Moonbyul's POV 

They were racing towards us now. Not just my friends, but it sounds like what’s probably the whole staff. I didn’t have much time to consider my options, so my first instinct seemed good enough to me right now. I know where the other “subjects” were being held from listening to their rounds. I knew I could get to them, and if I’m able to do that at least, it’ll save us some time. 

“Why do you look so scared? What’s happened?” Wendy asks, feeling her anxiety build because she can see Moonbyul’s clearly doing the same. 

Moonbyul quickly corrects her expression, and tries to put on a brave face. “Um… Nothing. I just heard some of the typical crap these scientists say. Still, we should move.” Moonbyul goes to the closest room without another thought, and pulls Wendy behind her. 

 She doesn’t give the slightly older guy the courtesy of a knock. She figures he’ll forgive her when he hears her proposal. To his credit, he barely flinches when she bursts in. 

“If you want to try your chance at an escape, come with me now.” 

Moonbyul sees him take in her appearance, and Wendy’s behind her. The fact that they’re dressed as subjects too must be enough to convince him. He jumps up from his bed and holds the door open for them as they walk out. Moonbyul doesn’t waste time moving on to the next captive. Hopefully getting her on board will be just as easy. 

It doesn’t seem like such a good start when Moonbyul bursts in and the girl that had been napping on her cot doesn’t bother to open her eyes. She doesn’t seem to get disturbed by the intrusion, but Moonbyul can tell that she’s awake. 

“We’re here to give you a chance at an escape. If you want to take it, come with us.” 

At the word “escape” the young girl’s eyes immediately pop open, and finally she turns her head with a raised brow, clearly interested in the proposal. 

“Do you have a plan?” 

“Not really. I can’t assure that you won’t get caught again if that’s what you’re asking.” Moonbyul admits. They had the right to know. 

“Okay,” She says simply. She didn’t even pause to consider the odds. Moonbyul isn’t sure it even mattered in the first place. The young girl hops up from her bed and joins them. 

They just had to meet up with the others now, but what came after meeting them was going to be the hard part. The rush and the uncertainty really ruined what could have been a nice reunion with Solar because none of it’s going to matter unless they get out of here, and their chances just keep getting slimmer and slimmer. 

“Come on this way.” 

Moonbyul keeps Wendy close by holding her arm. Seeing her now in person looking as frail as she did - it made her protective. Moonbyul wondered why the other two were in such better shape, but she guesses it would probably be useless asking now considering her memory problem.  

The girls were close now. There was almost no point in running, but the sooner she got to see Solar the better. 

Just when she reaches the end of the hall, she runs smack right into the girl that was on her mind. It was only then that Moonbyul lets go of Wendy, only so she can grab onto Solar by her shoulders. They stare at each other wide eyed like they were surprised, but really they were just overwhelmed.

"Moonbyul," Solar said with a tight voice, her bottom lip trembling. "I'm so sorry." She reached up and Moonbyul's hair down to her shoulders like she was checking if Moonbyul was really here.

"Don't worry, I'm fine." Moonbyul tried to assure her, but when Solar didn't seem convinced, Moonbyul had to cave. She leaned forward and gave Solar a short, electric kiss that left much to be desired. "I'm fine." Moonbyul repeated, smiling a bit at Solar's stunned look.

"Guys..." Wheein said impatiently. 

They couldn’t have a truly satisfying reunion just then, but Moonbyul couldn’t resist at least cupping the side of Solar’s face knowing she would lean into the touch. She missed the feel of her, the warmth of her. 

“Is Irene still with us?” Moonbyul was the first to break the silence. 

“I’m not sure.” Solar responds, never taking her eyes off Moonbyul’s. 

“Where’s the closest way out?” 

“Back by the security room.” 

“So back in the direction everyone is coming from?” 

“Yes.” Solar murmured, knowing how bad it sounded. Well that certainly made things a lot more complicated. 

“Well then, I guess Irene’s our only hope at this point. She helped us once, she can do it again. Push her to it if you have to.” 

“Now?” Solar asked in disbelief. “While everyone is running after us? Don’t you think it’s going to be a bit of a problem?” 
“We’ll worry about that. You just do your thing, and I’ll lead you just like before.” 

