Hyerin woke up to a dry mouth and a massive headache, every muscle in her body aching badly as if she ran a marathon. She groaned and reached out to touch her face, only to feel something wrapped around her head and obstructing her sight. She yanked it away from her eyes and was met by an empty spacious office.

She was lying on the cold ground, then at once she realized she was inside a cage – a compact little thing that trapped her inside thick metal bars with a space capacity so small her legs couldn’t stretch out properly.

At once she jolted up from the floor, her wild eyes roaming around the room in a panic. She clutched her head in between her hands and tried to recall the last thing she did before ending up in this unknown place. Kyungsoo came to mind.

The double-doors opened and TOP came marching into the room. Outside, Hyerin could see two Xinths standing guard in front of the office. TOP gestured for them to close the door and they compliantly did.

TOP his heels and stared her directly in the eye. He took his fedora hat off his head and sauntered toward her so slowly it was as if he was making fun of her. Her teeth gritted impatiently at this, and if she weren’t trapped like she was at that moment she would have strangled him to death.

Or better yet, stole his powers. In fact, she could do that right now. She stared at him back and forced herself inside his brain, but instead of the warm sensations and stinging eyes, she had a mental block. She couldn’t get a hold of him.

“Your efforts are valiant but useless,” he said in that resonant voice of his.

Hyerin ignored him and tried again. This time, she glared at him so hard the veins in her temples started to bulge out, but yet again it was no use. Her shoulders slumped tiredly as she released a sharp breath.

“Utterly useless,” he said. “Your powers won’t work as long as you’re in that cage.”

“Shut up,” she hissed. “I don’t want to hear you talk. I don’t want to see your face. I don’t want to see your everything. Get out, you’re an eyesore.”

TOP didn’t budge. “I see you’ve finally accepted your unfavorable predicament, Kim Hyerin.”

She said nothing in return and slumped against the metal railing. “Finally, right? Aren’t you just glad?”

“Ecstatic.”

“Well good for you.”

The door opened once again, making both of them turn their heads to look. In came a man no more than his 60’s, wrinkled and greying from old age and having to use a cane to keep his posture upright. If Hyerin didn’t look closely she wouldn’t even recognize him.

Her eyes widened in rage and surprise. “You-”

“Wonderful to see you, child,” Jiyong said, grinning. “Long time no see.”

“What the hell happened to you?” she questioned, her back pressed defensively against the railings.

“That’s no way to greet an old friend,” he said in a playful scolding manner.

“I don’t ing care.”

“Language, now,” he chuckled, walking towards her cage. “You have no idea how satisfying it is to have you in my company, Ms. Hyerin. We’ve been searching for you for quite a while now.”

Hyerin said nothing as the mayor lowered himself to face her.

“Our game of hide and seek has finally come to an end, along with your days of freedom. From now on, progress is to be done.”

“I’m not doing anything for you,” she growled, “and you can’t make me.”

“Don’t say such things when you know it will never happen, child,” he drawled, getting back on his feet. “If you think your powers will help, I’m afraid I’ll have to burst your bubble and say that it won’t. So be a good girl and follow orders, yes?”

Jiyong turned to TOP and whispered something when Hyerin interjected.

“What are you planning to do with me?” she demanded.

Jiyong gave her his trademark friendly smile and said nothing. He hovered over her cage, pulled out a cigar from his suit pocket and lit it with a lighter.

“You know, child, before I was the mayor I was a nobody,” he started, taking a drag on his cigarette. “Just your usual sob story of an alien boy sent in an unknown land to prove something to his people, to save his people. I started from scratch and worked my way up to where I am now. It was not easy, but once I figured out the convenience of consuming humans I finally had something to call my own discovery. And so a couple of Xinths came to aid my journey, until I arose to power with deception and trickery. I mastered the human custom and found out how gullible and naïve you all are. I used that to my advantage.”

He took another puff before continuing, “Then one day, I discovered something. I discovered a woman. Or maybe she discovered me first, I am not quite sure,” he said. “She was snooping on us while my boys and I were plotting our first kidnap of the night. You know, for our daily meal. She saw us and I saw her, and she was the most beautiful human I’ve ever seen in my life,” he said. “I told my boys to get her and they did. She struggled a lot, a tough girl she was, but we managed to hold her down. I didn’t take her just because she was beautiful, no; I took her because she had something I never knew a human being could have.

