Four hundred and seventy light years from Planet Earth and within the Lyra constellation, a rocky planet is orbiting  a red dwarf star, smaller

than the sun. It would take humans two million years to reach it. And would they reach it, its superflares would surely burn them to ash. But the

boy gazing through a telescope in wonder knows they will have the curiosity to do so, when their technology allows them. He has researched their

legends. The Greeks, a noble civilization in Earth's history named their home planet's constellation Aquila Cadens because it appeared to them to

be a vulture carrying a lyre. In their mythology, the lyre belonged to a God named Orpheus and it was made by Apollo from a tortoise shell. The

music the lyre produced was the most beautiful music in the world and it could charm animals as well as objects. The lyre was the only thing able

to suppress the song of the sirens luring the Argonauts in the search of the golden fleece, in the years before the Trojan War. It even charmed

Hades in the Underworld and returned Orpheus his Eurydice.

The boy kept reading and reading and gazing at the stars, the planets, all their legends and myths, fables and epic tales. So many civilizations

had entertained the idea of humans possessing supernatural powers and summoning elements or almighty Gods turning the tides of war by summoning

great storms or fires. They had all believed it to be true and explained current phenomena, places, inventions and even human nature by speaking of

magical beings. Along the way they had dismissed such powers and chased after normality and reason. But here they were, a 2 million years- ride

away, an embodiment of stories that might have been true, living and breathing myths, mundanely human to each other, extraordinary miracles to

distant neighbour constellations. Their own civilizations had searched for the origin of their powers but it seemed to be a secret forever buried

with the dead. The boy's wonder never made him stop searching and learning. The universe was limitless. He would bring his knees together and

clench his fists and focus through the lens. He wept when he learned about the burning of the Great Library of Alexandria. All those myths lost

forever, stories he will never get to read. His eyes were getting blurry and his stomach was growling. A half eaten apple rested on a porcelain

plate beside him. The Observatory was completely silent, just the way he liked it. He loved solitude. He loved just being with himself. Or maybe he

had not always loved it but had grown to love it. He was never shown much love from his mother or father, because he was seen as a recluse, someone

working more for his own benefit rather then training his own powers and studying in school and doing as he was told. First his parents would worry

when he disappeared. Then they stopped caring. He would get yelled at sometimes, scolded, sometimes even hit. He could do well in school when he

wanted to, but had always been more interested in learning about outside worlds. And he asked too many questions the teachers would avoid

answering. In a perfectly built illusion of a utopia, nobody wants overly-inquisitive children.

The boy got off the chair to stretch his limbs. His stomach grumbled once again. Even their old teacher had gone away. A giant model of the

universe with different constellations and solar systems hung down from the ceiling. The planets looked like over-sized and differently-shaped

marbles. Some had rings such as Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. He would climb upon a ladder and flick them with his finger, watching them

dance as spider bridges stretched between them crumbled, tiny little spiders fleeing in confusion, migrating from one plastic planet to the next.

"Hehe" he would laugh with a tone too low and deep for his age, his teeth showing from under his stretched lips, his nose wrinkling in the middle.

He'd run to the teacher's desk and play with the wooden pirate ship trapped inside a bottle.

"I'll save you, tiny people! I'll let you breathe fresh air and feel the sun's smile on your face!" - he would take the bottled ship to the attic

window and bathe it in sunlight. Chess pieces would fight to the death and horses, kings and knights would fall.

Another boy was watching the one playing alone with planets, pirate ships and chess pieces. Curved up in a ball and peeking from the staircase

going down to the lower level classrooms, a tall, tan, lanky boy with dark hair and kind eyes wanted to play too. He too felt lonely. He too had

been rejected and was put on a time out after the last class. He didn't want to go home. He wanted to approach the studious and playful boy but he

also didn't want to interrupt his solitude. Deciding to leave, he his heels gently, not realizing his leg was asleep. Down the wooden

steps he went, the wood cracking as his back and his rolled down against it like a tumbleweed.

The first boy was quick to react, first startled by the racket and then worried, seeing the body of a boy about his age at the bottom of quite a

long staircase.

"Oh my God, are you okay? Tiny, rapid little footsteps trampled down and stopped short at his head.