Solar’s POV 

I knew exactly what she was referring to. The time I used Moonbyul’s senses to move around the pitch black cabin, but I remained conscious in my own body still capable of moving around. 

I nodded. It was a good idea. “Okay.” I tried to lean in closer. I missed her. I missed having her by my side during the hard stuff. It felt nice to have her support by me again. 

“Okay.” She smiled at me encouragingly, finally removing her hand from my face to take my hand instead. 

I didn’t need Moonbyul to tell me how close behind me they were, so as soon as my hand was firmly in hers I went to Irene. I had faith in Irene. This all can’t be as it seems.  

Missing the fog now would have been impossible. It was so much more present than it was just the day before. I think she was beginning to recognize that it was there herself because the guilt from giving us up was bleeding through, and with how strong the fog was, I’m sure that wouldn’t happen otherwise. 

“Wendy.” She said into the now empty room. It echoed back to her and seemed to wake her up just enough to bolt from her chair, knocking over her seat in the process. “Wendy!” She cried in remorse. 

It turns out that I didn’t need to urge her to do anything, I just need to straighten out her fabricated emotions to reveal her true ones. That’s what the fog had been. It’s residue from the mental manipulation that had been put onto her, and, I’m sure, the staff as well. I don’t know who had done it to her, to everyone in here, but it explains why the staff and the building felt so weird. No one was their true self. 

“They’ve got some sort of mind control on the staff.” Being half with Irene and half with myself made my voice sound weird and distant, but the fact that I could communicate with them at all made me feel accomplished. “If I can manage to detangle her from it, I’m pretty sure that she’ll help us.”  

“Well then I guess in the meantime we better hide ourselves, huh?” I heard Hwasa say, sounding even more distant than before. Working on fixing Irene’s mind was taking a lot of concentration.  

“I agree.” I heard Moonbyul say to Hwasa. “I’ll lead you around, just keep working.” I hear her say close to my ear.  

Of course, I trust her and I could probably finish the task faster if I left my body mobile but left my mind bare to fix on Irene, so whatever’s happening here will be a mystery to me for now. 

The only way I could think of freeing Irene from the mask was by revealing the emotions that were lies. If I did that, hopefully her true emotions would come out and bring out the real memories that were connected to them. 

I don’t know how I managed such feat when Irene’s mind was so cluttered and unfamiliar. The best way I could describe it was as a thick fog, muddling the truth and making a new one. The reason I noticed the fog before Irene and all the staff was because I could tell which emotions were fake, and from that I could see which memories must have been made up. I knew emotions, and the ones they gave them were probably meant to serve as a false sense of drive. That’s why Irene was so hesitant to let go of the cause. 

Shuffling through her emotions allowed me to see the story that Irene was told to believe these past years. The biggest story defining her past was of her mother’s death. She was given an origin that was supposed to turn her against people like me, people with gifts. She was told that her mother was brutally murdered by a pyromancer.  

Irene didn’t know what to expect when she saw the smoke coming from her neighborhood. She just remembers the surge of fear that came when she saw the ambulance and firetruck fly past her and turn right into the street she was heading to. She started walking quicker, holding tighter onto the bag of groceries she was sent out to get not even an hour earlier. Once she reached the street, she could smell the smoke and by then her heart was racing. She sprinted towards her house needing to appease her fear, but she didn’t have to go much further to see that her fear was confirmed. Her house was up in flames, and she knew that if her mom wasn’t out by then… 

Irene couldn’t get too close to the scene, even after telling the people in uniform that it was her home. She could do nothing but watch from afar as everything she had and loved went down to nothing but ashes.  

It was while she was watching with watery eyes that some mysterious man came up to her, smelling more like smoke than probably the house itself.  

He said to her, “I’m glad you weren’t in there after all. It would have been a waste for someone as pretty as you to die that way. Not that your mother wasn’t either, but someone had to die to teach you father a lesson.” He reached out to grab a strand of Irene’s hair, but she flinched away before he could touch her. He only grinned in response. “Make sure to tell your dad that if he gives into Minji’s requests, I’ll have to burn you after all.”  

He raised his hand then, it was a ball of flames - Irene could feel the heat from it even then. He made it look like he was about to reach out and touch her, but when Irene flinched back he stopped and laughed finding her fear amusing. 

