Soulless: Catalyst - Chapter One
Title: Soulless: Catalyst
Chapter: 1/11
Fandom: SS501, cameos of Super Junior, BEAST and SHINee
Pairing: KyuMinSaeng
Rating: PG-16
Warning: AU, Dystopia, Angst
Summary: Arc II. Their mission failed. The identity of the Soulless was discovered, but it wasn’t who any of them expected it to be, not even the Soulless himself. Every question answered brings ten in its place, and everyone seems to be keeping secrets. Who can you trust? The search for the truth has become a ticking time bomb, and they may not all survive its detonation.
A/N: Please refer to my master fic list for past chapters. Do not own the characters, but the plot is all mine. Please comment <3
“YoungSaeng? JungMin? KyuJong?”
HyungJoon watched HyunJoong with wide eyes as their leader tapped on his headset, frown etched on his lips. “Hey, guys, do you hear me? What’s going on?”
There was nothing except static at the other end of the line. They’d heard a struggle, yelling from all three of their cellmates, screaming…then nothing. The line went dead.
“What happened?” HyungJoon asked shakily.
HyunJoong turned his head to stare down at the facility below them, the pair perched on a tall building nearby to avoid notice. “I…don’t know,” he murmured. “Their headsets must be broken.”
“Were they caught?” HyungJoon asked, swallowing as he held another small device to his ear, one that would connect them to HQ.
“It’s likely they were,” HyunJoong replied quietly, sitting down on the concrete. “We can’t go in blind after them.” How had things gone so horribly wrong?
They’d been just about there, KyuJong working his way into the Soulless directory, and then suddenly…everything was lost.
Covering his face with his hands, HyunJoong tried to think of what to do now as HyungJoon relayed the information to KiBum and DongHae at HQ, the younger android’s voice trembling as his hands started to shake.
Once a Soulful was captured by the facility, they never escaped.
*******************************************
The sound of struggling echoed through the hallways, the walls shaking as someone was slammed against them repeatedly. RyeoWook exchanged a confused look with SungMin as he got up and went to open the infirmary door and find out what was going on. “What-“
“Move Wookie!”
RyeoWook yelped and scampered out of the way of the door as HeeChul and YoungWoon dragged in a yelling and fighting KyuHyun, the Model 9 dumped onto a bed and pinned down. A few other androids trailed after them, eyes wide and confusion mirroring RyeoWook’s etched on their faces.
“Let me go!” KyuHyun shouted, and was struck across the face.
“You be quiet,” HeeChul hissed, and RyeoWook couldn’t remember ever seeing their cell leader this angry before.
“Hyungdeul, what’s going on?” He asked, staring as they strapped the struggling Model 9 to the bed. “Why are you doing this to KyuHyun, stop it!” He moved to get in the way, but arms wrapped around his shoulders held him back. He looked behind him to see a pale but hard-eyed SiWon holding him in place.
“What did you tell them?!” HeeChul shouted in KyuHyun’s face. “Did you tell them how to get in here? Did you tell them our Model numbers? How many we are?”
“What the hell are you talking about?!” KyuHyun yelled back, trying to get free without effect. “You’re insane!”
“What’s going on?” SungMin asked, watching from a corner of the room in shock. “HeeChul hyung, just what did KyuHyun do?”
“What’s going on in here?” KiBum stepped in through the door, and stopped in surprise. “HeeChul, just what are you doing?”
“You knew, and you didn’t tell us!” HeeChul rounded on KiBum, eyes flashing in anger. “A guess is better than nothing, and now look what happened because of him!” He kicked the bed KyuHyun was on, the Model 9 yelping.
“I don’t know what you’re talking out, what the hell did I do?!” KyuHyun protested, panic laced in his voice.
“You’re a fucking Soulless, that’s what!” HeeChul yelled at him.
Silence fell hard.
“KyuHyun? A Soulless?” RyeoWook whispered, sitting down on one of the other beds.
“You’ve got to be joking,” SungMin protested.
“I told them,” said a quiet voice behind them.
KiBum turned around to see YeSung standing in the doorway, skin ashen. “JongWoon?”
