No one POV

Sora’s trembling hands drop the letter and it slowly floats down to the floor. Her eyes are b with tears of confusion, as she looks into Taemin’s shocked face. He lurches forward in his hospital bed and cups her face in his hands.

“M-my sister? M-my twin sister?” He whispers, searching her face. Sora’s eyes glisten, and tears fall from them as Taemin pulls her into a hug. “If only I knew sooner…. I could have done so much more for you…..” Taemin says hoarsely.

“You kept me alive. That was the nicest thing anyone had ever done for me.” Sora mumbles.

Taemin lifts his head and looks at her.

“I could’ve gotten you out of there…. if only I tried to. I could’ve gotten you out and stopped everything. I could’ve ended that torture you went through everyday- I could’ve… I could’ve-” Taemin’s voice starts of as wistful, and ends in heartbreaking sobs as he buries his face in Sora’s hair.

“You did your best… it’s okay.” Sora says softly, shushing Taemin. “Let me show you something.” She takes her palm and places in on his head.

Instantly they both see one of Sora’s most vivid memories.

Sora POV (flashback)

I’m in the lab, and it’s the middle of the night. The scientists have all left and I should try to get some sleep while I can. However, I’m restless…. maybe it’s the fact that I know for certain that Jongwa is going to arrive at the facility tomorrow morning, which most likely means that I’ll end up being taken to his quarters and mercilessly assaulted in his bed. I wince at the thoughts, and consider the other thought running through my head. Taemin.  Where in the world is he? He always visits me around this time, but today he is late.

I shift slightly, and as I was about fall asleep- thinking that maybe he was busy- the door cracks open, and the slim and lanky figure of Taemin slips through the door. He is about sixteen years old now, and he has hit his growth spurt. He sprints over to the cage I’m in and he looks in. “Hey. ” he says softly.

I nod in greeting. I still haven’t spoken to him. Even after all these years. I don’t really know why, but I just can’t. I don’t ever speak to anyone… unless I’m begging them to stop hurting me…. but I don’t want to think about that anymore.

He slides a bowl of rice through the opening in the cage, but I push it back. I can’t eat anything today, if I throw up after Jongwa is done with me, I’ll be in big trouble.

“You’re not hungry?” asks Taemin. I shake my head no. Just then my stomach rumbles in contradiction. Taemin looks at me sadly. I think he guessed why I don’t want to eat anything.

“I need to tell you something important…. will you listen?” He asks me.

I look at him, slightly annoyed - it’s not like I have a choice do I? Anyway, I shake my head yes.

“Y-you might have heard about Minho, Onew, Jonghyun, and Key. They are known as the SHINee cyborgs.” he starts off.

I wrinkle my nose in disgust, have I heard about them? I know them all extremely well. Minho has this sickening love for knives…. ones with jagged edges that tear your skin apart slowly. Onew uses his sharp tongue and his harsh words to make someone feel lower than the very ground he walks on. Jonghyun is always showing off his cybernetic implants and shooting things out of people’s hands, just to scare them. Key looks fragile, but he has hidden strength, went he smacks someone, the bruises last for weeks. I know about them from past experiences as well as the things that I’ve seen happen in the room next door.... room 103301.

Taemin sees the hateful expression on my face, and he bites his lip in nervousness and suddenly blurts out  “I-I’m going to be the fifth member of SHINee.”

I don’t understand, he’s not a cyborg… I tilt my head in confusion.

“They are going to turn me into a cyborg tomorrow…. I’ll be in surgery for a long time.” He says sadly.

I take a step back from the opening of the cage in shock. Within two steps I hit the back wall, and fall down on my knees. Shakily I stand up, and stay away from the front of the cage.

“M-minho told me that you don’t remember much about your past life after the surgery, a-and that you don’t feel any emotions or fear either. Y-you are supposed to forget everything that made you human.” He whispered.

I shuddered, the realization hitting me that this might be the last time I see Taemin like this. The last time he comes up to me in the middle of the night with innocent and pure intentions. The last time he tries to sneak me food. Hell… he might even be the one hurting me. I choke back a sob, but it escapes as a soft whimper. That tiny noise fills the emptiness of the room, and I can see the tears glisten in Taemin’s eyes.

He slides his hand through the small opening and speaks. “No matter what anyone says, I will never forget you. I promise.” he voice is filled with genuine sincerity.

Slowly I inch forward and brush my fingertips against his. I can tell he wasn’t expecting that movement, because I have never touched anyone willingly before. I grasp his hand lightly, and we look into each others eyes silently, each of us trying to project the emotions that we would never be able to put into words.

Soon, the inevitable time comes, when it is right before the dawn and he must leave.

“Goodbye.” He says to me, before turning away, and leaving the room sadly.

When he is safely out of sight, I whisper to myself “I’ll miss you.”

{End Flashback}

No one POV

Taemin and Sora both jerk back after they both saw the sudden flashback through Sora’s telepathic ability.

“I never knew you said that after I left.” Taemin said.

“I was still afraid of pretty much everything back then, so that’s why I never spoke directly to you.”she answered.

The guilt shows clearly on his fallen face.

“You know I’m really grateful for you Taemin. Even after the surgery, you still visited me once in a while. I showed you the memory so you know that you were the only reason I was healthy enough to escape from the train car, and end up free.” Sora said in a rush.

“I love you little sister.” He said smiling.

“Hey! Who said that I’m the little sister? We are twins! I could be older than you!” she argues.

“Let’s read the rest of the letter and see what our father says.” Taemin says pouting. He picks up the letter and starts off reading where Sora left off.