“She had powers, Hyerin,” he said, grinning. “We brought her to my lab and saw she had a different DNA, a different set of chromosomes. She was the first person we used to send the first big wave of Xinths to earth and her energy was like no other. If using a regular human brought five Xinths to Earth, she brought a hundred.”

He laughed, reminiscing. “She was fantastic. I was able to her powers in less than an hour, no trouble at all. Only thing was she kept screaming and kicking and punching. You know, the usual. So after I was done with her I killed her myself. Shot her in her thighs, stomach – all around – but I didn’t want it to be an instant death, you know. Where’s the fun in that?” he chuckled. “She was very beautiful. I took her wallet and rummaged through it, then found a stunning picture of her. Look here.”

He fished his wallet from his pocket and took out a Polaroid. “See?” He slipped the picture through the railings and it fell on her lap. Hyerin picked it up, annoyed, but froze right after taking a good look at the woman Jiyong was talking about.

It was her mother.

Her heart dropped at the sight and her breathing became harder. She was ready to burst into tears right then and there, but refused to do so as she didn’t want to let Jiyong see her in such a weak state.

“You’re a monster,” she spat in a shaky voice. “You’re ing horrible.”

“I underestimated your compassion, Ms. Hyerin,” he said, amused. “I never knew you sympathized with strangers so much.”

Hyerin balled her fists and looked away from him. He didn't know.

He didn't know Hana was her mother.

“Well, since you feel so bad about it I’ll let you keep it,” he sighed. “Know that that woman was the one who made me begin my search for the likes of you. I am surprised you feel pity towards the woman who brought you where you are today.”

Jiyong his heels and walked towards the door. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Ms. Hyerin. Do rest. We’ve got a lot to do,” he took a puff, “TOP, you are in charge here for now. Make sure she is well rested.”

TOP nodded once. “Yes, my lord.”

Once the doors clicked shut, Hyerin turned to face the wall and brought her knees up to her chest. She took a good look at the polaroid again and remembered her mother’s letter.

…Hyerin, I’m going to die. It may be in a few days or in a few weeks, maybe even months. And it’s not by a natural cause of death – I’m talking about murder…Hyerin, I can see the future…I won’t go into details about my death because I, myself, do not know how or when it’s going to happen. My powers have limitations too…

Hyerin struggled to breathe as tears started rolling down her face uncontrollably. Even her mother, who had the power to see the future, never knew what was coming for her.

She covered her face with her hands and began to quietly sob, honestly not knowing what to do. She was angry and terrified, suddenly aware of what Jiyong was capable of doing to her. Not only that, he was the one behind her mother’s death, and instead of turning that anger into the determination to escape, it just made her knees weak.

She could hear TOP’s footsteps approaching.

“Are you-”

“Leave me alone,” she mumbled. “Don’t talk to me. Ever. Don’t you ing dare.”

And surprisingly, he didn’t.

---

Kyungsoo has been awake for twenty-two hours.

He wasn’t trying to stay up the whole night, but counting sheep with his eyes shut did nothing to help him drift off into dreamland and in fact, did the opposite. The counting kept the gears inside his brain alive and rolling, most of the thoughts, if not all, about Hyerin.

His chest was hurting during those twenty-two hours and it still was. It made him so uncomfortable and distracted that he occasionally had to literally punch himself in the chest to keep it together. It never helped to calm him down, and he knew nothing would until he sees Hyerin safe.

“,” he whispered, fingers rubbing irritably at his eyes. What happened last night was something unexpected and careless, and Kyungsoo never imagined that she would ever be taken away in such a manner – right out of his bare hands.

She shouldn’t have come to chase after him but he shouldn’t have run away either. He should have known that she would, then they might have prevented this mess from happening.

Kyungsoo opened his eyes and sat up. He put on his shoes and left the tent he was forced into by the other agents, as he never got the chance to rest.

It was a hot afternoon and everyone was huddled around Agent M and Zero in the middle of the camp. Chen was the first to notice him.

“D.O,” he mumbled. “What are you doing? Go back inside, you need to rest.”

Kyungsoo shook his head dismissively. “I’m fine.”

Zero gave him a worried glance. “You’ve been up all night and haven’t gotten even a wink of sleep.”

