Surrounded by my brother, Yongguk, and Jongup, I sit on the hard stone floor staring across the make-shift table at N. We have talked over comm.-link before whenever there were new recruits, but this is the first time we will have met in person. As I look to each of them, I notice a new member among them; she's tiny in comparison to anyone I have met in my life. Even in the engineering and fabrication prefectures, the people of Mato are generally bigger than people from other districts by comparison. The reason is simple really: we are a "wealthy" district. Because of what we do, because for now we are important to what the leaders of our world want, they keep us well fed and make sure we can keep working. N is making a bit of a show of looking at the room, but I don't take my eyes off him. As much as I've talked to him in the past, a lot can be said through body language. He's trying to keep a shoulder to me and he doesn't look at me directly, though he keeps looking at me out of the corner of his eyes. Either I make him nervous, or, if the young woman beside him is any indication, he has never before met a female such as myself. Being one hundred seventy-five centimetres and eighty kilograms of sheer strength, it's a distinct possibility that it's both.

"This is… umm… Your office is very nice," N finally says, forcing an awkward smile that doesn't quite reach his eyes. An elbow jabbed him quickly in the ribs and there was a soft oof; the girl beside him chastises him quietly and he makes a face that easily reads he is less than impressed. I may not know him, but after her unheard comment I can tell he's not going to let the matter slide. She turns to Ravi with a questioning look and he waves a hand gently, motioning it's nothing to pay mind to. Leo, standing behind her where she can't see, fixes him with stone-faced stare and moves closer to her; Ravi takes one look at the tall red-head and scoots a few inches away from her. Such odd group dynamics… being as close as they all seem to be, why would one of the males be afraid of another? They'd worked together for so long.

"That's very nice of you to say, but you're a terrible liar," I deadpan. I look around at the group present. "Who is this new female? She's frail. Surely you don't expect to leave her here to build strength."

A look of confusion flashes across the girl's face before she responds with fire. "What crawled up your and died, you –"

She doesn't finish, though. Ravi has leapt forward and is covering with look of shock and horror on his face. "And that's the end of your sentence," he says in embarrassment. He suddenly swears loudly as she buries her teeth in his hand. "Why do you bite so much?!"

The girl, still unnamed, sticks her tongue out at him and he laughs; they seem close, so why did he back away before? Behind them Leo shifts, kicking Ravi. Voicing his pain, Ravi looks over his shoulder at Leo who whispers what I assume is an apology.

"You're very close," I chuckle, finally relaxing in this large group. Draping an arm over Yongguk's shoulder, I lean against him and stretch a leg out over Daehyun's lap. The others, taking a cue from my comfort, all relax as well. Yongguk shifts slightly and clears his throat while Jongup rests forward with a sigh, his chin on my left shoulder. "Ow, ow…" I grumble pushing his face a little to adjust where he rested. "That's my collarbone."

I hear Youngjae and Daehyun chuckling, leaning against each other as Himchan leans down, supporting himself with an elbow on Youngjae's thigh. By now, Zelo has spread himself across Yongguk's lap so I can play with his soft pink hair. This is my family.

"Yeah, they are," N pipes up as we get comfortable. "She slept with him the first night she was there."

The girl chokes on her breath and her eyes fly wide open, her face reddening.

"What?!" Ravi exclaims.

Behind him, Leo's stare is deadly.

"Is that not normal?" I ask casually, gesturing to the group of males around me. "I sleep with all of them every night."

The girl looks like she has stopped breathing, though N and Hyuk are doubled over against each other and laughing quietly. Her palms are pressed against the crate to steady herself, looking as though she could pass out at a moment's notice. Zelo studies her face a moment and sits up quickly.

"Are you okay?" he asks, reaching for her hand across the crate. "Can we do anything for you?"

"No!" she answers loudly, throwing herself backwards so fast she toppled over into Leo's lap.

There is a short universal silence as she stares up at Leo from his lap and he stares back down at her, not entirely sure what to make of the situation. Then N sniggers to himself, breaking the silence, and suddenly everyone else is howling with laughter and Ravi has turned away to stop himself from laughing as well. Gently, Leo takes her shoulders and sits her back up.

His normally quiet voice breaks through the din. "Her name is Taylor."

Everyone stops and turns to look at him before Himchan says excitedly, "He speaks!"

A long arm flies out and Zelo, who is lying down again, smacks him in the stomach, prompting him to apologize as Leo avoids eye contact and rubs the back of his neck nervously.

Yongguk turns to me and leans his head down. "I hate to break up this party, but we need to get back to why they're here to begin with," he whispers, his warm breath tickling my ear. "The recruits should be in their rabbit hole by now, and we shouldn't leave them waiting long."

"She's been introduced to us, so it's only polite that we introduce ourselves before we head out," I reply quietly. I pull my elbow off Yongguk's shoulder and Jongup's hands on my waist help me sit up again; I stick my hand out to her and wait for her to take it. It's a brief handshake; she's nervous of me and doesn't know what to make of the men behind me. "Call me Bree. This is Zelo," I motion to the young man dumped out of my lap. "He's our recruiter. He finds everyone we send your way. The one with black hair is Himchan, our medic. The one he's lazing on is Youngjae."

A blond head nods with a small smile and a friendly wave.

"You already know my brother, Daehyun. This is Jongup," I motion to the quiet young man with chestnut hair now resting his elbows on his knees, his sharp eyes taking in everything. He nods as well. "And this is Yongguk," I say finally my hand landing on his leg.