“Stop calling him that KiBum, he’s not JongWoon,” HeeChul snapped. “YeSung overheard you and DongHae talking, and ran to us. It’s a good thing he did. How could you send the second cell out on a mission with a Soulless running around?!”
“I’m not a Soulless,” KyuHyun yelled, struggling again. “What the hell, HeeChul! I joined this place when you did!”
“They caught you and switched out your CPU,” HeeChul hissed, stepping up to the bed. “You’re nothing but an imitation of our KyuHyun.”
KiBum swallowed, shifting his gaze from YeSung who was looking at the ground to the others. “HeeChul, I sent the others out on that mission to find the proof,” he said quietly. “We can’t do this to KyuHyun on suspicions alone, he’s our friend.”
“Well, see how well that worked out? Three of the second cell are missing, possibly captured, and we’ll never see them again.” HeeChul’s eyes darkened. “Yeah, YeSung heard that part too. I don’t care if you were the first one here, you don’t go making decisions like that without telling us. Some friendship there, huh?”
The other man flinched back slightly. RyeoWook looked from KiBum to HeeChul, eyes still wide. “What do you plan on doing to KyuHyun, then?” he asked quietly.
“I’m not a Soulless, I swear it!” KyuHyun cried out, starting to become scared now.
“Only one way to find out, is there?” SungMin asked, standing up. “You guys can’t just shut him down without proof.”
“Yeah, well, look how well that went with the other cell.” HeeChul wasn’t budging.
SungMin shook his head. “I’m not talking about that. If he really is a Soulless, there will be some sign in his programming, right? Soulless are programmed to be like us…if that’s reflected in his programming…”
“SungMin’s right, let’s look through his programming first,” SiWon said, and started to hook KyuHyun up to the machines.
The younger android stared up at him with wide eyes. “I’m not,” he pleaded.
“Sorry KyuHyun,” SungMin said quietly. “We have to be sure. It won’t hurt, you know that.”
HeeChul watched the machines up against the wall flare to life. “Someone get Henli down here, he can read this gibberish,” he shook his head as lines of code began to flash across the screen. A tall, lanky android in the corner tapped his wrist and spoke into the microphone quietly.
There was tense silence as they waited for Henry to show up, no one wanting to get too close to the suspected Soulless on the bed. KyuHyun tried to breath evenly, staring up at the ceiling rather than look at the monitor or the wires that connected to his wrists and chest.
Finally Henry arrived, running into the room and looking around. The android who’d called him explained the situation in quiet Mandarin, Henry’s eyes growing larger as he looked from KyuHyun to the monitors.
“Get over here and tell us what it says, Henli,” HeeChul said, an unintentional snap to his voice, the cell leader too riled up by the discovery.
Henry padded over to the monitor, nervously glancing at HeeChul as he passed, before turning his attention up to the lines of code.
There was a long moment of silence, Henry frowning as he read. The others watching him carefully for any sign that their suspicions were true.
After a good few minutes of scanning the code, Henry leaned back and shook his head. “Looks fine,” he said, looking back at them in confusion. “Looks like us.”
“See, I’m not a Soulless!” KyuHyun exclaimed. “Can you cut me loose now?!”
“Then…” HeeChul blinked widely. “Are you sure, Henli?”
The younger android nodded, still looking over the code.
“Then where are the information leaks coming from?” HeeChul frowned, leaning against the wall. “The government’s finding out stuff from one of us, but who?”
“It could have been an accident,” RyeoWook said quietly, eyes nervous. “It doesn’t mean a Soulless.”
“…Wait.”
Henry’s voice caught their attention, the entire first cell looking towards the Model 6 examining the code. “…What’s this?” he asked, pointing to a whole chunk of code. “It’s not normal.”
The others crowded around, trying to see. Only a few of them knew any measure of code, but it was enough.
“Looks like…wait a second,” SungMin said, hopping off the bed he’d perched on and hurrying to KyuHyun, who was still strapped down. “Sorry KyuHyun,” he apologized, before starting to poke through the wiring in the Model 9’s chest.
KyuHyun’s eyes widened, holding perfectly still. “What? What is it?”
SungMin frowned as he looked. “They didn’t make you into a Soulless…but…they put something…here!”
