Code: 00

Location: Town

Time: N/A

Oh I wish it could be Christmas…

Tendrils of sand clouds slithered across the dusty floor, scraping against the parched ground.

Straining to stretch out his numbed limbs, Chanyeol groaned as his body shifted from its position on a large mound of dirt.

…everyday…

After regaining his senses, Chanyeol squinted his eyes as they adjusted to the harsh brightness of his surroundings. Once his vision had cleared, Chanyeol grimaced at the sight of an expansive desert tundra that lay before him, wherein patches of dried plants and towering cacti were scattered across the sandy emptiness.

…Let the bells…

Despite the stiffness in his neck, Chanyeol turned to face the area behind him while adjusting his sore body once again.

…ring out…

A stark contrast to their barren environment, Victorian terraced houses with their red brick walls and slanted black-tiled roofs stood in rows not too far from where Chanyeol was lying.

…for Christmas.        

In the fenced gardens and above the solemn mahogany doors, Christmas decorations were neatly arranged: inflatable snowmen, a common sight in the American films that Chanyeol remembered watching, guarded the garden gnomes with their oddly creepy smiles; the typical multi-coloured lights glowed cheerfully, despite the light of the sun outshining them; and somewhere in the distance, a vinyl record of "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday" seemed to be playing.

At least, Chanyeol assumed it was a vinyl recording of the song, considering the grainy quality of the sound; the man hadn't actually ever seen or heard a gramophone, let alone a vinyl record.

Standing up turned out to be a bad choice. As he attempted to establish balance, his knees began to buckle from disuse and a searing pain shot up his spine. Undeterred, Chanyeol shook his limbs, trying to withstand the excruciating agony that accompanied his rash decision.

Clearing his throat, though he hadn't said a word, Chanyeol followed the sound of the music whilst brushing the dirt off of his jeans. Upon a closer look at his surroundings, he noticed that sand dusted the nook and crannies of the houses instead of the pristine white snow which seemed far more befitting of their lavishly decorated exteriors.

In the centre of the road, a few metres away from the perimeter of the residential area, a solitary gramophone sat. From the brass horn and the bobbing stylus, it seemed pretty obvious to Chanyeol what it was from the descriptions he had heard once before.

What was odd, however, was the bluetooth headset that randomly lay beside it.

After picking it up and trying it on out of curiosity, Chanyeol switched the headset on.

"Hello Chanyeol." An unfamiliar voice spoke his name. "It's about time that you woke up."

"Um, who's this?" Chanyeol asked, surprised by the clarity of the voice on the other side.

"Have you forgotten already? It's Kyungsoo." He answered monotonously, his pitch unwavering.

"How can I forget somebody that I don't know?" Chanyeol scoffed as he tried to adjust the band to fit the width of his head. "Anyway, since you're here - sort of - do you mind telling me where the hell I am?"

"You…did you hit your head on something?" Kyungsoo questioned him in a serious tone, though it lacked any concern. "You're in a simulation, remember? Sehun's trapped you here, remember?

"Emphasising 'remember'  won't make me 'remember'." Chanyeol remarked, gesturing air quotes with his fingers. "Why would Sehun do that? He's a big ball of fluff - a bit annoying at times, but fluffy nonetheless."

Kyungsoo sighed, causing the sound waves to bombard Chanyeol's ears. "You say that, but he's been trying to kill-"

Before he could finish, lightning struck the ground in the vicinity of Chanyeol. Leading up to the man's feet, the path of the current formed blackened ribbons in the earth, from which wisps of smoke started to rise.

In the distance, wearing a displeased expression, a black haired man with a bionic right arm glared at Chanyeol. Raising his metal-frame limb, another burst of lightning emerged from the orb centred in his palm.

"Five steps to your left." Kyungsoo ordered tersely, which Chanyeol immediately followed. "Look ahead. Walk through that gap."

After narrowly avoiding being electrocuted, Chanyeol continued to run in the direction of a narrow alleyway between two rows of terraced house, whilst also wondering how Kyungsoo could possibly have known the geography of the area. With his back pressed against the wall, Chanyeol tried to calm his breathing in fear that Sehun might have developed enhanced hearing in addition to his robotic augments.

"Why is Sehun a robot?! Why is Sehun trying to kill me?!" Chanyeol hissed, the panic churning in his stomach.

