Sunlight filtered in through the open window along with the cool breeze inherent to those parts at the end of summer, making the yellow curtains flutter lightly and graze the dining room table that was, as most other furniture in the amply spaced house, a simple design crafted from dark oak. A child sat on the light wooden floor behind the battered brown leather sofa, taking up little space and making even less noise as the news anchor's chatter filled the air.

"All preparations are in place for the Inter-galactic Summit to be held in New Da-" 

Xiu looked up as the iRadio's voice became too low to make out it's words anymore just to catch the eye of the woman passing by it.

"Xiang," The little girl stretched her arms out, letting the toys that had previously occupied her hands fall to the floor. 

"Princess," The woman leant down and hooked her hands below Xiu's arms, bringing her up to her chest and letting her legs wrap around her waist.

Having taken only a few steps, they were already inside the warmly lit kitchen. She set the toddler down on the long counter that separated them from the living room and spun, getting to work on their lunch. 

"You went to the market?" Xiu asked, watching Xiang start pulling out ingredients from a white plastic bag that had previously been hanging from her wrist.

The elder hummed, "I did."

"Was it better than last time?" The little girl asked, tilting her head so her short, straight hair grazed her right shoulder. 

Xiang suddenly spun, ladle in hand, and shook her head, making a face. "If anything," She confided, "It was worse." 

Xiu pouted, obviously jilted by the news, "So we don't have any rice to eat? Does anyone have any rice to eat?" 

"Actually, Princess," Xiang raised an eyebrow slyly, "I don't think anyone else does have any rice to eat." Xiu was visibly disappointed, but perked up at the next word she heard, "But." The woman exclaimed dramatically.

"But what, Xiang?" Xiu asked, bouncing in her seat. "But what?"

Suddenly, as if it were a magic trick, Xiang brought her left hand out from behind her back, revealing a medium sized bag of white rice. "Ta-da!" She shouted, making Xiu giggle wildly, as if it really were a magic trick.

"Rice!" Xiu shouted between her laughter. "We have rice!"

Xiang chuckled, as well, "We have rice, Xiu! We have rice!"

-

X opened her eyes slowly, reluctantly, refusing to focus on her surroundings, refusing to acknowledge where she was.

Rice, Xiu! We have rice! She shook her head once, twice. 

As if on cue, her door creaked open. 

"The commander called for you," The hostility in Jaehyo's voice was not even poorly disguised. 

X met his eyes and nodded. Just like that, her dream was forgotten.

-

"I can't believe that old geezer's using me as a friggin' messenger for his pet," Jaehyo mutter to himself, shaking his head and pushing the door to their block open once the sensor's light blinked green. "I wish we'd never met X."

"X?" P.O. sat up like a puppy who's name had been called. "Did you say something about X?" He asked, oblivious to Jaehyo's glare. "I haven't seen her around since last time."

"Neither have I," B-Bomb mused. "I wonder what block she's in."

"I thought she was staff?" U-Kwon pushed himself up on his elbows from the bed he was lying on face down. 

"She's not," Jaehyo growled. 

"Jaehyo," Zico suddenly said, not bothering to look up from his comic book. His was voice low: a warning.

"She's not one of us." The elder said once more before striding into the adjoining bathroom and slamming the door behind him.

"What's that supposed to mean?" B-Bomb murmured, meeting U-Kwon's similarly puzzled gaze.

Kyung sat up immediately, already fabricating excuses in his mind, but their leader replied before he could put his deceptive skills to use.

"Don't mind him," Zico said simply, closing the topic and lazily flipping a page.

"He's just bitter cause he got rejected." Kyung added quickly.

Taeil raised an eyebrow, having stayed quiet the whole time. He glanced at Kyung, who was just relaxing into his seat again, eyeing the bathroom door warily. From an objective point of view, weren't they being too inconsistent?

-

I'm a murderer, I'm a murderer. 

X couldn't help but recall the grief-stricken words, looking up at where the commander sat in the courtroom, flanked by the rest of the Institution's heavy-weights. Even soldiers can let themselves go like this, she noted. War seemed to have eliminated any and all hardship they used to face. They had evolved from generals to politicians, become round and red, like ripe fruit, and she had the undeniable urge to cut them. 

Just as her hand twitched, and her heart managed to pump blood stronger just once, though, J spoke, reminding her exactly where she was.

"In 72 hours, you will officially be considered a member of Block B." What?

X blinked, but otherwise didn't react. 

"We would like to remind you that this means both accompanying the block wherever they go, including missions, and placing their objectives, and their safety, as your top priority during said missions." J shuffled the papers he had been reading from, then added, glancing over them, at her. "Nevertheless, you will remain in your own block during lights out and lock in." His gaze dropped and she could hear the rustling of the documents stop when he said, "Understood?"

No. 

"Yes, sir."

-

If they had just been looking for an excuse to kill me, X reasoned, her footsteps silent, the tag she had been obliged to slide onto the silver chain around her neck, that boldly boasted a letter B, making a not entirely unpleasant tinkling noise as it collided against the one she had previously worn, which had a smaller, faded X in cursive engraved on it, every time she tood a step further down the hallway, they could have thought of hundreds of simpler, more efficient alternatives.

In fact, she stopped walking, brow furrowed, they don't need an excuse. They could just kill her. Slit , give her a lethal injection, starve her, burn her alive, they could literally do anything they wanted. They had full power. They were completely in control. 

They were completely in control when they made the decision to place her, a human, one of their mortal enemies, in the block with the second best results in the Institution. 

She turned her head and stared at the door to her left, staring at the words printed smack in the middle of the metal unwaveringly as if, somehow, she'd be able to see her new teammates through it.

Were they giving her a chance? Was this J's try at redemption? Would she perhaps, during one of their missions, have the chance to... escape? Even in her mind, the word had to be whispered, almost merely hinted at, out of fear. She didn't know until just what extent they could monitor her. 

Of course, she knew better than to expect the commander to have human attributes, simple things like the ability to regret or care. These creatures, she thought grimly, do they even have such things as consciences? It w