And from inside KyuHyun he pulled out a small black cube, with tiny legs that had been holding on to a wire.
KyuHyun just stared at it. “That’s not a tracking beacon, is it?”
“Doesn’t look like it…” SungMin hissed when the legs started to move, and he held it tightly to stop it from getting away. “Someone hook it up and see what it is.”
RyeoWook scrambled over to do so as HeeChul and YoungWoon closed up KyuHyun’s chest and wrists, freeing him from the bed. HeeChul placed one hand on KyuHyun’s shoulder in apology, the younger android shaking it off as he eyed the parasite that had been inside him presumably since he was captured by the facility.
New lines of code appeared across the monitors as the parasite was hooked up to them, and though few knew code, they all knew what this was the instant they saw the data.
“Decoy?” HeeChul’s eyes widened.
“A decoy? For what?” SiWon asked, looking between them.
YeSung leaned against the wall, looking like the floor had dropped out from under him. “A Soulless. It’s to distract us from a Soulless.” A decoy to redirect their attention to KyuHyun, whispering the idea that he was the enemy.
“You mean we were tricked?!” HeeChul hissed, eyes flashing angrily. SungMin had to cover the parasite in his hands to keep HeeChul from smashing it.
“What do we do now?” RyeoWook asked quietly.
They all turned to HeeChul, the cell leader’s expression dark as he looked at the parasite in SungMin’s hands.
“SungMin, Henli, get whatever information out of that thing as you can, then destroy it. The rest of you, get me the manufacturing dates of all Soulfuls here. I don’t care what cell they’re in, I want them all.”
His eyes were filled with the promise for vengeance. “We’re going to find out exactly who rolled off the factory belts when KyuHyun was captured, and then we’ll have our Soulless.”
******************************************************
“Kyu yah!” YoungSaeng cried out in despair as KyuJong’s eyes hazed over, the expression of anger and determination slipping off his face like soap water. And just like that, at the press of a button, the kind and curious Model 6 he had known was gone. In his place was a blank gaze and statue-like figure, waiting for instructions. A Soulless.
How had they not seen this? But KyuJong hadn’t behaved like a Soulless. Sure, he had asked so many questions at the beginning and not understood what they were trying to show him, but hadn’t they all been like that? He’d been the perfect example of a soul in a mechanical body, perfect in every aspect, perfect to YoungSaeng and he knew perfect to JungMin too.
And just like that, he turned out to be the traitor they were looking for.
But YoungSaeng couldn’t process that right now, shaking his head slowly as he watched KyuJong back away from his attempt to free them from the wall. “KyuJong, say something,” he whispered. “You can’t be gone.”
“You bastards,” JungMin growled beside him, and when YoungSaeng was able to tear his eyes away from KyuJong he could see the redhead’s expression contorted with grief and anger…white-hot anger. “Whatever you did to him, reverse it, right now!”
“He was merely woken up,” the Model 2 who had pressed the button said simply. “There is no such person as ‘KyuJong’.”
“Shut up!” JungMin started to struggle again, broken arm be damned. “You think you could program someone like him?! That you can tell him how to act? He isn’t like your pet Soulless, he can beat your programming! He’s done it before! KyuJong!”
YoungSaeng turned his head to look back at KyuJong, praying to see some spark of recognition in the brown eyes that used to be so warm, but there was none. The Soulless only watched JungMin impassively, like one would watch a half-minded drone.
“Kyu yah,” YoungSaeng pleaded. “You can hear us, I know you can. Don’t let them do this to you, you’re stronger than that.”
“Didn’t you say you weren’t going to let them tell you who you were?” JungMin clenched his jaw. “Are you backing out so easily?”
The Model 2’s watched with vague amusement as the two strapped to the wall shouted at the Soulless watching blankly, without response. It was pointless; Kim KyuJong had been erased from 6575’s system. They might as well have been talking to a wall.
YoungSaeng had fallen silent, and JungMin switched from challenges to outright insults, when the Model 2 in charge lifted one hand. “Enough. This is quite beneficial to our research, but you both will serve your purpose more thoroughly in our laboratories. However, as thanks for bringing our wayward Soulless back home, we will skip over extracting information and move straight on to studying the Soulful virus. We can get any information we need from 6575.”
