♫  click the music note for music !

​

“I wonder why I don't go to bed and go to sleep. But then it would be tomorrow,
so I decide that no matter how tired,
no matter how incoherent I am,
I can skip on hour more of sleep and live.”
― Svlvia Plath, ​The Unabridged Journals of Svlvia Plath

“Good morning soldiers of the Cover. It is now dawn which means it is time for the first meal of the day. Please proceed to the cafeteria. I wish you all a productive day ahead and remember, the Cover is their Sanctuary and we, are their beacon of hope.”

The familiar sounds of an alarm rang through the Innermost, signaling that it was morning. Airlock door after airlock door began opening as the Selected made their way out of their sleeping chambers and into the main cafeteria.

This was one of the few times that the Selected from different teams would be able to interact with one another. Aside from lunch and dinner times, they hardly ever saw the other teams because they would be busy using their time either training or out on missions.

Hoseok woke to the sounds of shuffling and the blaring alarm. His eyes peeled open and he let out an inaudible groan of pain from the headache that was beginning to form.

He pushed himself into a sitting position with his elbows propped behind him as support and looked out the small window of the sleeping capsule.

His headache continued to grow and he flinched when he ran his fingers through his hair to feel the wound. Flashes of what had happened leading up to his injury flooded his mind and his eye twitched in discomfort.

The image of the creature’s dismantled and hanging jaw made him incredibly uncomfortable and it was as if he could still smell the rotting flesh inside his sterile sleeping area.

Blindly, he reached for the small medication box to the left and popped off the lid. He quickly swallowed down one of the pills and when his breathing calmed down, he let out a sigh of relief.

The Bliss pill helped to ease any kind of discomfort and unhappiness in the mind. It helped one calm their nerves and forget about any unwanted memories that would result in a downcast mood. Everyone in the Cover was required to take it on a weekly basis. If needed, a daily basis was highly enforced to make sure no violent thoughts or carnal desires would ever arise.

The pills were different for the Selected as they were not allowed to take it during missions but once they returned, it was mandatory to take as many as required to ease the discomfort.

It was their personal pain killer.

His eyes grew heavy once more once the drug began to dissolve and he lay his head down onto his pillow to rest, ignoring his breakfast meal.

Taehyung was the first to hop down from his top sleeping capsule and landed in front of Jungkook’s sleeping chamber, which was directly under his. He tapped on the glass window and Jungkook unlocked his door to climb out.

“I’m so tired,” Jungkook yawned, stretching his arms above his head. Taehyung chuckled and nodded in agreement. He nudged the other boy forward towards their shower room so they could both freshen up.

By the time they finished, they met up with the rest of their team members at their designated table inside the cafeteria.

“Is he still resting?” Jungkook looked around, referring to Hoseok, who none of them had seen all morning.

Jimin, who happened to be his bunkmate, shook his head. “I haven’t seen him since last night.” Jungkook nodded in understanding at his answer and sat down to begin eating his meal.

“Does anyone want to come into the Cover with me?” Jin asked after a few moments of silence, looking up after swallowing a mouthful of mashed potatoes. Yoongi turned to him and lifted his free hand up.

“I’ll come. I need some upgrades for my rifle anyway.”

Jin smiled, relieved he did not have to travel alone.

“I think I’ll spend today’s time training,” Jimin announced. Jungkook and Taehyung turned to him, exchanging eye contact as a silent response that they would join him.

Silence fell over the table as each individual was engrossed in their own meal. The loud chatter of the wide room resonated around them.

Once they finished, one by one, they left the table and returned to their own team’s common area.

As Jin ducked down to enter in the code for his sleeping capsule, a tap on his shoulder made him straighten up and look back.

Namjoon looked at him with a small smile. “I’ll come along with you and Yoongi.”

Jin walked up towards the machine by the side of the vault door and entered in his credentials. After the confirmation and scanning of his personal keycard, the vault door began to pull itself apart. Each gear and hatch unlocked and soon, the bridge to the Cover was open for the three of them to pass through.

Yoongi instinctively scrunched up his face in disgust because of the musky smell. The surrounding moat under the bridge was filled with a green tinted liquid and the smell rose towards their senses as they walked across.

“Honestly, this smells worse than the radioactive air on the Surface. The did they put in there?” Namjoon pointed out, pulling up the hem of his sweater over his nose to dampen the smell.

