Soulless: Awakening - Chapter Three
Title: Soulless: Awakening
Chapter: 3/11
Fandom: SS501, cameos of Super Junior, BEAST and SHINee
Pairings: Unknown
Rating: PG-16
Warning: AU, Dystopia, Angst
Summary: Arc I. The year is 400 AM…400 After Man. Humankind is extinct, but they didn’t leave Earth uninhabited. For 400 years androids have lived in their place. Citizens have the same thoughts, same likes and same dislikes as every other android in their model. But even an automated society has its troublemakers. A terrorist group calling themselves the Soulfuls operate outside their model programming and stir unrest. The government advises all citizens to report any Soulful activity immediately, and to stay away from them, for Soulfuls are those infected with a virus causing them to behave erratically…a very contagious virus…
A/N: Arc I was written for National Novel Writing Month 2010, hope you enjoy! Do not own the characters, but the plot is all mine. Please comment <3
And, to all my WONDERFUL readers, I wish you all a...
It was 450 hours later when the Soulfuls made their next move.
The ground rocked under KyuJong’s feet as smoke billowed up from a few blocks over. He was walking in 4-03, returning from work. The Model 6 normally didn’t come this way, but after the meeting with the Soulfuls he’d felt rather out of sorts. At first he’d been determined to pin it on faulty wiring, and had even seen a repairman finally once the queue from the last explosion had died down. But the repairman reported that everything was in working order, and he left more confused than ever.
After that, he’d taken to walking the long way to and from work, the very long way. He didn’t know why, just that he did. He’d wander, going down streets and alleys he had never considered walking down before, just to see if there was any difference between them and his usual path back home. The difference wasn’t that great but he kept at it anyways, sometimes wondering just what he was hoping to see in the rows and rows of perfectly straight lines.
Sometimes he watched those around him, wondering what they were thinking about. Once he found himself wondering if they would have reacted as he had when startled or scared. Somehow, watching the blank faces walk by - not identical in appearance but identical in expression - he doubted it.
It would always bring his thoughts full circle to the Soulfuls…the very subject he was trying to avoid.
No matter what he did, he couldn’t deny he was curious. He wanted to know what they knew. Before he’d thought there was nothing else more to know, that his CPU had already stored far more information than he’d ever need. But after finding out there was more, much more, he was hard-pressed to stop himself from trying to find the hideout again.
He had said he wanted nothing to do with them, and it had been the truth. He wasn’t going to associate with terrorists.
That was what he had told himself, but seeing the smoke so close to him and watching the alert for evacuations flash across his vision, KyuJong hesitated. The evacuation order was for the sector he was in, and all around him he watched androids turn and walk away from the smoke, some of them making comments on terrorist attacks, but it was all rather superficial. None of them asked why this was happening, why the Soulfuls were attacking and why they were attacking here.
Was it really so different to want to know more? To want to understand?
Watching those leaving, KyuJong turned to look back at the smoke. There was another snap and a second explosion rocked the moving sidewalk. To his left, another pillar of smoke rose into the grey sky.
KyuJong was running towards the second explosion before he could even understand the decision he’d made. It wasn’t logical. But he wanted to know regardless.
The evacuation warnings continued to flash in his vision before he turned the city notifications off; they were interfering with his line of sight. Looking around, KyuJong turned down an alley and continued on.
He saw the Model 3 units approaching before they saw him, skidding to a halt and ducking back into the alley before they could see him. Eyes wide, he watched from the shadows as they swarmed the area, searching for the Soulfuls. They couldn’t be allowed to find him, he realized. This close to the explosions without following the order to evacuate, he would be pinned as a Soulful as well.
And he wasn’t entirely sure he hadn’t contracted their virus in the first place. They were getting closer. KyuJong shuffled farther back down the alley, trying to avoid notice.
A warm hand clamped over his mouth and he was pulled backwards against another form.
“Keep quiet. Does your programming come with a suicide wish?”
The voice was familiar. Doing as he was told, KyuJong kept perfectly quiet and allowed himself to be pulled back the way he’d came. There was a dull click and he was being dragged through a door in the building beside him, the metal clicking and sealing shut behind him.
The hand against his mouth was removed, and KyuJong turned around to meet a wide white grin and dancing eyes half-covered by red bangs. “So you did show up. Good thing we didn’t clear out right away or you’d be facility bait.”
“Facility bait?” KyuJong blinked in confusion.
“They like to dissect people like us to figure out how we work, don’t be an idiot and you won’t have to worry about it. I’m guessing you changed your mind?”
KyuJong shuffled a little under the knowing grin. “I wanted to know,” he murmured, looking away.
“Don’t worry, we were all at that point before.” JungMin messed up KyuJong’s hair, tugging gently on a strand. “You’d be cute with brown hair.”
“Eh?” KyuJong blinked up at him, and was ushered down a hallway.
“C’mon, let’s get out of here before the law enforcement catches up.”
That sounded like the best course of action right now. KyuJong followed JungMin, watching as the other android pressed a finger against his wrist and started to talk. He must have a microphone hidden on him. “Found our newest recruit, we’re heading your way HyungJoon. The 3’s are all over the place, we might need a distraction.”
Just as they were reaching the door back onto the main street, the ground rolled below them and KyuJong went sprawling. JungMin stopped and pulled him back to his feet. “Easy there. I forgot Model 6’s walk about as well as a creeper droid on stilts.”
“Ha ha.” KyuJong looked around. “What was that?”
“Our distraction,” JungMin grinned. “Now let’s go.” He pulled KyuJong out the door.
Looking around, KyuJong stared at the massive pile of smoke a few blocks down, in the neighboring sector. “What did you explode?!”
“I think that was a repair shop,” JungMin said, tilting his head slightly to one side in thought. “Yeah, Saengie got the repair shop.”
‘Saengie?’ “YoungSaeng?”
“Yeah. Oh right, new guy, names are confusing enough without the nicknames right?” JungMin laughed at the look of confusion on KyuJong’s face before grabbing his wrist and pulling him along.
Shaking his head and beginning to think confusion was a permanent state around JungMin, KyuJong hurried to catch up. He didn’t see any Model 3’s on the way out of the sector; they must have all gone to the site of the most recent blast.
JungMin didn’t slow down even as they left the sector, steering KyuJong through streets and buildings he had never been through before with a calm familiarity. With no choice but to follow, KyuJong did his best to keep up with the quick pace. Model 7’s were meant for physical exertion, being the mechanic and construction class, but his class specialized in information…which required very little movement.
“There you both are!” Called a voice. KyuJong looked up from where he’d focused on JungMin’s back to see a brown-haired young man drop down from a short balcony. HyungJoon.
“Where are the others?” JungMin asked, hitting HyungJoon off the back of the head. “You said HyunJoong was here.”
“Saeng ran into a spot of trouble getting away so he went to help,” HyungJoon replied, and then shrieked when JungMin grabbed him in a headlock.
“Why didn’t you tell me?!”
“Min ah, please don’t break his neck,” called a voice as YoungSaeng and HyunJoong appeared out of an alleyway. “And he didn’t tell you because you would have rushed in and made it worse, and probably gotten your leg ripped off. Again.”
The redhead half-glared, half-pouted before pulling YoungSaeng into a hug.
