"Everything is ready, check on. I dress up from my head to toe. Let's do this," 
-B.A.P, Check On

“Wait, so she told you her name?” Zelo swivelled around in his chair to turn to his friend who had just walked back into the room.

Jongup nodded as he ruffled his hair with the towel. “She said it would be easier for us to address her if we knew her name. I can't imagine how difficult it must be for her to get to know us.” Zelo nodded in sympathy. “She sure is making it look easy, though. She's very friendly.”

“Then how come you haven't talked to her?”

Zelo stopped and blinked at the question. “It's not like I really had a chance to or much reason to yet. Not to mention, it is kind of weird talking to the one who messed up my central system.” The other boy cracked a grin and threw his towel onto the spine of one of the chairs. “That's a valid reason.”

Jongup let out a yawn as he jumped into bed. He had just taken out his personal monitor before the door opened and Yongguk walked in.

“I heard about her injury. How bad is it?”

Jongup propped himself up into a sitting position. “Well, as far as I can tell, it is healing at a faster rate than we do but since she didn't get it treated sooner, the poison from the hound did some considerable damage. If anything, I think her body works in a similar way to Junhong's.” Zelo turned around, interested at the new information.

“How so?” Yongguk questioned, throwing off his current shirt to change into more comfortable clothing. Jongup swiped through the screen to pull something up before turning it so their leader could see.

“She has no heartbeat. I checked over her vitals earlier on the machines downstairs and she has no pulse running through her. Which means she's got a metal heart because she still bleeds.”

Yongguk raised an eyebrow as he sat on the edge of the bed. “So her body isn't entirely metal?” Jongup shook his head at the question.

“I guess we'll just get to know each others strengths better by sparring.” Yongguk said as he laid his head back against the bed frame. “She sure is agile on her feet.”

Zelo reached his arm over to pick up his water bottle. “I looked through some of the data from the base a few nights ago. It shows that they had evacuated all the test patients a few days prior to our infiltration.”

“Does this mean they knew of our attack?” Jongup asked. Zelo shrugged, turning around to face him. “I don't think that's the case because if so, they would've wiped their machines. Why would they let us take the information?”

“Maybe because they wanted us to.” Yongguk spoke up. The two younger boys looked at him. He grabbed one of the files off his desk and flipped through the pages.

“I went to see Youngjae's progress in organizing the data earlier and he said he noticed something that did not fit in with any of our earlier information.”

“What was it?” Zelo asked.

Yongguk looked up at him. “The command prompt to transfer the bodies came from our base inside the city.”

The seven of them were called together the next morning in the technical room to discuss the new found information.

“So do we have a rat working for us?” Himchan asked. Youngjae looked up at his screen and projected the information onto the bigger monitor for the rest of them to see.

“That's what I'm thinking. The only people who work in the city for us are the ones with highest authority.” Youngjae explained. He dragged another folder to open up onto the screen.

“This is the list of people who work inside the city for the boss. I've gotten their full profiles pulled up.”

“I haven't seen any of those people before in my life.” Himchan squinted his eyes to get a better look. Daehyun frowned and turned towards Youngjae. “Are you certain it was one of them? What if it was one of our soldiers from the outside who went in?”

Youngjae shook his head. “I doubt it. The command prompt they used required a special code and only those above us know it. Each person is assigned a different code so I should be able to find the person.”

“Have we reported this to the boss yet?” Daehyun asked. Himchan nodded. “He already knows. He gave us full permission to investigate this on our own since we have a few days off from the front line duties.”

“We have also been granted access to go into the city.” Yongguk spoke up. Excluding Himchan, the other team members turned to him in surprise. Yongguk looked at Sunri. “I would expect you to know more of how the city works than we do. Do you think you can get us in?”

She nodded. “I can. Not all seven of us at once because that would raise suspicion. I reckon I could bring in one or two of you with me without anybody asking questions.”