“I said I’m fine,” he replied more sternly.

“Kyungsoo,” Agent M sighed wearily. “I understand that you want to save Hyerin as quickly as possible but you can’t do that without proper rest.”

“No, look, it’s just,” he scratched the top of his head tiredly and sighed, “It’s not that I don’t want to it’s just – it’s just I-I can’t,” he said, running a hand through his face. “I can’t sleep knowing she’s kidnapped and that we’re not doing anything to save her, at least not fast enough. That’s all I want, I just want her back here. Please, I’m sorry, but please help me do something about this.”

Kai approached the boy and gave his shoulder a squeeze.

“We’re doing everything we can,” he said quietly.

Kyungsoo put a hand on his hip and looked at each and every one of them, noticing that they looked just as worried and tired and devastated as he was.

He threw his hands up in the air out of defeat. “Right. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, D.O,” Baekhyun assured. “You’re not the only one suffering right now.”

“Yes and I’m regretful to say this but we can’t just barge in there in the next thirty minutes and try to save Hyerin. We really need to be precise and smart about how we’re going to do this,” Suho explained. “We’ll lose people if we’re reckless about it.”

“Plus we don’t have anyone but ourselves at this point,” Myungsoo added. “It’s going to be just us.”

“That’s okay. I believe in all of us,” Luhan said.

“But we also need to be aware of our opponent’s capabilities,” Lay reminded.

Key shook his head in disbelief. “The mayor has a growing army and we do not. As each day passes, his Xinths are becoming stronger and us getting weaker especially now with Hyerin gone. All odds are in their favor.”

Zero rubbed his chin obliviously. “We need to take advantage of our resources, and take advantage of them really well. We do need more but this is all we have,” he said, gesturing at the group.

Agent M rubbed his worn out eyes. “There must be something we can work with,” he grumbled. “So far we have EXO, the Noxius brothers, a Xinth, two old men, and two healthy young humans. Any ideas?”

Sitting beside Chen, Hyeji raised her hand.

Agent M nodded at her. “Yes, dear?”

“I’m against the idea of us being alone in this war,” she said in a tone they never thought they would ever hear from her. “We’re not the only ones who had the privilege of living here. There are millions that are stuck within these walls with us, and I believe they’re as angry as we are. Their lives were taken away from them in a blink of an eye, and if that doesn’t stir some type of determination to overthrow the mayor then I don’t know what will.”

“So what do you suggest we do?” Kris questioned.

“I suggest what Agent Zero just suggested,” she said, “take advantage of our resources.”

With that, everyone came upon a single realization and started coming up with real plans. Hyeji smiled in content as she watched them while Jongdae stared at her in admiration. Without a word, he slipped his fingers through hers as they listened to what may possibly be the biggest mission they will ever have.

---

Hyerin was lying on her side and scratching the polaroid picture with her nails when TOP came into the room.

She ignored him and continued with the scratching, her mother’s face completely gone from the picture and replaced with nothing but black scratches. Once she was done with it she buried the picture inside her pocket, folded her arms and closed her eyes.

Hours passed and she couldn’t sleep. Nonetheless, she stayed in that position unmoving. She didn’t want the man to see that she was awake – she didn’t want to hear him talk.

Yet when he approached her cage, she knew that he knew she was just pretending.

“You’re a bad actress,” he casually remarked.

“Don’t talk to me.”

“Agents are supposed to be good at pretending, aren’t they? I suppose you are an exception to that.”

“I said don’t talk to me.”

“Being an agent means being well-rounded. It’s not just about being skilled in combat or using guns; it’s about being intelligent and precise-”

“Ugh.”

“-and manipulative and cold-blooded. You do not form personal bonds with anyone or else you’ll get attached and bring them down with you,” he continued. “Perhaps that is your biggest flaw, Kim Hyerin.”

“Look, I don’t care. Go back to your stupid corner and leave me alone.”

He continued to ignore her. “It is because of your age. You’re young and you know nothing of the world outside of yours. You care only about yourself. That is how the teenage mind works.”

Hyerin rolled onto her left side to glare at TOP. “You’re the one who doesn’t know anything. How could you? You’re ing evil. You’re a horrible ing person. You’re helping the most dangerous person in the world in taking over Seoul and possibly more than that and you hurt my friends. Hell, you cut Kyungsoo’s hand off!”

