Rei

7 January, 3078

   The shrill cry of fear.

  The sharp thud of flesh hitting flesh.

  The raised voices.

  He could hear it all from where he lay, surrounded by chilly metal and bright lights.

  He wanted, no, needed to be at the source of the sounds, needed to barrel though the large doors and race there.

  But what was there? What did he need to be there for?

  He trashed feebly, held back and subdued by the drugs that had been pumped into his body, by the thick steel bands that secured him to the table.

  Someone needed him. But who was it?

  It was his sister, wasn’t it? He suddenly felt a wave of anger bubble up and crash over him. It was his sister out there; it was his sister those harsh sounds was directed at.

  He struggled, trying to lash out, screaming curses at the restraints on him. He wanted to shout for her, to reassure her that big brother was coming to protect her, that there was no need to fear.

  But there was nothing. He couldn’t remember her name.

  What was it? He needed to call her. What was it? Her name danced at the tip of his tongue just out of his reach.

  His breaths were becoming ragged as he tried to force out the syllabuses. But it was no use. Her name remained an empty slate in his mind.

  Instead, he settled for screaming, all his previously bottled emotions unleashed in a blood curdling shriek of pure fury.

  And then he felt a mask shoved over his face, effectively cutting off all sounds. He moved his hands, trying to claw it off, but it was no use, not with those bands. He tasted a cool gas, swirling around his features and invading his senses. It was sweet with the promise of making him forget about his troubles if he just surrendered to it.

  And he almost gave himself to it, closing his eyes in bliss when a stream of terrified pleas erupted from outside.

  His eyes flashed open. His sister, he needed to help her.

  He was filled with a new found will to fight to her.

  And then he gasped, clawing at his throat as all air was suddenly cut off. It started off with a dull ache in his lungs, quickly escalating into a blaze that threatened to melt him. It was the cloying scent, blocking off any access to breathable air as it enveloped him.

  His vision was darkening, turning blood red at the edges as he tried to free his hands to rip the mask off.

  And then the slithering sounds started, growing louder by the second. With wild eyes, he cast his gaze to the door, where trails of blood had started to seep in from under the door. They flowed towards the table, thin tendrils wrapping around the legs as they crawled higher, high enough to wrap around his body and anchor him down in an endless stream that curled around his face and obscured his vision.

  The lights were flickering, the screams outside growing louder as the pain ate him from the inside, trying to force its way out. His chest constricted as he tried to in nonexistent air, the tendrils wrapping tighter around in an almost loving embrace. He needed to get out; he needed to remember her name.

  The world exploded in a shower of sparks and blood and sent him spiraling down an abyss of agony, only for everything to suddenly stop in time, the blackness dissolving into nothingness because at that moment, he remembered.

  Her name was Kim Hyoon.

---

  Mikoto Rei awoke with a jolt.

  For a second he lay still, taking in the metal that pressed in on all sides except one. It was dark, save for the weak light filtered in through grimy glass that faced him, giving him a blurry view of countless identical boxes like the one he was in. Stale smelling air hissed in through a vent above his head, ruffling his hair lightly as he blinked his vision clear.

  Where was he? Thinking hurt right now, but he had vague memories of attempting to claw some eyes out before lightning in his brain sent him crashing to the ground.

  It was several more seconds before he realized that he still could not breathe, namely because one, the freezing cold gas that lapped around his body was most certainly not the oxygen he craved, and two, the wired mask he assumed brought him air was currently not secured around his face but wrapped around his legs like a constrictor boa.

  Rei squinted, scanning the cramped box for a switch, lever or anything that seemed to be a way out, mentally kicking himself because why the hell would something like that be inside within his reach. As far as he could tell, there was only one way out.

  His lungs were already starting to itch. He probably had at most a minute or two. He needed to move fast, but the cable was in his way.

  Not that it posed that big of a problem.

  He moved his hands in front of him, wincing as they forcibly scraped along the sides of the box. Grasping a short segment of the metallic cable in each hand, he tugged them in opposite directions, feeling triumphant when he felt it start to give way.

  He could feel it stretching to its limit, dust crumbling off in his grip and swirling around his face in a gloomy cloud. It wore thinner and thinner, until it suddenly snapped with a resounding crack that echoed around.

  With the two ends now flapping uselessly around him, Rei wasted no time in uncoiling its remnants and throwing them to his feet with a huff of exertion.

