INTRODUCTION

27-01-2514

The air felt thick and sticky, biting at the girl’s throat as she abruptly rose from her bed. It was still dark but she had no time to wait for her eyes to adjust. She could hear loud rummaging from her brother’s room. The girl looked around frantically, her eyes still unable to see what was around her. She put out her hands and stumbled towards the door.

“Lights!” she commanded. She clung on the door frame, peering out across the hallway towards her brother's room.

“Y-Yuhan?” she called as the dewy lights automatically spilt over her. She could still hear groaning. The girl quickly made her way to the room opposite hers.

“Yuhan?” she called again as she rushed to her brother’s side. He was having another seizure. 

“L-lights!” the girl stammered. Her brother’s face was now clear under the fresh lighting. His face was jittering, his whole body jolting impulsively.

The girl dared not to remove her eyes from her brother. His own eyes were opened but hollow, gaping blankly at the ceiling above him as his body continued to shudder.

The girl grappled tightly onto Yuhan’s fingers as her free hand felt for the cabinet beside her. Her fingers glided over the smooth surface, fumbling to find the switch. Her eyes darted away from her brother, but she didn’t dare let him leave her sight for longer than a fraction of a second. She finally found the switch. A small bottle of medication rose from the top of the cabinet, a fog of cool compressed air escaping with it.

The girl could feel her heart clutter as her fingers refused to swiftly pick up the bottle. Half the medication spilt on the floor like pebbles. She clenched her teeth and picked it back up. She shook it rashly.

“C’mon, c’mon!” the girl begged until a pill finally fell into her palm.

“Jaehee, it’s Jaehee unnie,” the girl told Yuhan as she insisted the medicine be swallowed. After a few minutes of taking his medicine Yuhan had calmed down.

Jaehee sighed and wiped the sweat that had formed by her hairline. She gazed down at her brother, his mouth was gaping and his eyes were sheepish, not that they ever were more awake. She pressed her lips together and traced Yuhan’s face with her fingers. She pulled his blanket back up and tucked him in, dabbing the saliva that had dribbled its way down his chin.

Jaehee was used to her brother's seizures but it still scared her to death every time. Her brother was now thirteen, not a day in his life had he ever been considered ‘normal’ by outsiders. He was born with cerebral palsy, but it shouldn’t have made him any less human. Not only Yuhan, but their whole family was taunted and judged by others, acquaintances and strangers alike.

In this year and time, it was socially unacceptable. Most people with disabilities did not live long—if they were still an infant or child, they would be immediately put down, or if they were an adolescent or adult, they would be disowned by everyone they knew. Mothers would rather kill their child with their bare hands than accept them as their own. The world was cruel to those who were unable to play a part in its development. It was harsh, but necessary in the overpopulating globe.

A figure had appeared by the door some time during Jaehee’s trail of thought. She looked up to find their family android, Eve, waiting patiently. They had purchased her a few months ago to care for Yuhan while both their parents and Jaehee were out.

The robot had a beautiful face and stunning proportions, her perfection being the only thing keeping her from looking human at first glance.

‘She must have been timed to turn on at this time,’ Jaehee thought.

“Good morning, Jaehee-nim,” Eve smiled as if she were capable of holding emotions.

Jaehee nodded in acknowledgement. “Eve, I’m going to get ready for school. Please take care of Yuhan,” she instructed before leaving to eat breakfast.

Jaehee stood by the kitchen window as she chewed on a bland piece of toast. She could often see the neighbours living opposite them. In the small house lived a drunkard and his son, who fought on a daily basis. Recently, Jaehee had discovered the boy was a fellow student studying a year above her. She watched merely for entertainment since there was never anything interesting on television at this time.

Jaehee leant over the kitchen sink, watching in anticipation as she ate her breakfast. The boy’s fawn brown hair came into view right on cue. His tall figure hunched over to put on his shoes. Jaehee could almost predict the following events, ‘his father will appear from behind him and then they’ll argue about something,’ she told herself.

***

Junhong was pulling on his shoes when his dad came from behind him to kick him in the back. The boy stumbled forward, his father belched out a loud laugh.

Junhong felt a sudden urge to pick up the shoe that had fallen in front of him and hurl it into his father’s face. He swallowed the dry itch in his throat with clenched fists. He turned around slowly, any faster he felt like he would immediately tackle the old man to the floor.