The bruised up boy opened his eyes to gaze upon a pair of white socks in his field of vision, then jet white legs dressed in the mandatory navy

school shorts and the gray dorky vest with red accents around its V-line, all wrapped around a tiny, full-cheeked boy with eyes that sparkled with

curiosity.

"I think so..." the injured one replied, rubbing his head to feel for any lumps or blood. I think I mostly hurt my and not my head, haha.

Though I feel like I was thinking with my when I came up here. I am sorry to interrupt your study and your games. You wanna play together?"

"Eh...I don't really have any friends I play with", the boy, now kneeling down beside him, replied.

"Can I be your friend, then?" the one laying on the floor and slowly lifting his head asked.

"I don't know, you seem kind of clumsy and annoying. What's your power?"

"Oh...umm...I have just started developing it. Look! I'll show you! This is cool!" The boy got up and squinted his eyes, focusing hard. Nothing

happened. Ah, I had it! Hold on, give me a second!"

The other boy was losing his patience and wanted to return to his books, already giving out a bored yawn and an eye-roll. "I'm heading back

upstairs. Be more careful" he said, sounding annoyed. He took a few steps up the old, still cracking steps, but then he stopped dead in his tracks

and let out a loud shriek, taking a few steps back and almost falling down himself.

"How did you...what did...?"

The boy that had been behind him a moment ago had appeared seemingly out of thin air right in front of him, their toes touching and his eyes

staring down at him as he was clearly a good few inches taller.

"Hello again! Isn't this cool?" he giggled, putting his long veiny arms on the shocked boy's shoulders.

"You gave me a heart attack! So you can teleport...can you just say that next time instead of trying to kill me with it?"

"What can you do?" the smiling boy asked, now feeling all proud with his performance, walking upstairs shoulder to shoulder with the hunched old-

souled boy who seemed to have grown a few years older from his near heart attack.

"Nothing. I'm a good for nothing. So I read. I am supposed to control the earth and possess strength but my mom and dad are ashamed with me because

I am weak.

"You don't seem that weak" the teleporting boy said half smiling, punching the short earth-wielder's arm gently.

"What's your name? So I can write it down in my diary under "People who annoy me and I want to punch", the short boy replied, pulling away.

"Oh, how impolite of me! My name is Kim Jongin, it's very nice meeting you!" he said, straightening his body like a soldier and extending his palm,

long and graceful pianist fingers reaching out towards him. "And your name is...?"

"Kyungsoo. Do Kyungsoo", the other one replied, greeting his sweaty warm palm in an awkward handshake and looking shyly away with a grunt. I guess

it's...kind of...sort of...nice to meet you. I guess..."

Jongin bursted into laughter, tilting his head back, laughing with his whole body.

"You're a character! So what are you reading? Can I join you? What are you looking at? What's this? Oh I am hungry can I eat the rest of that

apple?"

Little Kyungsoo frowns, ignoring the overly-hyper Jongin and heading back towards his desk, a pile of books and the holograms of different planets

greeting him. He touches one with his fingers and stretches them out, zooming in on a pyramid.

"Oh, that's cool! What planet is that on? When I grow up I will be able to teleport to other planets, just you watch!" Jongin exclaims, his eyes

twinkling, reflecting the hologram and Kyungsoo's growing irritability fades as an unusual smile appears, while he starts talking about this blue

planet called Earth he has been fascinated with and about the Great Pyramid they are looking at. Jongin has unknowingly opened Pandora's box

because the previously-grumpy and silent boy has become very passionate and chatty, rambling on about history and geography and legends.

"Gosh, I feel like I am in school again, only this is actually pretty interesting! Tell me more about this place" Jongin smiles, resting his cheek

on his palm and his elbow on the desk, getting comfortable.

Before they know it, days and weeks go by like this, Kyungsoo studying and Jongin trying to join him but falling asleep with his head on the desk

very often, his hair pressed against the surface, his cheek embroidered with sleep marks when he wakes up and rubs his eyes and all of a sudden

it's night time and he has to go home. The teacher checks in every now and then, noticing the boys remain in the telescope room after classes, not

seeming to mind. Their parents often come and drag them home. Jongin's seem calm but Kyungsoo's are always angry at him for staying there for so many hours

after school. Jongin sees his father pulling on his arm so hard one day, he dislocates his shoulder. The next day Kyungsoo comes in wearing a cast

and looking like a beat up puppy. His pride prevents him from saying anything, marching straight to his books and the telescope.