He said nothing as she continued. “You’re a monster and you can’t tell me I don’t care about anyone but myself because I have people that matter to me unlike you,” she hissed. “Someone like you can never love and will never be loved. Never. Once I get out of this hole you’ll be the first one I’ll kill. I will murder you, you hear me?”

TOP just stared at her before cracking a smirk. “You have quite a mouth.”

“Eugh,” she groaned, turning away from him once again and closing her eyes.

“Too compassionate and a loudmouth,” he said. “And you wonder why you are where you are now.”

“I’d rather have people I love and have the right to say whatever I want than be a coldhearted douche like you.”

“Seems to me that being a coldhearted douche is a more effective route to take when it comes to jobs like ours,” he retorted, staring at the back of her head. “If it weren’t then I wouldn’t be here right now.”

“Well I’m not an but I’m still alive aren’t I?”

“Yes,” he said in a light tone, “but I’m not the one in the cage. You are.”

Hyerin breathed in through her nose and released it exasperatedly.

“Whatever. It’s okay,” she said. “At least now that Jiyong has me, he won’t lay a hand on the others anymore. I mean sure, they’d still fight in the end, but I’m positive we’ll win. Even if I’m not alive to witness that.”

“Giving up so easily?”

“It’s not like you're giving me a choice,” she scoffed before continuing, “Besides, I think I’ve already done my part in this world. I’ve experienced almost everything a teenager should experience – happiness, sadness, anger, love” – she opened her eyes and stared at the ground sentimentally – “I think I’ve had enough. I’m satisfied. You know what? I’m ready.”

“…To die?” He almost sounded uncertain.

“Sure. Of course I would still fight back. I’ll try really hard to escape. But if that doesn’t turn out well,” she sighed, closing her eyes once more, “then I’m ready to let go.”

She let the deafness of the silence hang in the air as she reflected on her decision. Death was inevitable; everyone’s going to have to go through it one way or another. It’s just that she knew when it was going to happen to her while the others don’t.

“This is precisely why you do not form personal bonds,” he said suddenly. “If you didn’t, things would have been easier.”

“I don’t believe you. Those personal bonds are exactly why I’m accepting my situation so optimistically.”

She heard him scoff. “All these nonphysical abstracts – hate, fear, love, happiness. They do not exist. They’re all fragments of the human imagination, concepts that are unnecessary and cheap,” he said. “And for you to glorify such things that cease to even exist makes you all the more pitiful in your predicament.”

“I’m not about to argue with you on this. In fact, I don’t want to argue with you about anything. You don’t know what it’s like to be in my place right now so just leave me alone,” she sighed.

At once, she shut her eyes and prepared to tune out whatever TOP was going to say. Fortunately, he did not say anymore and she successfully drifted off to sleep.

- - -

A loud metal clacking noise made Hyerin jump and wake from her sleep unpleasantly. When she opened her eyes, she saw that it was a tray of food placed on the floor.

Hyerin rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. “How do you expect me to eat that when it’s on the other side of the cage?”

The Xinth glared at her and prepared to take out a knife when TOP came in to stop him.

“I’ll take care of it,” he interjected. “Thank you.”

The Xinth nodded once and walked out of the office, while Hyerin glared at him until he disappeared from sight.

This time she glowered at TOP. “You again.”

TOP sighed exasperatedly. “You complain too much.”

“I don’t. That Xinth is just stupid. How the hell am I supposed to eat when the food is completely out of my reach? He just literally dropped it in front of the cage.”

TOP sighed again and dropped down on one knee so he was in the same eye level as her. Without a word, he fished out a key from his pocket and started unlocking the cage.

Hyerin remained silent as she stared intensely at TOP unlocking the door. Her fists dug into her jeans as she watched his hands slowly turn the key. There was a soft click and a thud then the door was open.

Hyerin hastily got on her hands and knees and bolted for the small opening.

She successfully got herself out of the cage and ran towards the double-doors, yet all that went down the drain when a peculiar sensation struck her in the brain. Her heart felt extremely heavy and her body felt weak and languid. Before she even realized it, she collapsed on the floor.

TOP slowly walked towards Hyerin and got her back to her feet, leading her back inside the cage. She didn’t struggle away not because she didn’t want to – she just couldn’t.

