10 days has passed, and neither Doyoung nor Jaehyun has risen from their coma.

Luhan did a very good job pretending everything was all right, but deep inside he was screaming and panicking.

There’s something wrong. They should be up by now. This was not supposed to happen. What have I done?

“I have some good news, and bad news.” Dr. Jackson Wang said as he closed the door to Doyoung and Jaehyun’s room. “Good news, they don’t seem to be in any danger. All vitals are normal, and they have been off anaesthesia for more than 4 days now, so everything is under control.”

“What’s the bad news?” Luhan asked, chewing his bottom lip.

“We still have no clue or indication when they would wake up.” The doctor sighed heavily. Kris looked at Luhan as if to say ‘I told you so’ but he just nodded and shook his friend’s hand.

“Thanks for everything Jackson.”

“It’s no problem.” Dr. Wang smiled and patted Luhan on the back, as if a pat would reassure the nervous scientist. Luhan just nodded politely as the doctor took his leave, promising he would be back the next day.

“There’s something wrong.” Luhan buried his face in his hands, sighing repeatedly. “I screwed up.”

“Have faith. They will get up soon.”

“How long Kris? How?!” Luhan almost screamed at his guardian in frustration. “What if they never get up?! What if…”

“Shhhhh…” Kris took the younger man under the crook of his left arm and shushed him. “Don’t freak out. It will be fine. The effects of the drugs are just taking longer than usual. Shhh…”

Luhan’s eyes never left that door. He was hoping that doorknob would jiggle, and someone would walk out of it at any time.

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

“Zitao? Jessica?”

“You wouldn’t pick up our calls.” Zitao said, taking off his coat and helping Jessica’s with hers as they stepped into Luhan and Kris’s apartment. The way Zitao and Kris smiled at each other made Luhan’s stomach curl up in discomfort, especially since he knew the two of them were seeing more of each other than he had hoped, but when he saw Jessica he was clearly ready to throw up.

Jessica’s brown hair framed her strong features, her eyes looked like they haven’t slept in years and yet she found the energy to smile at Luhan in such a way his skin almost peeled off in chill.

“How have you been?”

“I’m fine.” Luhan lied.

“Is being fine the reason why you haven’t returned any of our phone calls or responded to our messages?”

“I’m working on a very big experiment.”

“May I take a look?”

“It’s confidential until further notice.”

“Jessica.” Zitao put a hand on her shoulder. “I told you to stop doing that.”

“I’m just deftly curious in the results of his experiments. If done right, that could be the tool necessary to rehabilitate all those who were under the influence of Triple X.”

“How did you…” Of course. He looked at Zitao, who simply looked back at him. I should have known.

“I just want to say that we are all very excited about this experiment.” Jessica smiled. “You truly are a revolutionary hero.”

“I’m not a hero. I’m a scientist.”

“Same thing. Some of the greatest breakthroughs in history are because of science. If this succeeds, you will be remembered.” She patted Luhan’s face gently, like a mother patting her child, her fingers cold to touch.

“Which brings me to my second objective of today’s visit.” She reached into her bag and pulled out a small USB.

“What’s this?”

“We are 5 days away from the Uprising.” She said. “This is your job. This USB contains a very powerful virus that would wipe out an entire government’s worth of data with a mere push of button and cause an entire system crash. Plant this virus into the main server and activate it on our mark.”

“What’s the mark?”

“Zitao will signal you on that day. Your job is to activate the virus and turn off the electricity in the main building. The doors will open as the emergency alarm rings and our agents will storm in to get everyone out of the building.”

“What about E.X.O.?”

“That’s the second part of your job.” Jessica smiled. “You will make sure that they escape and head to the east gate. Our agents will be on standby to take them away.”

“Luhan are you absolutely sure about this?” Kris asked. “This is too dangerous for you.”

“I don’t believe your son has a choice Mr. Wu.” Jessica said. “It’s clear that he had made up his mind many weeks ago, and let’s be fair here, there really isn’t a second option. We have come this far and it’s too late to back down.”

“What happens after all of this?” Luhan asked. “You never told me what you plan to do with them.”

“What we will do with them depends on your experiment.”

“What?” even Zitao was surprised by that.

“That’s right. Your serum could be used in our laboratories to help treat those still under the influence of Triple X and coupled with our rehabilitation program there’s no telling what they could be capable of doing. Some might walk away as civilians, maybe some will choose to fight with us.”

“You’re trying to recruit soldiers for your own war?” Kris asked, horrified.

“I’m not forcing anyone to take sides, but do you know what’s the best way to fight? By recruiting your own enemy.”

“You didn’t tell us this. This wasn’t a part of the plan.” Zitao slammed his fist down on the table.

“I wasn’t going to say anything until we have the results of Luhan’s experiment.”

“What makes you think I would give you my serum?” Luhan said, standing up and walking towards her. “This is my work and you have no right to claim property over it.”

“You’re right.” Jessica nodded. “It’s yours and I won’t take it if you won’t allow it, but I don’t think you will.”

“You don’t know me.”

“True, but I know you like Sehun.” Jessica said. “He and I used to train together, and I know what he means to you.”

Luhan couldn’t quite believe what was happening. Was Jessica using Sehun to extort him out of his own scientific discovery? The look on his face was a mix of terror and anger, his fists turning blue from clenching them too hard.

