Warmth lavished his bare skin. The downpour cleansed the sweat, dirt and blood off. Kai let the water shower against his shoulders and soak his dark hair more than necessary before turning the faucet to shut. Eyes closed, he slicked his hair back to remove the water excess.

He teleported to the middle of his bathroom and stood on top of the small rug. He could feel the chill from being out of the enclosed vapor. Kai reached for the towel and noticed a red line on his forearm. After drying himself off he looked at the cut again.

Would it leave a scar?

After wrapping the towel securely onto his hips, Kai wiped the condensation off the mirror to look at his reflection. He turned around and angled his head to see his back. Apart from some mild bruises, there was nothing there, no mark to remember what happened to him a long time ago. No scar to telltale the triumph of his luck over his misfortune. Not that he could remember with a scar anyway. He barely had any memories of that day. The only image that stood out was Sehun’s face with an unforgettable expression of frightful anguish.

Kai closed his eyes and shook his head, trying to disperse the mental image away. He turned and looked at his upper right arm in the mirror.

No scar. And that one I do remember.

It was the one he received from the bogger that pounced at Xiumin and him. He remembered there being two cuts and the day he met Lay and Chanyeol, the healer closed the biggest cut with ease. He offered to heal the smaller one, so no scar would be left, but they never did it. They just left to begin the next trial, the one he barely remembered fragments of.

Fire. Wild fire, water and…

He sighed and left the bathroom, thinking about how the medics could erase his scars with laser, as Lay thought, while he dressed into his night clothes. More importantly, he pondered on why they did it. Why was it necessary for them to repair his skin?

Not wanting to waste another night with sleep depriving questions he would never fully answer, Kai settled into bed at six in the morning. Only to stir in the sheets as his mind wandered to other worries. An image of big round eyes, with dark irises surrounded by a lot of white and framed with thick eyebrows crossed through his mind.

The seizures.

They seemed quite similar to the ones they used in the previous individual trial. That damn frequency that made him feel powerless over his own body, without control of his own will. That’s what he saw in D.O, he saw him surrender to the seizure knowing there was no way to stop it. But what made Kai feel more uneasy, was how indifferent D.O was about it. He seemed blasé towards the whole ordeal, as if he was too used to it. The seizures must be a common thing to him and that made Kai feel sorry for the other. He would hate being in a position where he wouldn’t be able to control his body.

Well, Luhan went through the same . He recalled the other used to be locked up and doped, unable to even be conscious for many days. Kai rubbed his face frustrated as he remembered Luhan’s deadline warning.

How did he even notice me lying when Kris didn’t? Or Kris did and didn’t mention it? Of course he did, his eagle eyes can see through lies. He said that . Kai felt confused and pressed his face against the pillow. Why would he let it slide? He groaned and stirred in his bed.

“I can’t,” he muttered as he pushed the bed covers off.

 

“I can’t ing sleep,” he declared once he appeared inside Tao’s room.

“Well me neither,” Tao said annoyed, covering his body with blankets.

“Tao.”

“Mmm.”

“It’s D.O right? D.O’s the one who gets us out of here.” He sat on the edge of the bed and waited for a reply, but Tao remained silent. “Come on Tao, tell me! I already know we get out, why can’t you tell me how?”

“Yes! Okay,” Tao uncovered his face but Kai could barely make out his features in the dark. “Yes, D.O is the one who gets us out, but not yet. Or at least I don’t think it’s soon.”

“Why not?”

“Because,” he laid back into the bed with a grunt.

“Damn it, Tao,” he said annoyed.

“We’re ten now,” Tao said with a serious tone. “But in the visions I’ve had, of us out of here, we’re twelve.”

Kai frowned as he thought of what the other implied. “So we’re missing two.”

“Yeah.”

“And you think we’ve got to wait for them?”

“Exactly,” he covered himself up again and stirred into a comfortable position.

“Thanks,” Kai said as he stood up.

He roamed around the lilac colored room and found at the desk the stash of infusion tea they created for Tao’s insomnia.

“Don’t use the one with passion flower” he heard Tao’s muffled voice say, “You’ll sleep for days.”

“I’ll take Poppy then,” Kai stated and reached for a silk bag of infusion, plopping it inside a mug. He picked the stronger infusion and placed it in a mug for Tao.

Without a word, Kai teleported to Chanyeol’s room. He could distinguish the red walls in the dark and the outline of the lanky boy’s body on top of the bed.

“Yo,” he called out as he walked towards the bathroom. “Are you sleeping?”

“Almost,” he heard Chanyeol’s deep sleepy voice reply as he filled the mugs with water.

“I need to heat these up,” Kai said and stood before Chanyeol’s bed. The fire bender sat up lazily and Kai handed him a mug. Chanyeol cupped the mug with his hands and in a minute steam began to rise.

“Thanks,” Kai said as he exchanged mugs with Chanyeol. “I’ll be right back.”

He teleported back to Tao’s room. The raven haired boy was already sitting on his bed and gladly accepted the hot beverage.