“I already told you it’s useless,” he said, placing the tray of food inside the cell with her. “You’re just tiring yourself.”

Hyerin watched TOP lock the bars with heavy half-lidded eyes. She rested her head against the metal bars, not in the mood to eat anything.

“Your powers sure are useful,” she droned weakly and a bit sarcastically.

“Indeed they are.”

“I’m never going to give up. You’ll have to fight me before you take me.”

“It’s useless,” he repeated, pulling a chair and placing it in front of Hyerin’s cage.

She followed his every move with her condemning eyes and noticed how he seemed to move in slow motion; it was not that he was sluggish or lazy, but there was certain calmness in his every step - preciseness that would make people stare longer than needed. He was agile and fluid, so apparent with the way he crossed his legs as he sat or the manner in which he removed his hat from his head to place it on the ground as if to pay respect.

He was a graceful man, she thought. Just not necessarily pleasant.

“Useless,” again, he said, somewhat in a tired manner, “and I know that because I’ve been in one of those.”

This made her eyes pop in interest.

“You have?” she questioned silently.

“I was nine years old when I became pathokinetic,” he started, clasping his hands together on his lap. “My father was a weapon specialists at M-LX, you see. He did some experiments on the side, too.”

“So I’ve heard,” Hyerin mumbled.

“I was his guinea pig. M-LX kicked him out for that and he just went crazy and disappeared.” He chuckled silently and shook his head. “He raised me by himself and left me like I was an object. So I learned to fend for myself, that is, until I was sixteen,” he paused, “until the mayor found me.”

Hyerin rubbed her temples, knowing exactly where this was going.

“He was kind and generous, minus the fact that I was in a cage just like yours and was treated like a pet cat. Nevertheless, I didn’t question him and went along with it, as long as I had food and shelter-”

“He locks you up like some animal and you accept it just like that?” she asked with a hint of hostility. “Even with your dad. No sane human being would let anyone, even their fathers, to do that to them.”

TOP paused for a moment to give her an amused smirk. “Well it was the only way to survive, wasn’t it?”

Her brows furrowed.

“It’s called being smart, Kim Hyerin. You make do with what you have. If I were to not have agreed to both of them I wouldn’t be alive right now,” he said. “Unlike you, I was poor and unprivileged. I worked my way up to be where I am now, and oh, how perseverance gets you to places.”

Hyerin glared at him once more then looked away, pulling her knees to her chest.

“I’ve attempted to escape my cage many, many times before. I’ve broken my fingers trying. No matter how hard, it just never works out,” he said as emotionless as ever. “But when did the one inside the cage ever win anyway?”

“Just stop,” she whispered. “I’ve had enough. Stop.”

“Have you ever thought about why you do what you do, Kim Hyerin?”

She lifter her head up to look at him and met his eyes. They were neutral and hard as steel like the usual. “Yes,” she answered. “They’re nothing like your reasons.”

“Is that so? Well supposedly my reason is to avenge my father,” he explained. “At least, according to Jiyong.”

“That’s just what he’s trying to make you think,” she snorted.

He chuckled, pleased. “To that I must agree.”

Hyerin gave him a long hard look before burying her head in between her knees. Here she was, trapped in a cage with untouched food and engaging in casual talk with the enemy.

“How did you manage to use your powers on me without looking me in the eyes?” she asked.

“Practice,” he said almost instantly. “I’ve had a lot of free time while you were gone.”

“Well now you got me.”

“Now I got you,” he affirmed, “and you are quite a handful.”

The double doors slammed open and in came Jiyong with his bodyguards. TOP got on his feet and bowed to the mayor, making Hyerin roll her eyes.

Jiyong motioned for TOP to get up as he sauntered towards Hyerin. He smiled at her kindly. “Have you gotten proper rest, my dear?”

Hyerin did nothing but scowl at him.

He clapped his hands together. “Very well then. We shall begin.”

To this, her eyes wavered. “Begin what?”

No one bothered to answer her as three Xinths unlocked the bars and pulled her out of the cage. A sack was slipped over her head and thick, heavy chains bounded her wrists together. She was pushed and kicked and was dragged to wherever they were taking her. The whole time she tried to get away, but it was no use.

