“Rise and shine, plebes,” Doyoon's voice echoed through the dorm halls, switching everyone's neural processors off sleep mode, and flooding their vision centers with the start up screen.

One by one, the plebes arose from their deep slumbers, clutching their heads as they felt the information being downloaded into their processors had come to a sudden stop. The downloads flooded into their storage rapidly, finishing the process and sending some plebes who were standing to the floor. Binge downloading, especially if it was forced, could totally take a toll on the brain. Soonyoung's eyes flew open when he felt a burning sensation on the back of his neck. Reaching up, he ripped out the wire connected to the processor, not bothering to eject safely. Chan on the other hand was totally out of it on his bed as his fingers involuntarily twitched. Jihoon though, since he wasn't a plebe, slept like a baby. When the two plebes finished dressing into their uniforms, they lined up outside their door like everyone else to have attendance called.

“What's going on?” Seokmin asked him, “Classes aren't supposed to start until later?”

Today was the day they were finally completing a week at being at the Academy, and Soonyoung was surprised that he had made it this far. As labor inducing the program was, he didn't seem to mind. Maybe it was the excitement of just being there that kept him there, but he knew that any sane human wouldn't even make it as far as he did. There were a few of his plebe friends that had quit the program, and he was sad to see them go, but it was better than never right? Once Doyoon finished taking attendance, he began pacing back and forth in the hallway, scanning their fresh faces. Unlike his casual, friendly expression, there was a more serious edge to his gaze. Clearing his throat, he began, “As you have been told, the senior Kestrels today will not be available due to their monthly processor reprogramming, correct?”

“Yes, Senior Jang, sir,” the plebes said in unison.

“But it just so happened that last minute, the American base needs our temporary assistance for the time being,” Doyoong continued, “Therefore, after intensive discussions with the Board, my colleagues and I have been given permission to send a few of you plebes to help with the . The plebes have been chosen by your performances in classes, and grades. Each Wing will send a representative. There are twenty plebes in the Jang Wing, but sadly I have decided to send only three of you,”

Soonyoung's eyebrows raised; three only? Now while that seemed like a lot, if you looked at his chances, he was at a disadvantage. There were so many other students in his Wing that qualified to be better Kestrels than him. Sure, he had decent grades, but there were students who had straight 100's in everything. Doyoon went down the line on the farthest side from Soonyoung, which sort of eased his worries...somewhat. The first four, their senior didn't even bother looking at. Next to their classmate Bryan, stood Yinzhi. Her gaze was stolid, but seeing how she held her hands in tight balls, she was definitely anxious. Doyoon took slower steps as he approached the young girl before finally stopping in front of her, his body parallel to hers, “Li Yinzhi, congratulations on qualifying for your first task. Go into your room and pack yourself one bag of your belongings. Once you are finished, sit and wait in the common room for further instructions,”

“Senior Jang, sir,” Yinzhi saluted, before bowing at her waist, and Doyoong continued. Soonyoung could see the smug smirk that appeared on her face as the other plebes watched her disappear into her room, amazed. Soonyoung had to admit though, if there was anyone who deserved that spot, it was definitely her.

The next few minutes were nerve-wrecking for the young boy as Doyoon made his way down the line, each time almost getting slower than the next. In fact, Soonyoung was so desperate to find something to distract him, he ended up counting the ticks of the gears in his head. Seokmin was the next to be rejected, and he seemed somewhat disappointed. The way his shoulders dropped and the way he hung his head low, it was a bit painful for Soonyoung to watch. It reminded him of when he was like that during his first few years of elementary school when he actually attended the physical school. Dropping like flies, the plebes returned to their rooms heavy hearted, until Doyoon came to Chan. The way Chan's face twisted, you could tell that the small boy was about to piss himself at whether or not he was going to join Yinzhi or not. Doyoon, not saying a word, gestured for Chan to return to his room with a little nod. It was understood that Chan was in on the mission.