He turned towards the Model 2 standing next to KyuJong. “Bring our Soulless friend to the proper facility, and pull all the information you can from his CPU. I want information on that Model 8 he saw in particular.”
YoungSaeng swallowed thickly, watching helplessly as the Model 2 in question turned and left the room.
“Kyu yah, please,” he whispered.
KyuJong turned to follow the Model 2 without so much as a second look at the two Soulfuls trapped against the wall. The last view of him YoungSaeng had was of KyuJong’s back before the door swung shut behind him.
That left three more Model 2’s with them. The one in charge turned to face them again, and instantly JungMin started hurling insults and curses again. If this had been any other situation, YoungSaeng would have been amused at the human slang that came from the Model 7; someone had been reading more books than he said he did. But right now, he could only shake and tug uselessly at his restraints, because they had no way to escape.
“My, you’re a talkative one.” The Head 2 shook his head at JungMin. “We might have to shut you down before moving you, or you’ll give someone a headache.”
“Stay away from him!” YoungSaeng cried out as the Head 2 stepped up to the redhead. JungMin tried to both press back into the wall and kick the other android, a lesson in futility with his legs strapped to the wall as well.
“Get the fuck away!” JungMin wasn’t happy at all, struggling against his restraints. There was a flash of fear in his eyes, carefully hidden. He knew why the Head 2 was being this slow and deliberate, even talking to them.
YoungSaeng knew why too: to observe emotions at work. They could dissect the two Soulfuls all they wanted, but why not see how those virus-induced emotions held up under what could be torture first? And YoungSaeng tried not to give in, to show any emotion, but as he watched the Head 2 tear away the front of JungMin’s shirt to unlock his chest panel, the flimsy cage on his fear shattered.
“Now, let me see…where is the emergency shut down again…” The Head 2 mused, pushing one hand into JungMin’s chest. YoungSaeng shut his eyes tightly, unable to watch as JungMin continued to yell, a frantic note entering the redhead’s angry voice.
Then, quite suddenly, JungMin’s voice cut out completely.
YoungSaeng’s eyes snapped open, throat closing as he quickly looked at the redhead. JungMin wasn’t shut down. He was staring at the Head 2 in shock, lips parted as though in the middle of saying something. YoungSaeng watched with rising alarm as JungMin’s mouth moved, but no sound came out.
“Oops,” the Head 2 said mildly. “Wrong wire.”
“You…” YoungSaeng couldn’t breathe, shaking harder in his restraints. “What did you do?!”
They’d taken away JungMin’s voice.
Opening and closing his mouth, JungMin fixed the Head 2 with his best glare, unable to struggle with the man’s hand in his chest. YoungSaeng could see the fear bright in his eyes now; JungMin had always said the one thing the government couldn’t take from him as a Soulful was his voice.
“Leave him alone! JungMin!” YoungSaeng screamed as he saw JungMin’s eyes haze over and close, the Model 7 going limp against the metal straps holding him up. He’d been shut down.
“There we go, much better.” The Head 2 removed his hand and replaced the redhead’s chest panel, clicking it shut before turning to YoungSaeng.
YoungSaeng met the other man’s face, trying to be defiant, but the fear must have won. He wondered if Model 2’s could have a soul as well, because the look in the Head 2’s eyes was almost sadistic, too much so for a machine.
“This one can stay powered on. I want to see how he reacts. Take them both to a holding cell for now, and begin preparations.”
At the command from the Head 2, the other Model 2’s in the room stepped up to take over. YoungSaeng fought the second he felt the restraints leave, but it was in vain, his arms twisted up behind him before he could do anything. Then biting metal was wrapped around his wrists, holding them together. “Walk, or we’ll bind your legs and carry you,” the Model 2 said, prodding him forward.
Staggering a little, YoungSaeng looked over his shoulder as JungMin was detached from the wall as well, his limp form slung over one shoulder. The Model 2 pushed YoungSaeng forward again, and he walked grudgingly, trembling as he passed by the smashed remains of their headsets.
