Baekho knew something was terribly wrong when he only saw one bed.

They were back in the same chamber where the boys of Nuest had entered the dreamscape a while ago. But now the comfy beds were gone – replaced by a single one that looked a whole lot more clinical, perhaps really taken from a hospital.

Jason activated and checked the medical screens attached to the thing, following the orders of Doctor Feng who was back at her desk, supervising the hard- and software checks.

With a look at Junior, the white tiger hoped to find a source of confidence, but the slender boy appeared as nervous as he only did when the future he foresaw wasn’t so bright. Baekho wondered when the leader was going to explain.

Aron had less patience. “So, commander, what’s all this here?”

With a heavy sign Junior began. “We’ll try something dangerous – not dangerous for you, but for me. If you’d rather not stay, I understand. I just wanted to make sure you don’t feel like I’m going behind your back. You see, it’s important for a team to-“

“What is it?” Aron said with a gesture towards the equipment.

It was clear that Ren and Minhyun already knew. They had been with Junior for the whole day. But if Minhyun hadn’t already told Aron via telepathy then this was something that deserved to be spoken aloud. Baekho pulled at the seam of his shirt, in an attempt not to fidget.

“There were a few moments,” Junior said, “when my ability to gain random useful information out of nowhere went into overdrive. These situations all have one commonality. I was desperate beyond sanity. The most striking case was-“

“No!” Aron interrupted.

“-when I was dying,” Junior finished.

Did he mean… He couldn’t possibly be talking about suicide. How would that help?

“Flatlining,” Minhyun said, to give Junior a break. “We’re inducing an artificial near-death-experience by stopping his heart for a moment.”

Aron was wide eyed. “You’re not killing yourself. I won’t allow that. You’re not.”

“No, I’m not. It’s nothing like that,” Junior said.

Everybody avoided everybody else’s eyes and there were probably enough different emotions in the room to give Ren a headache. Baekho felt it was necessary for him to weigh in with his opinion but what was he going to say? His leader – his friend – was going to ‘flatline’. If it didn’t work he might die and- Wait!

“Don’t you know your chances?” Baekho broke the silence. “Do you know how likely you’ll live or die?”

“Well, doctor Feng has consulted the literature and we’ve concluded the risk is minim-“

“You know what I mean, dammit.” Baekho had enough. He wanted answer. The more straight-forward, the better, so he could stop feeling conflicted.

Junior waved them over to an assembly of sofas and a coffee table, none of which had been in the room the first time around. As the boys settled in, Jason came over to serve tea and biscuits. He even joined them on the couches. It was all a bit surreal. With too much information at once, Baekho’s emotions were hard to put into words.

How did he feel? Kind of angry, really. Mostly about being the last to hear about the plan. Admittedly there was also Aron, but the American was likely talking to his boyfriend over a link that very moment, getting all the juicy details.

“The first time it happened,” Junior said, “was when I realized the world was going to end. I think I might have had a panic attack. Anyway, I suddenly knew there were others with powers and where I could find all of you. I even knew your names and how to best approach each one.”

So far that was mostly a repetition of what they had been told in their first meeting.

Ren loosely hugged the leader as he continued. “And this sort of thing never happens without an external trigger around. I assume my psychological condition was the trigger, but in any case…” He took a sip of tea. “When I was dying in that parking lot, I stopped seeing anything further ahead than a few minutes. That’s how I knew I was a goner. But then it happened again and I knew out of nowhere that Minhyun had a latent ability that could save me. Suddenly, I could see the future again.”

He hummed a bit, evidently not knowing how to explain his thoughts. “The problem with this is, I guess, that I still had a certain chance of dying. But I didn’t see future paths truncated, even if my chance of death was above five percent, which I can’t know if it was. I don’t see a fixed number of timelines, I only see all the options with enough probability. The one’s I wouldn’t see because I wouldn’t be there… well, those I just can’t see at all. So if I was going to die in this,” he gestured towards the bed, “I wouldn’t be able to foresee it as long as I have a chance of making it.”

“I believe in you,” Ren said, quietly. “If that counts for anything.”