Yongguk nodded, satisfied with the answer. He turned back to Youngjae. “I want you to pinpoint who's code the prompt was entered in under. I want a name within an hour.” Youngjae nodded at the order and turned around to get to work.

“Junhong, I want you to go through all the electronic data and find out if any others within our bases have sent out anything else.” Zelo nodded at the command and went towards his own computer desk.

Yongguk then turned to Himchan. “Could you go and take a look through the information that they organized from a few days ago? Maybe we can find something within that data. Also, I want you to go through their blueprints of the new soldiers that they transferred over. Give me an update on that.” The man nodded and walked out of the room to grab the folders.

“And you three, I want you guys down in the basement in a few minutes for sparring. I want to test something.”

Daehyun, Jongup and Sunri simultaneously nodded. At once, they all dispersed into their own given tasks.

“Could you repeat that?” Daehyun whispered with a dumbfounded look. Yongguk set his monitor down to the side and looked up at him, ready to repeat his words.

“I want you two to fight her.”

Sunri turned to him. “And you want me to use my ability?” Yongguk nodded. “Exactly, yes.”

Daehyun blinked at him, confused. “Why the hell would I do that? I don't want voices in my head.” Jongup nodded in agreement at his friend. “What is it you want to test with this?”

“I want to see whether or not we can fight through it. I can bet that the government has already developed a soldier similar to her. They may not be as strong but similarities would be present. I'm also going to take a bet that one of the similarities is her mind control.”

“So you want us to train ourselves for that?” Jongup asked. Yongguk nodded once again. “Yes, I do. If it works, we'll have to start doing this with the whole team.”

“But Junhong-”

“I know. That's why I'm testing you two with it first, seeing as how you already got used to her fighting style. You're just going to have to bite your teeth and bear through the initial pain.”

Daehyun rolled his eyes as he took his jacket off. “Easy for you to say. You don't have to go through it again.”

“I will if this works out and don't forget, she can heal you from it afterwards.” Yongguk reminded.

They had cleared out the training room so that there was enough free space for them. She walked towards the end of the room and began tying up her hair.

Jongup turned to Daehyun with a nervous expression. “What if this doesn't work?” Daehyun shrugged. “Then we get to experience the fun all over again.” Jongup sighed and stretched his arms behind his neck. “I don't like this idea very much.”

“Me neither. I don't see how we can train ourselves against this.”

“It's not impossible,” Sunri called out. The two boys looked at her. She continued, “I can see where he's going with this. As long as you can get through to the part of you that is still human, you can fight through the control over your mechanical side.”

“Are you two ready?” Yongguk asked. He received two thumbs up in return and he gave Sunri the signal to begin.

Daehyun and Jongup shared a quick glance with each other before the raced forwards across the room. That's when they caught sight of the tattoos on her body light up and her eyes change colour. Before they knew it, the ear-splitting headache was back. Daehyun dropped to the floor while Jongup stopped in his tracks with his hands over his ears.

Sunri looked at them and narrowed her eyes.

When they felt the pain intensify, Daehyun let out a string of colourful curse words. He let out a groan when he began to hear the high-pitched frequency come through. He opened one eye to see Jongup beside him, attempting to stand on his two feet.

Sunri lifted her hand up before pushing it forward. The two of them stumbled backwards from the force of the mind wave. Yongguk raised an amused eyebrow when he saw her slip on a small smirk.

“You guys are going to have to try harder than that!” She shouted. Jongup shook his head a few times and steadied his gaze to point a finger at her.

“That's kind of hard when I can't even think straight!” He shouted back. He closed his eyes once again and bit his lip when he felt his body go numb. He pushed his palms onto either side of his head and looked up at her. He focused entirely on the thought of getting to her rather than the pain.

It took a few minutes but her eyes rounded when she saw his eyes flicker in colour before he was able to take a stable step forward. Daehyun soon did the same.

Yongguk wrote down what he was observing and even he was amazed they were able to shake it off long enough to move forward. He raised a hand, signalling her to stop and she nodded.