KyuJong looked around to see that the few other androids in the area were watching them. “Uh…”
“Not out here you two,” HyunJoong sighed, pulling JungMin and YoungSaeng apart. “Let’s get back.”
JungMin stuck his tongue out at HyunJoong when the older man turned away and smiled at KyuJong. “Are you on for the ride, KyuJong?”
KyuJong blinked and nodded. “I guess.”
“Then keep up.” Suddenly the four were moving again, and KyuJong ran after them. YoungSaeng was barely visible up ahead, a flash of long black hair around the corners. JungMin and HyungJoon were right behind him, with HyunJoong bringing up the rear. KyuJong had the sneaking suspicion he was being slower on purpose so that KyuJong wouldn’t lose sight of them.
He wasn’t sure how long they’d ran, long enough for his system to start sending up warnings; he wasn’t meant to run like this. Some time later, he slowed as he noticed they were definitely not going in the direction of 4-15. “Isn’t where we were last time in the other direction?”
“Yeah,” HyunJoong smiled at him over his shoulder. “That was one of our hiding spots in case we ran into trouble. We don’t let just anyone into the place we’re going now without debugging and making sure they’re the right sort of people first.”
Nodding slowly, KyuJong kept quiet and focused on keeping up.
A few minutes later they slowed, KyuJong looked around at the area. They were in sector 4-01, he believed…the sector in the center of the metropolis. The most well known sector…why were they here?
YoungSaeng had disappeared completely by then. Following the others, KyuJong paused when they did, watching with confusion as JungMin leaned against a metal wall with a sigh. “What’s going on?” he murmured. HyunJoong hovered one finger over his lips for quiet, motioning at JungMin. KyuJong returned his attention to the redhead.
One of the things about 4-01 was that, in the very center, a large skyscraper rose into the dusty sky and could be seen all throughout the metropolis. There was a spinning disc halfway up, throwing shadows across the ground below. JungMin spread out his arms against the wall, looking up at the disc overhead.
When the shadow covered the alleyway, KyuJong blinked to allow his vision to adjust…and stared. JungMin was gone.
“Next,” HyunJoong said simply as the shadow left the alley. HyungJoon moved to press against the wall in the exact same spot JungMin had been in, looking up at the disc with his mouth moving silently as he counted. KyuJong squinted to see what was going on, adjusting his vision first this time.
Now he saw it. As the shadow passed over the alleyway, vision blurred momentarily to adjust…and in that split second of disorientation, HyungJoon pressed back and the wall span around horizontally. By the time vision had returned, there was only a blank wall to be seen…the other side of the wall.
“You next,” HyunJoong motioned, and KyuJong looked up at him, eyes wide.
“What do I need to do?” he asked, nervous.
“Press into the wall on your left,” HyunJoong instructed, pushing KyuJong forward. “Do it the second the shadow covers you. Hurry, hurry.”
Doing as he was told, KyuJong pressed himself against the wall, looking up at the disc. It was weird seeing it almost directly above him, instead of from a distance. Counting down the milliseconds, he drew in a breath and pushed into the wall the instant the alley plunged into shadow.
The wall swiveled around and he was sent sprawling, the rotation catching him by surprise. He was inside though; the loud laughter was proof of that. Blinking dazedly, KyuJong stared at the hand that was pushed into his field of vision. “You okay there?”
“Yeah,” he mumbled, taking JungMin’s hand and letting the Model 7 pull him to his feet.
“You flew,” JungMin laughed.
“Don’t let him bother you, everyone falls the first time,” HyungJoon said, swinging his legs back and forth from where he was sitting on a table.
“And every time after in your case,” the redhead teased him.
“Are you two picking on the new recruit?” YoungSaeng popped up behind them, making JungMin jump and shriek.
“Can you at least make some noise?!”
“Why? It’s so much more fun this way,” YoungSaeng said matter-of-factly, and yelped when JungMin pulled him into a hug and messed up his hair, the Model 3 complaining as he squirmed in the taller android’s grip.
“You look confused,” came a voice behind KyuJong, and the Model 6 jumped before realizing it was just HyunJoong; he’d followed them through the trick wall.
“I am confused,” he stated, watching the exchange.
“Don’t worry about them for now,” HyunJoong chuckled, patting KyuJong on the shoulder. “You’ll understand eventually. Now, let’s show you around HQ.”
“HQ?” KyuJong’s eyes widened as he looked around the building. It looked relatively empty. “Your headquarters is here?” It didn’t look like it. And 4-01 was one of the most secure sectors in the metropolis, there was no way the Soulfuls could have their base of operations right under the nose of the law.
“Yup!” JungMin grinned. “Well, not here precisely…this is the entranceway. HQ? You’re standing on it.” He laughed loudly at the way KyuJong looked down at the ground below his feet.
“Uh…okay…how do we get in?”
“Patience, patience,” the redhead drawled walking over to the far wall.
“You’ll ruin his fun,” HyungJoon chuckled.
KyuJong blinked at where the redhead was pressing one hand over a panel in the wall. “What is he doing?”
“Opening the…oh.” YoungSaeng blinked, looking down at KyuJong’s feet, before eyeing JungMin. “He’s doing it on purpose.”
“Doing what?”
“That’s what I meant…don’t ruin his fun,” HyungJoon smirked.
KyuJong looked from one person to the other, not understanding. “What fun?”
YoungSaeng’s lips quirked upwards. “Oh, fine. Sorry KyuJong.”
“Look out below!” JungMin shouted, and pressed the panel in. Suddenly the floor disappeared below KyuJong’s feet and the Model 6 fell through the trapdoor with a yell.
He was in freefall for two seconds before his sensors beeped at him and his feet touched down, the android falling over. Instantly his vision lit up with system warnings, not prepared for the sudden fall, but it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. It took him a moment to figure out why.
“…Ow…”
He’d landed on someone.
Eyes widening, he rolled off of the person beneath him, who was sprawled out on his back and groaning. “I-I’m sorry…are you all right?” he asked.
“Just great,” groaned the one on the floor, not moving. “I think I busted a leg.”
“Your own fault for not moving when you heard the warning,” came another voice nearby. KyuJong looked up to see a man with fiery red hair like JungMin, but with a more petite face and frame. He was smirking at the two.
Recognizing a Model 3 when he saw one, KyuJong’s eyes widened further and he bowed politely.
“If you keep doing that, you’re going to be the next one on the floor,” snorted the redhead before he looked up at the hole in the roof and shouted. “Yah, horse-face, make the warning louder next time!”
“I was loud!” JungMin shouted back.
“You forget some of us have auditory problems,” the other man yelled, then snickered into his hand.
“Who did he land on?” That was HyungJoon. A second later, YoungSaeng’s face was visible in the hole as he looked down.
“Only YeSung.”
“What do you mean, ‘only YeSung’?” The one KyuJong had landed on shouted, flailing around on his stomach. KyuJong noticed he couldn’t move one leg.
“Sorry,” he said, biting his lower lip.
“Huh?” YeSung looked back at the immobile leg. “Oh that, don’t worry about it. It was ready to break anyways, maybe now I can finally get a decent repair rather than a half-done job.” He grinned sheepishly up at KyuJong. “I can’t move though.”
