Caelstone City, Union Federa, Buthaan
Monday, June 15, 2663

Hyukjae woke up early, as usual, characteristically alert the moment he opened his eyes. He has never been plagued with the need to laze in bed when he knows he has a full day ahead of him. Which did not mean he never rested. On the contrary, he can only manage to wake alert if he had a deep sleep the night before. He had disciplined his body since he was young to follow internal commands whenever he need to stay up late or wake up early, or sleep longer than he needed to just to recover his sleeping hours. But no, he never lazed around in bed.

The sky is still dark outside his window, up at his bedroom on the 404th floor pad. As soon as he stands up, the light in his living quarters also gradually brighten up, following his path from the bedroom to the kitchen. His pad, though minimalist, was tastefully appointed. White is the predominant color, accented here and there with splashes of color, though nothing too bold. He walks barefoot on the carpeted floor, clad only in cotton pajamas, from the waist up.

He prepares himself a hot cup of chocolate drink, mindful of the time. Exactly 15 minutes after he would be out of his unit to take a run around the fitness track 20 floors down. 20 minutes of running would be followed by 20 minutes of weights in the fitness center and then it's back to his unit for another 20 minutes of crunches. His cool down routine? Preparing a quick breakfast in 30 minutes before taking a shower in 15 minutes, dress up in another 15 before eating the breakfast plus clean up the kitchen all in 30 minutes. Then it was time to get to work - a 30 minute drive in his hover car to the restricted sprawling facility at the outskirts of the city. He'd park into his designated slot and after a 10 minute combination of walk, lift and slide, he accesses his biometrically activated workstation at exactly 8 o'clock in the morning.

Lee Hyukjae is a timecop, working for the Temporal Security Division in Buthaan. He'd been one for four years now, and considered one of the aces. Which does not mean much, in Hyukjae's opinion, since there were a lot of more accomplished timecops than him but his superiors are watching him - Hyukjae had the right balance of brains and brawns for the job. In more instances than they could count, he had effectively employed the required skills of counselor, cop, pilot, physicist and engineer. He is a genius period, but also a jock.

"Hey, buddy! On time again, I see," Choi 'the Horse' Siwon greeted him on his way to his own workstation. Siwon is also another timecop, whom Hyukjae considers a better pilot than him though a little slow in the math side of their job. Siwon's redeeming factors include being competitive, relentless and industrious. He doesn't back down when things get tough.

Both him and Siwon are on monitoring duty rotation this week. Which means doing nothing but note any anomaly on the wormhole they are monitoring. While most timecops considered it the most boring duty out of all rotations, Hyukjae actually likes the opportunity to study the only thing that made his Phd-level studies worthwhile.

It is no secret to Buthaans that their planet hosted a peculiar wormhole. The singularity had proven stable for ages, neither diminishing nor expanding, but has been a source of most lore for the world. Of dark-haired denizens crossing from the other side, speaking in a different language and of places different to what Buthaans know. Of being hailed by the dark-haired ones as gods, when there is nothing godlike about the Buthaans. Back when the wormhole was left unmonitored, upheavals in Buthaan included assaults from the more warmongering leaders of the dark-haired ones, never mind their less-advanced weapons. Then something happened, that made the then world government, lock down the wormhole and restrict access to it, building over and around it what would become known as the Temporal Security Division.

In Hyukjae's time, the Division has already been around for centuries. Activity around the wormhole is governed by a rigid process, and only the most gifted Buthaans get to work in the division. It was no exaggeration to say that only geniuses worked at the Temporal Security Division. And not mere geniuses of only one specific study - it wasn't a joke that timecops need to have intensive backgrounds as counselor/social scientist, cop, pilot, physicist and engineer. Ones that accomplish all at a young age like Hyukjae and Siwon did is a testament to the kind of lofty inspiration and brutal competition required to get into the Division.

Once inside, Hyukjae found out the responsibility is just as heavy - when one is the first line of defense against or welcome for whatever or whoever could unknowingly come from the other side, is a mandate that the Division could never take for granted, and it had no choice but to screen from the best of the best. On top of regulating the activities around the wormhole.

Since the lockdown, the general populace also had diminished access to the other side, until stories of the dark-haired ones became mere stories of the "other" race.

At least until a Buthaan comes across a dark-haired one. Hyukjae still remembers the first time he met one.

Hyukjae was 12 then, growing up half the world away in Bardford County, when he came across a shop and a postcard like no other. The shop was a bit eccentric, tucked away at the end of an alley. He wouldn't have found it if he wasn't ducking around trying to avoid Jung Yunho, the bully who always accosted him on his way home from school.

The postcard was unusual because it was old, and featuring a landscape he knew wasn't from his world. Hyukjae would have left it at that, if not for the writing at the back: "I miss you, Cordana. I miss home."

Something about it called out to Hyukjae, and he clutched at it while going to the cashier's, an elderly lady with a kind face but one he knew outright was a mix of his race, and some other - in their world, there were few non-blondes and the lady's brown hair was a giveaway.

He must have stared long at it because the lady just chuckled. "I get that look every time, son. Well, a legacy from my grandpa." She smiled, looking over what he was holding.

"And I see you have something of him, too," she said, indicating the postcard.

Hyukjae hesitated, aware of the other race. He had entirely forgotten escaping the bully, and now intrigued about this "other" that his people are aware of, but never really talked about.

"It's addressed to Cordana?" he shyly asked, pointing at the writing at the back.

The lady smiled, a purse of her lips, thinking about something regretful. "Cordana is his sister. A grand-aunt I'll never meet. In his twilight years, he was finally allowed to tell of the people he left behind, easier to ascribe everything to an old man's senility. Before then, all he had was this - bits of images from home which he drew himself. Oh, but don't get me wrong, he settled well here, fell in love with Granny big time - I still remember them both taking afternoon walks together down the Square. He had such great spirit we sensed his sister shared the same. Maybe it just weighed heavy that there was a part of him he couldn't talk about until the end. But surprisingly, he never forgot - he never went senile, you know."

Hyukjae just listened through it all, hooked about a place, time and people removed from his, but having proof of its existence.

"Can I have this?" he shyly asked. While he had seen the postcard, there was no price tag for it.

"Sure - everything here must go." She rang up the charge. "That'll be 50 cents."

Hyukjae paid for the postcard and went home with his prize. He went back to find the store the next day after school, but he never found it. Well, at least he didn't expect to see it again.

But that postcard and the story behind it propelled him to become a timecop.

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