“For me too? You’re too kind,” he said sweetly, too sweetly.

“You totally knew I was going to do this for you, you lazy .”

“Damn right,” Tao replied smugly. Kai could imagine his sly smile in the dark.

“Incorrigible,” he chuckled and teleported away.

As promised, Kai returned to the fire bender’s room seconds later only to find Chanyeol sipping from his mug.

“Do you want one too?”

“Nah, just a sip,” he said and handed the mug back. He scooted closer to the wall and patted the empty space next to him.

Kai sat on the bed, over the covers just like Chanyeol. “You really are never cold,” he stated as he figured the other didn’t need to use bed covers. He earned a shrug as response.

They remained silent for a while as Kai tranquilly drank his tea. Feeling the hot liquid warm his inside as Chanyeol’s body heat radiated his outside. It didn’t take long for him to feel all warm and comfy.

“Do you want the rest?”

“You sure?”

“Yeah,” he handed the mug. Then he left it on Tao’s desk after Chanyeol finished the beverage.

“What’s up Chan?” he asked back in Chanyeol’s room.

“Why?”

“You rarely are quiet, even at night.” Kai accommodated the pillow so he could lie down. “What’s up?”

“Those shadow boggers, they can’t turn intangible like you right?” Chanyeol spoke softly.

“No,” he replied and turned to face the other in the dark, resting his head against the pillow. “They’re pesky cheap versions of my teleportation. They can’t travel far into sub-dimensions,” he explained. “They’re limited. Weak.”

“If those are weak then I don’t think we could survive the real deal,” Kai could hear the fear in his voice. “What if they make more powerful ones? What if they make some based on Xiumin? Or Suho? Or Sehun? What if they can regenerate like Lay? Would they be invincible? What if they’re like Luhan? They could just snap our necks and…” he paused and Kai remained silent as he thought about the possibilities. Right now any wicked idea seemed possible.

“What if they make them like me? I, I…” Chanyeol audibly gulped, “I wouldn’t be able to live with myself knowing those things have my power. I’d hate knowing anyone of you guys getting hurt with my ability, after what I did to Kris. Even if it’s not me who fires, I’d feel responsible because it’s my ability.” Kai sat up and stared quietly at his lap. “I’d hate myself. I’d- oh Kai, I’m sorry I shouldn’t have rambled. I…”

“It’s okay,” Kai barely said, as he tried to speak as composed as possible. Not wanting his emotions to overpower him. “You’re right,” he breathed deep and looked up, fighting to keep the tears from falling. “It feels ing horrible to be used. Used, to hurt your friends.”

Warmth. Surrounding his sorrow was Chanyeol’s warmth, enfolding him into his arms. Kai fought hard to not break down and cry as he held onto the other. But Chanyeol wasn’t Lay; he couldn’t manipulate the pain away. So he struggled against himself and hated each silent tear that dared to fall.

He hated himself in that moment. He didn’t want to feel that way. He didn’t want to feel so useless and dwell on his emotions. He didn’t want to cry. And it frustrated him to have such mixed feelings about it all. He didn’t want to feel responsible for the shadow boggers –despite having no other involvement in their creation apart from his genes. He hated to know that his ability wasn’t inherently his anymore, but shared with monsters that hurt his friends. It frustrated him to feel so powerless over his own ability, making him more aware of the fact that he was another pawn, just another experiment. If those boggers didn’t have his teleportation, then Xiumin wouldn’t have almost died. Lay wouldn’t have almost died. Even if he was immortal it still hurt to see him harmed. It hurt to know his friends were harmed because of his ability.

And it’s all because of this ing place.

“Damn, how I wish that Sehun’s escape plan would have worked,” Chanyeol whispered. “Then we wouldn’t have to worry about all this bull.”

Kai wanted to say that he knew a way out. That he knew D.O was capable of breaking the earth and help them escape this evil place. That one day, someday, they could be free. Or maybe they could escape that very same day. Tao and his precognition, they could just run away, all ten of them, and not wait for the rest. And not linger around and risk one of them ending up dead. If it weren’t for the seizures, they could just get outside now.

The seizures. Kai realized that the seizures only happened when D.O cracked open the ground. Not when he lifted rocks or build structures with earth, only when he broke holes in the ground. That’s it! The seizures are what keep him from escaping.

He wanted to ask Chanyeol if there could be a selective condition to inducing seizures. But then figured it was best to ask Lay, maybe he could cure D.O. But instead, he remained silent and let the soporific effects of the tea lead him to slumber

 

He woke up shirtless, an arm across his chest weighing him down at the edge of the bed. He could feel Chanyeol’s hot breath and loud breathing at his ear. It was uncomfortable to sleep with Chanyeol. He hogged more than half of the bed, sprawling his long limbs across the mattress, and still ended up sleeping over you. His skin was too warm, for Kai it felt like sleeping with a furnace. At some point during the night he felt too hot and pulled off his shirt.