  By now, his brain was screaming for air, the world starting to swim as he tried to breathe in vain. But he resolutely pushed it all to the back of his mind, instead focusing on the one task that was the difference between his life and death.

  The glass was thick, looking to be about 10cm of solid bulletproof material. Breaking it would never be an easy job, but that was what Rei was trying to do as he stomped a foot against it, trying to muster enough energy to at least crack it and allow some fresh air through.

  One, two, three kicks and the glass remained frustratingly intact.

  Another kick and the tiniest imagination of cracking solid could be heard if he strained his ears.

  Placing his hands on the pane, Rei threw all his remaining energy into shoving against it while aiming a powerful foot towards it. It worked, a small fissure the length of his finger appearing in the middle.

  It was laughable, how tiny it was, but it was a huge boost for his morale. At that point, black spots were already dotting his vision and his limbs were burning from their sudden extensive use after a long break. But nevertheless, he managed to summon up a last dredge of willpower and determination to rain a barrage of punches and stamps against the pane until finally, finally, it swayed as the fissure started to spiderweb across the rest of the glass.

  The moment the glass exploded outwards was the moment exhaustion overtook him, forcing him to his knees as he knelt half in and half out of the box. He wheezed, in blissful lungfuls of sweet air, uncaring of the sharp shards that punctured his skin and laughing maniacally at the close shave he had just experienced.

  When he at last felt his energy returning, he slowly lifted his head to scan his surroundings. He was in a dark and musty space that seemed to stretch on further than the eye could see in all directions. Large shapes loomed out of the inky darkness punctuated by the occasional blinking lights and the even rarer beams of sunlight that streamed in through the gaping holes in the ceiling.

  Slowly getting to his feet, Rei swiveled to scowl at the hole he had just broken out of. It was literally just a rectangular coffin that was barely a few inches taller than him, extremely narrow, and looked as uncomfortable as it had felt. It was comprised of several inches of cold metal, with even more plates nailed neatly on top. On the inside, tangles of wires could be seen where the stark white wall had disintegrated and the steel bands once used to secure bodies down had long since detached and fallen to the ground uselessly.

  And sitting in a stand protruding from the side where the door had once been was a small, dimly lit screen covered in cracks and dirt. Hobbling over with a protest of aching muscles, Rei pulled the screen closer to his face. Through the dust, he could barely make out a profile; his profile. He skimmed through it, grimacing at the very unflattering picture of him before flinging it to the ground at the lack of useful information.

  He clicked his tongue. It was all so pathetic. Top-notch technology, and this was what they were using? Old, faulty machines?

  With a grumble of curses under his breath, Rei his heel and lurched away on his quest to find someone to complain to.

  He limped away from his capsule, a black shape moving through the shadows.

  It was deathly quiet, he realized after a good few minutes. The only sounds were the patter of tiny feet or the hiss of someone breathing. Where was everyone?

  He passed by countless others, all still stuck in states of rest. Although unable to see through the dirty glass and too lazy to try, those he did glimpse caused shivers to run down his spine. They lay, arms folded over their chest, metallic straps around their necks, legs and torsos; eyes shut in expressions of childish innocence that contrasted with the large gas masks hiding their features and the rotting environment they were in.

  And those were the lucky ones, the ones whose supply of air kept them linked to the world. Unlike the poor souls whose masks had long since fallen off their faces, now hanging loosely around them, a morbid necklace that complemented pale bone and decomposing flesh.

  It was obvious that no living human had stepped in in years, if not by the dead cyborgs, then by the thick layer of dust and grim that coated almost every surface.

  Where had all the scientists, doctors and engineers gone?

  Where had all life fled to?

  And suddenly, out of nowhere, new sounds emerged. Sounds of a human or a cyborg.

  Tap, tap, tap.

  “Oi, you , wake up.”

  The clink of fingernails striking glass sounded from just ahead, and unconsciously, Rei quickened his pace, almost scurrying towards it in a sudden instinctual desire for human company.

  He found himself gradually quickening, until he was practically running and tripping over unseen things as he rounded a corner and skidded to a halt.

  He was not sure what he had been expecting, but it was certainly not this.

  A young boy keeling in front of yet another pane of glass, impatiently pounding it with his fists or pausing to cup his hands to it and hurling verbal abuse at whoever was inside.