“Just drag him out of the way,” the redhead standing to one side rolled his eyes. “Before anyone else uses him to break their fall.”
Nodding, KyuJong got up and wrapped his fingers around YeSung’s wrists, dragging the android out of the way. As he was doing so, he got a good look at the man’s face and gaped. He was a Model 5.
What was a Model 5 doing inside the city? They were always outside, dealing with the harsh environment the Earth had become.
“All clear,” the redhead called once KyuJong and YeSung were out of the way of the trapdoor. JungMin dropped down with a whoop, landing easily. The others followed suit, the trapdoor closing after them.
“How do we get back up?” KyuJong blinked owlishly at the high ceiling.
“There are tunnels,” HyunJoong explained as he straightened from the crouch he’d landed in. “This is the most common entranceway though.”
“You can get back out through here too, you just need to climb,” the unknown redhead stated, approaching them. He looked KyuJong up and down. “So this is the new recruit? Name?”
“Kim KyuJong,” KyuJong replied, the answer becoming more familiar to him.
“Huh. Another Kim.” The man wrinkled his nose. “Kim HeeChul, cell leader.”
“He’s leader of the first cell in this metropolis,” YoungSaeng explained quietly. “HyunJoong is leader of our cell, the second.”
KyuJong bowed respectfully. HeeChul snickered. “Oh, I like this one. He actually has manners.” He patted KyuJong’s cheek before turning and walking off. “YeSung, you’re going to have to pick yourself up eventually.”
“No sympathy for the handicapped,” YeSung grumbled as he pulled himself up using KyuJong as a wall, balancing on his good leg while the other dragged on the floor.
“Come on you, let’s get you to the infirmary,” YoungSaeng sighed, walking over to sling one of YeSung’s arms over his shoulders. He helped the Model 5 hop out of the large, empty room.
“How many cells are there in total?” KyuJong asked, curious.
“In the whole world? Who knows. In this metropolis, there are three,” HyunJoong replied as they started to walk in the direction YoungSaeng had gone. “HeeChul’s cell, my cell, and DooJoon’s cell. You won’t see DooJoon or any of his team around, unless you have great timing. They’re rarely in the HQ.”
“Why is that?” KyuJong blinked.
“They’re our undercover team,” HyunJoong smiled. “You’ll find out later. We can’t give away all our secrets. Generally speaking, the cells work separate of each other, coming together for a few projects every now and then. Only us leaders know what the other cells are up to. It’s to keep us safe.”
“Safe?” KyuJong blinked. “You don’t believe the others in the cell are trustworthy?”
“Not that exactly,” HyunJoong hesitated.
“It’s in case we’re caught by the law,” HyungJoon piped up. “If they take us to the facility, they can extract any information we know from our CPUs and put our cell at risk. This way, at least we aren’t pulling all the other cells in danger too.”
“It’s also to stop the Soulless from getting too far in,” JungMin added, wrinkling his nose in disgust.
“Soulless?” KyuJong blinked. “I think you said that once before…what are the Soulless?”
The three Soulfuls looked at each other. “They’re androids engineered to behave like us,” HyunJoong said after a moment, gaze returning to KyuJong. “There are purpose inconsistencies in their programming to imitate the idea of a ‘soul’…but they aren’t like us. They’re just imitations.”
“Why?” KyuJong asked, frowning. “What is their purpose?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” JungMin snorted. “To get into HQ and bring us down. They report straight to the Model 2 government class once activated. It’s how we lost the cells in Old China…a group of Soulless got in and somehow made it through the ranks without detection, and reported to the government once they had collected enough information to bring down the whole group.”
KyuJong frowned deeper. That didn’t sound very pleasant. “Have there ever been any Soulless infiltrations here?”
“Once.” The grin on JungMin’s face somehow wasn’t that reassuring. “We took care of it. Damned imposter didn’t know what hit him.”
“We’re Soulless-free for now,” HyungJoon assured KyuJong. “Most Soulless have a tough time imitating us exactly, since even the best programming can’t fully imitate a soul.”
“If that’s what you have,” KyuJong said, still doubtful.
“Yeah. Soul, virus, whatever, they can’t imitate it perfectly. And we catch them sooner or later,” HyungJoon smiled.
Turning into a different hallway, KyuJong looked around with wide-eyed curiosity. It was similar to the hallways in buildings aboveground, but at the same time not. The walls weren’t straight, sometimes curved and other times at sharp angles, or a mix of both. There were dents in the metal like someone had smashed into the walls at a high speed. And they weren’t grey. They were splashes of color, some colors KyuJong had never seen before, and colors he didn’t know existed. Designs were drawn in the splashes, or etched into the metal. It was a little overwhelming compared to the grey world aboveground, and KyuJong had to stop, blinking.
“You like?” JungMin grinned at KyuJong. “We’re expanding the tunnels under 4-15 soon, you can help decorate those ones.”
“Expand…?” KyuJong blinked again after a moment and hurried to catch up; they hadn’t stopped for him. “Wait, how far do these tunnels reach?”
“Right now, through all sectors except 4-07, 4-08, 4-12 and 4-15,” HyunJoong called over his shoulder. “We’ll be fixing that soon.”
“Aren’t you worried someone will notice?” KyuJong asked. “That’s a wide area to cover.”
“Nope. In case you didn’t notice, the floor is slanted. We’re going further and further underground. The metropolis stopped expanding centuries ago; they aren’t going anywhere, especially not down.”
It made sense. The metropolis population was strictly controlled. With androids lasting roughly 200 years each, the factory produced androids in batches of five hundred every half year. The population never went high enough the metropolis would have to expand to accommodate; they even had extra room now after the termination of the Model 8 line.
“This is the infirmary,” HyungJoon said, stopping and pointing at a room to their right.
Looking in, KyuJong saw YoungSaeng and YeSung inside along with a petite man he didn’t recognize. His eyes widened when he realized it was a Model 9…a Model 9 handling repair tools. “Is he qualified to use those?”
The Model 9 looked up at the question, seeing the group by the door. He smiled before returning to his work, disconnecting the broken leg from YeSung’s hip to be replaced with a new leg.
“Oh, he’s fine,” HyungJoon smiled. “This is RyeoWook, our acting ‘nurse’ when the main repairman is unavailable. He might be Model 9, but he picks up on things quickly, and took mechanics on as a specialty. You’d think Model 9, being the servant class, to be incapable of things like this, right?”
KyuJong nodded. “I’ve never seen one do more than run errands.”
“Well it turns out, once you unlock an unused section of their CPU, all that empty space usually taken up by a Model’s specialty can be used to learn anything. We have a Model 9 working in information at the other end of the tunnels.” HyungJoon grinned, and waved at the mousy Model 9. “Hey Wookie.”
“Hello,” came the absentminded reply, the one called RyeoWook focused on his task.
“You’ll be all right now, YeSungie?” YoungSaeng asked, patting the Model 5’s shoulder.
“Yup.” The one lying down on the bed grinned. “It just feels really, really weird.”
“Of course it feels weird, you’re missing a leg,” YoungSaeng sighed. Messing up the other man’s hair, he stood. “I’ll be back later. Good luck keeping him from breaking the new one, RyeoWook.”