Finally, she heard a door open and shortly after, the sack was taken off of her head. It was another room, much larger than the last one. Half the space was taken over by a gigantic metal machine positioned against the wall, with thick tubes and wires hanging loosely from its base.

Her eyes widened at the surreal sight. “What is that?”

Once again, no one answered her. One Xinth kicked her down to the ground while another two grabbed the wires from the machine. At the very tip of those wires were long sharp needles, waiting to be inserted into her body.

Seeing this, she thrashed around in a panic, but the chains were too heavy and tight. She could feel her wrists burning as she looked around the room to find another way to escape.

At the same time, TOP came into the room and gently closed the door behind him. He remained standing there and caught Hyerin’s eye somewhere in between.

She didn’t take her eyes off him as she felt the needles seep into her arm, maybe four or five of them at most. He had his arms crossed and his mouth set in a grim line but there was something else. She saw it flash in his eyes.

After the needles were securely attached with duct tape, she was dragged to the side while they worked the machine’s contraptions. On the other hand, the mayor was rolling up his sleeves as they plunged the needles into his arms from the same machine.

“What is this?” She tried to scrape off the wires by vigorously rubbing her arm against the walls. “What the hell are you doing!?”

“I need new recruits, my love. Now that you’re here, I can finally bring in more of my kind without much trouble,” he explained. “Do not fret. It won’t take long.”

One Xinth switched something on and the machine roared to life, startling Hyerin. At once, the Xinths came to her side and carried her to a chair, similar to the ones at the dentist office, and strapped her in.

This was when she started to feel the real horror of her situation. She was sweating and her heart was racing and she felt not even an ounce of hope at all. She couldn’t even use her powers; hell she only got it a few days ago.

At that moment, she could only pretend to be brave.

She closed her eyes and bit her lip, the whirring of the machine loud and clear. She could feel the straps securing her arms, legs, and neck on the chair, while some of the men busied themselves with the machine. Hyerin opened her eyes and attempted to turn her head to the side, which the straps made impossible. Instead, she stared at the ugly ceiling and blinked the tears away.

This must be what fear feels like, she thought.

“Is everything all set?” she heard Jiyong ask a couple of feet away from her. She was guessing he was strapped in too.

“Yes, my lord,” one of them retorted. “Whenever you’re ready.”

“I see,” he said. “Do it now.”

“NO!” Hyerin found herself screaming. “No let me go-”

But the machine was too loud and the pain in her body was unbearable for her to continue her speech. Her yells of protest became agonizing screams of excruciating pain and her whole body was shaking and her back drenched with sweat and everything was terrible. She wanted to die right then and there than go through this horrible nightmare.

The horror came to an end after an eternity, and she thought she was finally dead. Yet she could feel the straps loosening around her arms, legs, and neck, and she opened her eyes, and saw the same ugly ceiling.

She remained unmoving, still shocked from the incredible pain, until a low rumbling came about. At this rate, everyone in the room was rushing.

Her head dropped weakly to the side and her eyes landed on the tall window. Outside, she could see a black gigantic rock-like ship floating past the window.

She fell into a daze for a second before breaking down all at once. She erupted in noiseless sobs as she sluggishly turned to lie on her side, burying her head into the canopy and wanting to go home.

It was a lie – she was not ready to die. She was not ready to die at all.

“Not today,” she sobbed incoherently, her face covered in tears, “please, not today.”

Hours may have passed with her just crying and sobbing and muttering those words repeatedly. She was tired and in pain. She couldn’t even stand. But what was worse was that she couldn’t do anything.

A light touch on her shoulder made her jolt. She squinted to look up and saw that it was TOP.

She didn’t have the energy to look around to see if there was anyone inside the room, so she dropped her head against the cushion.

“I take it back,” she said, but it came out in an incoherent slur, “I want to live…I can’t take it…”

TOP said nothing. Instead, he returned her weak stare with a stoic one. His intimidating gray eyes bore into her like he was going to kill her, but then they changed into a sky blue.

Her half-lidded eyes closed completely as the pain in her body went away gradually and was replaced with a pleasant, relaxing sensation. Her head was light and disoriented and it made her drift off into sleep instantly, all the pain and sadness gone.

The sky blue in his eyes returned to a dull gray. With a silent release of a breath, he walked away from the girl and made his way out the door, pretending to be a part of the hectic atmosphere within the vicinity.