When Chan hurried back into their shared dorm, finally Soonyoung was the only one left in the hallway. There was a moment of silence between the junior and the senior before Doyoon let out a deep exhale. Soonyoung could feel his heart pick up the pace as he couldn't believe that he was actually going to be a part of the mission. Doyoon hadn't even said the words and Soonyoung was just about ready to cheer and jump for joy. Placing a hand on the plebe's shoulder, Doyoon gave him a reassuring smile, “Honestly Soonyoung, you weren't exactly the person I had in mind to send as a representative,”

Ouch.

“But,” Doyoon raised his voice when he saw the light in Soonyoung's eyes darken, “I picked you because you've got something that a lot of other plebes don't. It's curiosity. The other plebes here all have a talent that they're confident in, and that's not a bad thing. But then there's you, who doesn't even know what he's doing here. That's what I like about you, kid. You're keep things interesting because you never know what you'll be able to do,”

“Really?” Soonyoung couldn't help but smile. He was happy to hear such words from someone of a higher; especially since that senior was his idol for life.

“Well that, and because Jinli said she'd shut me down if I didn't send her little experiment on a test run,”

Oh.

“Alright plebes, I'm sure that your processors have told you, but this is the mission preparation room,” a female brunette said as she led the three plebes into a large room full of black lockers, “This is where the big boys prepare for all missions, whether it be ground, air or Weigyein elimination,”

While she rambled on about the basics, Soonyoung just squinted at her back, wondering if there was something wrong with his processor. Soonyoung was expecting his processor to display her information, but instead his vision center showed nothing. It took him about another few minutes to realize that it was because of her lack of a neural processor; after all, only pilots needed processors, and not regular people. Unlike a majority of the staff at the Academy, Kelly didn't wear the full body suit. Instead, there she was dressed like any regular doctor you would see above ground: light blue blouse, black pencil skirt, and crisp white lab coat. It was only until he searched for her profile in the built-in directory when he finally figured out who she was. Rank 5 Kestrel Head K-ounselor Kelly Hwang. K-odename Marionette. Head of Hostage Handling and Psychotherapist. This surprised Soonyoung. She was only one rank above him, yet she held higher positions of authority that were usually occupied by the higher ranks. On top of that, according to her birthdate, she was at least two years younger than him.

As they walked past never ending aisles of lockers and more lockers, they finally reached the back of the room. There were plebes from the other Wings standing there already. There were only a handful of them, but it didn't come as a surprise to Soonyoung since Dr. Hwang had told them that the number of representatives were based on the population of the Wings. From the Zhang Wing, there was only one representative, Shin Dongjin, and Yoora from the Hong Wing. However, there were no representatives from the Choi, Bu, Yoon or Zhou Wings. This perked his interests especially since Doyoon has specified that each Wing was getting a representative. It was weird that three of five Wings didn't have any representatives. Then again, he figured it was better not to ask. Besides, the less representatives there were, the less competition he had.

“Now that we have everyone together, I'd like to present to you all the basics of your mission for today. As your division heads should have mentioned to you all, the senior Kestrels today will not be available due to their monthly processor reprogramming,” Dr. Hwang eyed each one of them closely to make sure they were all paying attention. Her stiff expression made Soonyoung feel a bit uncomfortable; he hated it when things got too serious. Taking a quick glance at her clipboard, Dr. Hwang continued, “The seven of you will be accompanying K-ombatants Yao and Zai to a package over to the American Kestrel base and ensure that the package will be delivered safely,”

“What exactly are we escorting?” Soonyoung asked. He had seen this kind of thing in movies before, and usually they were either transporting weapons or a hostage. And putting two and two together, since it was the head of hostage handling who was giving them the mission, he assumed it might be a hostage.

“That information is classified, Mr. Kwon,”

“Another question. If the contents of this package were so important, why couldn't we just transport it via underground system?” he asked again, “I mean, why would we have to expose ourselves to the outside world where our lives are put in danger? Also, why-”

“Enough, Soonyoung!” Dr. Hwang's voice rose as she snapped at the taller boy. Her stern glare shot daggers past his soul, sending waves of goosebumps all over his body. The other plebes stared at him with wide-eyes, wondering how he could question superiors like that, but he just ignored them. They were honest questions after all. Why would a million dollar company put their precious weapons out in the open where they could be attacked? It just didn't make sense to him. Letting out a sigh, Dr. Hwang stepped over so that she was facing him, “It really isn't my obligations to you to answer your questions, and there are things better left unsaid. But before I go, I would like you to think long and hard about this question, plebe,”

Before he knew what was going on, Dr. Hwang was leaning forward on the tips of her toes, her face merely centimeters away from him. He could feel the blood rushing to his cheeks as his face grew warmer by the second. With the tip of her pen, she tapped the processors on the back of his neck, “Feel this processor, Kwon? Just the mere fact alone that you have this in your head makes you a living, breathing weapon. And what are weapons used for?”