“Don’t they pour the chemicals and waste products into the water? Or it might just be a scare tactic so that we don’t try to get from one area to the other when the bridge is blocked off,” Jin replied.

Yoongi shook his head and walked ahead of the two. “I don’t know, man. I just wan’t to get past this bridge as soon as possible.”

They walked for another few minutes until they saw another pair of guards on the other side, guarding the entrance into the Cover. Jin took out his necklace once again and the two guards stepped aside, allowing them to pass.

“Where are we headed first?” Namjoon asked, looking between the two who actually had a distinct purpose for coming here. Yoongi shrugged and jabbed a finger in Jin’s direction. “I came mainly to keep him company so let’s see where he wants to go.”

“I want to see my mother before she is sent to Tomorrow.” Jin said, turning to them. He gave them a tight smile and let out a shaky sigh.

Almost immediately, Yoongi and Namjoon softened and they stepped forward to place their palm upon the boy’s shoulder in comfort.

“She’ll be in a better place,” Namjoon reminded.

As they weaved through the crowded walkways, more and more of the Ordinarians began to notice the three soldiers in their presence. One by one, they would dip their heads in a grateful bow and some even shoved gifts of food into their arms.

Even after all these years of travelling through the Cover, they had never grown fully accustomed to this. They knew they symbolized hope but to be treated as beings on par with the Forerunner was another story.

“Wait, lady!” Yoongi called out. The woman who had given them her paper bag full of bread and biscuits turned around with round eyes. She pointed to herself in confusion, almost disbelieving that they had called out to her.

Yoongi walked up to her and put the bag back into her hands with a smile.

“You need this food more than we do. We have more than enough in the Innermost. Please, keep it for yourself.”

Her eyes watered and she bent her entire body down into a straight angle of a bow.

“Thank you, thank you, kind sir. We were taught that you soldiers needed the food to be strong and survive your trips to the Surface, no?”

Yoongi shook his head and began walking away.

“The people do enough for us. You don't need to do anymore.”

Once he fell back into step with the other two, Namjoon ducked his head down to whisper, “I hope you know that little kind act of yours attracted more attention to us now.” Yoongi looked around and sure enough, more Ordinarians had stopped what they were originally tasked with to observe the three.

Yoongi shrugged. “Not like we weren’t going to catch attention with our uniforms anyway.”

They finally reached a familiar corner of the street. Jin looked up at the stone building with a crumbling roof and pushed aside the cloth door to let himself in.

“Mother?” he called out, looking around the dimly lit room. He frowned when no one replied. He walked through another hanging cloth towards the back and saw his mother sleeping on her bed.

“Seokjin? What are you doing here?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

He looked down at her and brushed the  hair out of her eyes with a smile. “I came to send you off,” he looked behind him and gestured to Yoongi and Namjoon standing there, “and they came along with me too.”

She reached out to touch his face and let out a soft chuckle. “I almost forgot today was the day. You’ve always been better at remembering than I was.”

“Are you ready?” he asked. She shook her head as she looked up to examine the faces of the two behind her son before turning to her son again.

“I don’t think anything prepares you enough for Tomorrow. I almost wished I could magically be a younger version of myself again.”

“Won’t it be better than here? That’s what the Forerunner tells us,” Jin commented. His mother shrugged her shoulders and with his help, sat up against the wall.

“I’m just heartbroken I won’t get to see your face anymore because once I pass the gates, you know we can’t come back,” his mother reminded. Jin fell silent at her words because it was true.

Once an Ordinarian reaches the age of 40, they are transported to another area of the Cover called Tomorrow. There, they are given the extra care and attention they need at their age because any age above 30 is considered old. There is no one in the Cover above the age of 40 because the Forerunner believes that those who have worked their whole lives deserve a break to ease them off their hard days.

Family members would no longer be able to see their loved ones because Tomorrow was a place that the Forerunner did not want to be disturbed. He wanted these Ordinarians to live out the rest of their lies peacefully, in the care of specialized workers who would tend to their every need.

“Maybe the Forerunner will let me visit because I’m one of the top Selected,” Jin suggested. His mother shook her head again and slipped her feet into her worn-out sandals.

“I doubt it, honey. It’s okay, you don’t have to worry about me anymore. You live well with your brothers in the Innermost, you hear me?”