"Hyung, I am sorry they hurt you..." Jongin calls him "hyung" because Kyungsoo is one year older but seems at least five years older in maturity.

"I don't want to study today. Let's just walk."

"Outside? You mean outdoors? Where there is sunlight? Air? Birds? Trees? Nature? No books? Do you have a fever?" Jongin asks, placing his warm hand

on Kyungsoo's forehead.

"Stop it! Yes, I want to go outside! My parents don't want me to do this so I guess I have to act my age and do what kids do or something. You

coming or no?"

Jongin joins Kyungsoo, actually excited to go out and play for once, but even more so worried about this sudden change. They find an old tree with

exposed roots and branches so thick and heavy, some of them almost touch the ground, spiraling downwards, looking as menacing as ancient cursed

trees they'd read about in fairytales. There is a pond visible on the horizon and neat-cut grass with geometric shapes in a perfect mathematical

order filled with flowers of all colors. Jongin pulls a piece of paper and some colored pencils and starts drawing the surreal landscape before

them. Kyungsoo peeks his head inquisitively and stretches it beyond Jongin's arm so he can see.

"Wow, you're pretty good at drawing! Wish I could draw! I would probably draw battles from history or old mythological creatures though. Do you

ever feel like everything in our world looks a bit "too perfect"? I have seen what the other worlds look like and have seen their nature and ours

just looks so...artificial. It is beautiful but fake. Maybe that is why I feel like my heart does not belong here. Everything seems fake, Kyungsoo

says with a sad tone, climbing further up the tree.

"Even me? Do I seem fake?"

"I was talking about nature, dummy! Are you a plant?"

"How dare you call me a plant?" Jongin tries to sound mad but he is too amused, setting down his drawing and chasing Kyungsoo up the old and dry

tree branches. His moves are rapid and aggressive, he is so swift even when he doesn't teleport, it catches Kyungsoo off guard.

Weeks turn to months and months turn to years and the two remain friends, Jongin pushing Kyungsoo to focus more on controlling his power. They

train in forests, Jongin teleporting away and Kyungsoo trying to slow him down by creating sink holes beneath him or by summoning the earth to

erupt like a volcano, pebbles and twigs flying everywhere, Jongin avoiding them gracefully, cockily laughing as he does so even without

teleporting. Jongin's movements are so fluid now he looks as if he is dancing in the middle of erupting volcanoes. He never loses balance as he

jumps and leaps, landing on his toes like a ballerina and jumping higher than Kyungsoo's power can reach.

"Damn you, stop toying with me!" the now teenager Kyungsoo shouts out, sweat dripping from his wet fringes, setting dark circles under his big eyes.

"Hey, this is not supposed to be easy for you! The only way you are going to get better is if you have a challenge in front of you. You have to

work for it! Now try and catch me!" Jongin laughs as he grabs onto a tree branch and propels himself out of sight. More sink holes up the

earth as bits of land fall down like dominoes behind Jongin's trace. Kyungsoo focuses. Clearly he has to be one step ahead and create them in front

of Jongin instead of behind. One nearly makes Jongin trip but he teleports behind him just as he is about to fall.

"Hey! You made me have to teleport! Good job! Though you should theoretically be stronger than me since you are a year older and your power should

be more matured! Oops!" Jongin teases Kyungsoo as he laughs and continues dancing among sand storms and earthquakes. Kyungsoo gets tired and

collapses on the ground, panting and coughing his lungs out. The ground is finally motionless, its storms subsiding, the last speckles of dust

softly landing on the worn out Kyungsoo. He breathes in so hard his nose whistles and that makes Jongin burst into another loud laughing marathon.

As Jongin lays down beside him, catching his breath as well, the ground beneath them starts caving in, as quick sand twirls around like the dust

inside a vaccuum, pulling the two boys down.

"What is happening?" Kyungsoo screams, his muscles too weak to try to get up or escape. "My legs are asleep, Jongin, help me!"

"I think you played too much with your power in this spot so some tectonic plates might have moved and now the ground is sinking! Hold my hand!"

Jongin tries to pull him out but the sinking sand hardens and squeezes Kyungsoo's torso like a giant boa snake trying to rip its pray apart.