The two boys collapsed to the floor in exhaustion once they felt the pain lift. They were sprawled out on their back, letting out uneven breaths. They were still panting by the time she walked over to them. Sunri crouched down and tilted her head as she looked at them.

Daehyun was able to open his eyes to look at her and at first, his eyes rounded in fear when he couldn't hear anything through his ears. That's when he saw her lips move and her melodic voice filled his ears. His eyes rounded at the effect of her voice and soon, the pain was gone. His brain still wasn't functioning enough that he was able to think fully, but he was able to push himself up off the floor.

“It worked.” Yongguk commented as he walked over. Sunri stood up and nodded. “I'm surprised they were able to break through it but I guess it's not much of a surprise seeing as how they're still half-human.”

“Are you guys alright?” She asked in concern once they stood up with a hand on their heads. Jongup in a breath. “I mean, I think I'm okay? I don't think I can ever get used to that.”

“Rest up for a bit and then we'll gather back in the computer lab to go over what we'll do next.” Yongguk said as he grabbed his stuff and walked back up the stairs.

“As ridiculous as this may seem right now, I guess it's worth exploring the idea.” Daehyun shook his head. “I mean, I guess it would be useful but man, to go through that so early in the morning sure woke me up.”

“Wait, I don't know if I was just seeing things earlier but did your tattoos light up?” Jongup whispered. Daehyun turned back around and he let out a small gasp. “Oh yeah! I remember seeing it too. We didn't just go crazy right?”

Sunri laughed at the question. “No, my tattoos do light up when I use enough power.” Jongup raised an eyebrow. “So are you saying it took a lot to control us?” She let out a hum.

“No. It was very easy, actually.”

“Wow, way to lay it on thick.” Daehyun whistled. She shrugged. “I mean, this was only your third time going through it. It's also the first time you guys were aware of it happening beforehand so I didn't expect much. I felt a tug when you guys took a step forward because you broke through one of the first barriers for a brief second.”

“I imagine soon we'll be able to drown it out and still be able to fight?” Daehyun asked. She nodded at him as she walked towards the stairs.

“I wouldn't be surprised if you were all able to within this week, actually.”

“I was able to find who authorized the command at the time but there are traces of deletion. Whoever did this wanted to get rid of his tracks but let's be honest, nothing gets past me.”

Daehyun rolled his eyes at Youngjae's words. “You're so full of yourself. So who is it?” Youngjae laid a paper down onto the table in front of them and pointed towards the profile of a worker none of them had ever seen.

“That's his name and information. He's been positioned inside the city his whole life so there really was no chance that we had ever seen him.” He looked up towards Sunri and raised an eyebrow. “Unless you have?”

She shook her head. “No, I would've remembered if I had. His face would've registered in my database if I remembered.”

“We'll go find this guy and see what his deal is. Youngjae, run a full background check on him.” Yongguk ordered. Youngjae gave him a little salute and turned back around. The leader then turned back to the other members and he stood there for a second, thinking.

He looked at Sunri. “So only one of us can come with you without looking suspicious, right?” She nodded her head at him and he pressed his lips into a thin line.

“I would suggest bringing Zelo since he can map the city with his database.” Himchan spoke up. Zelo, who had been sitting there quietly the entire time, turned to his team member with rounded eyes.

“Me?”

Yongguk clucked his tongue in agreement. “Yeah, I agree. That way, you can gather more information.” He looked down at the map on the table and circled the only entryway into the city.

“So how do you usually get in anyway?” Daehyun asked, curious. Sunri leaned back in her chair and let out a hum. “Well, with a little song, the guards let me through without further questions.”

“Mind control?” He asked. She nodded.

“But don't they have to enter in an extensive report on each person that enters the gates?” Himchan asked. Sunri nodded once again.

“They do. Although how can they enter in one for someone who doesn't actually exist? None of us do.”

She watched as their lips parted in understanding at her words.

“When do you want us to go?” Sunri asked as she looked at their leader. Yongguk turned his wrist slightly so he could see the time on his watch.