Kai tried to move, even push Chanyeol off but he didn't even budge. He felt a muscle cramp forming in his calf and he knew he had to get out. He made himself intangible and phased through Chanyeol’s hold. He rubbed and stretched the sore muscle once he materialized again. Sitting on the chair, he massaged the sore spot and looked at the clock on the desk. It was midday, just ten past twelve in the afternoon, which meant he slept around five hours.

Not much.

After putting the discarded shirt on, he tried to wake Chanyeol up so they could have an early lunch but it was useless, he was far into dreamland. Kai made a mental note to never give him Tao’s somniferous tea infusions again and left.

 

Kai teleported outside, after a lonesome lunch and a new pair of clothing. He spotted the boy dressed in green far towards the left side of the clearing, away from the garden. Kai made himself intangible before teleporting behind him, wanting to spy on the new guy for a moment.

D.O was lying on the grass, bare footed, while facing up to the sky with his eyes closed as he felt the grass with his fingers. Kai noticed D.O moving his mouth and so he materialized his head to be able to listen. He was surprised when he heard the other string out a melody with his voice.

“She’s my baby,” D.O stretched out the words in a melodious sound then began humming a tune.

Kai stood closer to try to listen better. He didn’t comprehend what the other was doing, or what he had said, for the language felt foreign. But the melody, where could he have learned such thing? Kai had never heard one before.

“You’re walking into my door, oh yeah.”

Mesmerized by just one phrase, by how beautiful it sounded to him -how beautiful and rich the other’s voice was. He wanted to hear more, he felt captivated by D.O. Kai returned to being tangible fully tangible. He felt Goosebumps travel his skin and fuzziness in his chest. He wanted to feel more of this strange reaction his body was having, but the melody stopped abruptly.

“Kai?” D.O asked as he sat up quickly, placing his palms against the ground. “Don’t sneak up on me like that,” he said startled.

Kai walked to sit in front of him. “How did you know it was me without even looking?”

“I,” he crossed his legs to sit up better. “I have something similar to echolocation. What are you doing here?” his eyebrows angled into a frown and Kai tried to not feel intimidated under his glare.

“Why do you glare so much?” Kai asked instead and placed his forefinger against the crease between D.O’s brows. The other’s eyes widened and Kai thought he looked adorable, very similar to Tawny with those big round eyes.

“If I stop glaring will you stop touching my forehead,” he sounded annoyed.

“Maybe,” Kai chuckled and let his arm drop. “So?”

“I have bad eyesight,” he smoothed his features. “I know I stare weirdly, it’s just hard to focus sometimes.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, I’ve lost most of my peripheral vision. So I rely on vibrational communication to see my surroundings and locate things.” He closed his eyes and shook his head bit, “It’s the echolocation thing.”

“Isn’t that what bats do?”

D.O chuckled and smiled. “Yeah, but I can use low frequency seismic waves to create a mental mapping of my surroundings,” he caressed his hair backwards, just to let his bangs fall onto his forehead again.

“Do you have like specialized receptors to perceive the vibrations?”

D.O’s eyes widened as he looked up completely surprised. “Yeah, mechanoreceptors. How did you know that?”

Kai shrugged, trying to not smirk too ostentatiously. “It’s a guess. Waves are studied through physics, which is my specialty.” D.O tilted his head to the side curiously, making Kai’s smile widened. “I just thought you’d need very sensitive receptors to feel low frequency waves.”

D.O nodded, “Smart.” He looked up to the sky and sighed with a small smile. “It to know how far away we are from the real deal. I can feel how deep we are from the surface.”

Kai looked up at the clear blue panels of the dome’s roof. It was a beautiful day, but it felt lacking. “It’s not the same, right? Being down here instead of the real thing.”

“No,” he said determinedly, “There’s no warmth down here.”

“Warmth?”

“From the sun.” He sighed with a melancholic smile, “I miss it.”

Kai frowned and looked at the other with skepticism. “You said you’ve never been outside before.”

D.O’s smile faltered. “I… I haven’t.”

Kai’s frown deepened. “Then how could you miss something you haven’t met?” his voice hinted suspicion.

D.O looked to the side and exhaled loudly.

“Well?” Kai insisted impatiently. “What’s the truth D.O?”

“I haven’t been outside since I was brought here,” he said serious, looking back at Kai. “I didn’t grow up here all my life like you guys. But I didn’t live out there for long,” he looked back up at the sky, “I can hardly remember it.”

Kai remained silent. His thoughts debated in whether he should believe D.O was telling the truth or should he be suspicious of him like the others were. His mind lingered on the idea of coming from the outside. He knew he grew up in this place, underground. But he had no notion of where he really came from. Was he born outside and brought in at a very young age or had he been born down here? He felt those were questions he would never know the answer of, just like the question of his real age or how many dimensions really were there or how the did the universe even form in the first place.

But rather than ramble over things he could not answer, he decided to find out what he needed to know. He looked back at D.O, he seemed tranquil while plucking the grass.

“Is that why you know that melody?”

D.O’s brows curved in a curious manner. “Melody?”

“That thing you did with your voice,” Kai tried to explain. He felt incompetent from his lack of vocabulary.