“Fighting,”

Satisfied with his answer, she pulled away back into her original position, her lips quirking upwards into a snobbish smirk, “Now what point would it be for the national government to spend millions of dollars on creating war machines that are too scared to go out into the front lines? If you're scared to put your life in danger for the sake of humanity's betterment, I suggest you pull the plug and go back while you still can. Do you understand me?”

“Yes,” he mumbled under his breath softly.

“Excuse me, what did you say? I didn't hear you,”

“Yes, Doctor Hwang, ma'am,' Soonyoung said out loud with a rather agitated tone, making her feel greater about herself than she already did, “Good. Then if there are no more questions, K-ombatant Yao and Zai will be with you shortly,”

Once she left the room, the plebes were dead silent, letting the doctor's words sink in. Of all the plebes, they were chosen because they were the most skilled and most worthy. But that wasn't to say they didn't have their own worries either. What Doctor Hwang had told Soonyoung left deep impressions in their consciences. Were they really cut out for this life style? Did they really want to spend the rest of their lives living as the government's playthings? Heck, what were they still even doing there? Soonyoung had no idea why he was even continuing to be a part of this program. He wasn't like Chan who was here because both his parents were once Kestrel K-ombatants. Or like Yinzhi who was recruited for the program. Sonyoung was just...here for the ride.

“Dude, you should've known better than to blurt out random questions like that!” Chan elbowed the older boy annoyingly, “Now you've gone and just embarrassed yourself in front of everyone,”

“Embarrassed? More like he was actually glad he had spoken up about it,” Yinzhi scoffed from Soonyoung's right, “Did you see how red his face got when Doctor Hwang leaned in? Don't tell me you didn't enjoy that,”

Before Soonyoung even had a chance to defend himself, he was snapped back into standing position, and his head looked straight-ahead. From far away, he saw Hwanmyeong walking into the locker room, head down as she read over a details of the mission file folder she was holding. But there was no sign of Jinli anywhere. When she reached the back of the room, she closed the file and addressed the plebes accordingly. As she studied the plebes that were on her team, her eyebrows furrowed as if she were asking, 'This is it?'. When she got to Soonyoung though, there was a slightly irritated look in her eyes before she looked away and back at the group in general, “On behalf of the Kestrel officials, I apologize for the last minute decision. Doctor Hwang should have laid down the basic for you all, so now I will tell you the task requirements. Unfortunately, K-ombatant Zai is unable to join us today so I will be the only one supervising you lot,”

“The five of you will go undercover as plain clothes people and come with me aboard Korean Air. The package we are transporting contains something that is high in demand by the Rebels therefore, to avoid suspicions none of us will know each other,” Hwanmyeong explained in a clear voice, “Each of you will be carrying a cellphone to communicate with. Jinli has hidden the numbers for public network privacy reasons. Another safety procedure that was given to us by the airlines is that we must turn off our neural processors while in the air. Before we go, K-yborg Choi will switch them off for us. It's nothing personal or anything, but the pilots would prefer not to operate with interfering signals. If by any chance, something goes wrong and our cover is blown, you must follow protocol,”

Chan raised his hand, “What's the protocol?”

“Seriously, have none of you read your manuals?” Hwanmyeong angrily yelled, making the other plebes flinch at her sudden actions. When she realized her mistake, she took a deep breath and bluntly answered, “The protocol for in-air missions is to report to any fellow K-ombatant the problem, and try to contact leader of the team. If you are unable to communicate with the leader for any reason, K-ombatants must report to the HQ Command Center and report the situation. From there, CC becomes your leader and you must follow their instructions. Are we clear?”