"Help me! I'm going to die!" Kyungsoo's eyes grow bigger as he screams and sheds tears, up to his shoulders in sand now. Teleport me out!

"I have never teleported someone else with me before!" Jongin cries, but realizes there is no other way to escape the situation. He grabs

Kyungsoo's trembling hands and closes his eyes, trying to focus, amongst his friend's terrifying screams. God, oh God, please, let this work! Only

their arms and heads are sticking out from the collapsing sand now. Jongin squeezes his eyes shut and takes his mind where it usually goes when he

is about to teleport but focuses on Kyungsoo's energy, his pulse and heart beat. A loud crash is heard, as the roots of an old tree are pulled out

and the earth is swallowed. There is stretching of limbs and Jongin and Kyungsoo are both falling.

When Kyungsoo opens his eyes, they are safely laying on the ground next to the giant sink hole. It worked. Jongin did it! Kyungsoo's entire body

hurts and he feels odd, having his body carried from one location to the next in an instant. But he barely gets to open his mouth to say "Jongin,

thank you for saving my life", then he notices that at the bottom of the giant chasm created, lies what looks like a thick piece of glass.

"Baekhyun and Taeyeon told us this years ago...and yet here I am seeing it with my own eyes for the first time. Our glass bubble. Our prison. Our

fake greenhouse world..." Kyungsoo jumps down and his feet crashing into glass make a buzzing, electric sound, little blue iridescent lights

flickering beneath them. This is the pulse of their artificial world. All the data collected is transferred to super computers that control

everything. "I was right when my instinct told me that everything was fake. It wasn't just made to look precise, mathematical and controlled, it

really was like that. This planet used to be alive and our ancestors destroyed it and the leaders don't want us to know how badly they messed up.

They don't want us to leave. They want to use us. But I don't want to live in a fish tank. I can't breathe here..."

Jongin is still in shock from being able to teleport another person with him, something many people with his power achieve later on in life. He

jumps down in the crater and rests a comforting arm around his friend's shoulders.

"It's going to be okay. Maybe our generation will be the one that can change our planet and bring it back to life. Maybe we can tell more people so

we can create a resistance and rebel and do whatever it takes to regain our planet!"

"You're so optimistic, Jongin. It's heartwarming but also naive. That kind of thinking can get you killed" Kyungsoo mutters with bitter

resignation.

"And you are so pessimistic, hyung. That's why we need each other. Together we are a balanced individual, a nice balance of yin and yang. And then

we have our faithful sidekicks, Baekhyun and Taeyeon. And she is an Oracle so that gives us a lot to work with. Hey, don't you owe me a little

something?" Jongin asks.

"Yes. Thank you for saving me..., Kyungsoo says shyly. Again, I was too weak. And you became even stronger. I'm so pathetic..."

"Shhh, no you're not! You're wonderful!" Jongin smiles with his kind eyes and soft wrinkles. You are stronger than you think! he says confidently,

patting Kyungsoo's back, whose shoulders sink as he flinches, squeezing his eyes shut.

"What's wrong?" Jongin asks alarmed.

"Nothing, it's nothing. Just some bruises on my back. I will be okay", Kyungsoo replies, gently opening one of his eyes and trying to muster a

smile.

"Your parents hurt you again for doing badly in school and disappearing, didn't they? They don't see how smart you are! You possess more knowledge

than they ever will! And you taught me so much! You're a genius! Jongin wraps his arms around his friend, as they sit down side by side, their feet

dangling over the Earth's open wound. Trying not to squeeze his shoulders and back too hard, he pushes Kyungsoo's head down, offering a comforting

shoulder. "We worked hard today! Let's go find Baekhyun and Taeyeon and join them! I am confident I can teleport both of us again! And maybe we can

come up with a plan together, okay?"

The Xintias Lacrimosa Mountaintop, Octix City, Planet Kepler 438b

A gentle red wave fluctuates and winds across a starry sky, fading into green beyond the horizon. It moves slowly, ruby and jade fog dancing and

twirling upward and downward, like smoke from an old chimney in winter. The waves in the sky sing symphonies, rays of light flicker and disappear

as if giants are marching in front of them, disturbing their trajectory, over-saturated opals come alive , adding a palette of colors to a

blackened sky. There is red at the top and green at the bottom but other shades are speckled across, mysterious mists enveloping the canvas blessed

by the solar winds. There is turquoise fading into lavender, fading into amethyst jewels twinkling alongside the stars.

