there again.
"If I never go back to Technoend, how easy will it be to find the rest."
"A lot harder," Nichkhun pauses, "Hey, this must be due to Technoend."
"Yeah, Jay said that," Taecyeon's emotions from before dropped, he was so close to having this over and done with.
Nichkhun pouts for a second then gets up and moves over to the window across from them. “They all know where I live. Wooyoung and Chansung only live a little ways away, they can come over first. They could all come over in a nonconsecutive order and-"
As Khun muses to himself, Taecyeon catches a hint of something in the air. It reminds him of the air back when he was running for his life, no more like when he was near the building. "Is this...smoke?"
Nichkhun spins around and sniffs the air twice before running to the kitchen mumbling something. It's back to silence where Taecyeon is back to being alone with his thoughts and his worries and-
You miss me that much, huh?
He's so annoying, but for some reason Taecyeon's set at ease. When there are curses from Nichkhun and more pots and pans clanging, he even gets up to figure out what he can do to help.
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