  This person clearly had a screw loose, was Rei’s only thought as he tried to back away silently, only to have his knee abruptly buckle under him. It was too late then, for the boy’s head jerked up in alarm, wide eyes piercing through the dark for danger and his body tensed and ready to either run or fight.

  Upon seeing another conscious person, the boy relaxed, a wide smile spreading across his face as he stood up in a fluid motion and stared at Rei.

  The two silently examined each other, Rei deciding that lunatics were not what he needed right now. As fast as he could, he turned and sprinted off.

  Or at least, he tried to.

  Instead, he heard a scrabble of feet and he turned just in time to see the stranger launch himself at him and tackle him to the ground.

  “Dude, how dare you run? Is it because of my height? Look, I have this friend and he’s stuck inside that thingy and help me get him out or I will cut you.”

  Gibberish was flowing out of the boy’s mouth at the speed of light, and Rei was sure a headache was approaching just from listening to him.

  Extending a hand, he clamped it over the stranger’s mouth and growled, “Shut up.”

  But alas, Rei’s scariest voice and expression did nothing to faze the guy, who instead the other’s hand and caused Rei to quickly withdraw his palm.

  “You are ing disgusting,” he swore, shoving the shockingly light boy off and standing up to storm away.

  Only this time, the boy jogged after latched himself to Rei again, this time practically yelling a load of both pleas and threats into his ear. After several meters of walking with this nuisance who refused to leave him alone despite Rei’s repeated attempts to forcibly remove him, he had to concede defeat. No matter how many times a punch landed on the boy, he always came back, grabbing onto him and whining into his ear. His limbs were aching, he was confused and angry, and he had no time for bull.

  “Okay fine. I’ll help you and after that, you’ll leave me alone and stay as far away from me as you can. Deal?”

  The boy nodded vigorously, messy brown hair flying all over the place and falling into his eyes with the extent of his enthusiasm as he untangled his limbs from around Rei.

  Completely disgruntled, Rei reluctantly trudged after the boy as the other flitted back to the capsule where he had first saw him and pointedly gestured for Rei to hurry up.

  “Get him out.”

  “Get him out the way you got out,” Rei retorted, feeling almost queasy at the thought of having to smash through more glass.

  The boy glared back, his eyes full of disbelief at how dumb his companion was. “My door was open, his isn’t. Do something.”

  Was this kid serious? Rei had known him for a grand total of five minutes, and he already had enough of him to last a lifetime.

  With a loud sigh, Rei pushed past the boy to peer inside the capsule. Inside was yet another boy who looked uncomfortably cramped even in sleep. Just as to be expected of someone who had been shoved into a space barely their height. Rei looked him over, taking in his large height, short black hair and oh my god. His eyes were open, creepily staring back at him from beneath his lashes.

  Rei stumbled back in shock, howls of laughter bursting out from behind him. He turned to see the boy chortling, tears pooling in his eyes as he clapped like a retarded seal. “Did you see your face. Priceless!”

  Feeling a small twinge of both embarrassment and anger, Rei returned to examining the capsule, taking great care to avoid meeting any open eyes. The sooner he got this over with, the sooner he would be free from this annoyance.

  Eventually, after much prodding and probing, he finally found it. A small red button labelled ‘emergency’ hidden near the base of the door. With a press, there was a deep grinding sound as unused machine forced itself to kick start again and slowly but surely, the glass pane began to rise.

  “Did you even try looking?” Rei snarled as the boy leapt up and gave him a congratulatory pat on the back.

  “Nah,” came the absentminded reply as the other rushed to the now open capsule and began looking for a way to snap off the metal bands holding his friend down.

  “Idiot Chanyeol!” he proclaimed lovingly as he yanked off the gas mask and gave the dazed boy a slap to the face.

  Good riddance, Rei thought as he inched away while the crazy stranger was leaning further into the capsule and fiddling with the wires in the wall, giving a small cheer when the metal bands started to pop out of their sockets. He could hear groaning from the one called Chanyeol, and knew he needed to make his great escape now.

  Five minutes later, and Rei thought he was safe enough to slow down.

  Ten minutes later, and he knew he definitely was not when he saw a pair of blue orbs and a grin full of sharp teeth glowing in the darkness ahead.

  “Hey, why did you forget us? It’s okay though, we managed to catch up with you, so let’s go together now! Oh, and by the way, my name’s Daejin, Han Daejin.”

  And at the moment, Rei just knew he was going to end up committing murder soon.

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