“What do you want?” Junhong muttered in a low voice. His eyes were already stinging with rage, along with sleep deprivation caused by last night’s drunken medley of off-tune songs. 

“Boy! You haven’t brought a girl home and you’re almost finished high school!” his father bellowed. He was swaying to and fro, fumbling with his feet as much as his words. He leant on the wall. A cigarette hovered by his mouth, missing every chance it got to reach his lips, and in his other hand was two bottles of beer.

Junhong watched the cigarette waver. He wanted to grab it and shove it down the old man’s throat. Then watch him choke on it and cough out fumes of black smoke like those chimneys in old documentaries. He bit down on the aggression and instead stared coldly at his father, silently waiting for him to leave.

“Ay!?” his father yelled, demanding a reply.

Junhong rolled his eyes and bent over to pick up his shoe. “And what would I do with a girl?” he groaned, he decided it would take too much of his precious effort to argue with him. His black eye had just faded and he didn’t want another one just yet.

His father gave him a sheepish grin as he took a gulp from one of his two beers. He his lips. Most of the liquid had completely missed his mouth and had spilt on the floor, never to be drunk—unless he got desperate enough of course.

“You know son!” he gave his son a lop-sided grin and a whimsical chuckle. “Don’t they teach you anything in school?” the old man said as he made a lousy attempt to poke his finger in and out of an 'O' shape created by his cigarette-holding hand.

Junhong replied with a sickened grunt. “You’re disgusting!”

“Any is fine! I don’t want my son being a !” Junhong’s father continued, letting out a thundering laugh. “Ay! The girl next door’s probably interested. Looky-here she’s watching us!” He pointed a fat finger at the girl as he swung his arm around his son. “Hello!” he waved. The girl immediately ducked down, pretending to have been looking at something else.

“Don’t ing touch me,” Junhong growled as he threw his father’s arm off his shoulders. It was heavy and reeked of booze.

“Ay ay!” his father hooted, “What’ you going to do? Run away like that did? Huh?!”

Junhong scowled. “Don’t you ing dare call mum a !” he yelled. 

“You ungrateful bastard!” his father yelled as he smashed a bottle on the ground.

Junhong sneered and turned to leave. He quickly shut the door behind him, making it loud as possible.

Soon enough Junhong had reached campus. He hadn’t realized he had walked so far since he had been too deep in thought listing reasons why he despised his father.

His shoulders felt heavy, carrying the burden of a drunkard. His stomach was churning with disgust and revulsion. Junhong had been swearing under his breath all the way to the school building. He never ran out of insults to detest his pig of a father. His chest felt dense and his mind felt swollen, numb from the lack of care that could only be provided by a mother.

Gradually Junhong released his anger. He exhaled, finally relieving himself of the heavy hatred.

Junhong walked through the hallway. There was still some time left before the first class so many people were still arriving, roaming the corridors or chatting to friends.

As Junhong made his way to his first class he noticed a suspicious group of girls. It felt like a common sight, a group of girls picking on a misfit. He often noticed the girl wandering alone during breaks. The only time he sees her interacting with someone, other than bullies, would be in the morning, on the occasion they arrived the same time. She was often driven to school by an older man, probably in his early to mid-twenties—rumour has it that it’s an affair.

Junhong frowned. He did not want to be included in such a filthy story, be it true or not, so he continued on walking.

***

She felt her world crumble once again, more accurately it felt more like they were stamping on the rubble of her world. She had noticed students walk by, giving her the blind eye.

She watched as a brown haired boy walk pass; she had noticed the hiccup in his step before he left. It felt as if he had purposely given her hope only to mock her. ‘Help me…’ the girl wanted to plead.

“Oh poor Nara,” one of the girls mocked as she pushed Nara towards the other girls. There were a total of six of them, throwing the other girl between each other before finally pushing her on to the ground. They towered above her in their short skirts, make-up masked faces and smug grins. 

“What?” another one frowned, her foundation creasing into her expression lines. “Are you going to call one of the boys you have wrapped around your finger to come save you?”

Nara shook her head. She avoided looking directly into the girls’ eyes. She didn’t know what else to say. She was on the verge of tears, her chest squelching in fear's grasp. Her life was on repeat—stalkers in the morning, bullies in the hallways, and then when they’re all gone, no one. She was always scared, miserable or lonely. That’s all she had ever learnt about in school.

