Generation Y (Chapter 4)
The next day Junsu and Yunho went to the library in town. They wore baseball caps and kept them low over their faces as they jogged across the street and towards the library. They were both tense and alert for any sign of trouble which never happened. Once they made it to the building they slipped inside and headed straight for the computers, ignoring the suspicious stares from the librarian.
While the computer booted up, Yunho grabbed another chair and pulled it next to Junsu’s. “So you know what to look for?”
“Yup, I don’t know where the name files are but there are tons of files once I hacked into their system.” Junsu paused and smacked his forehead. “Damn, maybe that’s how they found us! I hacked into their computers and that could have triggered an alarm or something. I’m so stupid!”
“Sh,” Yunho hissed, glancing up at the librarian. “That doesn’t matter now, what’s done is done. I don’t think they could have found us so quickly if your hacking did set off the alarms. They must have found us before. So let’s do this again and if they do manage to find out where we are, hopefully we’ll be long gone.”
Junsu nodded slowly, and slipped a USB chip into the computer. The screen went black and he quickly punched in a few codes, tracing the steps he took when he was sitting in his room the previous night. He pulled up Google and typed in Plutotec to the search bar. Instead of pulling up websites on Plutotec, however, it linked to the hacker drive and files popped up from their computers. Junsu smiled.
“Gotta love Google,” he said quietly, scrolling through the files. “These are the ones I found last night. There’s ones on the original Generation Y mutants, along with profiles about their results. It turns out that there was something wrong with them, a kind of defect. They didn’t live as long as a normal person, typically about half the age to be exact. But as new ones were being developed they started living longer and were soon able to reproduce. This is the Generation Y Natalie was from. The scientists still believed that even though they can reproduce, it could result either result in the child being still born, or the mother dying with the child. The mutant gene wouldn’t cooperate with the foetus long enough to fuse with its DNA.
“However, it says there was one Generation Y who managed to survive and have a successful birth. The baby didn’t show any signs of mutation in its first few years but it started when it was four years old-”
“The age Taemin was when he started showing signs of being a mutant,” Yunho muttered and Junsu nodded.
“And that mutant happens to be none other than Natalie. Yoochun was born in Plutotec but she managed to escape with him when he started showing his powers. She’s been in hiding since and has had two other successful births.” Junsu sat back and ran a hand through his hair. “That was new…but how did Plutotec know that she had Jessica and Taemin? She’s been hiding for seventeen years and I don’t think she had been caught during that time…. Do you think she’s being monitored?”
Yunho stared at the files absently, his mind reeling. It would make sense. That would explain how they were caught, but how come they hadn’t been caught four years ago when they first met up with her and her three children? Or why hadn’t Natalie been taken in sooner? What was Plutotec doing and what was their motive? These questions whirled frustratingly around Yunho’s head and he rubbed his temples, forcing himself to calm down. It couldn’t be Natalie’s fault. No, there had to be another reason….
“Oh here we go!” Junsu said suddenly, drawing Yunho out of his stupor. “Here are the blueprints of the Plutotec institutions around here. Some of them are more or less human evolution museums, equipped with various other mammals and animal evolutions. But that’s on the main level. Below, in at least three out of the five, are warehouses I guess that are several feet underground. In these are all the labs and pod prisons. The other two institutions seem to be research buildings, where the DNA samples and everything else goes to for analysis. The closest one is about three hours away from town, and the others even further. But these are the only ones that are in our area so I say we check them out.”
“Wow, you’re really determined aren’t you?” Yunho whispered, surprised at how much Junsu knew. How long had he been researching this stuff?
Junsu shrugged and continued flipping through the files. “I want to save Yoochun, so I’m doing my damned best to do so. And now I have to save Taemin and Yoona as well. And if it means that I have to memorize every little detail about Plutotec then so be it.”