"No time for questions. Exit the alleyway and enter the first house to your left." Kyungsoo dismissed Chanyeol's worrying, managing to stay calm despite the tense situation.

Once again, Chanyeol did as he was told. Upon reaching the other side, Chanyeol hopped over the adjacent garden fence and burst into the house, the green oak door slamming open from the force.

"Try to stay calm, you're making too much noise." Kyungsoo commanded, clicking his tongue at the clatter of the radiator. "Close the door. Go into the cupboard under the stairs and stay there."

Making his way to the stairwell, Chanyeol opened the cupboard door and squeezed himself inside. Before closing himself in, he tucked his legs as close to his body as they could go, cursing his height for choosing to be detrimental to his survival at such an inappropriate time.

Although muted by the dense walls, Chanyeol could hear the sound of whirring, as if a generator was building up power before the ultimate release.

He hoped he was wrong, but unfortunately, that wasn't the case.

Before Chanyeol could react, the entire upper half of the building above his head was obliterated in a flash of blue light. The cut had been so clean that the wooden door separating Chanyeol from Sehun hadn't even splintered, but instead, it began to cave inwards on the man.

"Flop like a fish." Kyungsoo's voice was raised and Chanyeol didn't have enough time to interpret his words. Trying to mirror Kyungsoo's oddly specific description, Chanyeol flattened his body against the floor.

Luckily, the door caught itself on the protrusions of the half-destroyed shelf rack, forming an acute angle with the carpeted ground. As the slab of wood barely grazed against Chanyeol's ear, there was nothing but an eerie pause that followed.

Eventually, a laboured sigh cut through the abrupt silence.

"Damn it." Sehun muttered before all but disappearing in a distorted network of pixels.

Once Kyungsoo was sure that Sehun was no longer there, he informed Chanyeol, "He's gone, you can get up now."

As he attempted to push the cupboard door with his shoulder, Chanyeol had misjudged his strength and caused it to fall backwards on the floor with a low thump.

"Well done." Kyungsoo commented. Although he couldn't see him, Chanyeol knew that the man was rolling his eyes.

"By the way, I think you meant 'Drop on the deck'." Chanyeol spoke up, finally realising what Kyungsoo meant. "I mean, if I flopped like a fish, Sehun would've found me straightaway."

Kyungsoo spent a brief moment mulling over his words, before concluding that he didn't really care."…What matters is that you didn't flop like a fish. I applaud your quick-thinking and ability to utilise your common sense. What an achievement indeed."

"Tone down on the sarcasm, Kyungsoo." Chanyeol huffed, displeased by the man's seemingly condescending attitude. "I'm not the one using pop culture references incorrectly."

"Oh like that matters to me." Kyungsoo bit back, a crack in his unperturbed demeanour forming. "Shouldn't you at least be thanking me for saving your life?"

"I would if you weren't being such an !" Chanyeol exclaimed, hands trembling in frustration.

"I was just being sarcastic! You're acting like I insulted your mother!" Kyungsoo shouted into Chanyeol's ear, clearly vexed by the man's overreaction. "It isn't difficult to say 'thank you'!"

"Thank you!" Chanyeol growled, ripping the headset off of his head before throwing it on to the floor. Turning on his heels, Chanyeol vigorously rubbed the back of his neck in irritation as he muttered unsavoury words about Kyungsoo.

"My God, you even throw temper tantrums like a child." Kyungsoo sneered, his voice ringing in Chanyeol's skull. Shocked, Chanyeol started groping at his crown and ears, only to find that the headset hadn't magically returned to him.

"Get out get out get out." Chanyeol starting pounding on the side of his head, tilting it to somehow empty his skull of Kyungsoo's presence.

"Don't do that. You'll only damage what few brain cells you have left." Kyungsoo returned to his monotonous tone, which seemed far more scathing than it had been originally. "But even that estimate might be too generous."

"Oh wow! You do know how to make jokes!" Chanyeol jeered, disgruntled about not being able to confront Kyungsoo face-to-face. He never thought of himself as a particularly confrontational person, but having the man's voice embedded in his brain - or so it seemed - was bringing up all sorts of emotions. Aggravating, murderous emotions.

"I had you penned as a nice person." Kyungsoo added, "Even your face suggests that you are, but I guess appearances aren't always an accurate judge of character."