He gave her once last long look and disappeared into the growing crowd, never to show up again. Irene and her father vowed to find him and bring him to justice despite his threat. The threat never scared them, it only acted as fuel for their desire to find him. Just because they weren't afraid, it didn't mean that weren't cautious. Once Irene’s father got assurance that they would remain hidden in her facility, they both have been working for Minji on the promise that she would help them find him.  

I wasn’t even sure the pyromancer was real, but the name Minji sounded familiar. I would have to think about it later. For now, I needed to set Irene right so she could help us.  

There was real sadness Irene had for the loss of her mother, but it was by more common means. Her mother was a victim of cancer, not because some crazy person with gifts killed her.  

Knowing the truth meant that Irene had no ties or reason to help this place. She only had to worry about freeing Wendy and her father. 

Irene stands there a moment while the truth settles in her mind. She’s pissed. Her fists are balled up at her sides because it’s all she can do to keep herself from breaking something.  

But we don’t need rage right now. We need her to do something, so that’s what I urge her to do. We need her on the right track or her deliverance will help us all very little. I don’t have a plan, but she knows this place better, so maybe she could think of something.  

 Irene really was smart, so it only took her a moment to come up with an idea and get moving. She started running out the door and towards the experiment control room.  

“Solar, tell me if you’re still here.” 

I confirm that I am.  

“Great. I’m going to turn off all the precautions we have in the building set for each specific subject, so from then, they can use their powers undetected. In about three minutes, all of them should be able to take off their electrical safe guards. Tell Yeri that not every wall can keep her in, so she should check and not assume. Okay, I’m almost there. Go!” 

I took that as my queue to return to my body in full.  

Moonbyul’s POV 

Solar straightened up after coming back into her body and looked around a bit dazed. She must not have been expecting the dark room we were currently hiding in. 

“You’re back." Moonbyul gently her hair, trying to center back to her body. "Is Irene going to help us?”   

“Yes.” Solar responded, smiling a bit. She was looking better already. She sought out the other subjects in the corner of the small room. “In about two minutes, you can take off your bracelets, and Wendy your helmet. You’ll be free to use your powers. Yeri, Irene told me that not every wall is impenetrable.” 

“So Irene is good after all?” Wendy asks from my other side. She’s wearing a confused face. I can see why it’d be hard for her to keep up with Irene's motives. 

“Yep.” Solar confirms. “I’ll have to explain later. I think I can also take care of your memory problem later too.” 

Before anything else is said, I want to remind everyone of the dire situation. “Not to alarm anyone, but they’re searching through the doors now. We need to think of something fast.” I could hear the scientists walking slower now, taking small, hesitant steps. They started opening the doors to check the rooms. They were steadily heading our way. 

Yeri broke off her bracelet and stomped on it. “Like what?” 

Wheein spoke up. “Don’t you guys, like, have super powers? You should be able to hide us right?” She nodded at Ki bum. “I’m pretty sure that’s what Irene intended” 

“Um…” He uttered hesitantly, but before he could say anything else Wheein turned her gaze on Yeri. 

“And what’s the difference between walking through walls and walking through people? We could probably walk right out of here now that we have you guys.”  

“That’s true. I mean it’s a good solution.” Hwasa agreed, nodding vigorously while glancing over at the door. I wouldn’t doubt it if she could hear them too by this point. They were very close. 

“They couldn’t have gotten out. We just have to keep searching. Let’s split up. You with me.” 

“Boss is going to be so pissed. The poor saps are really going to have it.” 

“Shh. Keep moving.” 

“It’s not that simple,” Ki bum said. 

“Yeah,” Yeri agreed. “I’ve never done something like that before.” 

“Well now’s your shot. It’s time to use all that testing they put you through against them.” Hwasa said sternly. There really wasn’t another option at this point.  

“Guys, either you give it a try now or we’re about to be found.” They just had a few more steps left.  

The urgency of our situation must have shown on my face because there was only a moment of build up before Ki bum made a move.  

"Alright, come together. It'll be easier for me to try that way. Okay," He heaved nervously. Ki bum closed his eyes and rolled his shoulders. "When I open my eyes, all of you will be invisible." I had a feeling he wasn't talking to us.  

I turned to look at Solar, and saw that she was indeed becoming less visible, and if I can see that then... 