Yunho was impressed. He knew Junsu was determined once he set his mind to it, but he was easily sidetracked and distracted. He had a child-like personality, but to see him like this, it showed how grown up Junsu could really be. Yunho smiled and pressed his hand on the other’s shoulder in assurance and glanced causally around the library once more. It was still quiet and the librarian had obviously gotten tired of watching them because she had turned back to organizing the books that had to be re-shelved. It was a small town so Yunho didn’t expect the library to be the busiest place, and he felt a little more comfortable with that thought. But they should hurry and get back to the safe house before that safety was destroyed.
“I can’t find them,” Junsu muttered, “there are no records of anyone being held in Plutotec…it’s as if they don’t exist.”
“Makes sense,” Yunho replied, “it must be a safety precaution in case someone like us hacked into their system. Or they just want it to look like Generation Y never existed.”
“It’s weird…you’d think there’d be something, but there’s no file about there even being anything suspicious down in the labs. Only the blueprints indicate it…. What are they hiding from?”
“What do you think? The world of course. Do you really think people would be very happy to find out that a bunch of crazy scientists are doing really inhuman things to other humans? I doubt it, so they’re saving face. There’s got to be something somewhere with more than just a bunch of blueprints, and I think we need to go to Plutotec to find out for sure.”
Suddenly the doors opened as Junsu was shutting down the computer. They pulled their caps down to shade their eyes as they went through the bursting bookshelves and made for the exit. They stopped as they neared the librarian’s desk, and heard someone speaking in a low tone. Yunho pressed Junsu against the bookshelf and held his breath, knowing exactly what was going on. They had been found out. Crap.
“I’m looking for two young men matching these descriptions. Have you seen them?”
The librarian had been suspicious before so she made no effort in denying it. “Of course, they’re over there by the computers. Is there a problem?”
“Not at all ma’am, we’d just like to talk to them that’s all,” a gruff voice said politely, and Yunho shivered. He turned back to where the computers sat and noticed a door right behind them. Slowly he motioned for Junsu to go that way and they crept away quickly, listening to the footsteps make their way to the computers.
“We’re going to run into them,” Yunho thought grimly, “just who’s going to win this race?” As long as he got Junsu out that would be alright, but he doubted that the other man would leave him to fend by himself. That wasn’t the way they were taught.
They were a few feet away from the door when the two men stepped out and spotted them. Junsu’s eyes widened and Yunho sucked in a sharp breath. The men stared at the mutants, surprise briefly flickering across their faces, and then they were composed. One drew out a gun and aimed it at Junsu. Hurriedly Yunho’s hand shot out and a desk and computer went crashing into the men. The gun went off, hitting the ceiling and they could hear the librarian scream. But they weren’t waiting around to see if the Plutotec soldiers were up and dusting off. Yunho flung the back door open and Junsu rushed out grabbing Yunho’s arm and dragging him with him. They heard other gunshots being fired and ducked in response to the windows breaking. Still they kept running. Hurriedly they raced across the street, almost getting hit a couple times from the cars passing by. Again, they ignored them and kept going, Junsu’s wings spreading out beautifully. He turned back to Yunho.
“Grab on!” he yelled, and Yunho hesitated. Junsu was smaller than Yunho, and much lighter to provide better flying. He couldn’t carry anything heavier than his own body mass or flying wouldn’t work very well.
“What are you talking about?” Yunho snapped back. People were staring at Junsu’s brilliant wings that glistened in the bright, afternoon sun. Yunho and Junsu didn’t even notice the danger they were in now. “You can’t carry me and you know that! Get out of here now and I’ll make my own way back to the safe house! I’ll lose them for you.” In the background the men were heard shouting and there sounded like there were more than before.
“Yunho….” Junsu bit his lip and shook his head. “No, I can’t leave you. We all promised to protect each other and that’s what I’m doing.” And before Yunho could protest Junsu was running towards him, arms outstretched. Then he grabbed the older man by the waist and leapt into the air, feeling the weight pull him down slightly. Straining he forced his wings to flap, every muscle strained from the extra weight. Slowly he was flying up, and down below he could hear screams and curious mutters as a group of onlookers flocked together and stared up.
They didn’t get very far when a gunshot was heard and Junsu felt a sharp pain in his wing. He lost what little balance he had and that was it. He was falling, holding Yunho tightly, spinning dizzily to the ground below.