“Ah, I was singing,” he smiled softly.

“Singing?”

“That’s what you call a vocalization of words in form of a melody. A song is like poetry, phrases meant to be sung to a certain tune. Normally accompanied by music,” he explained as if it was common knowledge.

“Music?”

“I forget how dull this place is,” he muttered. “Music is a medium people use to express themselves through sounds,” he clarified. “It’s quite beautiful,” he smiled.

It is, Kai thought as he replayed D.O’s singing voice in his mind. Quite beautiful indeed.

Kai smoothen his hair back. “So, did you learn to sing outside of this place?”

D.O nodded, “Yeah. I had weak lungs, she taught me to sing so I could strengthen them.”

“She? Mama?”

D.O frowned and looked away. “No,” he said softly.

“Who was she?”

“I don’t want to say.”

Kai wanted to insist, feeling he was hiding something from him. “What else do you remember from the outside? Anyone who isn’t from the company?”

D.O ruffled his hair and let out a sad sigh. “I don’t really want to talk about that Kai.”

“Okay,” he said disappointed. He looked around, they were still the only ones outside and there wasn’t even a member at the garden. “Then, I want to know about what happened at the trial.”

D.O frowned slightly, “Now?”

“Yes.”

“Can’t you wait until tomorrow?”

“No.”

“How about later?”

“No. I want to know now,” he said stubbornly.

“I seriously don’t want to talk about it,” D.O scratched his neck.

“Seriously, I can’t wait.” Kai sat up straight, aligning his back so he could be taller than D.O. A small move to appear more authoritative and D.O seemed to have noticed because his frown deepened as he looked up at him. “Besides, you said you’d tell me later.”

“You’re impossible,” he shook his head in defeat.

“I know,” he grinned triumphantly. “Now tell me about your seizures. Maybe Lay could fix it, or at least try.”

“Unfortunately I don’t think he can,” he said and rested his arms against his knees. “I’ve had them nearly all my life. Since a toddler, I had this disease that ed up my brain. But then I was cured, fixed.” He breathed in deep, “And then I was brought here. The trials began and…” his brows angled together, “I woke up after a surgery and the seizures began again. But they’re induced to certain moments.”

“The seizures only happen when you break the earth open,” Kai confirmed and D.O nodded. “That’s their way from keeping you here, right?”

“Yes. That’s how they keep me under control,” he said sadly.

“The seizures.”

“The seizures,” he confirmed.

“Do you know how?” Kai asked.

“I’ve got a chip in my brain,” he rubbed his knees. “It reads brain wave patterns of certain frequencies, and then creates an electro-chemical imbalance to trigger the seizures.”

“How do you know so much?” Kai said surprised.

“She explained it to me,” he shrugged. “I could escape this ing place, you know. If it wasn’t for this in my head,” he bitterly said.

Kai huffed and scooted closer to the other. “Is there a way to take it out?”

“Without brain damage? No. But…” he bit his lower lip. “She has a control that can disable the chip.”

Kai’s eyes widened attentively, “I could get it.”

“What?”

“I can sneak in and get it. I’ll steal it and help disable it,” D.O nodded with a broad smile. “Only if you promise to get us all out. All of us.”

“Of course I will,” he said determinedly.

“Do you know where it is?”

“In her office I presume.”

 

“Hey guys.”

Kai looked towards his right, where Suho and Luhan were approaching them from the entrance. Kai waved back as he would on any normal situation.

“I will get us out,” D.O said to him as he stood up. “Hi.”

“How are you doing? First trials are rather rough,” Suho spoke courteously.

‘Figured it out already?’

Yes, he thought his answer as he stood up and dusted his pants.

‘What is it?’ Luhan looked curiously at him.

I’ll tell you all at once. Can you call the others for a group meeting?

‘Yeah. I can’t wait to figure out what’s going on.’

You still can’t read his mind? Kai smiled and nodded to whatever Suho had said.

Luhan stared intently at D.O, almost in a glare. ‘Not even an alpha wave,’ his glare deepened.

D.O noticed and curved his brows in a curious way as he looked at Luhan. Then his confused eyes gazed at Kai briefly before looking back at Luhan.

I think I know why.

‘Really?’ his face pacified.

“It’s obnoxious when you do that,” Suho nagged at them.

“Sorry,” Luhan said unapologetically, earning a disapproving look from Suho.

D.O stepped closer to Luhan, squinting his eyes as he looked at the other’s confused face. D.O’s eyes widened and took a few steps back like he was startled.

“What’s wrong?” Kai asked.

“You,” D.O hesitated as he looked at Luhan confused, “You kind of seem… familiar. How? How did you get that scar?”

“What?”

“That,” D.O touched his own lower lip.

“I,” Luhan looked at Kai questioningly. Without telepathy, Kai knew the other was wondering what the hell was D.O thinking. “I fell off a tree when little and got this.”

“Oh,” D.O seemed disappointed as he blinked the confusion away. “I’m sorry, I got confused with…” he frowned and shook his head. “I think I need to rest some more.”