“If Sora is near you, I beg you to tell her how sorry I am that I never took care of here, or even acknowledged her. I was a coward, and I was afraid if I helped her, Taemin would be killed in retaliation. I want you both to know that I love you both. I hope that both of you are safe, and that the rebellion is eventually successful.” Taemin pauses, and gives Sora a hug. Then he continues reading.

“ I am going to give this letter to Seung-yoon and Seulgi. The leaders of Winner and Red velvet, I trust them to give it to you Taemin. I know that winner and red velvet are made up of children of some of the highest ranking officials in Jongwa’s palace. But even among the highest nobles, there is talk of rebellion. People are beginning to wish that they could break away from Jongwa’s iron fist. Jongwa has been forcing more and more arranged marriages than ever before, and he is not listen to the advice offered by the people who work for him. If anyone dares to complain, or steps out of line, they are immediately executed. I have reason to believe that the parents of Red Velvet and Winner, will not be alive for much longer. I need you to trust them. Or at least just trust Seung-yoon and Seulgi. No matter what those two did in the past, I need you to trust them. They know a lot about what is going on in the palace and the facility, and they will be extremely useful to you.” Taemin stops reading for a minute as Sora looks at him, surprised by their father’s words. Taemin moves on the the next part of the letter.

“Taemin, I need you to remember that Minho is insane. I know you still care for him, because he was your hyung for so many years. But now his plans and thoughts are almost as bad as his father’s. I know you want to save him, to make him change his path and bring out whatever good is left in him, but the truth is that whatever humanity he had is gone. He is going to go after you, son. He will stop at nothing to kill you. I do not think that any of the members of the rebel forces can stand a chance against the amount of anger he has right now. Minho is unstoppable, unless you make him turn on himself. I leave you now to figure out how to accomplish that. I regret not being able to being a good father to either you or your sister, but I can feel in my very bones that you and her will be braver than I could ever be. Remember son, the road to freedom is bumpy. It is filled with treacherous twists and turns that will shake your heart, and at times, leave you in nothing but hollow emptiness. But once you reach your destination, nothing can stop you from your shining victory. Love, Your Father.”

Taemin finishes the letter and then the two of them sat in silence for a while.

“Should we tell anyone?” Sora asks after several long minutes of aching silence.

Taemin shook his head. “No, too many questions. We can tell them after it’s all over, yeah?”

“If it ever ends.” Sora says glumly.

“Hey,” Taemin grabs Sora’s hand. “It will end. It’ll all be over soon.”

“Promise?” Sora asks, tears in her eyes.

“Promise!” Taemin smiles.

Meanwhile, back in the control room, Jiyoung, Minzy, and Seungri were trying to figure out where Dara,  Daesung, CL, and Taeyang went.

“We’ve checked literally everywhere!” Minzy groans, her tiredness catching up to her.

“Well… Not everywhere…” Seungri says slowly. “Did we check the air? Maybe they went flying?”

Jiyoung blinked, wondering why he never thought of that. “Maknae, that may have been the smartest thing you’ve said all night.”

“So they took Dara and CL unnies with them?” Minzy asked, giving Seungri a look.

“Maybe?” Seungri responded, squirming under Minzy’s gaze.

“That’s great and all, but how are we going to find them now, if they’re in the air in the middle of the night?” Minzy asked again.

“We have Sora!” Jiyoung suggested. “We can have Sora try to communicate with Daesung telepathically, find out where they are, and have them come back!”

“Good idea!” Seungri exclaimed. “I’ll go get Sora!” and in a blink of an eye, Seungri had teleported to the medical bay.

He saw Taemin and Sora holding hands, staring into space. They both looked up when Seungri appeared before them.

“Sora, we need you to find Daesung! Do the telepathy thing! You can do it over long distances, right?” Seungri ordered.

“Yeah as long as he’s not too far away I can talk to him.” Sora confirmed. She closed her eyes, and called out to Daesung.

Yo! Daesung! Where the hell are you! We been looking for you for EVER!!

A few seconds later, Daesung responds. Oh, ! We totally lost track of time! We’ve been in the sewers where Seungri and I used to live.

You do realize it’s like five am? You’ve spent that long in the sewers? What the hell were you doing?!

Stuff.

Oh, lord Jesus… Just get back here before Jiyoung rips your wings out!

Bad night?

You have NO idea…

“They’ve been in the sewers where you and Daesung used to live.” Sora tells Seungri, opening her eyes. “They’re coming back now.”

“Jiyoung is going to kill them.” Seungri says seriously. “Literally, kill them.” Taemin and Sora nod. “Taemin, you doing ok?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just… dehydrated?” Taemin offered. Seungri gave him a sympathetic look, before teleporting back to the control room.

“Well?” Jiyoung asked, stopping his pacing.

“They were in the sewers.” Seungri said.

“Seriously?” Jiyoung raged, starting up his pacing again, gesturing. “And they couldn’t tell someone?!!”

“Seriously.” Seungri confirmed. “They’re coming back now.”

“What on earth were they doing?!” Jiyoung stormed about the room.

“Sora didn’t say. You can ask them when they get here.” Seungri said.

“No, I’ll ask them when it’s light out after I’ve slept.” Jiyoung said. “Have them stay here and brief them on what they missed.” With that, Jiyoung literally falls asleep on his feet. Though he won’t stay like that for long. Seungri picks him up and takes him to his room, before going back to the control room with Minzy.

Hi everyone!!!! This is BigBangAngel! Taramarada and I had a great time writing this chapter, and we hope you like it! It's my 16th birthday...... so you guys should be nice and comment on how the chapter came out.....otherwise Taramarada might do something violent (yikes)

we love you :)