RyeoWook’s lips curled into a smile, the Model 9 not looking up as YoungSaeng walked out of the room, rejoining the group in the hallway. “Where are you all heading?”
“We’re giving him the tour,” JungMin grinned, wrapping one arm around YoungSaeng’s shoulders and leaning on him.
“By all means, carry on,” YoungSaeng smiled. “We have to show him the vault.”
“Of course, of course,” JungMin rolled his eyes.
“Vault?” KyuJong blinked.
HyunJoong smiled back at him. “It’s what we nicknamed the room with all the human artifacts.”
KyuJong’s eyes widened. “How much do you have?!”
“Well, the room’s pretty big, and it’s nearly full…you’ll have to wait and see.”
Nodding, KyuJong followed along after them, nearly brimming with curiosity. How had they gotten their hands on human artifacts in the first place? They were all supposed to have been destroyed…
They continued on down the hallway, pointing out rooms they went by. The two rooms beside the infirmary were storage rooms for various supplies that might be needed for different injuries. The room beyond that was a meeting room for the cell leaders, the door closed and locked. Only the cell leaders and the division leader for the Seoul metropolis had the access code to get inside.
Beyond that was a series of small, connected rooms filled with holographic screens and monitors, the air humming with energy. “This is where we tap into the city interface to keep an eye on what’s going on aboveground,” HyunJoong explained. “There’s always at least one person in here, to keep an eye on things.” Right now there was a young man sitting in the corner watching one of the screens, legs drawn up to his chest. He shifted dark eyes to those at the door, before wordlessly turning back to the screen.
They moved on. There were several other meeting rooms in this part of the HQ, then a series of empty rooms. “Just in case,” HyunJoong smiled, shrugging. “In case we get more members, or need more room for storage.”
After that they encountered the ‘weapon room’, or what HyungJoon very accurately dubbed “JungMin’s office”. Apparently if the redhead wasn’t in his room or with YoungSaeng, he was always here.
“What is it he does here?” KyuJong asked, looking in at the shelves and worktables.
“Make bombs,” HyunJoong said matter-of-factly, and laughed at the wide-eyed stare KyuJong gave him. “Well, they had to come from somewhere, right? He’s our own weapons dealer; if there’s anything you need, just give him a rough idea and he can make it.”
“There’s a reason why we don’t let him work on android repairs,” HyungJoon piped up, and yelped when JungMin thwacked him off the head.
“His specialty is weapons, but he can do other things as well,” YoungSaeng told KyuJong as they continued, JungMin busy strangling HyungJoon in a headlock. “Even android repairs, though he usually does the special cases. The ones that can actually hold his attention. He’s too prone to sabotaging the repairs if he’s bored.”
KyuJong listened and was glad it was HyungJoon who’d taken care of his hand.
Beyond that were their living quarters. “You don’t live aboveground?” KyuJong asked, confused.
“Sometimes,” HyunJoong shrugged. “Sometimes we just want to get away from it all, so we come here. It’s not as if the metropolis checks to make sure we’re in our designated apartments at the proper time…they just assume we are.” He paused outside a door and opened it. “This one will be your room, for whenever you want it.”
KyuJong looked inside, and HyungJoon nudged him further in. As he stepped in, the lights in the room flickered on. He was surprised to see a large bed taking up most of the room. “What’s this?”
“Oh, right. There’s no charging dock down here, we got rid of them. Instead, we use these.” HyunJoong walked in past him and picked up a small device sitting on the bedstand.
KyuJong walked over to him and frowned. He didn’t recognize it.
“YeSung helped us get a hold of these, actually. They’re what the Model 5’s use outside the city, when they’re in remote areas. It’s not easy to lug a charging dock around the globe with you. Instead, they insert these into their wrists and it transmits energy wirelessly. It doesn’t work all that fast, so they need to sleep more often than the usual 50 hours every 200.”
“How often is that?”
“About 10 hours every 72.” HyunJoong put the charger back down. “We alternate between charging with these, and going back aboveground for a longer charge if we need it.”
“Why don’t you just set up a charging dock?” KyuJong frowned. “It’s more convenient than sleeping so often.”
“Actually, it isn’t. We can’t afford to have a third of our members out of commission at any given time. This way, it’s easy to wake from a charge if there’s a problem, and you wake up more often.” HyunJoong shrugged. “Plus, there’s personal preference. We like this method of charging better.”
KyuJong was confused by that, but let it be, looking at the bed for a moment before turning to the rest of the room. It was far more decorated than the four blank, metal walls in his apartment in 4-12. The walls were splashed with a warm beige color instead of just the abstract mess that made up the hallways.
“The room right across the hallway is JungMin’s and mine, so if you need anything just knock,” YoungSaeng said.
“You share a room?” KyuJong asked, blinking at them. No one he knew shared rooms with another android. Why would they?
YoungSaeng just smiled and walked back out into the hallway, waiting to continue.
The tour continued in much the same way. There were more tunnels to get in and out of the HQ, and KyuJong had a sneaking suspicion they were only showing him a small portion of the tunnels. There was an entire section of corridor, which he estimated ran under 4-04 and 4-05, which he wasn’t allowed to enter. There was a security system in place to keep him from wandering in by mistake.
“What’s down there?” KyuJong asked, looking down the dark corridor.
“You have to prove your worth as a Soulful before you can see,” HyunJoong smiled, and he seemed to enjoy playing the mysterious card.
Finally, they reached a long corridor with multiple security systems in place and only one door at the end. “This is the vault,” HyunJoong said, disarming the security as he talked. “Only myself, the other cell leaders, YeSung and YoungSaeng have access to this room. Some of the things in here are so old that you’ll destroy them with a simple touch, so you have to be careful. We preserved them the best we could, but sometimes it just isn’t enough.”
Once the alarms were disabled, the cell leader turned to look at JungMin and HyungJoon. “Why don’t you both get the comm implants ready? We’ll be there soon.”
Both Model 7’s pouted. “You never let us in there,” JungMin protested.
“Because I don’t want to play the ‘is he going to blow something up out of boredom’ guessing game with you, and,” HyunJoong looked at HyungJoon, “you’re just too clumsy for your own good.”
HyungJoon whined, and was tapped off the head. “Shoo. Get the implants ready.”
“We’ll be there soon, Min ah,” YoungSaeng smiled apologetically. JungMin huffed and turned to leave, dragging HyungJoon with him.
Once they were gone, HyunJoong turned back towards the corridor and started to walk down it. “This will probably be the only time you’ll be able to see what’s in here. You need to be high-up to get regular access to this room.”
“How did you and YeSung get access?” KyuJong asked YoungSaeng as they followed.
“YeSung, for all his clumsy tendencies, is invaluable to our organization. He’s actually the one who found over half of what we have. I’m what you can call the ‘guardian’ of the vault, and it’s up to me to make sure everything in it stays in perfect condition,” YoungSaeng replied.
“And JungMin is allowed inside, he just likes complaining,” HyunJoong said over his shoulder. “It’s pointless denying him access when someone is just going to let him in anyways.”
YoungSaeng bit his lip to hide a smile.
They reached the door and HyunJoong pressed his palm against the metal surface. A thin beam of light rippled through the metal, identifying him, before beeping. The door unsealed and swung inwards slowly.