“Where’s your room?” Kai asked.

“Under mine,” Luhan answered instead.

“Can you call them to Kris’ room?” Kai asked and Luhan agreed.

“What are you talking about?” Suho asked.

But Kai didn’t give any answer as he teleported with D.O to the dorm hall of the left wing, first floor. He helped D.O walk and phased them both through the door.

“Will you be okay?” he asked after D.O settled on the green covered bed.

“Yeah, I just feel a bit dizzy.”

“Okay,” he teleported.

 

Kai appeared inside Kris’ room. The others hadn’t arrived yet. Kris was sitting at his desk, drawing and with Tawny perched on his shoulder.

“Kris”

“Yeah?”

“We can get out,” Kris dropped his pencil. “We can escape this place.”

“What?” he swiveled the chair, brows raised high in surprise.

“D.O, he can literally break a hole through the earth,” he said enthusiastically. “He can get us out!”

“Why didn’t you tell me before?” he stood up towering over Kai. Kris squinted his eyes, “I knew you were keeping something from me.” He nudged his side, “Liar.”

“You knew?”

“Of course I knew,” he scoffed. “My eagle eyes-”

“Can see through lies,” Kai interrupted. “I know. Why’d you let it slip?”

Kris smirked and ruffled his hair. “Cause I trust you. I knew you’d tell me eventually.”

Kai smiled broadly as he combed his hair back to normal. He thought it was silly to feel like Kris was proud of him, like a big brother would be. But he embraced the feeling anyway.

“There’s a hitch, but I think we can make it work. That’s why I didn’t tell you sooner.”

“Are you sure it will work?” he angled his eyebrows.

“Not entirely. But Kris, it’s worth the shot,” he said filled with determination.

Kris nodded with a serious gaze, “Okay.”

 

With all the members gathered in Kris’ room, with the exception of D.O, Kai explained what he knew. He told them they could plan an escape if they steal the control to stop D.O from collapsing.

“I think the chip interferes with your telepathy.”

“It makes sense,” Luhan agreed, furrowing his brows. Sehun thinned his lips looking confused at them. “Electromagnetic waves can create a barrier that repels my ability.”

“So we’re just going to steal the thing, stop the seizures and get the out?” Chanyeol asked sitting next to Xiumin.

“Pretty much,” Kai nodded.

“Hello?” Tao exasperated. “What about that thing I told you earlier?”

“We can search for them before getting out,” Kai reasoned. “They’ve got to be inside somewhere.”

“What are you talking about?” Lay asked.

“Search for whom?” Suho added.

“The last two members,” Sehun said earning surprised looks from everyone.

“How come he knows?” Kris asked annoyed.

Tao and Sehun looked at each other and both shrugged at the same time.

“Life.”

"Circumstances.”

Kai rolled his eyes at their petty replies. “Whatever. We can look for them before getting out.”

“You should bring D.O,” Xiumin said. “We need his input for the plan.”

“He’s right,” Suho agreed.

“Okay,” Kai said before teleporting.

 

D.O was sitting on the edge of his messy bed, exposing the fair skin of his legs as he wore only black briefs and a green T-shirt. He looked troubled, sad even, as his shoulder slumped slightly.

“Why don’t you wear pajama pants?”

“They feel stuffy,” D.O answered, looking to the side while placing his hands on his lap. “I used to have many scars. But they erased them,” he said nonchalantly. “Have they done that to you?”

“Yes,” Kai answered.

“It’s the weirdest thing,” D.O mused as he caressed his thigh. “Like brand new.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” he said softly. “Just tired I guess.”

“What happened earlier?” he crossed his arms in front of his chest.

“Why do you ask so many questions?” D.O looked up annoyed.

Kai smirked, “You interest me.” He stifled his laugh when D.O’s eyes widened more than possible and face blushed.

“You shouldn’t say stuff like that,” he looked away.

Kai huffed and let his arms drop to his sides. “Just tell me what’s up.”

“Nothing,” he insisted. But Kai crooked a brow as he looked at him with an unconvinced expression. “I just,” he hesitated, “I confused Luhan with somebody I used to know. He even has the damn scar in the same place.”

“Is he from outside?” Kai wondered.

“Yeah,” he admitted. “She was.”

“Was?”

D.O let out an exasperated sigh. “Do you have to question everything I say?”

“Yes,” Kai bluntly said. “Did she d-” he paused, knowing how insensitive he was about to sound. “Did she pass away?” he asked instead.

“I don’t know,” he looked down. “I think she did. She was very sick the last time I saw her.”

Kai stayed silent, unsure of what to say next. He felt uneasy at how sad the conversation turned out to be. Maybe asking too much is hurtful, he pondered.

“Why are you here?” D.O asked, killing the silence and making him remember why he went to D.O’s room in the first place.

“Put some pants on, we’ve got to go.”

 

“Can you make Tawny leave? It’s distracting how similar they look.”

Kris looked pissed at Tao, but complied anyway. Kai admittedly thought the same thing when the nocturnal bird perched onto D.O’s shoulder.

