“Are you ready for active duty?”

“Yes.”

Yongguk’s grin practically swallowed his face. “Activation complete. Standby for now.”

“Yes.”

The General leaned back a little, observing his creation adoringly. It was a little glitchy – Yongguk hadn’t been able to correctly program it without the right downloading software – but it still functioned the way he imagined. Now to show the others…

“Eu-aaah!”

The hell? Yongguk momentarily forgot about his success, looking everywhere for the source of the sound. It was so similar to the Eu-ak bird… almost identical, in fact. He immediately bolted for the door, overriding the lock code he’d put on it a week prior so he wouldn’t be disturbed.

In the control room, Youngjae was the only one around. He was behind a large computer, eerily still and staring up at the screen. Yongguk cleared his throat.

“…Youngjae?”

The younger slowly turned in his seat at the sound of his Hyung’s voice. “Look who finally emerged from the Creative Cave, as Himchan’s been calling it.”

“What was that sound?”

“Oh, you mean this?” Youngjae casually gestured to the screen behind him. “They’re called ‘fans.’ Loud, aren’t they?”

“How did you find that?”

“I was going through Earthling information on my data stream and realized I didn’t have a lot on this planet’s music. So, starting from genre all the way down to artist and song, I’ve been downloading.” He tapped his head. It was only then that Yongguk noticed the black cord plugged into the base of Youngjae’s skull, connecting him to the processor.

“Sorry, I didn’t see you were plugged in.”

“It’s cool.”

“So… what ‘genre’ is this?” Yongguk stepped a little closer to the screen, carefully examining the person performing on stage in front of those so-called “fans.”

“South Korean Pop Music, more widely known as K-Pop. That’s the artist Jay Park performing his song ‘Abandoned.’”

“He’s pretty good.”

“Yeah. But watch this.” Youngjae leaned forward, pulling the chord from his neck with a quiet pop and blinking twice to turn off the data stream running past his eyes. He pressed a few buttons, rewinding the video. It zoomed in on the sea of people, screaming and cheering for the musician.

“That sounds like…”

“The bird, right?” Youngjae smiled knowingly. “You feel energized at all?”

Yongguk nodded. “I feel like I could take on an army of a hundred.”

“I wouldn’t try that if I were you. Mato’s best killer or not, a hundred’s a little much.”

“So you think these fans are the energy source we’re looking for?”

“I’m pretty positive they are, yes.”

Yongguk whistled. “That was fast. The governor’s going to be happy to hear about this. I’ll put in the call later. But first… hey, where are the others?”

“Himchan took Daehyun and Jongup out to get food and maybe some leads on the Viceroy.”

“Can you call them back?”

“Yeah… could it be you’re emerging because you want to show us your new creation? Give me one minute.”

“No need, we’re back.” Himchan dumped a couple of Compact Cubes on a workbench and lightly patted Jongup’s back.

“Earthling’s have really strange food. Especially that noodle stuff.” Jongup shook his head with a smile.

“Did you guys manage to acquire currency while I was working?” Bang raised an eyebrow, fixing Himchan with an even gaze.

Daehyun shrugged. “Didn’t need to.”

“So, you stole it?”

“They won’t miss it.” Himchan waved it off. “What did you want to show us?”

Theft momentarily forgotten, Bang couldn’t stop his smile from spreading again. He placed his hand against the scanner, allowing the door to register his fingerprints and DNA before opening.

“Patrol, allow me to introduce our squad’s newest member. Zelo, activate.”

There was a quiet noise almost identical to that of the gears inside Daehyun’s own eyes. A blonde boy stood up in the room and made his way towards them. He was a little unsteady; almost as if it was his first time ever walking. It was only when he emerged into the hall and took his place next to Bang that Himchan’s jaw dropped. This kid… thing was taller than all of them and just as life-like. He blinked, twitched – even his chest rose and fell in human breathing patterns.

“Zelo activated.”

“Cool, isn’t he?” Yongguk’s grin broadened and he patted Zelo on the back.

“What is he?” Himchan cautiously circled this newcomer, completely amazed at the detail the General put into creating him.

“A highly functional attack robot. He thinks, breathes, eats, and drinks just like a normal humanoid. He’s going to make our job a lot easier.”

Zelo turned to look at Yongguk, blinking twice. This kid was even equipped with some emotion – traces of admiration visible in his eyes. Youngjae rose from the processor station, a look of awe on his face.

“So when I said we aren’t machines…”

“I created one,” Yongguk looped an arm around Zelo’s neck, “he knows who you are, too. He’s a new member of this squad, so treat him like a brother, okay?”

Daehyun shook his head. “How did you even manage to accomplish this in a week?”

“I didn’t sleep. So if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go pass out.” The General waved over his shoulder, disappearing into one of the sleeping quarters.

Jongup yawned, stretching his arms out over his head. “I just might join him… see you guys later. Bye Zelo.” He waved awkwardly at the robot, leaving the others alone. Himchan sighed heavily, gaining Zelo’s attention.

“You’re the commander.”

“That’s right.” He was a bit taken aback by the kid’s voice. It was more forceful than his, but he figured that was expected considering the programmer.

“Yongguk is the general, you’re the commander.”

“Right.”

Zelo didn’t say anything else. He merely blinked. Himchan raised an eyebrow, but he was too mentally exhausted to ask it why it didn’t pursue the conversation further. This had been the strangest week of his life, and this new addition to the “family” was going to take a lot of getting used to.

“Youngjae, I got your message about the source. I’ll report it to Mato, but let’s call it a day for now, okay?”

“Sure. I’ll just wrap things up here.” Youngjae waved his Commander away, sitting back down at the processor and plugging the cord back into his neck. He wanted to finish his download before doing anything else. It was a little difficult with Zelo watching him intently. Giving up, he turned around to give Daehyun a look. The other blonde just shrugged, storing the Compact Cubes in a compartment for later.

“What’s on your shirt?” Youngjae pointed at the various mud and dirt spots staining his friend’s black shirt.

Daehyun grimaced. “I almost got hit by a motorized vehicle.”

“How?”

“I walked across the road.”

“They actually use the roads here?” Youngjae scoffed. Mato used to utilize the hovercraft highways running across the planet, but then they upgraded the hovering capabilities and traffic took to the air.

“Well, Earth is about 6 million light years behind, right?” Daehyun smirked behind his mask, putting the last of the Cubes in the storage unit. He approached the robot still standing next to Youngjae, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

“So, Zelo… what exactly can you do?”

“I’ve been programmed with numerous capabilities. You don’t seem to be up for hearing all of them at the moment.”

Was that…? Daehyun laughed to himself. Yongguk’s humour certainly hadn’t escaped programming.

“That doesn’t exactly impress me.” His voice held a challenging air – one Zelo didn’t miss. The robot glanced behind him at Youngjae’s equipment littering the table. He quickly snatched an adaptor cord and twirled it around in front of Daehyun’s face, his own mouth twisting into a smirk.

“I could use this to kill you almost a hundred different ways.”