“Clear,”

“I can't believe she assigned us to be brothers,” Chan said as he approached the baggage check with Soonyoung right beside him, “Se must have something against the two of us,”

“Or she figured that it would make more sense to make us know each other since we look like carbon copies,” Soonyoung lifted his only bag onto the conveyor belt, and began removing anything metal on him, “Besides, it's not like we can do anything about it at this point since we're not even allowed to talk to her,”

Of all the people on the team, Hwanmyeong was the only one who had already passed security. She didn't even have to go through checking or anything. She just told them to head off without her, and next thing they knew, when they got to the security lines, there she was sitting at a table with a cup of coffee in her hand and her cellphone in the other. How she even surpassed security, they didn't even know. Anyway, right now all the plebes had taken different lanes at the security check to make passage quicker. Behind Chan and Soonyoung was Dongjin. In the lanes on either side of them were Yoora and Yinzhi. When they were asked to walk through the gates, Soonyoung grew anxious; he was a walking piece of metal himself. If he was detected, wouldn't his cover be blown? Taking a deep breath, he took a few steps past the scanner awaiting a loud beeping, only to be cleared. His eyes widened in surprise, and he threw an astonished glance over at Chan who was just as stunned. Even Yoora made it through without a problem!

“Sir, you can take your things now,” the security said as he allowed the next person to go through, “Keep the line going,”

Apologizing, Soonyoung retrieved his belonging and moved over to the side so he could tie up his laces. In his opinion, he did have to give himself praise for still remembering how to dress casually. Wearing uniforms for the past few weeks made him really lazy in even caring about his appearance. Thank God he kept his old clothes, unlike Chan who had to had to go shopping for an outfit because he didn't bother bringing any decent clothes. Dressed in regular black skinnies, a red collared shirt, and matching maroon Converse, Soonyoung definitely blended in with the teenage boys of today. Once Chan and him reunited, they walked over to the coffee tables Hwanmyeong was sitting at, and sat about two seats away from her.

“I still can't believe we're flying first class!” Chan exclaimed excitedly, lifting his boarding pass up to Soonyoung's face, “This is the first time I've ever ridden in first class!”

Working for the government did have it's benefits after all. Turning over his boarding pass, Soonyoung couldn't help but marvel at the words 'First Class' written across the top. In a million years, even in his dreams, Soonyoung would have never thought he would ever be holding a plane ticket in his hands. His dad never showed any interest in traveling, and it's not like he even bothered trying to save up for one. In fact, his dad was unemployed for a good two months at one point in his life. Biting his lip, Soonyoung couldn't help but think back to what his dad might be doing. Did he know where his son was? Did he even care? Or was him leaving better for his dad financial wise? All these questions were making his head hurt.

Shaking his head, Soonyoung lifted his eyes and took a look around at his fellow teammates. He had never seen them before wearing regular clothes so he thought he would take the opportunity to treasure this rare moment. A few tables away from them, Yoora was typing away on her laptop. She was wearing a light blue and white striped long-sleeve shirt, blue jeans and white Vans. On the other side, Yinzhi was wearing an all black outfit composed of a form fitting shirt underneath a leather jacket, black boots and jeans. She had her legs sprawled out on the chair opposite her as she scrolled through her phone with her head tilted all the way back. Dongjin wore a plain blue hoodie and washout denim jeans with navy Converse. He looked like any regular 13 year old who was traveling back and forth between separated parents. Besides, that's what his alter ego's story was anyway. Then there was Hwanmyeong right in the middle of all of them in leggings, a long pink flannel shirt with a white cami underneath. Soonyoung had to admit, for the first time ever, the girls actually looked...feminine.

“Dude,” Soonyoung snapped out of his observation when Chan waved a hand in front of his face. With a quizzical look on his face, Soonyoung turned to look at the younger boy who then whispered, “Can you stop staring at Senior Yao? You're being kind of obvious!”

“What? Obvious?” Soonyoung stared at Chan with disbelief, “I wasn't staring at Senior Yao, for the record! I was just seeing what everyone was wearing before we go back to wearing uniforms everyday!”

Chan rolled his eyes, “Pfft, whatever. Believe what you want to believe, but either way, you're going to blow our cover!”