"I can't move in the darkness. I can't see anything," 
-B.A.P, Coma

The first thought that ran through his mind was the stinging pain he felt all over his body. There was a constant drone in his head and a constant buzz that rang through his ears. The sounds were familiar and he knew it was the same as the sounds that pierced his senses before. His chest felt tight and he had a difficult time trying to steady out his breathing over the noise. He opened his eyes and his heart hammered in fear when all he saw was darkness. He was sure he had his eyes open but he could not see anything in sight. He could feel them start to sting and he quickly shut them again reflexively.

The throbbing that now started in his eyes remained as he reached his hand up to touch his eyes. He was baffled as to why he felt nothing move. That was when he noted how numb his entire body felt. He was not able to move his hands and his legs were not responding. No matter how hard he willed for his body to move, it would not. He wanted to cry from the fear and frustration he felt at the moment because he had no idea what was going on.

There was only one other time when this had happened and that was when Youngjae had accidentally shut down his system in an attempt to research more about his body. He remembered exactly how he felt with the fear and anxiousness clouding his mind. However, back then he felt no pain. He had just lay there frozen as he listened to Daehyun and Himchan scold Youngjae. Yongguk had walked in shortly after and commanded them to leave the room as Youngjae got to work in turning his system back online. He knew the pain he felt and the noise he was hearing was because of the hit they took back at that research base.

His brain racked around for another way he could move his body but nothing came to mind. That was when he realized he still had one last resort.

“Hyung,” He croaked out. He immediately felt how dry and sore his throat was once he was able to get out the words. He desperately wished he had some water to wash down his throat. His ears picked up movement over the buzz and he wanted to turn his head towards the direction the sound was coming from.

“I'm here.” He recognized the voice and he let out a mental sigh in relief. Jongup, who had grasped onto his hand, looked down at him in concern. “How are you feeling? Is anything wrong?” His eyes scanned over the boy and he furrowed his eyebrows when he saw nothing wrong with him physically.

“My head hurts. I can't see anything even when I open my eyes. It actually hurts to open them. I can't move my body at all. Are we home?” Jongup frowned when he heard all the things the boy had just listed off with a tone of desperation. He put a hand over the boy's forehead in hopes of calming him down.

“We're at the infirmary back at the Main Base. Yongguk and Himchan just left to report your situation to the boss. Daehyun forced Youngjae to go out and eat because he had been trying to get your system back online for the past few hours without rest. We've taken turns to check up with you the whole time.”

“What time is it?”

“It's early in the morning but you've been turned off for two days.” Jongup let go of his hand to look at the monitor that lay beside his bed. He frowned when he saw the fast pace at which his heart was beating. The only light that lit up on the x-ray of his body was his head. That meant only his brain was online at the moment which explained why nothing else seemed to work. He turned back to Zelo and lightly tapped his shoulder.

“I'll go get the others because they'll be able to explain your situation better than I can. It isn't a physical injury so I couldn't do much. It had something to do with a shutdown error. Give me a second, okay?” Zelo could only give him a small grunt as a reply and he listened as the doors to the room he was in opened and closed. He waited for a few minutes before the door opened and he heard several footsteps against the floor of the room.

He heard someone tap away at the monitor next to him and he assumed it was Youngjae. He knew the other members had crowded around his bed by the sound of their footsteps. He wanted to sit up and tell them what was going on but he could not because he didn't even know what was wrong.

“You're awake. We heard from Jongup. You can't see anything?” Yongguk asked. He locked eyes with Jongup who returned the look with a shake of his head.

“No. I just found out I've been out for two days too. I can't see and it's scaring me, hyung. Why can't I see? I can't move my body either,” Zelo whimpered. Youngjae turned the screen of the monitor for the other members to take a look. He pointed towards the body scan of the boy. “Only his brain is lit up. Everything else on his body is shut off and honestly, I have no idea why. The doctors back there said he should be back to normal after getting some rest and the rewiring of his system.”

“Then why is he still like this?” Himchan frowned as he peered at the screen. Youngjae had just opened his mouth when they heard the door to the infirmary room open and they all turned their heads towards it. They immediately straightened up and put their arms up to their foreheads in a salute.

“Easy, boys.” Zelo recognized that voice. It was their boss. He wanted to get up and greet him because he rarely ever left his office to see them so he knew this must have been something of significance. He could almost picture the members standing in a uniform line on either side of his bed with their boss parallel to them.

He would have his two bodyguards beside him. The man himself was tall but lean. The only parts of his face that these boys ever saw was his eyes and mouth. Every other part on his face was covered in white bandages. It was a freak accident when he had attempted to leave the work he had started for the government behind many years ago. Burns and scars lined his face and if he did not have them bandaged up all the time, he would feel severe pain once the wounds hit the air.