“I-it’s not my fault,” she whimpered.

Nara hesitated to lift her eyes from the ground, glassy after the school’s drones had polished them. The surface jeered at her snotty face. She could feel the muscles in her face clamp as the other girls snapped.

The girls gave her a disgusted look. 

“Who gave you permission to talk?!” one of them squawked and kicked her in the stomach.

Nara’s fragile body jerked backwards. She coughed and grasped at her sides. She could feel the tears tapping at her eyes.

“P-please leave me alone!” she cried.

“Then what, will you run to one of your fan boys?” one smirked. “!”

“You’re not even that pretty!”

“You’re just an android, aren’t you? You’re stupid and don’t have any emotions, just a pretty face!!”

“You’ve had millions of surgeries, have you? You’re so fake!”

“You’re ugly and cheap!”

They spat insults one after the other. Nara squeezed her eyes shut. She thought she’d be able to avoid bullies once she entered high school but was immediately exiled. It wasn’t her fault boys continuously tried to talk to her, honestly she preferred they didn’t.

“Oppa…” she grumbled in desperation.

“What? Are you really calling for one of those boys?!”

‘Where is he?’ she thought to herself. ‘Save me…’

There was only one man Nara could depend on; her precious childhood friend, Youngjae.

Youngjae was four years older than her and Nara had known him ever since she was three. Ever since middle school, he would drop her off in the morning to avoid stalkers. Inevitably this stirred suspicions. She didn’t care about the rumours, he was all she had and she needed him now.  

***

Youngjae exhaled as he stood by the office door holding several take-away coffee cups. His department’s supervisor had told him sending an android to do the errand would only waste their charge, ‘they have better things to do.’

“They have better things to do,” Youngjae repeated to himself. He had better things to do too. “Androids can’t write your reports,” he muttered.

Nonetheless, the moment he opened the door, Youngjae was all smiles. He handed cups of coffee to the other workers half-heartedly with a fulfilled smile on his face. Despite them all being equal employees he was always sent out to do the odd jobs. Maybe it was because he was the youngest, maybe it was because he was the most desperate, or maybe it was both. If he wasn’t in dire need of money, he would have quit. Unfortunately he was in dire need of money and so he couldn't quit until the debts were paid off.

After emptying his arms Youngjae walked over to his own desk. He had just adjusted into his seat when a fellow employee approached him.

“Yoo Youngjae, my report on the company’s stock sale is due this afternoon. I need it emailed to me in two hours so I can present it in this afternoon’s meeting with the CEO.” The man smiled at him, assuming the rookie would be pressured to take the job.

“Sure,” Youngjae replied bluntly. He had been working in the office for almost half a year and his title of ‘rookie’ still hadn’t worn out. If he didn’t do what he was told by his superiors, he would be immediately reported to the supervisor and fired on the spot.

Once the man had disappeared Youngjae turned back to his computer.

“Start,” he commanded. A screen flashed before him. He slid his fingers in the air, dragging files here and there. He could no longer tell apart his fellow employees’ work to his own. There was a mess of files within files, within files, to be sent to this person by this time.

The man sitting beside him was peering over at Youngjae’s desk. “You didn’t get yourself a coffee?” the man asked.

Youngjae suddenly realized he was the only one who hadn’t bought one. He shook his head.

The employee frowned, “Now that I think of it you never do.”

Youngjae smiled. “I don’t like coffee,” he lied.

“Fair enough.”

Honestly he liked it more or less. It was just that he didn’t want to spend however much it cost for a small cup of liquid. The economy was tough on guys like him.

Youngjae sighed as he opened up a new document. He clipped a small earpiece in that traced around the back of his ear. It was a fairly common device that allowed thoughts to be transmitted onto the screen without moving a finger. He started on the stock sale report due in two hours.

Lately, Youngjae had been troubled by many things; one being the search for a second job. He had been busy with trying to find a second job without using an excess of his internet at home, so more than often he was using the company’s internet to find vacancies, every now and then getting caught.

“If I don’t meet the deadline I might get fired. If I get fired I won’t be able to make money and then I’ll be in even more debt,” he muttered to himself as flocks of text appeared onscreen.

