“You look like you’re ready for a funeral.”

                “Too black?” Luhan stood in front of his guardian and mentor, Professor Wu, dressed in his brand new work shirt with black slacks to match.

                “Put on something light. It’s your first day on the job, people want you to look bright.”

                “Does it matter anyways? I’ll be wearing a lab coat over it soon.” Luhan sighed, taking off his tie as he proceeded to change.

                Professor Wu, or mostly known to Luhan and close friends as Kris, just chuckled as he took the coffee pot from the counter and onto the dining table. Pinups of certificates and conferred degrees from MIT, Harvard, Oxford and Cambridge (belonging to both Kris and Luhan) lined their cream coloured walls. Stacks of science journals and unopened science magazines were on another table next to the bookshelf which housed other scientific papers and books. Under all of those certificates and graduation photos hid a smaller photo of a young boy and his parents. That was a photo of Luhan before his parents died.

                “Better now?”

                “Much.” Kris smiled at Luhan, who reappeared in a light blue shirt this time. “All ready for your first day of work?”

                “I am.” Luhan rubbed his hands and helped himself to bacon and eggs. “I hope I’ll be able to set a good impression.”

                “I would say you already have. Your scientific journal on the use of engineered steroids as a way to enhance mental capabilities is quite a stunner.” Kris folded his napkin and looked at his prize student fondly, the way a father would look at his child.

                “Thank you.” Luhan smiled, his dark hair framing his angelic face. God he is a splitting image of his mother Kris thought.

                “Your mother would be proud of you.”

                “I hope so.” Luhan pursed his lips, thinking about his parents. His parents lost their lives in a boating accident, and they entrusted their only son with their best friend Professor Kris Wu. Kris was nearly 15 years older than Luhan and the bachelor not only helped to put Luhan through university but also thought him all he knew about science and the engineering of chemistry and biology.

                This is the Scientia Age, where science determines everything and overrules them.

                “Do you need me to send you to work?”

                “No Kris, I can take care of myself.” Luhan got up and grabbed his coat. “I have to go before it gets late.”

                “Watch out.”

                “I will.” Luhan laughed. Kris always was the worrier, forever telling him to watch out. He never told him what exactly it was he had to watch out for, but when you’re young and you hear it all the time, you don’t think of it too much.

                It was Luhan’s first day at S.M.E., the entertainment development centre. Home to global artists like T.V.X.Q, S.N.S.D and S.H.I.N.E.E. The hub of engineered artists and entertainers, who are so perfect and versatile nobody could compete with them. Nobody.

                S.M.E. did not look like any office building. The place was its own town. On site boarding for its artists and some of its workers, training facilities and schools, laboratories and research centres, film sites and even its own mini mall. If you live in S.M.E. you need not live anywhere else.

                On Luhan’s first day he was made to report to R&D, which is research and development. It was a big grey building 5 minutes away from main gate. All who enters the compound must possess an ID and be thoroughly checked by security. This is the standard norm in Scientia Age, although S.M.E. does have a talent in taking it all the way up.

                He scanned his ID on the scanner and the glass doors opened to let him in. Inside the brightly lit building, people in long white clothes, wearing surgical masks and some in nurse’s outfits walked around the lobby. Luhan looked around to find and information desk.

                “Excuse me,” Luhan asked “I’m here to see Professor Kim.”

                “Do you have an appointment?” the lady at the counter asked. She had one blue eye and one brown eye, but there was something about her blue eye that bugged Luhan.

                “Er yeah. I’m Luhan.”

                “Lu….han…” she checked her computer. “Ah yes. He is on the 5^th floor, office number 503. It’s the first one you will see.”

                “Thank you.” Luhan left his signature on the sign in sheet in front of him. “Nice robotic eye.” He said.

                “Thank you.” She smiled.

                “I have never seen such a perfet crystal blue. I thought it was impossible to obtain that colour.”

                “Nothing is impossible here.” She smiled, taking back her sheet. Luhan was not surprised at her statement. Science has come a long way.

                When Luhan finally met Professor Kim Taehyung, it dawned on him that he was nervous. Or maybe it was Professor Choi that made him nervous. He was a little taller than he was, broad shoulders, strong eyes and he had frown lines so deep you can bury something in it.

                “You must be the young tyke.”

                “Yes sir, my name is Luhan. First day on the job.”

                “I know who you are, I was reading your research paper. Very nice work.”

                “Thank you sir.”

                “Do you have a lab coat on you?”

                “No sir.”

                “Call yourself a scientist but no coat?” Professor Kim made a clicking sound with his tongue as he dumped the papers on the table and got up. “We’ll get you one soon. Come on, I have to show you around.”

**********************

                “Have you ever wondered how our artists are created?”

                “I know sir. Through a mix of surgical enhancements and intense training under the influence of certain drugs.”

                “So you have been reading up on us?” Professor Kim gave Luhan a side glance and an approving smile. “Nice to see you have done your research.”

                “This is the research lab.” He opened a set of white doors and revealed a sparkling, almost spotless laboratory. People in lab coats and hazmat suits walked around the place and Luhan suddenly felt very much at home. “Here we conduct research on the human body and their limits, like their strength, endurance, speed and flexibility. We are always coming up with new ways to improve our artists.”