Just as she pulled her brown cardigan closer around her body, the sound of boots against the stone floor made the four of them turn their heads. The cloth beside where Yoongi was standing was pushed aside and he stepped back to let the person through.

“Good morning,” the soldier in black bowed, “We are here to you to your destination.”

“Can’t we spend some more time with her?” Jin asked as he stood up. He was about to take another step forward to reach out for his mother when Namjoon shot him a look to stand down. They were never to disobey or interfere with orders from the Forerunner.

The soldier led her out to where two more soldiers were standing idly by. “She will be in good hands, sir. You need not worry about her anymore. Her house will also be cleared for the next occupant to move in by tomorrow.”

Jin, Yoongi and Namjoon followed them out as they helped her onto the vehicle. The driver pushed on the pedal and the mechanical contraption sputtered to life.

His mother waved to him from within and she smiled at him.

“Stay bright, my son. I’ll be waiting for you in Tomorrow, okay? If you’re feeling too upset, remember to take your Bliss.”

Jin almost ran after her if it were not for his friends holding him back.

Namjoon pulled him back. “She’ll be fine, Jin. Maybe we can request for a special grant to see her again one day.”

The boy shook his head as a tear fell down his face. “I miss her.”

“It’s just how the Cover works,” Yoongi said, looking after the vehicle that had now disappeared from their sight.

“Here, I brought an extra Bliss for you.” Namjoon dropped the pill into his hand and Jin stared down at it before taking a deep breath. He popped it into his mouth and closed his eyes for a few seconds.

Once he opened them again, he was smiling.

“You’re right. She’ll live better there than she did here. I have nothing to worry about.”

Jimin narrowed his eyes as he position the scope of the rifle against his right eye. He watched as the target moved closer to him and just as it was about to lunge, his finger wrapped around the finger and the target fell against the ground.

His ears picked up the sounds of movement from behind him and he quickly whirled around before he was clawed at. With another click of the gun, the target fell onto the ground with a pile of blood around the bullet hole in its skull.

The words ‘Level Completed’ flashed across his eyes and he smirked in satisfaction. Taking off the helmet, he threw it onto the hook. He began taking off the gloves and the wires connected to his body. After removing everything, he walked towards Jungkook and Taehyung who were sitting behind two monitors.

“How did I do?”

Taehyung grinned and turned the monitor for him to see. “You took a tenth of a second less to shoot each target than your last score. No damage sustained and you finished the round with less time needed.”

“My turn,” Jungkook announced, pushing his chair back and walking towards the training area. He took the helmet off the hook and placed it onto his head. He tightened the gloves onto his hands and stretched out his fingers.

Not only were the Selected required to train with one another through physical sparring, it was also beneficial if they trained through the augmented reality helmets. Through this virtual world, they were able to fight one on one with the Erratics without physically injuring themselves.

The device, known as the AR, was a project that had been discovered even before the founding of the Cover. The Forerunner and his helpers at hand had managed to scavenge the blueprints and data for the technology which they took years to perfect for their own use.

The technicians had taken the reports of the movement patterns and behaviour of the Erratics and implemented them into the training levels. By going through this type of training, they were gaining hands-on experience while fighting with the Erratics.

The person wearing the helmet was able to control the difficulty and the advantage they would have over the Erratics, whether that was a weapon, increased physical abilities or other items to help them in battle.

Jungkook reached his fingers out in front of him and scrolled through the different training areas and options.

Taehyung, who was watching his every movement, furrowed his eyes when he saw the selection the boy had made. He turned to Jimin, who also stared at Jungkook in a mixture of both surprise and worry.

Jungkook had specifically made the choice for the targets to be children and that he was given nothing but a close-range dagger. Not only that, he had purposefully made it so that the environment was night, meaning he would have limited visible ability.

“He wants to get over his weakness,” Taehyung whispered, staring at him. Jimin took a sip from his water bottle.

“He’s hitting two birds with one stone because more than anything, he hates the darkness.”

a u t h o r ' s     n o t e

​      Yay, another chapter done! I'm sorry, there was quite a lot of new terms and ideas introduced within this chapter so if you have any extra questions on either the Bliss pill, Tomorrow or the AR, leave a comment and I'll do my best to explain it for you!

     Otherwise, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter and see you in the next one!

​     P.S. Does anybody know why I called this place 'Tomorrow'? (because BTS has a song named after it LOL so I thought it was pretty fitting)