Chapter: 3/11
Fandom: SS501, cameos of Super Junior, BEAST and SHINee
Pairings: Unknown
Rating: PG-16
Warning: AU, Dystopia, Angst
Summary: Arc I. The year is 400 AM…400 After Man. Humankind is extinct, but they didn’t leave Earth uninhabited. For 400 years androids have lived in their place. Citizens have the same thoughts, same likes and same dislikes as every other android in their model. But even an automated society has its troublemakers. A terrorist group calling themselves the Soulfuls operate outside their model programming and stir unrest. The government advises all citizens to report any Soulful activity immediately, and to stay away from them, for Soulfuls are those infected with a virus causing them to behave erratically…a very contagious virus…
A/N: Arc I was written for National Novel Writing Month 2010, hope you enjoy! Do not own the characters, but the plot is all mine. Please comment <3
And, to all my WONDERFUL readers, I wish you all a...
It was 450 hours later when the Soulfuls made their next move.
The ground rocked under KyuJong’s feet as smoke billowed up from a few blocks over. He was walking in 4-03, returning from work. The Model 6 normally didn’t come this way, but after the meeting with the Soulfuls he’d felt rather out of sorts. At first he’d been determined to pin it on faulty wiring, and had even seen a repairman finally once the queue from the last explosion had died down. But the repairman reported that everything was in working order, and he left more confused than ever.
After that, he’d taken to walking the long way to and from work, the very long way. He didn’t know why, just that he did. He’d wander, going down streets and alleys he had never considered walking down before, just to see if there was any difference between them and his usual path back home. The difference wasn’t that great but he kept at it anyways, sometimes wondering just what he was hoping to see in the rows and rows of perfectly straight lines.
Sometimes he watched those around him, wondering what they were thinking about. Once he found himself wondering if they would have reacted as he had when startled or scared. Somehow, watching the blank faces walk by - not identical in appearance but identical in expression - he doubted it.
It would always bring his thoughts full circle to the Soulfuls…the very subject he was trying to avoid.
No matter what he did, he couldn’t deny he was curious. He wanted to know what they knew. Before he’d thought there was nothing else more to know, that his CPU had already stored far more information than he’d ever need. But after finding out there was more, much more, he was hard-pressed to stop himself from trying to find the hideout again.
He had said he wanted nothing to do with them, and it had been the truth. He wasn’t going to associate with terrorists.
That was what he had told himself, but seeing the smoke so close to him and watching the alert for evacuations flash across his vision, KyuJong hesitated. The evacuation order was for the sector he was in, and all around him he watched androids turn and walk away from the smoke, some of them making comments on terrorist attacks, but it was all rather superficial. None of them asked why this was happening, why the Soulfuls were attacking and why they were attacking here.
Was it really so different to want to know more? To want to understand?
Watching those leaving, KyuJong turned to look back at the smoke. There was another snap and a second explosion rocked the moving sidewalk. To his left, another pillar of smoke rose into the grey sky.
KyuJong was running towards the second explosion before he could even understand the decision he’d made. It wasn’t logical. But he wanted to know regardless.
The evacuation warnings continued to flash in his vision before he turned the city notifications off; they were interfering with his line of sight. Looking around, KyuJong turned down an alley and continued on.
He saw the Model 3 units approaching before they saw him, skidding to a halt and ducking back into the alley before they could see him. Eyes wide, he watched from the shadows as they swarmed the area, searching for the Soulfuls. They couldn’t be allowed to find him, he realized. This close to the explosions without following the order to evacuate, he would be pinned as a Soulful as well.
And he wasn’t entirely sure he hadn’t contracted their virus in the first place. They were getting closer. KyuJong shuffled farther back down the alley, trying to avoid notice.
A warm hand clamped over his mouth and he was pulled backwards against another form.
“Keep quiet. Does your programming come with a suicide wish?”
The voice was familiar. Doing as he was told, KyuJong kept perfectly quiet and allowed himself to be pulled back the way he’d came. There was a dull click and he was being dragged through a door in the building beside him, the metal clicking and sealing shut behind him.
The hand against his mouth was removed, and KyuJong turned around to meet a wide white grin and dancing eyes half-covered by red bangs. “So you did show up. Good thing we didn’t clear out right away or you’d be facility bait.”
“Facility bait?” KyuJong blinked in confusion.
“They like to dissect people like us to figure out how we work, don’t be an idiot and you won’t have to worry about it. I’m guessing you changed your mind?”
KyuJong shuffled a little under the knowing grin. “I wanted to know,” he murmured, looking away.
“Don’t worry, we were all at that point before.” JungMin messed up KyuJong’s hair, tugging gently on a strand. “You’d be cute with brown hair.”
“Eh?” KyuJong blinked up at him, and was ushered down a hallway.
“C’mon, let’s get out of here before the law enforcement catches up.”
That sounded like the best course of action right now. KyuJong followed JungMin, watching as the other android pressed a finger against his wrist and started to talk. He must have a microphone hidden on him. “Found our newest recruit, we’re heading your way HyungJoon. The 3’s are all over the place, we might need a distraction.”
Just as they were reaching the door back onto the main street, the ground rolled below them and KyuJong went sprawling. JungMin stopped and pulled him back to his feet. “Easy there. I forgot Model 6’s walk about as well as a creeper droid on stilts.”
“Ha ha.” KyuJong looked around. “What was that?”
“Our distraction,” JungMin grinned. “Now let’s go.” He pulled KyuJong out the door.
Looking around, KyuJong stared at the massive pile of smoke a few blocks down, in the neighboring sector. “What did you explode?!”
“I think that was a repair shop,” JungMin said, tilting his head slightly to one side in thought. “Yeah, Saengie got the repair shop.”
‘Saengie?’ “YoungSaeng?”
“Yeah. Oh right, new guy, names are confusing enough without the nicknames right?” JungMin laughed at the look of confusion on KyuJong’s face before grabbing his wrist and pulling him along.
Shaking his head and beginning to think confusion was a permanent state around JungMin, KyuJong hurried to catch up. He didn’t see any Model 3’s on the way out of the sector; they must have all gone to the site of the most recent blast.
JungMin didn’t slow down even as they left the sector, steering KyuJong through streets and buildings he had never been through before with a calm familiarity. With no choice but to follow, KyuJong did his best to keep up with the quick pace. Model 7’s were meant for physical exertion, being the mechanic and construction class, but his class specialized in information…which required very little movement.
“There you both are!” Called a voice. KyuJong looked up from where he’d focused on JungMin’s back to see a brown-haired young man drop down from a short balcony. HyungJoon.
“Where are the others?” JungMin asked, hitting HyungJoon off the back of the head. “You said HyunJoong was here.”
“Saeng ran into a spot of trouble getting away so he went to help,” HyungJoon replied, and then shrieked when JungMin grabbed him in a headlock.
“Why didn’t you tell me?!”
“Min ah, please don’t break his neck,” called a voice as YoungSaeng and HyunJoong appeared out of an alleyway. “And he didn’t tell you because you would have rushed in and made it worse, and probably gotten your leg ripped off. Again.”
The redhead half-glared, half-pouted before pulling YoungSaeng into a hug.