"Woah," Solar whispered as her jaw slacked open. Obviously, Solar was seeing it judging by that cute face. “He’s doing it.” 

“When they come in, get ready to move out. I’ll make sure we can walk right through them.” Yeri whispered. “I’m not about to be upstaged.” She said even quieter.  

They, whoever they were, were just a door down now. Knowing exactly where they were didn't help to calm Moonbyul's nerves. If anything, it made things worse. Her pulse was by far the quickest and hardest.  

"Guys...." Moonbyul warned.  

"I think I'm good." Ki bum assured. 

"Me too." 

A moment after the words left Yeri's lip, the door shot open and two people in lab coats marched in armed with their batons. 

"Are you serious? They have to be around here somewhere." One of the scientists said exasperated.  

Moonbyul stood at the back of the pack with Solar right in front of her. She only knew because she could hear her, so Moonbyul wasn't sure how everyone else managed not to overlap. She heard all the others walk right through the scientists like they were nothing. That's so insane. 

"We'll find them eventually. Let's just move on." The first scientist’s companion responded, turning around letting the door shut behind her. Moonbyul was able to walk by right before it closed. She stopped for a moment to check it, and just as she suspected, it was too dense for her to put her hand through. She barely made it. 

They just had to keep moving. If they kept moving at this pace they’d be out of here in no time. But of course, things were never that simple.  

It seemed liked things were going to be smooth. They went down hall after hall, passing through trouble like they weren’t even there. Things got interrupted when a loud scream pierced each one of their ears. A sound system had , echoing a scream throughout the halls. 

Everyone stopped and turned to look around in panic. No one knew what was happening, of course, and it wasn’t any of their screams. It didn’t sound like Irene either. It was pretty clearly a young boy, but they didn’t know of any. It didn’t matter much. The sound was enough to cause them to panic. 

“Solar,” Moonbyul whispered at her girlfriend who seemed just a bit more collected than the rest. “What’s happening?” 

“I don’t know. I can’t feel anyone in deep pain right now. Maybe it’s just a recording.” She barely finished her sentence before there was another loud screech that sounded like it was being torn from the kid’s throat. 

“Alright guys, just run!” Hwasa said while she started moving herself.  

They had just run around a corner when the loud screech abruptly cut off. When Moonbyul saw what was waiting for the group, she knew the scream was just being used to mess with them. They were forced into a dead end.  

At the end of the hall was a line of scientists each holding a cube that was audibly sending off waves. Of what? Moonbyul wasn’t sure, but if she had to guess she’d say they were meant to... No, she didn't know where to begin. 

“The boxes pulsing blue forcibly push atoms together. I can’t get past them. Not yet. I’ve tried so many times and never had I made progress.” Yeri answered one unspoken question.  

“The red boxes shoot light waves I can’t manipulate yet. I’d say we’re doomed.” Ki bum answered another which made each one of their hearts drop.  

Guess she didn't need to guess after all... 

“Where’s Irene?” Wendy said just barely above a whisper. Wendy hadn’t spoken much ‘til this point. It seems like she put a lot of trust in the scientist she basically, just met. Irene's brief time with her must have made an impression, but Moonbyul didn’t have an answer for her. She couldn't pinpoint her at the moment. There was too much going on. 

“Go on now. Try to make it past those boxes.” It was a woman’s voice. It wasn't someone that had been in the building before. Moonbyul didn’t recognize it. “If you can get past them, then you’re as good as scot-free.” Whoever was speaking sounded amused. She knew just as well as them that they couldn’t. No one spoke and no one moved.   

“Well, since you clearly aren’t going to try to make any moves, I’ll make you a proposal. Reveal yourselves now and calmly be escorted back to your bunks, and there won’t be too much punishment.” The way she said that clearly meant that there’s still going to be a sizeable amount. 

“Or you can be pushed back by those nice scientists before you, which mean you’ll eventually be rounded up and when we punish you, we’ll show you no mercy. You’ll be making noises just like the nice audio clip we played for you a minute ago. It’s your choice, but you only have ten seconds to decide.” She started counting down in the same breath. 

“We have no choice. We have to reveal ourselves.” Solar said. “We’ll figure this out later. All of us in here together, we’ll get out in no time.” She sounded confident. Moonbyul didn’t know how she did it, but she admired her for it. “Are you ready?” 