He salutes silently, his fingers brushing his blackish-purple hair.

Taylor looks around at the rest of us and it's plain that she feels awkward as she scoots slowly backwards until she bumps right in to Leo who is looking at her like wants to say something, though he seems to think better of it. "So… you guys all know each other?"

I nod slowly. "Absolutely we do. We may not be the ones who were brave enough to start the rebellion, but we are definitely the ones carrying the burden now. Mato is monitored closely by the government so we cannot leave, not for long anyways; however, our average communication technology is far superior to any of the other districts. On the other hand, the people from VIXX who are fighting are highly mobile and, with the application of some of Mato's tech designs, they are essentially the go-betweens for districts our tunnels cannot reach."

Though I know she's a sharp girl because she wouldn't be with these men otherwise, Taylor seems to have gotten a little lost somewhere in my explanation.

"Tunnels?... You mean there are more?" she questions. She looks over at Ravi with an expression that implies more curiosity than confusion.

Ravi raises his hands to gesture to everything surrounding us. "Welcome to the mines of Mato, Tay."

"We have tunnels almost everywhere, but that's a topic for another day; right now we need to talk to you about some things that have been happening recently," Yongguk speaks up. "The biggest problem being that we've had Rats running around."

"Down here," I continue. "I was with the recruits, but they've been getting dangerously close to where we're working on our own machines."

Ken swears in a half-whisper before telling us he knew they'd come, but that he'd expected them to be slower to arrive. I know he has his connections, but to know someone else's Rats were coming? Damn. I knew his cousin Seungho was good but I never would expect him to know about where Rats not in his control were being dispatched. Apparently Taylor didn't even know he was one of MBLAQ's moles, because the look she gave him was one of shock and curiosity before he went on to explain MBLAQ's role in our expanding rebellion.

"If you don't mind me asking," Youngjae interjects, "was it mentioned why they were sent our way? We suspect it may be because of a shortage of ore being shipped back to the surface as of late, but there's no way for us to confirm. Myself and the others down in the Shelter need to know if we need to slow down our work…"

My expression darkens as Ken confirms our fears. The government has begun to pay far more attention to the mines than before and it's bound to cause problems for our own projects. Youngjae has yet to tell me how exactly his project is going to help, but I've seen the plans; among other things, and as odd as it sounds, he has been working on the prototype for a lightly armoured, rabbit-shaped exoskeleton. N and the others don't know exactly what we work on in the Shelter, and sometimes I wonder myself, but they know that without a doubt they will be an advantage for every rebel group we have.

"Given the trouble that's obviously going to follow," N says as he turns to Youngjae, "I suggest we start moving these projects of yours into our hangar. We can clear space for you to work and honestly, having you and your people around would be much easier. Our mechanics are good, but your people are always going to be best when it comes to technical repairs."

"Of course," Youngjae nods. "Bree, if we're going to be moving out of the Shelter, we're going to need a serious cave in…"

"And we're going to lose some serious man-power…"

"We really don't have much of a choice, though," Jongup says thoughtfully. "I'm first mechanic down in the Shelter. I've always been one of the first ones building Youngjae's creations, so I'll go with the exo-suit and some of my best people."

Yongguk clears his throat loudly. "Please tell me we're going to be doing something about the loose cannons in LC9."

"We have to," Ken deadpans. "Seungho mentioned that the government has been watching LC9 like a hawk and, with their reckless behaviour, they're going to expose everything."

"Someone needs to slap some sense into –" I stop mid-sentence.

Daehyun is completely ignoring the conversation and talking to Taylor.

"Don't interrupt your big sister!" I shout and backhand him in chest. Don't get me wrong, I love my little brother, but sometimes he's total punk. He only emphasizes this as he starts laughing. "Pay attention; this is important. Were you even listening at all?"

Daehyun is laughing again as he shakes his head. "Nope."

This kid! I look over at Yongguk, my hands balled into fists, but he waves it off. I turn back to Daehyun, who is looking at Taylor again, with the intention of verbally killing him when a broad hand comes to rest on my lower back, signalling me to relax.

"It's fine," Yongguk mumbles to me, catching my attention without distracting the others; Himchan laughs loudly. "Focus, right? We have to get out of here and get the recruits. We're taking too long."

As Daehyun and Taylor continue, Zelo and Hyuk stand up to root through some of the crates at the back of my office. A pile of black fabric lands on the crate in front of Taylor.

"Yah, you guys, we need to wear these to get the new recruits," Hyuk announces, breaking everyone away from their thoughts. Everyone grabs a set but Taylor stops to stare at the overalls sitting in front of her.

"Will this even fit me?"

Ravi, being the smartass he is, sniggers before teasing her about her small stature – I guess being so small isn't a common thing, even outside of Mato. She smacks his arm with a laugh before passing the last pair to Leo. As awkward as ever, Taylor begins getting ready along with everyone else and when she's done, she's still awkward. I haven't spent any time with her, but just looking at her I can tell that with her pants too long and her sleeves past her hands she's going to be a walking disaster.

Pointing to the door, I call out to the others. "Alright, the tunnel entrance is this way. When we go out there, you don't look at anything, you don't touch anything and you don't even look at anybody, got it?"

Before we head out the door and before Taylor can kill herself out in the mines, Ravi is on the problem in a heartbeat and rolling up her pants and sleeves. I don't know what they're saying and I don't really care, but it's nice to see that she fits in so well – I had to get into a fist fight to find my family here. I can't help but smile.

"Let's go!"