“You were saying?” Lay instigated the conversation back.

“It’s best for me to open up the ground from the top,” D.O explained again. “It’s closer to the surface, there’s less earth to move and it’ll be easier to close up again.”

“But can it break the dome?” Chanyeol asked.

“I’ll make it break,” he said with determination.

“But if you break the top, it’ll smash down on us,” Sehun said alarmed.

“We’re going to need Luhan for that,” Xiumin said.

“I don’t know if I can hold that much strength with a force field,” Luhan scratched his neck.

“If you save all your energy for that moment, then you should be able to do it,” Suho reasoned.

“Much more with the elixir” Lay added.

“Okay, let’s agree that he breaks the top and Luhan will protect us from the debris,” Suho moderated. “How do you get there in the first place?”

“I’ll have to dig my way out,” D.O said. “The dome has at least ten meters of wall inserted under the ground of our surface. I have to dig down, pass under the edge of the dome and then dig all the way up.” He paused as he looked at the rest, “I estimate we’re around 85 meters underground. Plus the additional ten and the fifteen from the side, I think it’s going to take me three hours or more to get out.”

“Okay, so we’ll have to distract for that long,” Kris nodded as he rubbed his chin.

“It’ll be faster if I break through the subterranean floor. The extra meters will give me a head start,” D.O said.

“You can break through reinforced concrete?” Chanyeol asked astounded.

D.O crossed his arms, crooked an eyebrow and gave the most condescending look Kai had ever seen.

“ please,” Tao sassed. “It’s D.O. Dude can break anything.”

Kai couldn’t help but laugh at Tao’s remark, accompanying Sehun, Xiumin, Luhan and Lay in a fit of laughter.

“Oh for crying out loud, this is serious,” Suho reprimanded.

“ please,” Sehun repeated, trying to sass in his fit of laughter.

Lay gave out a high pitched yelp as he leaned forward and fell off the bed. Chanyeol’s loud laugh boomed through the room as he stood to clap and point at the fallen Lay. Kai held onto his stomach and saw Kris trying to suppress his own laughter. D.O bit his lower lip while smiling and Suho rubbed his forehead, a small smile forcing its way onto his lips.

“Guys,” Kris tried to speak. He coughed to clear his throat. “Guys seriously. We’ve got to finish planning this.”

“Of course,” Xiumin said through chuckles, trying to stop laughing.

“Guys, seriously,” Kris tried again.

“We have to get out tonight.”

Kai fell still in shock at the bold statement. In seconds the whole group went quiet and stared attentively at Suho.

“Once we steal the control, they’ll know we’re up to something,” Suho explained. “She has to have cameras in her office, she’s not stupid. Once she knows it’s gone they’ll stop us at whatever cost.” He paused and looked around the room, “We’ve got to get out before they create new boggers with our abilities.” Chanyeol looked down and nodded. “Tonight’s the best chance we’ve got. They expect us to be dead tired from the trial. They won’t be prepared for us. We’ve got energy, lots of it thanks to the elixir. So we’ve got to use what they gave us against them.”

“I agree,” Chanyeol said.

“Me too,” said Luhan.

“But I’m still tired,” Tao complained.

“We’ve got time for you to rest,” Lay reasoned.

“You should group up with Suho. He can protect you and you can just use physical combat,” Xiumin suggested.

“Yeah, you should reserve your powers for emergency only situations,” Kai added.

“Okay,” Tao nodded.

“I say we should wreck this place before we go,” Luhan commented.

“What?”

“Break it all. So these bastards won’t come after us,” Luhan explained.

“We should,” Sehun smirked.

“It’s a good idea,” Kris added.

“Is it necessary?” D.O asked uncertain. “Wouldn’t it be dangerous?”

“It’ll serve as a distraction,” Kai complemented. “So you can get us out.”

“Oh, I will get you out. So be careful,” D.O he said solemnly.

“It’s decided then,” Chanyeol stood up. “We escape tonight.”

“Sehun, Chanyeol and Lay, gather supplies,” Suho ordered. “Luhan and Tao, fuel up. Eat as much energy bars as you can,” Luhan and Tao high fived. “D.O, Kris, Xiumin and I will create a map and route.” Suho turned his attention towards Kai, “You know what to do.”

“Yeah,” he nodded without hesitation. “I’ll go when it’s dark.”

 

Kai appeared in the main hall of the C sector, seventh floor. There were no guards around and only a few lab assistants were wandering about. Keeping himself intangible -which only made him less visible but no invisible- Kai roamed the corridors in search of an office with big glass doors with the gold outline of a tree on them. The office was at the west side.

He phased through the doors and entered the dark room. It was large and spacious, with the tree outline on every wall. There was a big glass desk at the back, with wooden black bookshelves covering the wall behind it. To his left was a coffee table and dark colored sofas. To his right was a liquor cabinet with a counter and a grand piano settled neatly towards the wall.