There was no rescue for them now. They were test subjects for the government.
Chapter: 1/11
Fandom: SS501, cameos of Super Junior, BEAST and SHINee
Pairing: KyuMinSaeng
Rating: PG-16
Warning: AU, Dystopia, Angst
Summary: Arc II. Their mission failed. The identity of the Soulless was discovered, but it wasn’t who any of them expected it to be, not even the Soulless himself. Every question answered brings ten in its place, and everyone seems to be keeping secrets. Who can you trust? The search for the truth has become a ticking time bomb, and they may not all survive its detonation.
A/N: Please refer to my master fic list for past chapters. Do not own the characters, but the plot is all mine. Please comment <3
“YoungSaeng? JungMin? KyuJong?”
HyungJoon watched HyunJoong with wide eyes as their leader tapped on his headset, frown etched on his lips. “Hey, guys, do you hear me? What’s going on?”
There was nothing except static at the other end of the line. They’d heard a struggle, yelling from all three of their cellmates, screaming…then nothing. The line went dead.
“What happened?” HyungJoon asked shakily.
HyunJoong turned his head to stare down at the facility below them, the pair perched on a tall building nearby to avoid notice. “I…don’t know,” he murmured. “Their headsets must be broken.”
“Were they caught?” HyungJoon asked, swallowing as he held another small device to his ear, one that would connect them to HQ.
“It’s likely they were,” HyunJoong replied quietly, sitting down on the concrete. “We can’t go in blind after them.” How had things gone so horribly wrong?
They’d been just about there, KyuJong working his way into the Soulless directory, and then suddenly…everything was lost.
Covering his face with his hands, HyunJoong tried to think of what to do now as HyungJoon relayed the information to KiBum and DongHae at HQ, the younger android’s voice trembling as his hands started to shake.
Once a Soulful was captured by the facility, they never escaped.
*******************************************
The sound of struggling echoed through the hallways, the walls shaking as someone was slammed against them repeatedly. RyeoWook exchanged a confused look with SungMin as he got up and went to open the infirmary door and find out what was going on. “What-“
“Move Wookie!”
RyeoWook yelped and scampered out of the way of the door as HeeChul and YoungWoon dragged in a yelling and fighting KyuHyun, the Model 9 dumped onto a bed and pinned down. A few other androids trailed after them, eyes wide and confusion mirroring RyeoWook’s etched on their faces.
“Let me go!” KyuHyun shouted, and was struck across the face.
“You be quiet,” HeeChul hissed, and RyeoWook couldn’t remember ever seeing their cell leader this angry before.
“Hyungdeul, what’s going on?” He asked, staring as they strapped the struggling Model 9 to the bed. “Why are you doing this to KyuHyun, stop it!” He moved to get in the way, but arms wrapped around his shoulders held him back. He looked behind him to see a pale but hard-eyed SiWon holding him in place.
“What did you tell them?!” HeeChul shouted in KyuHyun’s face. “Did you tell them how to get in here? Did you tell them our Model numbers? How many we are?”
“What the hell are you talking about?!” KyuHyun yelled back, trying to get free without effect. “You’re insane!”
“What’s going on?” SungMin asked, watching from a corner of the room in shock. “HeeChul hyung, just what did KyuHyun do?”
“What’s going on in here?” KiBum stepped in through the door, and stopped in surprise. “HeeChul, just what are you doing?”
“You knew, and you didn’t tell us!” HeeChul rounded on KiBum, eyes flashing in anger. “A guess is better than nothing, and now look what happened because of him!” He kicked the bed KyuHyun was on, the Model 9 yelping.
“I don’t know what you’re talking out, what the hell did I do?!” KyuHyun protested, panic laced in his voice.
“You’re a fucking Soulless, that’s what!” HeeChul yelled at him.
Silence fell hard.
“KyuHyun? A Soulless?” RyeoWook whispered, sitting down on one of the other beds.
“You’ve got to be joking,” SungMin protested.
“I told them,” said a quiet voice behind them.
KiBum turned around to see YeSung standing in the doorway, skin ashen. “JongWoon?”
