I woke up to the sound of my hitched breathing and the steady beeping of the heart monitor. As I opened my eyes, the harsh glare of not one, but many, overhead lights met my eyes.

" ...Brain is functioning normally and heart is showing vital signs. ", said a gruff male voice that seemed muffled.

With blurry vision, I tried to look around. My whole body felt like it was on fire for a minute before it became ice cold and then back to fiery hot again before settling to a cool temperature.

" His eyes are opening. Oh, god, Sooyoung. I think he's waking up. ", said the male voice.

A pretty girl with shoulder-length light brown hair that was curled at the end stood over me and looked at me. I lifted my hand up weakly, but she gently held my hand and put it down again.

" You're fine, Leeteuk-sshi. You're safe. ", said the girl softly.

I felt my breathing quicken and I heard the heart monitor pick up its pace as my vision clouded.

" Wait. Something's not right. Heart beat is picking up and going into the red zone. It's not good! ", said the male voice again frantically.

" Give him another shot now! Hurry up or we'll lose him! ", said the girl.

I was starting to see black as my breathing began to halt in my throat. But at that moment, something cold pressed against my shoulder and a sharp needle pierced my skin.

Something flowed into my bloodstream and my body started to become normal again.

My breathing slowed down to a steady pace, my vision started to clear and I heard the beeping of the heart monitor slow down to an even pace.

The girl reappeared over me and looked at me.

" Stats are falling back into the green zone. Heart rate is steadying. ", said the male voice.  " That was too close. We almost lost him...again. It must've been a miscalculation in the dosage. "

" I told you to check your stupid calculations, Jin Yoo. ", said the girl.  " Run by the numbers again and no more mistakes. "

" Yes, Sooyoung. ", said the male.

I tilted my head upwards again and the girl looking at me was the last thing before I out...

*****

" Leeteuk! Leeteuk! Leeteuk, wake up! "

The commanding female voice aroused me from my sleep. I drowsily opened my eyes and tilted my head to look around the room, but no one was around.

" Leeteuk, get up now! This facility is under attack! "

The harsh voice resonated throughout the entire medical bay. It must have been coming from a speaker somewhere in a corner.

" Hurry up and get up now! "

I got up slowly, wincing in pain as I clutched my side. A sharp pain shot through my veins and coursed through my bones.

" Run to the locker and grab your gear and suit! Hurry! "

I did so and ran towards the door with a slight limp. I tried to open the door, but it was sealed shut.

" Stand back! I'm gonna blast the door open! "

I ran behind some machinery and hid there. A loud boom followed by flying metal parts of the door flew my way, but the machinery protected me from getting hit.

As soon as I was sure the coast was clear, I ran out of the damaged door and into an empty hallway.

Bodies scattered the hallways as I ran. I stopped by the body of a male worker and looked at the little crest on his uniform.

It was a small grey dragon.

" Illusion. ", I thought, my blood running cold.

Illusion was a top secret organization and sworn enemies of the Alliance. I had bumped into Illusion a couple of times before on a few of my missions.

Why would Illusion take my body and bring me back to life? What do they want from me?

But right now, I had to get out of here. I needed to find a way out of this Illusion facility and then, ask questions about who is behind all this and why did they bring me back from the dead.

I ran down hallways and came to a shattered glass that seperated me from another room in flames. A male worker pounded on the glass and shouted my name.

" Help! Leeteuk-sshi! ", he cried out.

Suddenly, a large mech appeared out of nowhere and shot him in the head. I turned my face away from the gruesome sight and continued to walk down the hallway.

As I ran through a door, two mechs were in the room and when they saw me, they started to open fire.

But I quickly shot them in the head and their torsos collapsed, only to blow up a couple of minutes later.

I went inside the room and found files scattered everywhere. A few computers were switched on and many data logs appeared on the screen.

I went to one computer and pressed Log #1.

The same face of the female which I saw when I first woke up projected onto the screen and she began to speak.

" Subject has been recovered from the planet only just. The Lazarus Project will proceed as planned. Finally, two years of preparing for this moment with the best technology money can buy will finally be put to the test on the real thing this time... "

The screen flickered off and showed the logs again. I pressed the second log and listened to the same girl pop up and speak again.

" Subject's body is in worse condition than I thought it would be. Subject has suffered severe burn marks and has been exposed to sub-zero temperature conditions for an extended amount of time. ", reported the girl worriedly.

" We have to make Commander Leeteuk the same person he was before: the same morals, the same personality, the same goals, everything that he was before. If even the slightest detail is missed out or a tiny mistake occurs, then the Lazarus Project would have failed. "

Her image flickered off and showed more logs. I pressed the third log and this time, a male in his late forties appeared.

" The Lazarus Project has been proceeding smoothly with no unexpected disorders so far. Subject has been showing vital signs of speedy recovery. ", he said.

" I don't where the boss gets all of this money to fund such a large project as this. It's costing us an arm and a leg just to bring this one person back to life... "

The screen flicked back to the computer logs, but I had no time to read the rest of the data logs. I had to get off the facility before I look for answers.

Grabbing a couple of thermal clips on the tabletop for my gun, I stuffed it in the pocket of my suit and ran out of the room.

" Lee-- get-- ere-- facil-- y-- chs-- sh--ttle-- t-- e-- r-- "

The girl's voice crackled and frizzled through the empty hallway before it died out completely, leaving the radio speakers with a buzzing noise.

I ran out till I came to another hallway and found a young boy shooting at a few mechs shooting back at him. I ran beside him and ducked behind the glass rail as a shot whizzed past my head.

" Leeteuk-sshi! You're awake?! ", said the boy in surprise.

He paused his sentence to return a quick shot at a mech whose head soon got blasted off by the bullet.

" What are you doing here?! ", said the boy.

" Someone called me up. I'm trying to get out of here. ", I explained.  " Who are you? "

" I'm Lee Taemin, Sooyoung's top lieutenant. Technically, I'm just a soldier. ", said the boy. " However, Sooyoung-sshi is 22 years old and I'm just 19. I am capable of protecting her though, despite my age. "

" What is going on here? Why are the mechs attacking us? ", I probed.

" Dunno. Must've been an inside job. ", answered Taemin.

We ducked down as a bullet whizzed past our heads, nearly missing us by millimeters.

" Tell you what: you help me finish these mechs off and I'll play Twenty Questions with you for as long as you want. ", said Taemin.

" Deal. ", I agreed.

Taemin blasted their heads off and occasionally used his personal powers to burn them to a crisp. I returned rapid-fire with my shotgun, killing the mechs.

I concentrated all of my energy, created a ball of bright blue energy and blasted it at the horde of mechs coming through the door. Circuits exploded, sparks