“I’m so sorry,” he whispered into Yunho’s ear, as the ground rushed up to meet them. He was low enough that he was able to drop Yunho to his feet but he couldn’t steer properly after that. He collided with a parked car, smashing the window and hood, before rolling off and landing heavily onto the ground. Groaning he propped up onto his elbows and felt like his body had been hit by a car. And he had, except he had ran into it and it was parked.
“Junsu are you alright?” Yunho asked, rushing over, “oh shit, what were you thinking?”
“I don’t know,” Junsu admitted wincing as Yunho’s hands brushed over his injuries.
“Nothing serious, just banged up. We’ve got to go, they’ll be here any second.”
He pulled Junsu up and half-carried, half-dragged him into a nearby alleyway. Yunho looked bruised and beaten as well and Junsu figured that it wasn’t low enough for the leader to be dropped from. But he looked alive and unbroken, which was a good thing. Gently Yunho pushed Junsu against the wall as much as permitted and waited until there was complete silence. The Plutotec soldiers’ gunshots had died down but Yunho was certain they were still looking. Suddenly he remembered the walkie-talkie and pulled it out.
“Come in safe house,” he whispered hoarsely, “can you hear me?”
The other end crackled and then came to life. Changmin’s voice could be heard. “We can hear you. How’s the research coming, any luck?”
Yunho shook his head. “No, and be quiet please. We’ve been compromised. They found us, but we’re hiding right now. I suggest you keep a close look-out in case they find you guys. Keep in touch and we’ll figure some way to get out of here as soon as possible. Then all of us are leaving.”
“Where too?”
Yunho and Junsu exchanged a look. “To Plutotec.”
~*~*~
“Sign language! Why hadn’t I thought of that?” Yoona thought excitedly. Taemin had been taken away about an hour ago, and she had sat there almost losing her mind from the worry and panic that crept up inside her. She was very glad that Yoochun was there, and he was a comfort.
At that moment Yoochun was making symbols quickly and discreetly with his hands and instantly Yoona recognized it. Of course! They might not be able to talk verbally but they all could understand sign language just as easily. She watched his fingers move gracefully, mouthing the gestures with her own lips.
“Where. Are. The. Others?” she muttered, and then jerked her head up to his face. It was still so hard to believe that he was actually alive, after two years. They had all watched the building blow up and they were certain that he had been stuck inside. Now, however, it looked as though he had just been kidnapped by Plutotec.
She felt rusty at using sign language so she went slower and was less fluid than Yoochun was. ‘They’re safe. Just me and Taemin were caught. They’re probably at the safe house.’ Yoochun watched her hands quietly and then nodded in understanding. He pointed to the empty pod on the other side of Yoona.
“That. Was. Taemin?” she whispered, and then nodded.
‘He’s five years old now,’ she said with her hands. ‘And he’s become one of us…Generation Y.’
Yoochun’s eyes widened and he sighed, his shoulders heaving. Yoona wasn’t sure, but something about the child being born a mutant wasn’t a good thing. She decided to leave all that for later so she moved on. ‘What happened two years ago? We had thought you died…but you’re not dead. The building exploded and then-’
Yoochun held up a hand to silence her and she dropped her hands. She hadn’t realized she was starting to panic again. Taemin had been gone for such a long time and now she didn’t know what was going on. More than once she caught herself looking out the glass, wondering if Taemin would be coming up those stairs. What he would look like or how he would react she didn’t know, but she was almost afraid to see the results. When she turned back, Yoochun began explaining what happened to him two years ago.
‘I managed to escape the building before it exploded but I went the wrong way. Instead of going out to the front where we had all planned to meet, I went through the back and wound up surrounded by Plutotec agents. There was no hope for me at that point so I just turned myself in. I was glad that everyone else was safely out of harm’s way and I could feel that I was doing everyone a favour. But I didn’t want to die so I held on for as long as I could. I’ve managed to last this long without dying and I don’t intend to now either.’