Another issue troubling him was Nara, a childhood friend of his. She was only sixteen but had a long history of bullying for her age. Due to stalkers and creeps in the mornings, he would drive her to school. Recently, the cost of hydrogen fuel had drastically risen and it cost him a fortune to drive her to school then drive himself to work, which was in the opposite direction.

“But I’m never letting those wolves near Nara,” Youngjae murmured to himself.

Suddenly the CEO’s son had entered and everyone stood to bow. Youngjae did so obediently though his mind still wafted on the report.

The heir beamed, greeting everyone as they turned back to their work. Youngjae sat back down, shocked at the unintentional trail of thought that made its way into his report.   

‘I’m never letting those wolves near Nara,” was printed between the comparisons of several stock prices. He felt blood rush to his ears, his embarrassment taking the form of frantic thoughts appearing on the screen.

Youngjae yanked the earpiece off and began to manually delete the section from his report just as the CEO’s son approached his desk. 

***

Himchan reluctantly walked around the company building, small-talking with the employees. They always seemed to hold onto formalities even though a majority of them had lived a decade or so more than him. It was such a hassle, the life of a son to a large company's CEO. Only recently had he learnt what the business was about. They produced and researched on advance technologies, specifically androids. A whole five floors of the twenty-one floor building was dedicated to the production and experimentation of these man-made beings.

When asked by his father to become the successor, Himchan had initially refused the offer saying it was little to no interest to him. He later learned it wasn’t a question, or even a request, but a demand.

Every now and then, Himchan would walk around the company like this to keep his father off his back. He forced himself to know of the latest advances of technology and the company’s progression in case his father ever brought up the topic.

Himchan beamed at the workers, wondering with who he could waste more of his time with. He picked a rather young looking worker, probably a few years younger than himself and approached him. He noticed the employees rush to erase something off his screen, grinning as he read a girl’s name before it was erased.

“That’s the problem with mind-controlled devices,” Himchan chuckled.

The employee turned around and nodded timidly. His tag read ‘Yoo Youngjae.’

“Yoo Youngjae, keep up the good work.” Himchan grinned, patting Youngjae on the back. His phone earpiece chimed and he politely excused himself into the hallway.

Out in the hallway Himchan pressed the button on his phone.

“Hello, this is TS Global’s, Kim Himchan,” he instinctively answered.

A familiar voice spoke, a close friend of his was calling to ask how he was doing.

***

Yongguk chuckled at the formal greeting his friend gave him. He must have been expecting another business man.

“Himchan, it’s just me,” he laughed.

“Oh Yongguk? Hey, how are you?”

The voice was as clear as day, as if the real thing was standing before him. Yongguk hesitated to answer. “Y—yeah I’m doing well, and yourself?”

“You can’t fool me,” the voice on the phone groaned.

Yongguk laughed wryly, his eyes wandering down to his legs.

“How’s your new legs?” asked Himchan.

Yongguk began to mutter in shallow disappointment. “After all the advancements in technology you’d think they would have figured a way to make your legs feel like they’re your legs.” He sighed. It had been years since the incident and yet he still could only manage an awkward waddle.

“Just give it some time.”

“It’s been three years,” Yongguk heaved a heavy sigh. “I’m grateful to be alive but it hurts to live.”

There was a pause on the phone. “I’ll make sure this company can at least make you a pair of legs to your liking,” Himchan said, “My situation could be put into some use at least.”

Yongguk smiled weakly and was about to say something but was quickly interrupted.

“Sorry, I’ve got to get back to work. Take care,” and like that the line was cut.

Yongguk brought his hand to his thigh, slowly moving it down to his knee where it suddenly became a mixture of plastics, metals and synthetic skin.

He pursed his lips. He should have been accustomed to it by now. It had been three years since both his legs were blown off by a mine during battle.

Despite The Third World War ending three years ago, the world had quickly settled back down. Fortunately the battle was short, like a sudden outburst. Not many came out with injuries, maybe a few thousands, since most people died immediately—even though medicine had made a sudden development, so had explosives.

Yongguk ran his fingers through his hair, which had inevitably overgrown. He did not wish to visit the barber since it would probably just put him to shame.

Unfortunately, he was unable to avoid the public fully since he was in need of food. Though it wasn’t all too necessary, Yongguk had sold his android in order to adjust his prosthetic legs.