"You don't know me, yet you're taking jabs at my personality. Isn't that contradictory to your point?" Chanyeol asked earnestly, his anger simmering down. For some reason, details of his own personality were vague to himself, yet he still felt that Kyungsoo's sudden evaluation was unjustified.

Contrary to Chanyeol's expectations, Kyungsoo didn't lash out and replied collectedly, "I'm sorry. I overstepped my boundaries."

The abrupt change in tone took Chanyeol by surprise, but an apology was an apology, even if it did come from the inside of his head.

"…Then I guess I'm sorry too." Chanyeol muttered, swallowing his pride. "And thank you. I mean it this time, I don't think I'd be alive without you."

A scorching breeze weaved through Chanyeol's matted curls, powdering the strands of hair with minute particles of sand. Wiping the dirt mingled with the sweat on his forward, Chanyeol decided to explore the area, even though it seemed to just be a repeating pattern of Victorian houses.

"So Kyungsoo, why am I in a simulation? Why is Sehun trying to kill me? Why are you here?" Chanyeol spouted the questions in rapid succession, barely giving Kyungsoo time to process his words.

"You're in a simulation because Sehun wants to kill you." Kyungsoo began to explain, "He's a notorious hacker, jealous of your family's successful business and your father hired me to help you get out."
 

"Okay, but that just sounds like a really ty plot to a drama." Chanyeol laughed, kicking up a cloud of dust out of boredom. "What's next? Do you become my love interest?"

"Don't even joke about that." Kyungsoo deadpanned, unamused by the suggestion. "Don't be blinded by your memories of Sehun, okay?"

When Chanyeol shrugged in response, Kyungsoo repeated himself, "Okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, I understand." Chanyeol said dismissively, far too engrossed with a gnome clad in a Santa Claus costume that stood in the garden of one of the houses. Picking the ornament up from the floor, Chanyeol examined the ruddy nosed figurine intently, taking in the fine details of its terracotta red suit and black boots, the bottom of which was unclosed and revealing its hollow insides.

"I can't believe you've found one already." Kyungsoo expressed his surprise, which somehow worried Chanyeol. "Put your hand in it."

Taken aback, Chanyeol's eyes widened in disbelief, wondering if the man had lost his mind, "You want me to stick my arm into a garden gnome?"

"Yep." Kyungsoo replied bluntly, waiting patiently for Chanyeol to carry out the task. Scrunching up his nose, Chanyeol followed Kyungsoo's orders and hesitantly slipped his hand into the cavity.

In a matter of seconds, Chanyeol's body dematerialised just as Sehun's had. As he warped into a fading cluster of cyan blue pixels, the gnome fell from his grip and landed with a thud on the sandy ground.

Filename: Christmas_20181225

Tag: [Sehun][Chanyeol][Christmas]

Underneath the Christmas tree, stacks of neatly-wrapped presents spilled on to the magnolia rug, all of which bore Sehun's name. Seated on the couch beside the heavily-decorated plant was the boy in question, who swung his legs excitedly, feet thumping against the supports of the seat.

"Dad, which one can I open first?" He looked at his father with an elated expression, wide smile revealing two gaps in his teeth. Sehun was giddy at the thought of opening the seemingly endless flow of gifts, joyfully bouncing on the cushions as any child would.

"Sehun, you need to calm down first." His dad chuckled, firmly pressing down on Sehun's shoulders to stop him from fidgeting. "You know acting like that isn't good for your heart."

Jutting out his bottom lip in a pout, Sehun reluctantly did as he was told, "I know, but it's Christmas!"

"Yes it is Christmas, but your heart doesn't know that." His dad answered his son's protests with a consoling smile, pinching the boy's cheeks to undo his frown. "You wouldn't want to go to hospital on Christmas day, would you?"

Shaking his head, Sehun muttered a soft "No."

The dejected expression on the boy's face tugged on the father's heartstrings, but he knew he had to firm with his son's behaviour, or else complications would start to occur.

After Sehun leant back into the seat, he began poking his fingers into the holes of his aquamarine knit jumper - a present from three Christmas' ago that he had yet to grow into - while his father went to the corridor to fetch an unknown item.

"Where are you go…ing…" Sehun started to ask, but the question died in his throat as his father walked back into the room.

With a proud smile on his face, the man introduced Sehun to the first of his Christmas presents, "Sehun, say hello to Chanyeol."

Examining his father's 'gift', Sehun grimaced.