“Stop calling him that KiBum, he’s not JongWoon,” HeeChul snapped. “YeSung overheard you and DongHae talking, and ran to us. It’s a good thing he did. How could you send the second cell out on a mission with a Soulless running around?!”
“I’m not a Soulless,” KyuHyun yelled, struggling again. “What the hell, HeeChul! I joined this place when you did!”
“They caught you and switched out your CPU,” HeeChul hissed, stepping up to the bed. “You’re nothing but an imitation of our KyuHyun.”
KiBum swallowed, shifting his gaze from YeSung who was looking at the ground to the others. “HeeChul, I sent the others out on that mission to find the proof,” he said quietly. “We can’t do this to KyuHyun on suspicions alone, he’s our friend.”
“Well, see how well that worked out? Three of the second cell are missing, possibly captured, and we’ll never see them again.” HeeChul’s eyes darkened. “Yeah, YeSung heard that part too. I don’t care if you were the first one here, you don’t go making decisions like that without telling us. Some friendship there, huh?”
The other man flinched back slightly. RyeoWook looked from KiBum to HeeChul, eyes still wide. “What do you plan on doing to KyuHyun, then?” he asked quietly.
“I’m not a Soulless, I swear it!” KyuHyun cried out, starting to become scared now.
“Only one way to find out, is there?” SungMin asked, standing up. “You guys can’t just shut him down without proof.”
“Yeah, well, look how well that went with the other cell.” HeeChul wasn’t budging.
SungMin shook his head. “I’m not talking about that. If he really is a Soulless, there will be some sign in his programming, right? Soulless are programmed to be like us…if that’s reflected in his programming…”
“SungMin’s right, let’s look through his programming first,” SiWon said, and started to hook KyuHyun up to the machines.
The younger android stared up at him with wide eyes. “I’m not,” he pleaded.
“Sorry KyuHyun,” SungMin said quietly. “We have to be sure. It won’t hurt, you know that.”
HeeChul watched the machines up against the wall flare to life. “Someone get Henli down here, he can read this gibberish,” he shook his head as lines of code began to flash across the screen. A tall, lanky android in the corner tapped his wrist and spoke into the microphone quietly.
There was tense silence as they waited for Henry to show up, no one wanting to get too close to the suspected Soulless on the bed. KyuHyun tried to breath evenly, staring up at the ceiling rather than look at the monitor or the wires that connected to his wrists and chest.
Finally Henry arrived, running into the room and looking around. The android who’d called him explained the situation in quiet Mandarin, Henry’s eyes growing larger as he looked from KyuHyun to the monitors.
“Get over here and tell us what it says, Henli,” HeeChul said, an unintentional snap to his voice, the cell leader too riled up by the discovery.
Henry padded over to the monitor, nervously glancing at HeeChul as he passed, before turning his attention up to the lines of code.
There was a long moment of silence, Henry frowning as he read. The others watching him carefully for any sign that their suspicions were true.
After a good few minutes of scanning the code, Henry leaned back and shook his head. “Looks fine,” he said, looking back at them in confusion. “Looks like us.”
“See, I’m not a Soulless!” KyuHyun exclaimed. “Can you cut me loose now?!”
“Then…” HeeChul blinked widely. “Are you sure, Henli?”
The younger android nodded, still looking over the code.
“Then where are the information leaks coming from?” HeeChul frowned, leaning against the wall. “The government’s finding out stuff from one of us, but who?”
“It could have been an accident,” RyeoWook said quietly, eyes nervous. “It doesn’t mean a Soulless.”
“…Wait.”
Henry’s voice caught their attention, the entire first cell looking towards the Model 6 examining the code. “…What’s this?” he asked, pointing to a whole chunk of code. “It’s not normal.”
The others crowded around, trying to see. Only a few of them knew any measure of code, but it was enough.
“Looks like…wait a second,” SungMin said, hopping off the bed he’d perched on and hurrying to KyuHyun, who was still strapped down. “Sorry KyuHyun,” he apologized, before starting to poke through the wiring in the Model 9’s chest.
KyuHyun’s eyes widened, holding perfectly still. “What? What is it?”
SungMin frowned as he looked. “They didn’t make you into a Soulless…but…they put something…here!”