“This is Luhan’s work and it is his decision to call.” Kris said, defending his son. “We have to respect his opinion for it is his property.”

“Fine, fine, let’s not talk about it anymore.” Jessica raised both her hands in mock defeat. She knew better than to start a fight with the man who held the key to her dreams. “Besides it’s not…”

Suddenly, a rustling sound came from Doyoung and Jaehyun’s bedroom. Everyone stayed deathly still to listen to the noise. Luhan could hardly breathe.

“They are up. They are UP!!!” Luhan almost broke the door down as he stormed inside, and found Doyoung’s eyes fluttering open. Jaehyun’s eyes were still closed, but his limbs have started moving.

“Kris!! Call Dr. Wang!” Luhan said as he ran over to Doyoung’s side, whose eyes were struggling to open bit by bit. “Doyoung? Kim Doyoung, can you hear me?”

“Wh…”

“Kim Doyoung can you hear me?”

“L…Lu…Han…”

“Oh my god…oh my god…” Luhan could hardly contain his smile. “You’re up. Oh god you’re up. You’re alive!”

“J…Jae…”

“Jaehyun, that’s right!” Luhan rushed over to the next bed, where Jaehyun was also opening his eyes. “Jaehyun, can you hear me?”

“Y…yes…”

“Oh my god…oh my god…” Luhan couldn’t stop his cries as he buried his face in his hands, feeling warm tears spill out of his eyes.

“It worked…it worked!”

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

“The boys are a little weak but they seem perfectly fine, no risk of being in danger at all.”

“Thank you Dr. Wang. Thank you.” Luhan hasn’t been able to stop crying since Jaehyun and Doyoung woke up, both sitting up in their beds with IV drips connected to their wrists. Kris kept trying to calm the overexcited boy but Luhan was just erratic. All of his hard work finally paid off. They were alive. Those sleepless nights, hard hours in the lab, those endless experiments…

“Congratulations Luhan.” Zitao smiled. “You did it.”

“I did.” Luhan smiled, holding his chest because he was wheezing and crying so hard. “I did it.”

“Yes you did.” Zitao gave him a tight hug. “Professor Kim would be proud of you.”

Screw him. Luhan went back inside the room, taking a seat in between Jaehyun and Doyoung’s beds. Jaehyun saw Luhan and gave him a warm smile, albeit weakly.

“We did it.”

“Yes indeed.” Luhan sniffled, taking both their hands in his. “God I was so scared. I thought I lost you two.”

“How long were we out for?”

“10 days.” Luhan said. “The longest 10 days of my life.” He laughed, and he noticed how they laughed with him. Doyoung giggled and Luhan noticed something coming out of his eyes.

“Doyoung, are those…tears?”

“I don’t know…” the younger replied weakly, wiping them away. “I just…”

“How do you feel?”

“I feel tired, like I ran for 10 days without stopping.” Doyoung breathed. “I feel…I feel everything…like I feel happy, and sad…and pain and…” he looked over at Jaehyun, whose head was tipped over. “I remember everything.”

“Do you? Because I remember them too.” Jaehyun’s hand left Luhan’s and reached for Doyoung’s. “Hyung…”

“Jaehyun…”

In all of Luhan’s life as a scientist, none of it has never given him any meaning until now, when he realized his contributions could change lives.

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

“You must be proud of yourself.”

“I am. I…” Luhan turned around, expecting someone else, but his face dropped when he saw Jessica. He closed the door, letting Doyoung and Jaehyun get some rest for the ordeal they just put their bodies through.

“Are you disappointed that I wished your success?”

“Huh? No, I…” Luhan was flustered that Jessica caught on so quickly. “I was just surprised. I was expecting someone else.”

“Kris and Zitao went out to get lunch for us. He said today was a day worth celebrating, and I agree.” Jessica handed him a glass of champagne. “To Anti-X.”

“To Anti-X.” they clinked glasses and Luhan took a sip of the bubbly liquid flowing down his throat.

“I can only imagine what wonders your serum can do to humanity.” Jessica said. “It restores human connections, repairs emotions, and makes us all whole again. Can you imagine what it would be like if the whole world was like that? Soldiers with compassion. Performers with actual emotions. Marriages that are based on love and not genetic composition.”

It’s hard to deny that the picture Jessica painted was enticing. “I hope you understand why we do what we do now. We are not trying to rebel against the world, we’re trying to fix it, one bit at a time.”

“I know. I understand your cause. I wouldn’t have agreed to help if I didn’t.” Luhan said. “But you need my serum, don’t you?”

“I do, but like I said, I would never force you into giving it up, but think about something for a minute. We could use your serum to save Sehun. Imagine yourself in a world where you could hold his hand freely. No more sneaking around and hiding under blankets. No more being afraid of getting spied on. Your lover is no longer lying between the realm of robots and humans. Even if you won’t do it for me,” Jessica came close and whispered in Luhan’s ear, her breath tingling his ears.

“Do it for him.”

 

A/N: Once again, this is a double update! I received a lot of messages of them getting a notification of an update but they didn't see a new update. I was actually uploading all my chapters here and missed the hide chapter button on one of them, so my apologies for any false alarms TT

On a side note, I have finished this story already XD so expect double updates in the coming weeks. By my estimation, there would only be 3 more weeks before this story comes to an end.

Thank you all for your love and support! Please don't forget to leave comments and upvotes if this story moved you in any way!