Taemin reviewed the information Bora had drummed up and Hyolyn had given him. 

"She was able to halt the alarms, but the facilty's gone to hell." Hyolyn reported, hips cocked and a hand on her waist in the sassiest manner he'd ever seen. "Most of the floors have been compromised and EXO is definitely gone."

"So you did check."

"Of course. You're only mysterious until I think about you."

He looked up at her. "I imagined you looked . . . Did you see Researcher Do?"

There was something inately calculating in the way Hyolyn looked at him. Her eyes weren't narrowed, and her face was mostly neutral, but there was a quirk to her lips. "No."

"No? Did you check the floors of the containment cells of places where EXO could have possibly nested with the females?"

"Do you think I'm blind or something?"

"You wanted me gone, so I expect-"

"I saw the corpses of your soldiers, all fifty-seven of their shell casings, the model numbers on their AR-15s but Kyungsoo's body was not there. None of them were."

He scowled. "What exactly are you implying, Miss Kim? If you have something so say, don't dance around it."

She sat herself down on the desk and lent over it, the air around her going cold and her face hardening into something dangerous. Perhaps he had pushed the wrong person.

"Implying? I didn't realize my details were so vague." She clicked her tongue and grabbed his jaw, her grip tight and unforgiving. "Kyungsoo is gone, likely along with EXO. As someone who knows her incredibly well, you should ask yourself if she's the type to opt for forgiveness. That's the only way you'll know whether or not you have to ready your neck for the noose."

"There have been reports of disfigured and mechanical men around Seoul, the districts closest to the Module." Bora said nonchalantly, flipping through the tv channels. "News is really blowing up about it."

"Oh yeah?" Soyou replied, feigning disinterest as she scanned through more of the Seoul Module's hardware and systems. 

"Yeah. Six of them, they think, in total."

"Guess we'll have to be careful wallking through the district, then." Dasom murmured, flipping though page after page of horribly handwritten notes on EXO. "Though we do have those errands that will bring us there."

"Yeah. Definitely gotta keep an eye out. Keep safe, you know?"

"Absolutely."

"Does anyone want to run out with me?" Bora dropped the remote on the couch, standing to stretch.

Soyou and Dasom looked at each other over the table, both cocking an eyebrow at each other. 

"I don't see the harm in getting out for a bit." Dasom said. 

"True. It would be good to clear our heads. Help us focus."

"Wanna see if Hyolyn's up for a little errand running? Might be useful for her to get out of the stuffy office once in a while too, especially with all this stuff going on."

"Good idea. I'll go see if she's free."

Taemin read the email from Hyolyn on his tablet and resisted the urge to sigh. Split on the screen was the reminder notification about the mandatory company dinner gala. 

Scientist Lee, we've been able to remotely reactivate power to specific portions of the Module. We've activated security protocols on the entrance, ventilation systems and inter-ward passageways. Luckily, whatever opened the door to the Module didn't damage the actual door itself, so we've managed to re-close it. I can't promise how long it will remain closed, because the locking mechanism needs in-person repair, but there are sensory alerts active on the door again. I've sent the codes to log into the monitors remotely in the attached PDF and the link will connect you to one of the in-house consoles. Without actually going there, I'm not sure what else we can do. We're going to continue to observe and keep searching through the facility to see what else has been compromised, but I have no idea on what we'll find. We're at your disposal if you think of anything. 

 - Secretary Kim Hyojung

He straightened his tie in the mirror, abruptly reminded of when Kyungsoo used to do this for him back in the Module. She had been adamant he present well when summoned to these things. He winced and looked away from himself, turning to look for his suit jacket. The room around him was pale and bland, worse than any of the hotel rooms he was usually shipped to. It was worse than his space back in the facility - it reminded him of her space. It looked like her room used to. Everything was beige, barely touched, neat and clean, like no one had ever been here. There was no personality to the room; the anonymity of it scared him. It felt like any second, she would walk out of the bathroom, give him one of her calm stares and ask him why he wasn't on his way already. His phone had buzzed with the message from his cab driver, so there was really no reason to remain in this drab, empty collection of walls. 

Green lights caught his attention, but when he turned to look out the window for them, there was nothing. Twenty stories below, a brunette man walked through the parking lot, away from the building. Most of the cars were gone for the evening, all fo the other Directors and such having already left. The brunette man met a small woman with her hood up at the sidewalk. They hugged, linked arms and walked off. A shiver worked its way up the back of his neck, but there was nothing there. Even if Kyungsoo was alive, out there somewhere, she was certainly haunting him. He did sigh this time, pulling on the jacket before getting his coat and phone. His cab was waiting and it wouldn't do to be late to this particular dinner. It might cost him more than just his job. 

Just like her.