                There was a young boy on a treadmill, hooked up to a heart monitor. He was running slowly, panting and sweating. Another girl was sitting in another machine, tilted backwards like a dentist’s chair would but she was looking up into a box.

                “Our artists have been known to be perfect.” Professor Kim said with much pride, showing off his pearly whites. “They can sing, act, dance, rap, cook, anything you want it you can have it.”

                “Perfect beings.”

                “In every sense. Except in an entertainment kind of sense.” He led Luhan out the lab and they made their way to another part of the building on the floor below. Here they had rows upon rows of glass rooms, each with a few random objects in it. Some had sports equipment, others has rows of books. Professor Kim was taking him to another room at the far end, where he could see 6 boys dancing inside.

                “Who are they?”

                “Our new project named N.C.T. It stands for Neo Culture Technology.” Professor Kim stood outside the room, watching them. They could hear nothing, meaning the room was completely soundproof and the 6 boys were dancing very hard inside. There was a lady in a cap watching them, her arms crossed while some lab technicians were taking notes and recording the session.

                “This is an experiment. The boys have been taking a new kind of performance enhancing drug for the past few days and today they will see if the drug had any kind of effect on them.”

                “They are very young.”

                “Most of our trainees have been with us since they were 6 or 7 years old.” Professor Kim said. “They are trained at our schools, taught by our teachers, fed on our meals and operated on by our surgeons to perfection. It takes years and a lot of effort, but when you see the final product, you know it’s worth it.”

                “What’s the manufacture process like?”

                “I’ll run through that with you tomorrow. You will be expected to complete your initial training period and then, depending on the level of interest you will be then placed in your ideal section.” The boys have finally stopped dancing and were now panting, sitting on the floor for a break. The lab assistants rush over to take their pulse, body temperature, check their vitals and even samples of their sweat.

                “Do you see that one?”

                “Which one?”

                “That one.” Luhan followed his boss’s finger and found it pointing to a white haired boy. The white wasn’t white like you get when you’re old. The white was a sharp, brilliant white, almost platinum as a matter of fact. It glittered in the light and he lifted his face. He was incredibly handsome, almost too handsome. Too close to perfection. He had strong cheekbones, sharp and defined jawline, deep dark eyes and the curviest of lips, red like a rose. Luhan had never seen anyone so handsome before.

                “His name is Lee Taeyong, our prized subject. If all goes well, he will lead N.C.T to success and glory.”

                “Is that why his dosage of the drugs are higher?”

                “How do you…” Professor Kim narrowed his eyes. “You saw the files I have in my hand.”

                “Sorry sir.”

                “No, a good scientist must always be observant.” Professor Kim cleared his throat nervously. “We have spent a good amount of time on this one. He is almost perfect.”

                “Sir, what happens to the not so perfect ones?”

                “What do you mean?”

                “The ones that do not respond to the drugs or seem to improve.”

                “You mean the failures?” In any other world this would seem harsh, but in this world, it was just nothing more than a term.

                “Yes sir.”

                “We erase their memory and release them.” Professor Kim nodded at the lab assistants inside and walked away, with Luhan trailing behind him. “Nobody from the outside must learn of what goes on in here, lest our secret be stolen away.”

                “What is the secret?”

                “The secret is best explained by your senior colleague, who I will direct you to.” He lead them back to the lab and to another man with blonde hair. “This is Huang Zitao, Zitao this is your new research assistant.”

                “Pleased to meet you.”

                “Pleased to meet you too.”

                “I must rush off to another meeting so I will leave you to brief him. Have a good day both of you.” Professor Kim tipped his head and left. Zitao removed his rubber gloves and smiled at Luhan. “Are you ready for your assignment?”

                “Oh yes sir I…”

                “Excuse me, make way…” the doors were pushed open again and a body was wheeled in. The perfect subject, Taeyong laid there, arms by his side as he looked up.

                “How do you feel Taeyong?” Zitao asked him.

                “I feel fine.”

                “Good. Take him to the flush tank and flush him off any remaining drug residue.”

                “Yes sir.” One of the assistants in a surgical mask proceeded to wheel him away. Zitao turned his attention back to Luhan.

                “Now, the first thing you must do is be familiar with our work and past history. Down in the archives are files of all our previous experiments, dating all the way to T.V.X.Q. Read and understand everything and I will quiz you tomorrow.”

                “Sir,” Luhan called after Zitao as it seemed like he would just walk away. “Is that all I have to do today?”

                “Of course.” He shrugged. “You’re a newbie. Don’t expect anything.”

                Luhan didn’t think that after 8 years pursuing two Masters in Science and a PhD that he would be back to reading and taking exams again. He decided to make copies of all the files in the archives and go home to study them. As he watched the handheld photo copier print out paper piece by piece, his mind wandered back to that perfect subject Lee Taeyong. He didn't notice the female archivist looking at him. He remembered the boy dancing away in the studio, lying down as he was wheeled to god knows where. His eyes, Luhan remembered his eyes.

                His eyes were blue. Crystal blue.

 

A/N: Ta da!!! The first chapter is up! Has anyone read the novel Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff? It's one of my faves and their story-telling style has largely inspired mine, so the next few chapters will raise a few eyebrows hahahahahaha

And thank you for the 70 subbies guys! This means a lot to me, and to say thank you here's Baby Baekhyun in a ribbon

I refuse to post any other exordium gifs because they have killed me and I need a break from cane humping and abdominal muscles