“How is he?” He asked while walking closer. Yongguk glanced down at Zelo before looking back up at their boss. “He is recuperating, sir. He is finally awake but he has shown no large amounts of progress.” They watched as the boss tilted his head and touched his chin in thought.

“That's interesting. So it does affect those who are defective too.” Six pairs of ears perked up at his words. Daehyun furrowed his eyebrows, “What ever do you mean?” The boss looked up and his lips tugged up on one side.

“The mission was given to someone else prior but they had not contacted me in time to confirm their objective. I gave you guys the mission but it seems like they still showed up without a formal report.”

It clicked in Himchan's mind why they had been given such a simple task tonight. Usually, their group was in charge of the assassinations or the mass evacuations. They were a bit surprised that they were given such an easy mission but it made sense to them now.

“The reason I came to find you guys was to give you guys some good news.” Yongguk raised an eyebrow at the unfamiliar tone. They were rarely ever given good news with such a smile.

“I'm going to give you guys a small break as a group. It'll only be a few days but you guys will not have to go on any missions. I want you boys to rest.” Himchan stepped forward. “Sir, we really don't need any time to rest. We'll be back on our feet by tomorrow.”

“I didn't ask for your input. I came to tell you guys. I did not come to negotiate.” The boss stated. Himchan shut his mouth and took a step back to their original formation in silence.

“Is there any particular reason for this?” Youngjae questioned. Being given a break was not unheard of but it was indeed rare. There had been times when one member had suffered from a severe injury and was put to rest for a few days. However, there had never been a time in the past in which they were given a break as a team.

“I want you boys to come to the training room in half an hour. I'll explain everything there. I'll get the boy fixed up too.” He beckoned for the man on his left to lean closer. He whispered something in his ear and the man nodded as he walked towards Zelo's bed. The boys parted to the side to allow him some room. They watched as he tilted Zelo's head to the side before looking up at the monitor. Their jaws fell open when he roughly pulled out his main chip.

“What do you think you're doing?” Jongup hissed as he stepped up. He looked up and saw the look on Yongguk's eyes and he silently growled as he returned to his spot beside Youngjae. They were not to defy any orders given by their boss. They stood there in silence as they watched the man plug the chip into the computer. He entered something in and the computer made a noise of completion. He then inserted it back into the boy's neck.

“He'll be back up and ready to go in a few minutes. We just used the administrative restart. I don't guarantee his pains will be gone but he will be able to move.” With that, the boss left the room with his two men, leaving the team there to let the news sink in.

Almost immediately, they turned down to check on their youngest member. Youngjae looked over at the computer screen and he let out out a sigh when he realized that the man had shut it off and there really was no point in turning it back on. Instead, he turned to look down at Zelo. He lay there completely still for a few seconds before his eyes flew open.

It looked as if millions of numbers were running across the surface of his eyes and the others all recognized this as his system turning itself online again. The worry that weighed on their minds lifted once Zelo's eyes returned to his natural brown.

“You okay?” Yongguk asked as he lent Zelo a hand to pull him up into a sitting position. The boy held a hand up to his head and he rotated his neck back and forth. He stretched his shoulders and looked up at their leader.

“I think so. The noise is gone. I feel fine now. Although, it did hurt when that guy pulled out my power like that,” He explained. A smile made its way onto Yongguk's lips and he pulled the boy off the bed to give him a clasp on the shoulder.

“You got us real worried for a second.” Daehyun commented as they left the room together. Jongup and Youngjae nodded in agreement. Zelo shrugged sheepishly. “I'm physically unbreakable but once something happens to my system, then I'm doomed.”

Himchan ruffled his hair from behind and led the way around the corner. “I had a feeling something like this wouldn't bring us down. Although, Jongup did have a mental breakdown when you didn't wake up.” The boy who had been walking quietly looked up when his name was mentioned. He nodded, agreeing to the comment that had been made about him.

It was no surprise that the two youngest members would stick together the most. They were trained by the same instructor before being put into a team together, unlike all the other members who were brought in separately.

“Hopefully he explains to us what happened back there because we were not able to find any information at all for the past few hours.” Youngjae sighed.

 

They arrived at the open doorway to the training room and walked inside. Once the lights recognized movement in the area, they immediately one by one. Soon, the entire training gym was brightened. The waited near the doorway for their next order.

A few minutes had passed before they heard chatter coming down from the hallway outside. They turned their heads and saw the boss walk in, once again, with the two men by his side. He held out a hand and gestured for the boys to head towards the corner of the room with all the technology. They followed behind him. Once there, he picked up an earpiece and threw it towards Youngjae who caught it with his left hand.

“This is the exact same model that you guys used for your mission tonight. You guys think the noise came from it at first, am I correct?”