He walked towards the big desk. He saw a computer at the right, screen turned off, and an empty black leathered chair. Some pencils ordered neatly in a holder. The table was pristine, well kept and ordered. The only odd object that stood out was a stack of cup coasters on top of the table.

He heard a low popping sound and immediately ducked, fearing the worst.

“It’s in the bottom right drawer,” she said and he heard her pour something in a glass.

He turned to see her at the liquor cabinet, pouring a dark red liquid into two tall glasses. She put the dark green bottle down, picked the half filled glasses up and walked towards him.

“Can you put two coasters on the desk, please?” she nodded towards the coaster stack.

Kai did as told, too nervous and too confused to leave -he had already been caught anyway. He noticed the coasters had the tree symbol with the letters N.A.M.U. printed on them.

She put a glass down and sipped from the other. “Don’t be so nervous dear. I’m going to help you.”

“Why?” he asked as he stared confused.

“I’m done with this place,” she said. “And you boys should better leave before it’s too late.”

“What will happen?”

“It stopped being about the science and now it’s about the highest bid,” she said and sipped some more. “The highest bid is weaponry.”

She put down the glass and picked the other one. “This is wine. A bitter alcoholic beverage made from the fermentation of grapes and other fruits, like currants. This is a Carménère. My favorite kind is Cabernet Sauvignon, but Carménère is sweeter, softer and less astringent. I believe it won’t strike your palate too harshly.”

“What is astringent?” Kai asked as he received the glass.

“It’s an abrasive feeling caused by the bitterness.” She pressed her thumb against her lower lip and thought for a second. “It feels similar to when you’re dehydrated and your mouth still feels dry after you drink some water. But in this case it’s just a sensation.”

The way she spoke was very charming. He brought the brim of the glass to his nose and smelled a strong bitter and slightly acid aroma. There was a smell he couldn’t recognize, but rather than it being very aromatic, it made his nose sting inside. Like an excessively strong minty smell that cleared your airways. Kai held the glass further away from him as he felt buffeted by the smell.

“Strong?” Mama asked amused and took another sip of her own glass. Kai merely nodded as a response, unsure of what to do next. “Well you are too young to drink this,” she chuckled. “Wine is a beverage people of all over the world enjoy to drink. For thousands of years it’s been consumed in different cultures for many purposes and celebrations. Even cult or religious acts.” She paused, “You’ll find it easily when you get outside of here. Might as well know what it’s like.”

Kai hesitated as he looked at the burgundy liquid. He knew the drink wasn’t poisoned or drugged, since she was drinking from the same bottle. But the smell was so strong that he could imagine the taste being stronger. Kai was curious though and dared to drink the wine. A smooth liquid roamed his mouth, its temperature wasn’t cold nor warm. It was a middle, average temperature. The taste was very strong, fruity, bitter, sweet and slightly acid. It was like concentrating many black and blue berries into one bite; sweet with an acid touch. But there was something strong, something the tasted strange and slightly burned his throat. It wafted his senses like the smell he couldn’t recognize earlier. It must be the alcohol, he thought. Then he felt it. The astringent feeling that left his tongue feeling rough.

Kai his lips in an effort to get rid of the bitter taste as he set the glass on the coaster. He looked back at Mama who sported an amused smile.

“The truth is like wine. It leaves a bitter taste.”

“Would you tell the truth if I asked for it?” Kai dared.

“My, my,” she chuckled and sipped more wine. “The alcohol speaks.”

“Who are the memories from?”

Mama drank some more, looking at him with a mischievous glint. “I’ll tell you how you can find out who they are from. It’ll be more fun like that.” She sipped her drink, “What is the name of the bat of the book?”

Kai felt cold; he hadn’t a clue what the name was. All he remembered was that the name of the bat was also the title of the book. What was the bat’s name? Kai thought, but there were only images of the bat, the art of the book. He knew what the story was about and could summarize it, but what was the name of the bat? It was a female I think…

“I…” he breathed deep. “I don’t know.”

“There’s your answer.”

Kai stared in shock, downing the information, the bitter truth, just like she downed the wine, drinking until the last drop. She picked up the abandoned glass and walked towards the sofa, taking a coaster with her. She settled there before speaking.

“I said the truth is bitter. Come here, it’s going to be a long chat.”

Kai did as told and sat on the opposite side of the couch, leaving a lot of space between them.

“What else do you want to know?” she asked as she swiveled the glass.

Still unsure why she was helping him, Kai asked the first question that came to mind. “Why did you tell us to worry about D.O?”

She smirked and then drank some wine. “Without the chip there’s no way to control him. Similar to Luhan, he has too much strength and he’s not capable of handling such force. The electroshocks are a measure to shut him down before he loses control.”

“I don’t believe that’s the only reason,” he countered.

“Well, yes.” Mama sipped a bit of wine. “We needed to keep him here. It’d be no use to have an experiment breaking things and escaping. He’s like a fight dog that needs to be chained.”

“He’s not a dog!”

Mama looked at him with a cold warning in her eyes, she did not appreciate his outburst. “No, you’re right,” she sipped her beverage. “He’s not a dog. He’s an experiment. Just like you.”