Two lovers gaze upon the sky's synestetic symphony, their irises reflecting all the colors of the rainbow above their heads. Two warm hands clasp

another pair, fingers caressing skin, soft winds cascading across blushing cheeks. Foreheads touch and eyelids close, the sound of two beating

hearts drumming loudly in the silence. The girl has long golden hair, resting across her shoulder blades in two tight braids whereas the boy's hair

is chestnut brown, his fringes almost covering his eyes. Their skin is milky white, their bare feet standing out in the darkness, resting on a soft

cover laid out in front of a tent. Soft breathing is the only thing warming their chilled pores. Two pairs of soft lips meet as the boy's hands cup

the girl's porcelain face. The softness of the kiss lingers, their bodies warming up under the crochet throw blanket enveloping them. The boy puts

his arms around the girl's waist, bringing her closer and squeezing her tightly, leaning into a longer, more passionate kiss.

"I love you, Taeyeon! You look more beautiful than the aurora in the sky tonight!", the boy says in a soft voice, the warmest smile painted on his

face.

"I love you too, Baek, you sappy poet!" she replies, finding him secretely quite charming, in his grandiose efforts.

"Shhh...don't ruin the moment! I am trying to be romantic here and woo you", Baekhyun replies, an even bigger smile nestling the corners of his

lips upward and making his eyes twinkle. "How am I doing so far?"

"You talk too much, silly...shhh..." Taeyeon replies, pressing her finger on his dewey lips, silencing him and hearing his heart beating faster.

She covers his eyes with her palm and kisses his cheeks, nose, lips and chin, making him giggle when she presses her lips and puffs hot air on his

neck, right under his ear.

"Stop that! You know I'm ticklish!" he screams a little too high pitched, shaking his head as if he has sea water in his ears, his legs doing a

crab dance under the blanket.

Taeyeon starts laughing with a melodic giggle that turns into a deep guttural laugh, a series of "ahaha"s as she punches Baekhyun's chest

playfully. He grabs her hands and stops the laughing fit with a kiss, knocking the air out of her lungs in surprise.

"My turn now!" he says playfully, cocking an eyebrow and reaching for her belly and armpits, making her laugh until there are tears.

"Okay, okay, I forfeit! Let's just be quiet and look at the sky, I am exhausted!" Taeyeon succumbs with a deep exhale.

"There is still beauty in this world of ours, isn't there? Baekhyn asks, giving Taeyeon a back hug and resting his chin on her shoulder, her hands

resting on his arms.

"There is but this isn't even a genuine aurora, most likely. And if it is not virtual, but somehow real, it's probably a combination of both solar

winds affecting the magnetosphere as well as pollution. Severe pollution can make skies look quite beautiful too. I wonder what lies beyond all the

domes. Maybe the rest of the planet is radioactive, maybe we would instantly die the minute we stepped outside. Isn't that a scary thought? I don't

want to die...I want to live a long life with you. Even with all my visionary and prophetic abilities, I still can't see what lies outside the

domes. I can only guess. I am still limited in what I can do. And I have to suppres my powers so that my parents don't figure it out and send me

away..." Taeyeon's tone grows sadder.

"I won't let them take you away, Taeyeon, I promise! Our world may be all fake but my undying love and devotion to you is real! Call me cheesy, but

I would really give my life to save you, just as you saved me. I would give everything. And if you are ever taken from me, I will do everything in

my power to find you and rescue you! And then live happily ever after with you!" Baekhyun's determination shows in his passionate speech.

"You are cheesy", Taeyeon replies smiling, a rose tint flushing her cheeks, "but you are also very sweet. I am glad you were loud and obnoxious

enough every day until eventually you forcefully entered my life and gave me my first prophetic dream. And you showed me the truth of this world I

was so ignorant of and naive. I guess I am stuck with you for life, eh?" she says, brushing her hand through his hair, smoothing his eyebrows and

leaving her hand on his cheek, as he wraps it in his. "The aurora borealis is really beautiful, isn't it? I wonder what it looks like on other

planets that are still living and breathing".