“Before sunset in two hours. That will give you enough time to explore and come back before dark.” He turned around and reached up for their respective ear pieces and tossed it towards the two members on the mission.

“We'll observe you from here and near the city with a vehicle.” Himchan nodded as he twirled his car keys around his fingers.

“What if we get caught?” Zelo whispered. Daehyun shrugged and gave him a clasp on the shoulder as he walked out to get things ready.

“Make sure you don't.”

Zelo and Sunri were left alone to prepare for their entrance into the city. She had pulled him into her room to help him look more like a normal civilian.

The first thing she had to do was get rid of his silver hair colour.

She noticed that all the others had unique hair colours too. Yongguk had jet black hair, Himchan had platinum blonde hair, Daehyun had a light brown hair, Youngjae had dark brown and Jongup had a mixture of dirty-blonde.

They all had different hair colours apart from the normal humans because their genetics were so severely modified that genetics were moved around. Thus, this really was their natural hair colour.

She reached for a spray can on her desk and turned back to Zelo. His eyes zeroed down onto the object she had in her hand and he raised an eyebrow.

“What is that?”

“I need to mask your real hair colour. Could you bend down a bit?” She asked as she attempted to reach up to his head. Zelo nodded and crouched down for her to get a better ease of access. He felt her fingers work through his hair as she made sure each strand was coloured into a dark brown that was dark enough to pass off as black.

He averted his eyes from hers as they were now at a close proximity. He disliked being too physically close to someone unless he was given an order to eliminate them.

This was all too new for him. Especially so since she was a girl who he had never met before.

He was too preoccupied with the thoughts of how he could avoid any further awkwardness with her to even notice she had finished. He straightened up as she gestured for him to take a look at himself in the mirror. His eyes widened and his hands immediately flew up to his head in shock.

“My hair-”

“It's only temporary. I think the new colour suits you well though.” She chuckled as she wiped off her hands and tossed the empty can away. Zelo turned back to her.

“Do I have to change my outfit too?”

She turned to look at him and tilted her head. She raised an eyebrow when she saw the earrings, the chain necklace, the choker bracelets and the numerous rings he had on his fingers.

“Yes, we have to give you a complete makeover. Do you mind showing me to your room so I can pick out an outfit?” He nodded his head and led the way.

“First off, you're going to have to remove all jewelry. They don't see earrings as that much of a deal but since you're wearing something as outlandish as skulls, they're going to notice. All other jewelry besides a watch has to be removed.” She instructed. He opened up his closet for her and she took a look around before reaching in to pick out clothes. While she was doing so, Zelo had walked back to his own desk and began taking off all his jewelry.

He still found it weird how sheltered the people inside the city were. It was sad that they could not express themselves even in such simple ways as this. Anything out of the ordinary was considered rebellion to the government.

He was pulled out of his thoughts when his reflexes helped him catch the clothes that came flying at him. He looked down at the simple black t-shirt and dark blue jeans. He reached an arm out when she also threw a black jacket at him.

“There you go. I'll meet you back with Youngjae to get our communication devices set up.” She said as she walked out with her hands up in her hair, tying it into a neat ponytail.

Zelo watched her leave and he turned back to the mirror with the clothes in hand. He tilted his head and stared at his reflection in the mirror. A sad smile came onto his face when he realized how stupid this whole ordeal was.

Why should they have to hide who they really were? The government created them. They created these monsters. Yet they are the ones being hunted as if they were the ones who did wrong.

Why should they be the ones hidden away?

He let out a sigh as he pulled his current shirt over his head to change.

Youngjae walked up towards Sunri to help her install the earpiece as Yongguk placed some folders onto their meeting table.

He cleared his throat. “So we have a new change of plans. We're sending in another. Just in case something happens, we have an extra hand on the inside.” Himchan walked over beside him and nodded.

“We decided Daehyun would be best with his observational skills. He's also a skilled enough fighter and shooter that he will be able to help out in more ways than one. We need the rest of you on back-up in the vehicles.”