“I’ll keep us all linked,” Minhyun said. “That’s a massive advantage over any other medical equipment.”

Baekho stared at the bowl of cookies. No one had taken any. No one could stomach any. He realized that Jason was perfectly still as to not draw any attention to himself. The Chinese boy probably regretted sitting down with them.

“You don’t need our permission,” Baekho said.

Junior met his gaze. “But I’d like to have it.”

For a second Baekho looked over to Aron who nodded slightly. “Fine, but we’ll be here,” Baekho said and took a deep, exagerated breath. “Flatlining, huh? I sincerely hope it’ll be worth it. If all your overdrive finds out is everybody’s favorite color I’ll never let you do anything on your own ever again.”

“Thanks,” Junior said. “If this goes wrong, or if it fails to get any results, Aron becomes the leader.”

No one disagreed. The American hummed, without looking up.

Baekho swallowed past the lump in his throat. “When is it happening?”

“Tomorrow. I have a few things to prepare for the organization, to make sure it won’t run out of funds in the near future.”

Doctor Feng called Jason to her and the boy was on his feet as if the sofa had caught fire. It was strange to have the assistant in their midst. As far as the white tiger knew Jason had been some kind of adjunct to Junior’s endeavors in China and his position had been upgraded to P.A. when they moved headquarters. But he had never heard him say more than hello.

Perhaps Baekho bragged a bit too much about his Mandarin skills, but he was fairly competent. He’d have to talk to the boy sometime.

***

Once there was nothing more to do but to repeatedly assure each other with unkeepable promises and optimistic truisms, the group dissolved for the day. Baekho got up the slowest and let the others leave without him, then sat back down. Doctor Feng left for a coffee break. What better time?

Baekho waited on the sofa until Jason came over to take away the empty cups. He realized he didn’t remember any of the words he needed for the conversation. And what was Mandarin for flatlining?

He tried anyway. “Hello.”

Jason nodded and smiled a little, but went right back to collecting cups.

“What… um,” Baekho said, “What’s your job here, exactly?”

If the boy was surprised to have one of the Nuest guys talking to him, he didn’t show it. “I was Junior’s spokesperson. Then you all moved to China, so now he can say what he wants without a proxy. I’m his P.A.”

“Aren’t you a little young?”

“I’m older than I look.” Jason winked. “Too old for you.”

“Oh, I wasn’t… uh.”

The Chinese assistant didn’t pick up his tray but he also didn’t sit down. Baekho waved at the free space of the sofa he occupied and Jason plopped himself there without hesitation.

“But I am fairly young,” Jason said. “In the beginning I was only the guy who makes copies and brews the coffee. You know that most people in the organization aren’t told anything about the superpowers, right? It’s all need-to-know. At least it was. Now it’s a lot smaller and tighter and the superpowers thing is more of a focus.”

“How did you get promoted then?” Baekho asked.

“Junior came by for an inspection and saw my past when I filled his glass. I don’t know what triggered it or the details of what he saw, but apparently I was the most trustworthy employee around. Quite an honor. From then on I was giving orders of his behalf, because he knew I wasn’t going to go behind his back.”

“And now were here,” Baekho said. “And you’re back to brewing coffee. Sorry.”

Jason chuckled. “It’s fine. I still get to act on Junior’s behalf. Besides,” he said with another wink, “the demotion didn’t cut my salary.”

The white tiger giggled at the remark. This assistant guy was quite alright. And not to be too proud of himself but he had understood most of the conversation with no difficulty.

There was also a heavier subject to broach.

“What do you think of all this,” Baekho said, motioning towards the bed.

A soft sigh left Jason’s lips. “I can’t blame him for trying. Let’s hope he gets something out of it. I was there when he came up with it. I think he feels guilty for being so useless, even though everyone knows he can’t control his ability.”

Doctor Feng returned and brought a heartrate monitor Jason had to install on her desk.

Baekho didn’t stay long. He didn’t like being in the room where he might lose a friend tomorrow. But of course he wouldn’t tell anyone. He had to be positive – for the group.