Yoona nodded and smiled softly. ‘I am so sorry you went through all this and we didn’t even know. Don’t worry Yoochun, we’ll find a way out of this. We have to.’
Suddenly Yoochun straightened out and looked over her shoulder. Slowly Yoona turned to the empty pod and saw that a guard was standing there, opening the glass door. Then he shoved a small little bundle in and slammed it shut again. Yoona gasped and pressed herself against the window, her breath fogging up the glass. She tapped on it and prayed that Taemin was alright. He was trembling and curled tightly into himself, his teddy bear gone. Helplessly she turned to Yoochun who looked just as helpless and felt tears welling up in her eyes. Sadly she pushed away from the glass and didn’t look back at Yoochun. She just buried her head in her arms and let the tears trickle freely down her cheeks. Normally she wasn’t much of a crier but the moment her eyes rested on Taemin, her composure broke. And she couldn’t do anything. The glass was more like torture than what she was going to go through. Even though Yoochun was sitting beside her on her right, and Taemin was on her left, she had never felt so alone and scared.
Suddenly she lifted her head and turned to Yoochun, forgetting that her cheeks were stained with sticky tears. Her face was set, determined. Yoochun looked at her curiously, and a little worriedly. She crawled close to the glass that divided them and hurriedly said her sentence in sign language.
‘We have to escape.’
Yoochun looked at her with shock, and then slowly he nodded, a little life flowing back into his otherwise dead eyes. Yoona leaned back and rested her head against the wall, staring up at the blank ceiling. The only thing now, was how were they going to accomplish escaping?
~*~*~
Junsu and Yunho had managed to outrun the Plutotec agents, by taking all the back alleys they could. Then the last one broke out into a slightly dense forest that, they were certain, led to back to the safe house. At least close to it anyway.
Junsu’s wing throbbed and Yunho had told him that a bullet had nicked it. His body felt like it was a punching bag and his head pounded intensely. Yunho kept pushing him to go and eventually they began seeing the landmarks they needed to pinpoint the safe house. The rusty, broken down truck; an ancient tree with black paint smudged on it; and an abandoned gofer hole. All of these were normal things but it was exactly what they needed to look for their safe house.
They made their way down the long minor’s shaft and came to the door soon enough. Yunho took hold of the doorknob and pushed it open, and was instantly greeted by everyone.
“Oh my god you’re alright!” Natalie exclaimed, taking both of them and hugging them tightly. Junsu gasped in pain and she put a hand to her mouth, shocked at what state they were both in. “Oh dear…this looks bad.”
“It’s nothing,” Junsu mumbled as Natalie examined his wing. “I’ll live, just a little banged that’s all.” He smiled at her goofily, and she rolled her eyes, smacking him playfully on the arm, which made him wince in pain.
Jaejoong was sitting up in his bed, awake but still looked pale and weak. There had been no way to give him a blood transfusion without risking infection so he was forced to lie still until he was strong enough. Yunho went over and wrapped his arms around Jaejoong kissing his cheek affectionately.
“I’m glad you’re alright,” Jaejoong whispered, smiling, “you can’t believe how worried I was to hear that you were so close to being caught.”
“You were worried?” Yunho pulled away and shook his head in disbelief. “What happened to last night? You almost died and you’re worried about me?”
Jaejoong shrugged and smiled. “I didn’t die though, now did I? So I have every right to be worried.”
He pouted angelically and Yunho sighed dramatically. Then the kids were running towards them, after playing with Junsu. They jumped on the bed, making Jaejoong wince and squeeze his eyes shut. Natalie scolded each of them off the bed and they apologized with their puppy faces, something that Jaejoong was never able to resist. He smiled and stuck his tongue out at them making even Yunho laugh. Natalie managed to wrestle Junsu into a chair so she could patch up his wing and Jessica and Tiffany played happily with the children. Changmin was-of course-curled up in the corner of a couch reading a book he had found lying around.
Yunho watched the hectic family and smiled. Even though they were on the run now, and had to stay hidden, they still maintained that happy family aspect. It made everyone forget, at least for a moment, that they weren’t in any danger.