And from inside KyuHyun he pulled out a small black cube, with tiny legs that had been holding on to a wire.
KyuHyun just stared at it. “That’s not a tracking beacon, is it?”
“Doesn’t look like it…” SungMin hissed when the legs started to move, and he held it tightly to stop it from getting away. “Someone hook it up and see what it is.”
RyeoWook scrambled over to do so as HeeChul and YoungWoon closed up KyuHyun’s chest and wrists, freeing him from the bed. HeeChul placed one hand on KyuHyun’s shoulder in apology, the younger android shaking it off as he eyed the parasite that had been inside him presumably since he was captured by the facility.
New lines of code appeared across the monitors as the parasite was hooked up to them, and though few knew code, they all knew what this was the instant they saw the data.
“Decoy?” HeeChul’s eyes widened.
“A decoy? For what?” SiWon asked, looking between them.
YeSung leaned against the wall, looking like the floor had dropped out from under him. “A Soulless. It’s to distract us from a Soulless.” A decoy to redirect their attention to KyuHyun, whispering the idea that he was the enemy.
“You mean we were tricked?!” HeeChul hissed, eyes flashing angrily. SungMin had to cover the parasite in his hands to keep HeeChul from smashing it.
“What do we do now?” RyeoWook asked quietly.
They all turned to HeeChul, the cell leader’s expression dark as he looked at the parasite in SungMin’s hands.
“SungMin, Henli, get whatever information out of that thing as you can, then destroy it. The rest of you, get me the manufacturing dates of all Soulfuls here. I don’t care what cell they’re in, I want them all.”
His eyes were filled with the promise for vengeance. “We’re going to find out exactly who rolled off the factory belts when KyuHyun was captured, and then we’ll have our Soulless.”
******************************************************
“Kyu yah!” YoungSaeng cried out in despair as KyuJong’s eyes hazed over, the expression of anger and determination slipping off his face like soap water. And just like that, at the press of a button, the kind and curious Model 6 he had known was gone. In his place was a blank gaze and statue-like figure, waiting for instructions. A Soulless.
How had they not seen this? But KyuJong hadn’t behaved like a Soulless. Sure, he had asked so many questions at the beginning and not understood what they were trying to show him, but hadn’t they all been like that? He’d been the perfect example of a soul in a mechanical body, perfect in every aspect, perfect to YoungSaeng and he knew perfect to JungMin too.
And just like that, he turned out to be the traitor they were looking for.
But YoungSaeng couldn’t process that right now, shaking his head slowly as he watched KyuJong back away from his attempt to free them from the wall. “KyuJong, say something,” he whispered. “You can’t be gone.”
“You bastards,” JungMin growled beside him, and when YoungSaeng was able to tear his eyes away from KyuJong he could see the redhead’s expression contorted with grief and anger…white-hot anger. “Whatever you did to him, reverse it, right now!”
“He was merely woken up,” the Model 2 who had pressed the button said simply. “There is no such person as ‘KyuJong’.”
“Shut up!” JungMin started to struggle again, broken arm be damned. “You think you could program someone like him?! That you can tell him how to act? He isn’t like your pet Soulless, he can beat your programming! He’s done it before! KyuJong!”
YoungSaeng turned his head to look back at KyuJong, praying to see some spark of recognition in the brown eyes that used to be so warm, but there was none. The Soulless only watched JungMin impassively, like one would watch a half-minded drone.
“Kyu yah,” YoungSaeng pleaded. “You can hear us, I know you can. Don’t let them do this to you, you’re stronger than that.”
“Didn’t you say you weren’t going to let them tell you who you were?” JungMin clenched his jaw. “Are you backing out so easily?”
The Model 2’s watched with vague amusement as the two strapped to the wall shouted at the Soulless watching blankly, without response. It was pointless; Kim KyuJong had been erased from 6575’s system. They might as well have been talking to a wall.
YoungSaeng had fallen silent, and JungMin switched from challenges to outright insults, when the Model 2 in charge lifted one hand. “Enough. This is quite beneficial to our research, but you both will serve your purpose more thoroughly in our laboratories. However, as thanks for bringing our wayward Soulless back home, we will skip over extracting information and move straight on to studying the Soulful virus. We can get any information we need from 6575.”