KyuJong looked around to see that the few other androids in the area were watching them. “Uh…”
“Not out here you two,” HyunJoong sighed, pulling JungMin and YoungSaeng apart. “Let’s get back.”
JungMin stuck his tongue out at HyunJoong when the older man turned away and smiled at KyuJong. “Are you on for the ride, KyuJong?”
KyuJong blinked and nodded. “I guess.”
“Then keep up.” Suddenly the four were moving again, and KyuJong ran after them. YoungSaeng was barely visible up ahead, a flash of long black hair around the corners. JungMin and HyungJoon were right behind him, with HyunJoong bringing up the rear. KyuJong had the sneaking suspicion he was being slower on purpose so that KyuJong wouldn’t lose sight of them.
He wasn’t sure how long they’d ran, long enough for his system to start sending up warnings; he wasn’t meant to run like this. Some time later, he slowed as he noticed they were definitely not going in the direction of 4-15. “Isn’t where we were last time in the other direction?”
“Yeah,” HyunJoong smiled at him over his shoulder. “That was one of our hiding spots in case we ran into trouble. We don’t let just anyone into the place we’re going now without debugging and making sure they’re the right sort of people first.”
Nodding slowly, KyuJong kept quiet and focused on keeping up.
A few minutes later they slowed, KyuJong looked around at the area. They were in sector 4-01, he believed…the sector in the center of the metropolis. The most well known sector…why were they here?
YoungSaeng had disappeared completely by then. Following the others, KyuJong paused when they did, watching with confusion as JungMin leaned against a metal wall with a sigh. “What’s going on?” he murmured. HyunJoong hovered one finger over his lips for quiet, motioning at JungMin. KyuJong returned his attention to the redhead.
One of the things about 4-01 was that, in the very center, a large skyscraper rose into the dusty sky and could be seen all throughout the metropolis. There was a spinning disc halfway up, throwing shadows across the ground below. JungMin spread out his arms against the wall, looking up at the disc overhead.
When the shadow covered the alleyway, KyuJong blinked to allow his vision to adjust…and stared. JungMin was gone.
“Next,” HyunJoong said simply as the shadow left the alley. HyungJoon moved to press against the wall in the exact same spot JungMin had been in, looking up at the disc with his mouth moving silently as he counted. KyuJong squinted to see what was going on, adjusting his vision first this time.
Now he saw it. As the shadow passed over the alleyway, vision blurred momentarily to adjust…and in that split second of disorientation, HyungJoon pressed back and the wall span around horizontally. By the time vision had returned, there was only a blank wall to be seen…the other side of the wall.
“You next,” HyunJoong motioned, and KyuJong looked up at him, eyes wide.
“What do I need to do?” he asked, nervous.
“Press into the wall on your left,” HyunJoong instructed, pushing KyuJong forward. “Do it the second the shadow covers you. Hurry, hurry.”
Doing as he was told, KyuJong pressed himself against the wall, looking up at the disc. It was weird seeing it almost directly above him, instead of from a distance. Counting down the milliseconds, he drew in a breath and pushed into the wall the instant the alley plunged into shadow.
The wall swiveled around and he was sent sprawling, the rotation catching him by surprise. He was inside though; the loud laughter was proof of that. Blinking dazedly, KyuJong stared at the hand that was pushed into his field of vision. “You okay there?”
“Yeah,” he mumbled, taking JungMin’s hand and letting the Model 7 pull him to his feet.
“You flew,” JungMin laughed.
“Don’t let him bother you, everyone falls the first time,” HyungJoon said, swinging his legs back and forth from where he was sitting on a table.
“And every time after in your case,” the redhead teased him.
“Are you two picking on the new recruit?” YoungSaeng popped up behind them, making JungMin jump and shriek.
“Can you at least make some noise?!”
“Why? It’s so much more fun this way,” YoungSaeng said matter-of-factly, and yelped when JungMin pulled him into a hug and messed up his hair, the Model 3 complaining as he squirmed in the taller android’s grip.
“You look confused,” came a voice behind KyuJong, and the Model 6 jumped before realizing it was just HyunJoong; he’d followed them through the trick wall.
“I am confused,” he stated, watching the exchange.
“Don’t worry about them for now,” HyunJoong chuckled, patting KyuJong on the shoulder. “You’ll understand eventually. Now, let’s show you around HQ.”
“HQ?” KyuJong’s eyes widened as he looked around the building. It looked relatively empty. “Your headquarters is here?” It didn’t look like it. And 4-01 was one of the most secure sectors in the metropolis, there was no way the Soulfuls could have their base of operations right under the nose of the law.
“Yup!” JungMin grinned. “Well, not here precisely…this is the entranceway. HQ? You’re standing on it.” He laughed loudly at the way KyuJong looked down at the ground below his feet.
“Uh…okay…how do we get in?”
“Patience, patience,” the redhead drawled walking over to the far wall.
“You’ll ruin his fun,” HyungJoon chuckled.
KyuJong blinked at where the redhead was pressing one hand over a panel in the wall. “What is he doing?”
“Opening the…oh.” YoungSaeng blinked, looking down at KyuJong’s feet, before eyeing JungMin. “He’s doing it on purpose.”
“Doing what?”
“That’s what I meant…don’t ruin his fun,” HyungJoon smirked.
KyuJong looked from one person to the other, not understanding. “What fun?”
YoungSaeng’s lips quirked upwards. “Oh, fine. Sorry KyuJong.”
“Look out below!” JungMin shouted, and pressed the panel in. Suddenly the floor disappeared below KyuJong’s feet and the Model 6 fell through the trapdoor with a yell.
He was in freefall for two seconds before his sensors beeped at him and his feet touched down, the android falling over. Instantly his vision lit up with system warnings, not prepared for the sudden fall, but it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. It took him a moment to figure out why.
“…Ow…”
He’d landed on someone.
Eyes widening, he rolled off of the person beneath him, who was sprawled out on his back and groaning. “I-I’m sorry…are you all right?” he asked.
“Just great,” groaned the one on the floor, not moving. “I think I busted a leg.”
“Your own fault for not moving when you heard the warning,” came another voice nearby. KyuJong looked up to see a man with fiery red hair like JungMin, but with a more petite face and frame. He was smirking at the two.
Recognizing a Model 3 when he saw one, KyuJong’s eyes widened further and he bowed politely.
“If you keep doing that, you’re going to be the next one on the floor,” snorted the redhead before he looked up at the hole in the roof and shouted. “Yah, horse-face, make the warning louder next time!”
“I was loud!” JungMin shouted back.
“You forget some of us have auditory problems,” the other man yelled, then snickered into his hand.
“Who did he land on?” That was HyungJoon. A second later, YoungSaeng’s face was visible in the hole as he looked down.
“Only YeSung.”
“What do you mean, ‘only YeSung’?” The one KyuJong had landed on shouted, flailing around on his stomach. KyuJong noticed he couldn’t move one leg.
“Sorry,” he said, biting his lower lip.
“Huh?” YeSung looked back at the immobile leg. “Oh that, don’t worry about it. It was ready to break anyways, maybe now I can finally get a decent repair rather than a half-done job.” He grinned sheepishly up at KyuJong. “I can’t move though.”