Code: 00

Location: Town

Time: N/A

Chanyeol reappeared in the same spot he had left, now with a half-buried garden gnome at his feet.

"Maybe I was wrong…" Kyungsoo mumbled, the hum of his low-pitched voice echoing in Chanyeol's skull. "Sorry about that, it might have been a defective ornament."
 

"Was I supposed to see that?" Chanyeol questioned him, slightly dazed.

"See what?" The man replied with another question, unsure of what Chanyeol was talking about.

"I saw Sehun…when he was a kid. I think it was a memory or something - was that supposed to happen?" Chanyeol described the event he had witnessed, placing a particularly strong emphasis on the look of disgust on Sehun's face.

"You're seriously too damn forgetful. Didn't I say to disregard those memories?" Kyungsoo piped up when Chanyeol finished outlining his recollections, which, despite being brief, seemed to have had a considerable impact on the man. It showed in Chanyeol's distraught expression, as if there was something weighing on his mind, yet he couldn't quite remember enough to voice his thoughts.

"Chanyeol, Sehun's doing this because he wants you dead. Don't let your guard down." Kyungsoo warned Chanyeol in an attempt to snap the man out of his trance.

"But…I think something's wrong with Sehun, he's…is he dying? What's wrong with his heart?" Chanyeol stammered, eyebrows knitted in worry.

"For God's sake Chanyeol, listen to me." The volume of Kyungsoo's voice jolted Chanyeol out of his anxious state. "It's. Not. Real."

"But you said that they're memories. Aren't memories supposed to be real?" Chanyeol rebutted, sitting down on the steps of the house he had rematerialized in the vicinity of. It was becoming too much for him to handle, and it didn't help that a stranger was constantly nagging him.

"If you haven't noticed, you're in a simulation where your 'friend' has a bionic arm and there are Victorian houses in the middle of a desert." Kyungsoo stated, trying to show Chanyeol the absurdity of his situation in an effort to erase his doubts. "How real do you think your memories actually are?"

"…I suppose you that you do have a point, I mean, how could my presence possibly disgust anyone?" Chanyeol smirked with mock arrogance, but the haughty smile gradually faded into a look of discontent. Although he had every reason to believe Kyungsoo's words, and partnered with his own self-confidence, Chanyeol couldn't help but linger on young Sehun's expression.

Why did it feel real to him?

Why did Sehun look so unhappy to see him?

"Mm-hmm, yeah, totally." There was a particular comment that Kyungsoo wanted to make, but he thought that it was best to keep it to himself. After all, he liked to abide to Thumper's words. "So can you stick your hand into that gnome again for me?"

"Kyungsoo, why?" Chanyeol groaned in reluctance, unsure why of he had to violate the gnome again. "Why do you insist on making me traumatise the poor Santa gnome?"

"It's a clay figurine. Get over it." Kyungsoo answered stoically, ignoring Chanyeol's childish attempts to prove otherwise. "I'm still trying to find my way around this simulation, but I think this gnome is a 'key' of sorts."

Inspecting the garden ornament once again, Chanyeol dislodged the particles of sand residing in its crevices with a flick of his finger while Kyungsoo continued to explain, "If my guess is correct, you should be moved into a higher level of the simulation."

"Oh so there are levels now?" Chanyeol snorted, having already grown disinterested in his barren surroundings. "The final boss better not be you."

Although Kyungsoo didn't comment any further, Chanyeol still slipped his hand into the depths of the gnome's hollow insides, waiting for the landscape laden with travelling tumbleweeds and misplaced architecture to all but disappear.

He had hoped for a far more exciting change in scenery, but as fate would have it, Chanyeol's wishes would once again go unfulfilled.

After momentarily experiencing another blip of darkness as he had done before, albeit without the memory of Sehun, he gradually regained his sight obscured by the extensive network of shifting blue lines and squares. Instead of being bombarded by harsh rays of sunlight, a much dimmer setting greeted him.

Beneath his trainers, the dirt on which had vanished, a chalk-drawn hopscotch pattern stretched out before him on a dusty concrete floor. Not too far from where Chanyeol stood was a beady-eyed child, who scrutinised the man with his soul-piercing gaze and tight-lipped countenance. Unnerved by the boy's silence, Chanyeol remained petrified on the spot he had materialised.

It also didn't help that the child had the head of a goat.