He turned towards the Model 2 standing next to KyuJong. “Bring our Soulless friend to the proper facility, and pull all the information you can from his CPU. I want information on that Model 8 he saw in particular.”
YoungSaeng swallowed thickly, watching helplessly as the Model 2 in question turned and left the room.
“Kyu yah, please,” he whispered.
KyuJong turned to follow the Model 2 without so much as a second look at the two Soulfuls trapped against the wall. The last view of him YoungSaeng had was of KyuJong’s back before the door swung shut behind him.
That left three more Model 2’s with them. The one in charge turned to face them again, and instantly JungMin started hurling insults and curses again. If this had been any other situation, YoungSaeng would have been amused at the human slang that came from the Model 7; someone had been reading more books than he said he did. But right now, he could only shake and tug uselessly at his restraints, because they had no way to escape.
“My, you’re a talkative one.” The Head 2 shook his head at JungMin. “We might have to shut you down before moving you, or you’ll give someone a headache.”
“Stay away from him!” YoungSaeng cried out as the Head 2 stepped up to the redhead. JungMin tried to both press back into the wall and kick the other android, a lesson in futility with his legs strapped to the wall as well.
“Get the fuck away!” JungMin wasn’t happy at all, struggling against his restraints. There was a flash of fear in his eyes, carefully hidden. He knew why the Head 2 was being this slow and deliberate, even talking to them.
YoungSaeng knew why too: to observe emotions at work. They could dissect the two Soulfuls all they wanted, but why not see how those virus-induced emotions held up under what could be torture first? And YoungSaeng tried not to give in, to show any emotion, but as he watched the Head 2 tear away the front of JungMin’s shirt to unlock his chest panel, the flimsy cage on his fear shattered.
“Now, let me see…where is the emergency shut down again…” The Head 2 mused, pushing one hand into JungMin’s chest. YoungSaeng shut his eyes tightly, unable to watch as JungMin continued to yell, a frantic note entering the redhead’s angry voice.
Then, quite suddenly, JungMin’s voice cut out completely.
YoungSaeng’s eyes snapped open, throat closing as he quickly looked at the redhead. JungMin wasn’t shut down. He was staring at the Head 2 in shock, lips parted as though in the middle of saying something. YoungSaeng watched with rising alarm as JungMin’s mouth moved, but no sound came out.
“Oops,” the Head 2 said mildly. “Wrong wire.”
“You…” YoungSaeng couldn’t breathe, shaking harder in his restraints. “What did you do?!”
They’d taken away JungMin’s voice.
Opening and closing his mouth, JungMin fixed the Head 2 with his best glare, unable to struggle with the man’s hand in his chest. YoungSaeng could see the fear bright in his eyes now; JungMin had always said the one thing the government couldn’t take from him as a Soulful was his voice.
“Leave him alone! JungMin!” YoungSaeng screamed as he saw JungMin’s eyes haze over and close, the Model 7 going limp against the metal straps holding him up. He’d been shut down.
“There we go, much better.” The Head 2 removed his hand and replaced the redhead’s chest panel, clicking it shut before turning to YoungSaeng.
YoungSaeng met the other man’s face, trying to be defiant, but the fear must have won. He wondered if Model 2’s could have a soul as well, because the look in the Head 2’s eyes was almost sadistic, too much so for a machine.
“This one can stay powered on. I want to see how he reacts. Take them both to a holding cell for now, and begin preparations.”
At the command from the Head 2, the other Model 2’s in the room stepped up to take over. YoungSaeng fought the second he felt the restraints leave, but it was in vain, his arms twisted up behind him before he could do anything. Then biting metal was wrapped around his wrists, holding them together. “Walk, or we’ll bind your legs and carry you,” the Model 2 said, prodding him forward.
Staggering a little, YoungSaeng looked over his shoulder as JungMin was detached from the wall as well, his limp form slung over one shoulder. The Model 2 pushed YoungSaeng forward again, and he walked grudgingly, trembling as he passed by the smashed remains of their headsets.
There was no rescue for them now. They were test subjects for the government.