"Alright, what seems to be the problem?"

"She hasn't been sleeping regularly. I think it's because of something in her system."

"Ah, well I'll take a look at her mainframe, See if there are any glitches that can be fixed." 

The man went ahead to unscrew the bolts that were tightly secured  I felt as his fingers poked around the space embedded in my back. "I'm sorry Chaerin, this must be uncomfortable." You think? "Mr Kwon, what model is she?" "Oh, she's a 2nd generation." "Hm, well the problem might be she's in need of another upgrade. Some of her parts are working a bit slower than the rest." "Really? I never thought of that." "Well, we have the technology now to update her to the latest version. Everything would function right once she's upgraded to 3rd generation." "Whatever it takes." "Very well. I assume we'll receive your payment by mail?" "Yes, as usual." "Alright then. This might take at maximum ten minutes, depending on how fast the information installs."

"Alright. Chaerin I'll be back soon. I'm just going to check on Noella real quick, alright?" I nodded, watching him exit the room. Now I had to sit for the next couple of minutes, as more data was going to be packed in my system. " "Alright, Chaerin, we're going to shut your system down for about 10 minutes so we can upgrade you." Nodding, I instantly felt that familiar feeling again, and the world faded away from my eyes. 

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It felt like it had been hours when my eyes flashed open. Everything seemed to be in a new light, the images I saw were ten times clearer than before. I blinked, making sure I wasn't dreaming.  "Alright, she's all finished. You can expect her to be a bit more attentive and have better emotional responses." "Thank you so much-" "I'm a bit dizzy," I mumbled," Just putting it out there." "That will go away in a few minutes," the man said. "I'll believe you this time. Because I distinctly remember last time I agreed to do something like this, I was stumbling all over the place for a week." He chuckled, patting me on the head, even though he knew I hated that. "Whatever you say.  Mr. Kwon, she's all yours." "Thank you again." My master said, gesturing me to come along. "Enjoy your upgrade, Chaerin!" Whatever

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I was overcome with bliss as I collapsed on my bed.  Closing my eyes, I tried to let it sleep sink in, but it wasn't coming fast enough. Maybe I'm in the wrong position. I to my stomach, resting my chin on my pillow. That wasn't a very good idea I found out, as I realized I had gotten distracted by the bright lights of the city outside my window. I decided to drop the idea of sleeping, as I got out of bed. I walked over to the window, pressing my warm palms to the glass and looked down. Seemed as if the whole city was still awake, as I glanced from each tower and skyscraper, seeing all of their lights were still .

  I had freedom, but I was overcome with this itch to get out and explore everything I hadn't seen in this metropolis where I was living. I felt there was so much I was missing. But Master Jiyong and Mrs. Kwon..they need me,  I didn't want to disappoint him by saying I wanted to be let go. But it wouldn't neccessarily mean I needed to be let off my leash forever. My attention shifted to the voices I heard outside my bedroom . Curious me, I quietly made my way to the door, taking a seat on the carpet as I pressed my ear up against it. I knew eavesdropping was wrong. But when it came to my master's conversations,  I was always intrigued.

"How was your talk with the President today?"

"It went well. I'm satisfied with it but.."

"But what? If it went well, what is there to 'but' about?"

"I'm a little concerned about it..the research he's planning to conduct with the Department."

"What exactly were the details? We didn't get far into that conversation.."

"He wanted a background on what happened..you know with Seunghyun and the others-" 

"Jiyong..I thought we were trying not to bring that back."

"I know, but I can't just sit back and not participate. I had brushed up on the subject with the President before, and he became interested with the whole concept of it all." 

"So , what exactly are you concerned about?"

There was a pause, and I adjusted myself so I could really listen in to what he was about to say.

"I'm concerned that the President might get too immersed in it, to the point where he tries to attempt something that might get us into trouble."

"What? So you think he's going to try and find a way to bring Seunghyun back?"

"Think about it for a second, Noella. He's trying to start research on how it's humanly possible for us have multiple lives. How we come back no matter how many times we're taken out, and then re-created at a later point in time. It could be a possibility."

"He's dead, Jiyong. They're all dead."

"That doesn't mean they couldn't find traces of usable DNA lying around on that mountain."

"This is just a speculation, Jiyong, don't beat yourself up over it. That part of our lives is over. I don't need to see you stressed any more than you are now with all of this work."

" I know. I'm just concerned for you, your safety-"

"You always were, Jiyong. From the very beginning. I could always tell..even if you never spoke a word to me." 

"Well what can I tell you? Actions speak louder than words." 

"Mhm, and your actions worked like a charm on this woman." 

"..Hopefully if I don't get any calls tomorrow,  we can just stay home." 

"By hopefully you mean 'my wife is hoping'." 

"Of course not!" 

"Yaah whatever you say. Let's go to bed." 

 I realized my eyes were quickly becoming heavy. For fear they'd discover me passed out on the floor in the morning , I make a quick break for my mattress before I collapsed. Inhaling the scent of my clean sheets, I then slowly faded away into sweet slumber.  

A/N: I'm sorrrrrry for not updating daily like I usually do! I've been sick  and my life has consisted of the couch and the Tv all week. You're all  probably thinking :

But now that I'm on Winter break, I'll have a bit more time for writing..along with juggling driver's ed and all that jazz. But hopefully you liked this chapter annnd I will see you later! Untill the next update! 

Cheriamb