“I guess.” Ki bum sighed, sounding shaky.  

"If we have to." Yeri grumbled, sounding more annoyed than anything. 

Solar’s POV 

Getting to this darkened experiment room was tough. I know I have a lot more bruises now than I came in with. I also finally got to feel the sting of the baton for myself in my own body. The pain wasn’t a surprise for me, but it didn't stop the tears from involuntarily falling down my face. I know Wheein and Hwasa couldn’t have guessed how bad it really was. I had hoped they'd never know, but... I couldn't prevent it. They’re in their own rooms now, just like everyone else I was with, but I didn’t stick around for too long after checking in on them. Waiting in here has me worried enough. 

 I didn’t bother looking around the room. I was familiar with the place, but it did have a different feel with most of the lights off. It kind of feels like I’m in an interrogation room for the FBI or something.  

I sigh for maybe the fifth time as I wait for the lady on the speakers to come in. I know it’s going to be her and not Irene’s dad. I can feel that. I just can’t seem to find her. She’s going to be all uncharted area for me when she comes. 

Finally, I hear the door being pushed open. I turn to look at a pretty woman, about ten years older than me, walk in with a smug smile on her face. 

“Hello there. What can I call you? You can feel free to call me Minji. I’m certain you’re familiar with that name, aren’t you?” 

I was so panicked before I didn’t recognize where the name from Irene’s fake memory was from. It was in the blog and it was in the email responses from that blog. That Minji was real, and she was standing right in front of me. 

Her smile grows a bit as I have this realization, and my unsteadiness grows.  

“You wrote that-”  

Minji raises a finger shushing me immediately. “I don’t like when my questions go unanswered. What can I call you, you little intruder?” Her head tilts to the side just slightly as her dark eyes bore through my sockets right to my core. 

“S-Solar,” I can’t help but stutter. “My name is Solar.” 

“Ah Solar, I’ve taken a big interest in you.” The way she ends her sentence, I know she wants me to provoke an explanation. I don’t hesitate to yield.  

“Why is that?”  

Her smile only grows. I know I have a big smile, but the way her smile grows makes it seem like it could never stop. 

“I can see it. The great amount of power that you hold. The two you came with, I know they have nothing, and your girlfriend, she’s amazing, but not in the same way you are.” 

How can she tell that Wheein and Hwasa are normal? 

“I’ve been working with your kind for quite a while, Solar. That’s how I can tell.” 

Did she just answer a question I asked in my-? 

“Head?” Her smile grows a fraction bigger. “Yes. Yes, I did. Does that make you think of anything?” 

The story on the blog.  

“You wouldn’t believe how much I questioned the blog at first, but look at us now.” She pauses, simply smiling at my discomfort. “It got so many poor saps here, including you and your friends, and oh, I can’t forget your girlfriend.” 

“I thought it was your brother that could read minds.” She must have just mixed up the facts, I thought bitterly. 

“It was my brother.” Minji says as she turns around to grab a chair.  

Then how is she- 

“You remember that audio clip I played before, don’t you?”  

“That horrible scream from the young boy? Yes, of course.” It takes only a moment to realize what she’s hinting at. 

That young boy was him... She somehow took his powers. He didn’t die the way she wrote in her blog. She killed her own brother. 

“You’re not dumb, Solar, so try to figure out why I’m doing all this. Just with the information I’ve given you.” 

It was simple. She wants our powers. 

“Yes!” She throws her hands up, like she was proud. “Each power is different, and each power seems to come from different parts of the brain and body, working in vastly different ways. It’s nice to learn how to improve them, but really, we’re learning about how they work on the inside. That’s how we did it with him. Sometimes it gets messy, as you heard,” She waves hand like what I heard was nothing. Like her brother meant nothing. “But we get results. Emulating something like this demands a lot of results…” 

“Anyway,” She claps. “I want to know what’s up with you. What can you do?”  

She really didn’t know... Solar could feel her curiosity. Minji had no idea what Solar could do. Even with the power of reading minds, Minji couldn't figure it out. That told Solar one important thing... But she couldn’t think it out-right. She had to keep this from the forefront of her mind, away from Minji. 

--------------------------------------