Yongguk nodded and turned back to the others. “We also decided that you three will spent the night inside the city. We'll monitor everything from the outside.”

“Why an extra night?” Jongup asked. Himchan brought his wrist up to look at his watch. “Well, by the time they get there it'll be night. It wouldn't hurt to spend a night inside and see how things work anyway.”

Daehyun looked up with wide eyes. “Wait, what? Really?” Himchan nodded and shrugged. “I trust that you won't go crazy and make a big scene about how fabulous the city really is. Don't attract attention, got it?”

“When do I ever?” The boy rolled his eyes and let out a scoff.

Yongguk watched as Sunri had the attention of the other members as she explained the routes of the city. She was highlighting certain buildings on the map and she explained everything they would need to avoid. She seemed excited to be able to share her information with someone for once.

She was just as strategic in planning as Youngjae. He made no sounds of protest as she explained her route of action and even Yongguk was surprised at how intently the boy was listening.

He caught the gaze of Himchan and he gave him a small smile. No words needed to be said but the same thought ran through both of their minds.

She was already a team member, whether the others or herself noticed it yet or not.

They were now gathered in the garage for one last order. The six of them lined up while Yongguk walked over each member to make sure they had their earpiece and was completely ready.

“Tonight and tomorrow will be another infiltration mission. This will be something entirely different from what we have ever done. Rely on Sunri when needed and do not attract attention to yourselves.”

He bent down to check that their guns were hidden underneath their pants and shirts.

“Sorry you couldn't bring in one of your big rifles.” Yongguk chuckled as he noticed the small pistol Daehyun had to stuff into his holster. The other boy shrugged, “I'll just wreck havoc with them on the next mission.”

“This will be the first mission that we execute as a new team. And unlike the others, no blood will be shed. Make sure you get in and out with little disruption. We will serve as backup in the other vehicle. Your headset is hooked up to all of ours. We will be able to hear and track you when needed.” He continued. Yongguk looked over the eyes of his team members and brought his hands behind his back.

“Understood?”

“Yes, sir!” They shouted back with their hand up against their forehead. Yongguk nodded and stepped back for them to get into their respective vehicles.

“Then, move out.”

Daehyun settled himself into the driver's seat of one of the cars and he let out a whistle. He looked around at the interior of the car and a smirk came onto his face.

“I haven't driven in a while.”

Zelo sat at the back and he let out a small groan as he looked out the window. “If we die in a car crash before even getting into the city, I'm haunting you for the rest of my life.”

Sunri let out a chuckle at his comment and pulled the seat belt over herself. She pulled down the mirror and checked to make sure she had taken off all her piercings.

Daehyun started the car and he looked up into the rear mirror and gave a small salute to the other car in the back of the garage.

They decided that they would use the excuse of coming into the city for a business trip as their cover-up. Youngjae created fake profiles for them under young business owners so they could get in easier. They even had suitcases packed with random clothes and necessities in the trunk in case they were checked. It was going to be a few hours of a drive before they would arrive at the city.

“So where exactly do we go when we actually get into the city?” Daehyun asked. Sunri turned to look at him at the question. “We need to find a hotel we can stay the night in. Youngjae said he already got us bookings for one near the government hall. That will be easier for us to access their systems if Zelo is within the data range.”

“Man, you really do know the city.” Daehyun said as he gave her a quick glance before focusing his eyes onto the road again. She was turned to the window and she let out a soft sound of response.

The car fell into silence as rain started to pour. She stared out the window at the forestry that no longer existed. The environment the world was now in was just as scientists and researchers predicted many years ago.

Loss of natural habitats, rarity of animals, genetic mutations and so much more. The only way people could learn about the old days was through books and data online. She didn't even want to think about the countries and land out there beyond their own that was now destroyed and left barren after many years of nuclear war.

“Have you ever seen a forest before?” Daehyun asked, noticing her gaze.