“Just drag him out of the way,” the redhead standing to one side rolled his eyes. “Before anyone else uses him to break their fall.”
Nodding, KyuJong got up and wrapped his fingers around YeSung’s wrists, dragging the android out of the way. As he was doing so, he got a good look at the man’s face and gaped. He was a Model 5.
What was a Model 5 doing inside the city? They were always outside, dealing with the harsh environment the Earth had become.
“All clear,” the redhead called once KyuJong and YeSung were out of the way of the trapdoor. JungMin dropped down with a whoop, landing easily. The others followed suit, the trapdoor closing after them.
“How do we get back up?” KyuJong blinked owlishly at the high ceiling.
“There are tunnels,” HyunJoong explained as he straightened from the crouch he’d landed in. “This is the most common entranceway though.”
“You can get back out through here too, you just need to climb,” the unknown redhead stated, approaching them. He looked KyuJong up and down. “So this is the new recruit? Name?”
“Kim KyuJong,” KyuJong replied, the answer becoming more familiar to him.
“Huh. Another Kim.” The man wrinkled his nose. “Kim HeeChul, cell leader.”
“He’s leader of the first cell in this metropolis,” YoungSaeng explained quietly. “HyunJoong is leader of our cell, the second.”
KyuJong bowed respectfully. HeeChul snickered. “Oh, I like this one. He actually has manners.” He patted KyuJong’s cheek before turning and walking off. “YeSung, you’re going to have to pick yourself up eventually.”
“No sympathy for the handicapped,” YeSung grumbled as he pulled himself up using KyuJong as a wall, balancing on his good leg while the other dragged on the floor.
“Come on you, let’s get you to the infirmary,” YoungSaeng sighed, walking over to sling one of YeSung’s arms over his shoulders. He helped the Model 5 hop out of the large, empty room.
“How many cells are there in total?” KyuJong asked, curious.
“In the whole world? Who knows. In this metropolis, there are three,” HyunJoong replied as they started to walk in the direction YoungSaeng had gone. “HeeChul’s cell, my cell, and DooJoon’s cell. You won’t see DooJoon or any of his team around, unless you have great timing. They’re rarely in the HQ.”
“Why is that?” KyuJong blinked.
“They’re our undercover team,” HyunJoong smiled. “You’ll find out later. We can’t give away all our secrets. Generally speaking, the cells work separate of each other, coming together for a few projects every now and then. Only us leaders know what the other cells are up to. It’s to keep us safe.”
“Safe?” KyuJong blinked. “You don’t believe the others in the cell are trustworthy?”
“Not that exactly,” HyunJoong hesitated.
“It’s in case we’re caught by the law,” HyungJoon piped up. “If they take us to the facility, they can extract any information we know from our CPUs and put our cell at risk. This way, at least we aren’t pulling all the other cells in danger too.”
“It’s also to stop the Soulless from getting too far in,” JungMin added, wrinkling his nose in disgust.
“Soulless?” KyuJong blinked. “I think you said that once before…what are the Soulless?”
The three Soulfuls looked at each other. “They’re androids engineered to behave like us,” HyunJoong said after a moment, gaze returning to KyuJong. “There are purpose inconsistencies in their programming to imitate the idea of a ‘soul’…but they aren’t like us. They’re just imitations.”
“Why?” KyuJong asked, frowning. “What is their purpose?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” JungMin snorted. “To get into HQ and bring us down. They report straight to the Model 2 government class once activated. It’s how we lost the cells in Old China…a group of Soulless got in and somehow made it through the ranks without detection, and reported to the government once they had collected enough information to bring down the whole group.”
KyuJong frowned deeper. That didn’t sound very pleasant. “Have there ever been any Soulless infiltrations here?”
“Once.” The grin on JungMin’s face somehow wasn’t that reassuring. “We took care of it. Damned imposter didn’t know what hit him.”
“We’re Soulless-free for now,” HyungJoon assured KyuJong. “Most Soulless have a tough time imitating us exactly, since even the best programming can’t fully imitate a soul.”
“If that’s what you have,” KyuJong said, still doubtful.
“Yeah. Soul, virus, whatever, they can’t imitate it perfectly. And we catch them sooner or later,” HyungJoon smiled.
Turning into a different hallway, KyuJong looked around with wide-eyed curiosity. It was similar to the hallways in buildings aboveground, but at the same time not. The walls weren’t straight, sometimes curved and other times at sharp angles, or a mix of both. There were dents in the metal like someone had smashed into the walls at a high speed. And they weren’t grey. They were splashes of color, some colors KyuJong had never seen before, and colors he didn’t know existed. Designs were drawn in the splashes, or etched into the metal. It was a little overwhelming compared to the grey world aboveground, and KyuJong had to stop, blinking.
“You like?” JungMin grinned at KyuJong. “We’re expanding the tunnels under 4-15 soon, you can help decorate those ones.”
“Expand…?” KyuJong blinked again after a moment and hurried to catch up; they hadn’t stopped for him. “Wait, how far do these tunnels reach?”
“Right now, through all sectors except 4-07, 4-08, 4-12 and 4-15,” HyunJoong called over his shoulder. “We’ll be fixing that soon.”
“Aren’t you worried someone will notice?” KyuJong asked. “That’s a wide area to cover.”
“Nope. In case you didn’t notice, the floor is slanted. We’re going further and further underground. The metropolis stopped expanding centuries ago; they aren’t going anywhere, especially not down.”
It made sense. The metropolis population was strictly controlled. With androids lasting roughly 200 years each, the factory produced androids in batches of five hundred every half year. The population never went high enough the metropolis would have to expand to accommodate; they even had extra room now after the termination of the Model 8 line.
“This is the infirmary,” HyungJoon said, stopping and pointing at a room to their right.
Looking in, KyuJong saw YoungSaeng and YeSung inside along with a petite man he didn’t recognize. His eyes widened when he realized it was a Model 9…a Model 9 handling repair tools. “Is he qualified to use those?”
The Model 9 looked up at the question, seeing the group by the door. He smiled before returning to his work, disconnecting the broken leg from YeSung’s hip to be replaced with a new leg.
“Oh, he’s fine,” HyungJoon smiled. “This is RyeoWook, our acting ‘nurse’ when the main repairman is unavailable. He might be Model 9, but he picks up on things quickly, and took mechanics on as a specialty. You’d think Model 9, being the servant class, to be incapable of things like this, right?”
KyuJong nodded. “I’ve never seen one do more than run errands.”
“Well it turns out, once you unlock an unused section of their CPU, all that empty space usually taken up by a Model’s specialty can be used to learn anything. We have a Model 9 working in information at the other end of the tunnels.” HyungJoon grinned, and waved at the mousy Model 9. “Hey Wookie.”
“Hello,” came the absentminded reply, the one called RyeoWook focused on his task.
“You’ll be all right now, YeSungie?” YoungSaeng asked, patting the Model 5’s shoulder.
“Yup.” The one lying down on the bed grinned. “It just feels really, really weird.”
“Of course it feels weird, you’re missing a leg,” YoungSaeng sighed. Messing up the other man’s hair, he stood. “I’ll be back later. Good luck keeping him from breaking the new one, RyeoWook.”