“Only made it worst,” he grumbled to himself. Now that he no longer had Steve, which was what he called his android, he couldn’t instruct him to grab the groceries.

Yongguk frowned and pulled himself off his seat. He wanted to drive but the doctor had advised him to practice walking. ‘The reason why you’re still uncomfortable is because you don’t walk around enough. Put down your pride if you ever want to walk properly again,’ he recalled his doctor saying. It really pissed him off.

“I can at least walk to the nearest convenience store,” he muttered reluctantly.

Yongguk forced his way to the convenience store, several blocks away from his house. There was a large grocery store a few blocks closer in the opposite direction but that place would have more people, meaning more attention, meaning more shame. This convenient store was small but on the other hand much less popular, which what Yongguk was looking for.

The sheen glass doors opened before him. This was the one store he knew had not one android working in it. Though androids were widely used in the household and workplace, not everyone had accepted them yet and not everyone could afford them.

Yongguk walked through the aisles, picking up a small bag of rice and some ramen to last him the week. He could feel the employee’s eyes gawking at him and so he did his best to keep his composure.

Yongguk trudged to the cashier and dumped the items on the desk. It was one of those self-service checkouts that never liked to cooperate with Yongguk. He scratched his head reluctantly and readied himself for the upcoming frustration. He picked up the first item and zapped it under the laser. He did the same for the following ones, the yellowing screen still blinking happily at him. It was when he was about to pay that the machine began chewing him up.

Yongguk glared at the checkout as it began spewing out multiples of his purchased items, doubling the total cost. He turned around and almost immediately made eye contact with the employee. The boy’s eyes quickly dropped and he continued stocking up new items on the shelves.

Yongguk frowned and attempted to get a glimpse of the boy’s name tag to call him over. He had assumed he was a new employee. On the occasions Yongguk had visited the store, not once had he seen this boy. Often it was the cranky old lady who owned the store or, if later in the day, it was a slightly taller, tanned boy. He realized his assumptions were correct when he noticed the yellow trainee tag pinned just above the worker’s name pin.

“Moon Jongup?” Yongguk called awkwardly, slurring his words in case he had read his name wrong.

Jongup turned around looking slightly startled.

Yongguk pointed at the machine, “It’s broken.”

***

Jongup had curiously watched the man enter and walk around the store. The man had a character in his prideful walk despite the occasional jerking motion. After the man had called him over, he thought he was about to receive a scolding or lecture, and so timidly rushed over with his head down.

Jongup couldn’t help but wonder what kind of incident he had gotten into as he explained the checkout had been acting weird since yesterday. ‘Is he an android?’ he thought as he gave the man a quick glance. He quickly dismissed the assumption upon seeing the glowering impatience in the customer’s face. ‘A war veteran probably…’ he concluded as he recalled how he was able to narrowly avoid the enlistment requirements.

“Have a good day,” Jongup chanted as he swiftly fixed the machine and handed the man his items. He watched for a minute as the man marched towards the door.

“Jongup!” the old lady running the store beckoned.

“Yes?” he replied, his eyes still glancing at the man.

“Has Jung Daehyun arrived yet?” The old lady had made her way to the cashier where Jongup stood. She was plump from her cheeks to her ankles, and possibly even down to her toes.

Jongup shook his head. “No, not yet.”

The lady sighed and waved her finger in the air. “He’s always late, that boy probably stayed up playing virtual whatnot games,” she growled.  

“Virtual-reality games,” Jongup corrected.

The lady gave him a disappointed look. “Don’t tell me you play them too? Ah, all the youngsters these days are wasting their youth in those fantasies!”

***

Daehyun woke up satisfied by his amount of gameplay. He scratched his head warily as he adjusted to the plain surroundings of his dimly lit cluttered room. From the sound of buzzing over the road, he assumed it was probably mid-morning.

Daehyun smiled smugly as he rolled back into the comfort of his bed. He inhaled the smell of his pillows, a mixture of sweat and lavenders filled his lungs. ‘Lavenders,’ he thought, that’s what the company claimed their softener to smell like. He wondered if it really did smell like lavenders, he had never bothered to visit the enclosure before. All those folly flowers and space-wasting trees were moved to enclosures by the Government about two decades ago. The only reason they hadn’t been cut down yet were because they attracted tourists, and hence money. 'Provides oxygen for free,' nature lovers would protest, but with the recent creation of CO₂ - O₂ converters, plants were no longer needed.