Youngjae glanced towards the others and saw Yongguk give him a nod, signalling him to talk instead. He turned back and played with the earpiece in his hand. “Yes, that is what we had thought at first but the noise remained even after we pulled them out. We narrowed it down to either the security interference or a new weapon that they have to use against us.”

“You're incorrect for both assumptions. It was neither of those.” The boss held out a hand and Youngjae tossed the earpiece back. He put it back onto the table along with the others and he turned to one of his bodyguards. He waved his hand as if he was telling him to leave. The man nodded, gave him a slight bow of the head before ushering the other man to exit the training area.

The six others stood there and waited.

“You all know that us, as Mindless Soldiers, were scientifically created. Nothing about us is remotely natural aside from what we were able to keep from our previous bodies. We were created as an experiment and tested on while we were young. On the other hand, there are some that were born into this world already genetically enhanced.”

“You mean, they've already advanced that far?” Daehyun tilted his head. If that was the case, it was not going to make their job any easier.

“They have, in fact. Although they have been only able to make one and that was 18 years ago. They've made no further progress because we've taken in this natural-born Mindless Soldier.”

Yongguk held up a hand. “If they're born Mindless, then how are they on our side? Are they not programmed and designed to work for their creators?” The boss let out a laugh at the question. He had expected them to ask.

“No, because like I mentioned, this was their first and only successful creation. There was bound to be errors and one of those errors was that the soldier had a mind of its own.”

“So this soldier has their full Conscience? And they didn't eliminate the creation once they found out?” Youngjae asked again.

“They tried but were not physically able to. This soldier was immensely different from anything they had to deal with before and the lab itself that was supposed to contain their new soldier was met with destruction once the soldier was able to break free at a young age. None of the researches or guards made it out alive once the building went down because they went down with it.”

They stood there with rounded eyes at the new information. They knew that the Mindless were strong but none had been developed enough to have any enhancements at a young age.

“That was when we took the soldier in as one of our own. They were raised here and lived here with us for over ten years now.”

“Are they a part of one of the other teams?” Daehyun questioned. If so, he would love to meet whoever this soldier was. Perhaps they had already met before and they racked their memory for anyone who could be so greatly different from them in terms of the enhancements they had.

“They have worked as a lone wolf all their life, actually. Earlier, when I said that the mission last night was given to someone else, it was this person. Which brings me back to the main reason I have you here. Going back to the good news, you guys will be getting a new member added to your team.”

Himchan raised an eyebrow. “You're adding someone like that with us? Won't it be difficult for them to work as a team? Not to mention, we aren't exactly the friendliest with new people.” The others silently agreed because it was indeed a true fact.

“That is also why I'm giving you guys a few days off. I want you guys to be able to work as a team from now on.” The man fixed the black gloves on his hand. “Your team is already extremely efficient. We have pure brute force, a getaway driver, a sharpshooter, a technology expert, a medic for physical wounds and then a walking database. However, it is only efficient when dealing with a smaller target number. What would you guys do if it was a scenario like last night when you have hundreds or even thousands of enemies to deal with at once?”

They were never given a mission in which they had to deal with big numbers. It was not impossible for them, but something like last night was not going to work out if they had decided to continue fighting. They were outnumbered by plenty.

“We can organize and call ahead of time for troops.” Yongguk pointed out. The boss shook his head and clucked his tongue in disagreement.

“What if there was no time to call? What if there was no chance to? I'm not saying it would not work but there are a lot of risks that we would be taking once we get closer to the main mission. I can't risk losing all of you when it could be avoided with a simple addition. I'm adding someone who can control large crowds. Someone who will be able to serve as a crowd control for a bigger area of effect."

"I want to add in that no one else in this facility aside from myself and a few instructors have actually seen them. I know I'm springing a lot on at the moment but I had no other choice. I know you won't take the new member well. I had contemplated between adding another seven members but that would be far too big of a number to work with."

“Yes, sir. We understand.” Yongguk brought his palm up to his forehead. The others followed suit.

“Know that this new member is strong. They are able to control both the Mindless and the normal civilian. If it gives you a better idea, this soldier was the figure Daehyun caught a glimpse of on the way out. They had shut down the minds of the Mindless because that was the original mission. Incidentally shutting down Junhong's as well.” He had opened his mouth to continue when his eyes travelled to the door. The boys followed his gaze to where he had his attention stolen.

“There she is. I want you to meet your new member, The Siren.”

author's note ✍

Hope you liked the chapter! Comment below because I'll definitely reply. Don't forget to subscribe and upvote if you haven't already!

Once again, support B.A.P a ton by replaying their newest music video, vote for their song on the music charts and if possible, buy their album on Hanteo verified websites! 

See you in the next update, everyone. 

15/11/26