“No, I haven't. Have you?” She asked as she turned her body to face the front. She looked up at the mirror and realized Zelo had fallen asleep in the back.

Daehyun clucked his tongue and turned to look out the window briefly. “No. Youngjae's been going on and on for years about how there's a country out there with fresh water, livestock, plants and all. We all think he's just talking crap.”

Sunri turned to him and tilted her head. “If there really is something like that out there, I'd love to see it once in my lifetime.” Daehyun let out a chuckle. “Don't we all?”

“I mean, if there really was a paradise like that, none of us would fit in. We're the outsiders of the world, aren't we?” She asked softly. Daehyun fell silent at her words because it was entirely true.

She turned back to the window. “Still, it'd be nice to hear a bird chirping or to see real water running down a stream- not the artificial stuff the government created to replace what humanity lost.”

“What reason do you have to enter the city?”

Sunri rolled down the window and took the sunglasses off her eyes. She looked up at the border officer who's eyes followed her every movement.

“We're here for a business trip. We'll be in and out in not time, officer.” She spoke with a smile. Daehyun and Zelo felt a shiver run down their spines as they heard her voice. They could tell she was using her ability.

Just as she finished her last word, the officer's eyes flickered between brown and black and he his heels to walk back to his post without another word. He opened the gates for them and Sunri rolled back down the window and faced the front.

Daehyun and Zelo had their eyes wide open in fascination as the city came closer into their view.

“So this is what it looks like.” Daehyun whispered.

Buildings, skyscrapers and homes lined the streets of the city. Street lights and the signs on many stores were and lit brightly against the darkening sky.

What really fascinated them as they drove by was the people.

People really were allowed to wander the streets. They watched as groups of friends walked along or couples would have their hands in hands walking down the streets of the city.

They passed by many public playgrounds where they saw children playing for a little while longer before they had to go home for dinner.

Schools, shopping malls, grocery stores- they were seeing all of this for the first time. Sunri made sure to point out some of the most fascinating buildings to them as they drove by.

“They look so different from what I imagined. There's actually children.” Zelo pointed out as he turned his head to look out the other window. Sunri turned to look at them and she felt both happy and sad for them at the same time.

People like them and like her would never experience what it was like to be a part of a real society.

“Turn at the next intersection and we'll arrive at the hotel soon enough.” She said as she pointed her finger in front of her. Daehyun nodded and did as she instructed.

Soon, they were parked inside the parking lot of the hotel and were now walking into the lobby of the hotel with their suitcases rolling behind them. Sunri had warned the two beforehand not to look so fascinated as they would stand out among the normal tourists.

She walked up towards the reception desk and flashed a smile at the young man who was sitting behind the computer. He looked up and his mouth fell open at the sight of her.

Since everyone in the city had no genetic modifications, it was easy to mix one person up with another. Everything about their lifestyle and fashion was dull. There were very little who stepped out of the boundaries and expressed themselves freely.

So of course, it was unusual to see someone with a perfect image. Not to mention, it was even more shocking when the three of them looked like they were models. He stood up and cleared his throat as his eyes looked between her and the two guys standing behind her.

“How may I help you?”

Sunri flashed him a bright smile and looked him in the eyes. “I have a reservation booked here under the surname of Han. Could you look into that for me?” He nodded and immediately turned to type something into the monitor. In a matter of seconds, he had turned back around with their room cards. She smiled as she reached over to grab it from his hands. She took the chance to lean over and whisper into his ear.

“It would also help if you told no one that you saw the three of us walk in today, hm?” She pulled backed and the man simply stared back at her with flickering eyes. He shook his head after a brief second and gave her a polite bow.

“As you wish.” 

author's note ✍

Things are finally happening! Hope you all liked the chapter. Once again, it's a long one but it's definitely worth it! (A little over 5000 words)

What do you all think of the characters and plot so far? Comment your thoughts!

And can we just take a minute to appreciate how amazing B.A.P's new album is? Carnival is amazing.

See you all in the next chapter.

16/02/28