Daehyun lay in bed for a while longer, thinking about what the world had been like a hundred years ago. Back in school, he remembered history being shoved into the little room of their heads, only to be used in exams and then thrown out and refilled again. The endless, time-consuming, money-wasting procedure was finally abolished a few years ago.

In the current day, children were only obliged to attend school from the age of four to eighteen. Afterwards they were either transferred to universities or dismissed. The decision of attending or missing university was decided by the student, consented by their parents and lastly judged by the Government. If the Government said ‘go’ they go, if they said ‘no’ they don’t. Government ruling was final and really the opinions of the child and parents didn’t matter, they were just formalities and a device to keep society content with their false power.

These harsh conditions were set up in order to ensure the best of the best were secured a place in a university. With the country’s—no, whole world’s population being too high, not enough universities can be funded to allow all the educated population to attend university. Since countries’ have become frugal, due to their over-crowding, most nations have decided to use this system. To ensure the future would have the brightest doctors, scientists, engineers and so on, to keep the world developing, the Government picks which students would continue learning and what they would learn, and which would be forced into the trades.   

Daehyun lay sprawled out on bed, wondering how much talent could possibly be missed. His thoughts jumped from one topic to another and before he knew it, he was over two hours late for his shift at the convenience store.

“,” he cursed as he jolted out of bed.

He hastily shoved on the first pair of pants he laid eyes on then shovelled through his duvets to find his shirt. The moment he clipped his phone onto his ear lobe, it began to ring.

Still zipping up the fly of his jeans, Daehyun answered his phone.

“Hello?” he said, slightly out of breath as he rushed to brush his teeth. ‘At a moment like this, an android would be useful,’ he thought. He hadn’t bothered buying one because he was hardly even home and it would cost him a fortune.

“Jung Daehyun!” a gruff voice snarled, Daehyun almost mistook it for a man’s.

“Auntie!” Daehyun chirped. He stood still, smiling dumbly as if the store owner was in the same room. “I’m on my way to work right now!” he lied.

“You’re almost three hours late,” the old lady grumbled, slightly weakened by the boy’s charming greeting.

“Something came up and I got too busy to call in late. The new employee's there though, right?” he chanted, hoping she’d let him off like she always did.

There was a growling growing louder in his ear. Daehyun could almost feel the breath of a beast driving into his ear and tickling the hairs on the back of his neck.

“I’ve given you more than enough warnings, Jung Daehyun!”

‘Here it comes,’ Daehyun thought, preparing himself for the final blow he had been victim to from his previous bosses.

“You’re fired!” the old lady thundered and immediately dropped the line like there was nothing else to say.

Daehyun sighed and threw off his shirt. He felt somewhat baffled but at the same time relieved. He chuckled lightly to himself as he fell back into bed.

“I’ll find another job,” he assured himself. He glimpsed at the clock—10:46am.

If he recalled correctly, the game would be released to the public at 12 o’clock that afternoon.

He grinned. It meant the functions that had not yet been enabled, which Daehyun had been itching to try, would be available. Parties and Guilds could be formed and quests unlocked. He soon became giddy with the thought of endless possibilities.

“I’ll log in and wait for the release in game,” Daehyun announced to himself.

Daehyun buried himself under his duvets. He pulled out his arm. A smooth white bangle was locked around his wrist—it had a single button indented on its flawless surface. He pushed down on the button and waited for unconsciousness to engulf him.

It was like the feeling of falling in your sleep. Your mind and body fall endlessly. Suddenly you are pulled up from your chest and you jolt, awake in cold sweat.

Daehyun was welcomed with a gush of cool air biting at his skin. It whooshed past his ears and wrapped him in its arms. Once the wind had calmed down, he opened his eyes to the familiar setting. He was hovering in mid-air, in a black space between reality and virtual reality—in other words the entrance of Paradox Online.

Daehyun looked around him, not that there was much to look at since it was pitch black. White text was hovering in front of him, waiting. It read simply;

USERNAME:

PASSWORD:

Author's Note: It's real long huh. Thanks for waiting patiently for the redo of this. The poster's real cool, right? I got so excited when I saw it. This is basically an introduction of the main characters and their backgrounds before the actual story starts. It got a lot more dark this time...