RyeoWook’s lips curled into a smile, the Model 9 not looking up as YoungSaeng walked out of the room, rejoining the group in the hallway. “Where are you all heading?”
“We’re giving him the tour,” JungMin grinned, wrapping one arm around YoungSaeng’s shoulders and leaning on him.
“By all means, carry on,” YoungSaeng smiled. “We have to show him the vault.”
“Of course, of course,” JungMin rolled his eyes.
“Vault?” KyuJong blinked.
HyunJoong smiled back at him. “It’s what we nicknamed the room with all the human artifacts.”
KyuJong’s eyes widened. “How much do you have?!”
“Well, the room’s pretty big, and it’s nearly full…you’ll have to wait and see.”
Nodding, KyuJong followed along after them, nearly brimming with curiosity. How had they gotten their hands on human artifacts in the first place? They were all supposed to have been destroyed…
They continued on down the hallway, pointing out rooms they went by. The two rooms beside the infirmary were storage rooms for various supplies that might be needed for different injuries. The room beyond that was a meeting room for the cell leaders, the door closed and locked. Only the cell leaders and the division leader for the Seoul metropolis had the access code to get inside.
Beyond that was a series of small, connected rooms filled with holographic screens and monitors, the air humming with energy. “This is where we tap into the city interface to keep an eye on what’s going on aboveground,” HyunJoong explained. “There’s always at least one person in here, to keep an eye on things.” Right now there was a young man sitting in the corner watching one of the screens, legs drawn up to his chest. He shifted dark eyes to those at the door, before wordlessly turning back to the screen.
They moved on. There were several other meeting rooms in this part of the HQ, then a series of empty rooms. “Just in case,” HyunJoong smiled, shrugging. “In case we get more members, or need more room for storage.”
After that they encountered the ‘weapon room’, or what HyungJoon very accurately dubbed “JungMin’s office”. Apparently if the redhead wasn’t in his room or with YoungSaeng, he was always here.
“What is it he does here?” KyuJong asked, looking in at the shelves and worktables.
“Make bombs,” HyunJoong said matter-of-factly, and laughed at the wide-eyed stare KyuJong gave him. “Well, they had to come from somewhere, right? He’s our own weapons dealer; if there’s anything you need, just give him a rough idea and he can make it.”
“There’s a reason why we don’t let him work on android repairs,” HyungJoon piped up, and yelped when JungMin thwacked him off the head.
“His specialty is weapons, but he can do other things as well,” YoungSaeng told KyuJong as they continued, JungMin busy strangling HyungJoon in a headlock. “Even android repairs, though he usually does the special cases. The ones that can actually hold his attention. He’s too prone to sabotaging the repairs if he’s bored.”
KyuJong listened and was glad it was HyungJoon who’d taken care of his hand.
Beyond that were their living quarters. “You don’t live aboveground?” KyuJong asked, confused.
“Sometimes,” HyunJoong shrugged. “Sometimes we just want to get away from it all, so we come here. It’s not as if the metropolis checks to make sure we’re in our designated apartments at the proper time…they just assume we are.” He paused outside a door and opened it. “This one will be your room, for whenever you want it.”
KyuJong looked inside, and HyungJoon nudged him further in. As he stepped in, the lights in the room flickered on. He was surprised to see a large bed taking up most of the room. “What’s this?”
“Oh, right. There’s no charging dock down here, we got rid of them. Instead, we use these.” HyunJoong walked in past him and picked up a small device sitting on the bedstand.
KyuJong walked over to him and frowned. He didn’t recognize it.
“YeSung helped us get a hold of these, actually. They’re what the Model 5’s use outside the city, when they’re in remote areas. It’s not easy to lug a charging dock around the globe with you. Instead, they insert these into their wrists and it transmits energy wirelessly. It doesn’t work all that fast, so they need to sleep more often than the usual 50 hours every 200.”
“How often is that?”
“About 10 hours every 72.” HyunJoong put the charger back down. “We alternate between charging with these, and going back aboveground for a longer charge if we need it.”
“Why don’t you just set up a charging dock?” KyuJong frowned. “It’s more convenient than sleeping so often.”
“Actually, it isn’t. We can’t afford to have a third of our members out of commission at any given time. This way, it’s easy to wake from a charge if there’s a problem, and you wake up more often.” HyunJoong shrugged. “Plus, there’s personal preference. We like this method of charging better.”
KyuJong was confused by that, but let it be, looking at the bed for a moment before turning to the rest of the room. It was far more decorated than the four blank, metal walls in his apartment in 4-12. The walls were splashed with a warm beige color instead of just the abstract mess that made up the hallways.
“The room right across the hallway is JungMin’s and mine, so if you need anything just knock,” YoungSaeng said.
“You share a room?” KyuJong asked, blinking at them. No one he knew shared rooms with another android. Why would they?
YoungSaeng just smiled and walked back out into the hallway, waiting to continue.
The tour continued in much the same way. There were more tunnels to get in and out of the HQ, and KyuJong had a sneaking suspicion they were only showing him a small portion of the tunnels. There was an entire section of corridor, which he estimated ran under 4-04 and 4-05, which he wasn’t allowed to enter. There was a security system in place to keep him from wandering in by mistake.
“What’s down there?” KyuJong asked, looking down the dark corridor.
“You have to prove your worth as a Soulful before you can see,” HyunJoong smiled, and he seemed to enjoy playing the mysterious card.
Finally, they reached a long corridor with multiple security systems in place and only one door at the end. “This is the vault,” HyunJoong said, disarming the security as he talked. “Only myself, the other cell leaders, YeSung and YoungSaeng have access to this room. Some of the things in here are so old that you’ll destroy them with a simple touch, so you have to be careful. We preserved them the best we could, but sometimes it just isn’t enough.”
Once the alarms were disabled, the cell leader turned to look at JungMin and HyungJoon. “Why don’t you both get the comm implants ready? We’ll be there soon.”
Both Model 7’s pouted. “You never let us in there,” JungMin protested.
“Because I don’t want to play the ‘is he going to blow something up out of boredom’ guessing game with you, and,” HyunJoong looked at HyungJoon, “you’re just too clumsy for your own good.”
HyungJoon whined, and was tapped off the head. “Shoo. Get the implants ready.”
“We’ll be there soon, Min ah,” YoungSaeng smiled apologetically. JungMin huffed and turned to leave, dragging HyungJoon with him.
Once they were gone, HyunJoong turned back towards the corridor and started to walk down it. “This will probably be the only time you’ll be able to see what’s in here. You need to be high-up to get regular access to this room.”
“How did you and YeSung get access?” KyuJong asked YoungSaeng as they followed.
“YeSung, for all his clumsy tendencies, is invaluable to our organization. He’s actually the one who found over half of what we have. I’m what you can call the ‘guardian’ of the vault, and it’s up to me to make sure everything in it stays in perfect condition,” YoungSaeng replied.
“And JungMin is allowed inside, he just likes complaining,” HyunJoong said over his shoulder. “It’s pointless denying him access when someone is just going to let him in anyways.”
YoungSaeng bit his lip to hide a smile.
They reached the door and HyunJoong pressed his palm against the metal surface. A thin beam of light rippled through the metal, identifying him, before beeping. The door unsealed and swung inwards slowly.