Baekhyun extends his palms and makes an orb of light appear, a necklace with a stylized sun trinket shining brightly around his neck. He sends a

ray of light through a prism toy he hand-made for Taeyeon and it creates a rainbow, its lines extending across the blanket and on their bright

white feet sticking out.

"See? We can make our own light and color show! We can just take beauty and knowledge with us! And with you reading into our futures, we will

always be safe!"

Taeyeon is startled by a loud buzzing sound as the space next to them warps and two silhouettes gently materialize out of nothingness. First they

are just shadows, then they switch from holograms to living, breathing human bodies.

"Well, if this isn't an invasion of privacy, I don't know what is!" Baekhyun pouts, seeing Kyungsoo and Jongin appear only a few feet away.

"Jongin, you managed to teleport him with you? Wow! I am impressed!" Taeyeon claps excitedly, showing a completely different reaction from

Baekhyun's, as he continues pouting and talking under his breath, screeching his teeth.

"We were having a nice romantic date and you decide to just teleport right in the middle of it! What if we were...umm...doing stuff? Oh Lord... I

shudder at the thought!"

"Well that would have been slightly awkward!" Jongin laughs, as Kyungsoo smirks behind him, his creepy stalker face activated.

"It's okay Baek, I read the future, not sure that was written in the cards tonight" Taeyeon replies, laughing heartily for a second time, her two

friends joining in as Baekhyun turns livid and pouts like an ignored kitten.

"Not sure that was written in the cards tonight" he mumbles, imitating her, raising his pitch and copying her signature head-thrown-back guttural

laugh.

"Jongin, do you think if we get our hands on some space suits to keep safe, you could find a place to teleport us somewhere outside the dome

cities? We should see what our rulers don't want us to see so we can decide if we need to let everyone know and have a massive exodus to another

planet where the conditions are not abnormal. I don't even know how much longer our planet can sustain itself and I don't know why they are keeping

us here until it all finally crumbles. I have seen some bleak visions and I just need to verify..." Taeyeon says, noticing how Baekhyun grows

serious too.

"Yeah, with a little practice I think I can teleport all of us. And the suits are a good idea. And Kyungsoo and I just witnessed what is below us

too, we are also curious what lies beyond. Everything is unbreakable glass and electric circuits. Everything is programmed and leads to massive

control centers. I think only someone who can teleport can step outside. I am sure others have tried...I hope they all lived. I guess it is a risk

we must take to find out the full truth", Jongin's tone is serious too, his voice a bit shaky, as if he is trying to speak as a confident leader

but finds himself secretely terrified of putting himself and his friends in danger.

"For tonight, let us just relax and camp out, sing some songs, have some food and go to bed. We can start stressing again tomorrow, okay?"

The four friends sit round a fire, the aurora borealis above their heads, the icy mountain air blowing through their hair. Everything is as it

should be this time of year. Everything is always as it should be: hot in the summers, cold in the winters, bright during the day, dark during the

night, solstices and equinoxes perfectly programmed and tuned, nothing out of the ordinary or questionable can arise to stir suspicion. Test-tube

mountain goats are probably running about and bears are hybernating close by, every living thing going extinct and probably cloned.

Kyungsoo plays guitar and sings, Baekhyun's light lyric tenor voice harmonizing alongside him, joined by Taeyeon's light soprano voice. His voice

is silky and warm, trickling down like honey and wrapping itself around the others, echoing against the mountain rocks like a mellow saxophone in

the night. Taeyeon's chest voice resonates as she switches from powerful to airy vocals. Jongin shyly humms along, his voice deeper than

everyone's, his eyes reflecting the crackling fire and the zapping hot coals, his stare melancholic. He wonders what life would be like had they

been born on Earth, with no superpowers. A normal, simple, domestic life. Limitless skies and real oxygen. Soft ocean waves. Desert sands. He wants

to see it all and paint it on his canvas. Before he realizes, sleep welcomes him in its embrace. The last thing he hears is Kyungsoo's soft voice.

It doesn't take long for Taeyeon to get her hands on four astronaut suits for them to wear. And it only takes Jongin a few weeks to successfully

teleport them all. Standing at a crossroads in the middle of almost neon-green canopy with speckles of red tullips perfectly lined up, the four

friends hold hands, all geared up, their faces behind thick transparent helmets, their voices muffled.