Kai felt the blood drain from his face. Her words were cold and sharp like a dagger and it hurt to know that was his reality.

“You sure you don’t want some?” she offered the wine glass towards him. “The intoxication makes everything more fuzzy.” Kai shook his head. “Very well.”

Kai took a minute to compose himself before asking a new question. “Tao said there are two more members.”

“Of course he did,” she scoffed.

“Where are they?”

“Sectors D and F, fifth floor.”

“Why are you helping me?” Kai asked confused.

She frowned. “I already told you why. You’re a smart boy Kai, quiet but smart. Why would you ask again?”

“I just can’t believe this,” he admitted and watched her carefully. “How did it end up this way?”

She sighed and drank some more, nearly finishing her second half-glass. “I worked with animals first. Intergenetics was my passion. But I had a vision of going further in the evolutionary trail.” She chuckled bitterly, “I joined this company because they are the only unethical and ed up people who’d finance my research. I called it, evolutionary cross-genetics organisms research and development department. They called it failure for many years.” She drank some more. “They wanted super soldiers, I created Boogey Men, or boggers like you kids like to call them. I was the mockery between my colleagues.” She stood up and walked to the liquor cabinet, filling her empty glass. “Then one day Ming Li, my little sister, called me and begged me to do everything and anything possible to save her dearest nephew. He had Tay-Sachs Disease, a malfunction of an enzyme to break down gangliosides in brain cells. Basically it deteriorates the brain,” she waved off. “He was three when they finally noticed, his prognosis was to live at most for five more years and it took me three years to fix him.”

“You experimented on him?” Kai interrupted.

She drank. “Yes, I did. And I created something new.” She paused, “He stopped being fit to live among average people. He became a danger, so I brought him here.”

Kai felt his heart stop. He knew who she was talking about.

She chuckled sarcastically as she walked towards the desk, “Finally I did something worth merit in the company’s eyes. And that’s how the Trials started. But now,” her tone turned furious, “now that son of a wants to take it all away from me, all my years of hard work.” She looked at him in the eyes, “They want to make you boys super soldiers and be human weapons.” She shook her head and finished the glass of wine.

“The chip control is in the bottom right drawer. Take it out so I can show you how to disable it,” she took the empty glass and the one previously left on the desk to the cabinet.

“You’re kidding, right?” Kai said incredulously as he stood from the couch.

“No, I’m quite serious.”

“How will I know you’re not going to tamper with it?” he asked suspiciously. “Why should I trust you?”

“Because you already do,” she said dead serious, turning to look at him. “Just do it.”

Kai teleported behind the desk, his eyes remained on her suspiciously but she just cleaned the glasses nonchalantly. He tugged the handle but the drawer was locked. So he phased his arm, once he stuck his hand inside he focused on normalizing his hand while keeping his arm immaterial. He felt inside and the drawer was empty except for a small oval object. He grabbed it and projected his intangibility through it to take it out.

It was a small device, with three buttons of different colors and a small screen.

He saw a picture frame at the corner to his left, nearly hidden between books. His stomach flipped as he recognized the person’s face.

He heard Mama walk towards the desk and went next to her handing over the control. “This blue button here takes you to the function set, then you have to press green three times to reach the enablement option. Once in, just select disable with the red button and confirm with blue. And it’s done.”

She handed the control back but didn’t let go of it, “Kai,” he looked at her face. “Don’t let him break you. He will break the others, but you must stay strong and believe in him.”

“What do you mean?” he felt unnerved by her sudden change of attitude.

“Promise, Kai. He will need you.”

He nodded. He was scared of what she might mean and wasn’t sure if she really meant what she said. For all he knew, she could’ve been feeling intoxicated from the wine.

He put the control in his pocket. “Who is she?”

“What?”

“The girl in the picture,” Kai pointed at the frame.

“Oh.” Mama took a step to the side and picked the picture frame at the corner of the desk. She scooted it closer and turned it around for both of them to see. The face was eerily familiar.

“It’s not really him? No,” he reasoned, “That’s a girl, right?”

“This is my daughter. My true child,” she smiled fondly at the picture. But Kai could see deep sadness in her eyes.

Kai squinted at the picture, the similarity was too much. “But how?”

“I had conserved her DNA when she was terminally ill. I used her genes to make him look just like her. I even made sure to conserve the scar.” She smiled sadly and looked at him. “I want him to know the truth. Would you bring him here, before you go?”

Kai thought of the implications it could bring to comply to such favor, he decided to neither accept nor decline. But he knew one thing would happen if he did what Mama asked.

“He will kill you.”

“I’m aware of the risk.”

 

 

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A/N:

Sorry it took me long to update.

Anyway, thanks to CutieSica101, cc_kouga, TheBananaFantasy, Nijntje, bananacho, zicokaisoo and Jocelin for subscribing. I don’t know how you guys became so many, I’m very glad you like my story enough to want to read it.

Have a great week guys, annyeong!

-Blackie.