"Ready?" Jongin asks. Kyungsoo has managed to map out the closest borders of their dome city and checked out what appears to be a somewhat safe

region beyond several others connecting dome metropolises.

"Ready as we will ever be!" Baekhyun replies, squeezing Taeyeon's hand tighter.

The four of them close their eyes, trying to tune out the nagging, clawing fear screaming at them from within. Jongin focuses on their heartbeats

and pulse again. Everything is quiet. Kyungsoo's palm is sweaty and he seems very pale today. He breathes and focuses. He can see the location

Kyungsoo is sending him and he plants his mind there before his body's journey. All goes dark and Jongin can feel the hands holding him dropping

with him. Electric zapping and tubular bells ring out as they fall and seem to fall forever. Muscles stretch and ears ring until they fall with a

loud crash, Kyungsoo making the earth softer beneath their feet as they land.

"Smooth sailing, captain!" Baekhyun grunts sarcastically.

"I mean...we are all alive and in one piece right?" Kyungsoo is quick to defend.

Baekhyun doesn't get to reply, noticing Taeyeon's terrified eyes growing larger, reading the horror on her hallowed out cheeks, hanging

open from shock.Their four bodies protected by the space suits tremble inside them, their heads turning in every direction, taking in the barren wasteland around

them.

The earth is dried and cracked open, as thirsty as an old dried date or wrinkled avocado. All water seems to have been dry, like the work of

an insatiable vampire. There are no trees, just crystalized ash. Even rocks look unnatural. Nothing stirs, nothing breathes. There is no wind. Just

terrifying stillness. Not even a roach or a mosquito in sight. Even with the artificial air provided by their oxygen tanks, they can sense the

high density in the air, making it harder to breathe. None of them say a word, as they continue holding hands out of inertia and sheer survival

instinct. They walk further up and see giant holes in the ground, collapsing structures and buildings, fossilized bones, gurgling mud volcanoes

that twist their stomachs. There is a lot of darkness and the silence is terrifying. The dryness in the air even threatens to crack holes in their

resistant suits. Just when they think it can't get worse, they find alarming, mutated skeletons, some with too many limbs, some with giant

extensions, their bones bubbled up like blooming cancer cells. They are everywhere. There are mounds of skeletons. Taeyeon had been right all

along, Baekhyun thinks. The outside had become radioactive, perhaps many moons ago and continues to be so. The outside world is uninhabitable. The

cause could have been a giant war, the use of nuclear weapons, a virus, a mixture of all of the above. It's getting harder and harder to inhale and

exhale.

"We have to go back now" Kyungsoo says, finally breaking the silence, a mournful look on his face. "This is making me dizzy and sick. The oxygen is

low..."

Taeyeon and Baekhyun nod silently, as Jongin makes them all hold hands again, trying to steady his pulse and control his nerves, his thoughts

rushing to return back home, away from the living nightmare that surrounds them, threatening to trap them in an infinite stillness and turn them

into tragically lonely bones, making the wasteland their burial ground.

As they materialize on the other side, they all remain silent, waiting for the shock to subside, hands shaking and cold sweat running down their

necks.

"We have to get out of here. We have to tell the others, starting with the closest to us. We know at least one who wields each power. We have to

find out why the rulers are keeping us here. This is a nightmare..." Taeyeon says breathily, feeling faint.

A digital eye, blinking metal folds over its plastic socket, records everything, scanning the four returning travellers. Information runs down in

giant scrolling paragraphs next to their full profile pictures. A hand caresses a white-bearded chin, an old creaky voice resonating in a giant

room filled with monitors.

"Most interesting... Fetch me the Emperor, we have some future deserters and threats to national and planetary security on our hands. Ah, for

shame, one of them was quite dear to me...And one we certainly have a use for..."

Ten years into the future, the same eye gazes at the same victims, the same hand caresses the same beard and watches the puppet theatre below.

Back on Earth, Baekhyun knows the time has come to be the hero and keep a promise made long ago, the promise to always save Taeyeon and his friends

and to give his life for it if he must.

Surrounded by a new brand of enemies, Earthlings this time, Jongin feels like he is becoming the monster the humans imagine them to be. The barren wasteland is inside their hearts and he is about to bring the flood.

The hands of a clock beat loudly in the distance. Tick tock. Tick tock. A loud alarm echoes as shots are fired and Baekhyun leaps forward.