xIIi. intruders and weaponry

  "A spy." Alex could see Yongguk weighing this information carefully, turning it over in his mind before the next sentence came out. He sheathed his sword again, his expression unreadable, but Alex could see the momentary flash of panic that came before the mask. "What do you mean, a spy?" 

   "I found this in one of our meeting rooms." Digging into the pocket of his suit, he pulled out a small black device shaped as a circle, flat like a button. On its side, a tiny red dot was blinking. "Someone's been recording our conversations." 

  He handed it over to Yongguk, who took it and flipped it around on his open palm, as if contemplating what to do with it. "Is it still on?" He asked, before depositing back onto Alex's open palm. 

    "I switched it off," He pocketed it again. "But it can be easily. I didn't want to destroy it yet. It might give us an edge if we start feeding lies back to Gemini." Alex raised an eyebrow at the other, hoping that he understood what he was getting at. "What do you think?" 

    Yongguk took some time before answering; he ed the sheathed sword forward in an action that reminded Alex of blocking an attack, before tucking it right by his side. "That's a good idea. Turn them right back on their heads. But what do we tell the others when we use the room? To tell lies and mess up the operation?" 

    "We can just use it ourselves," Alex shrugged. The leader crossed the room, and returned the katana to its rack. "It's not like anyone's around besides Saebin. Hyun and Adrian are in Canada, while Minjung and Daehyun are in Cairo." 

   "Works." The scientist shoved his hands into his pants pockets, and followed Yongguk out as they headed to the elevator. "Yeah, we can do that. But also, another question." Alex raised his eyebrow at the statement, but said nothing as Yongguk pressed a button, and they zoomed upwards to the cafeteria. "How do you know it's a Wonderland spy and not a CARDS spy? I'm pretty sure it's open access; someone would clean it after we use it, more or less." 

   "I don't." The elevator slid open to the wafting smells of food, and he could hear the distinct chatter of people. Lunchtime. "Just a guess. My instincts are pretty good, after all." That was meant to be a joke, but as they filed in to get some food, Alex realised there was a degree of truth in it. So far, there were few things he wasn't right about, a feat he wasn't necessarily proud of, but something he can say with confidence. He grabbed a salad, dumping it onto his tray, before following Yongguk to the Japanese section. Picking up a small turreen of curry rice with chunks of chicken swimming around, the pair then paid for their food with the special CARDS issued card (reserved especially for meals), before settling on a nearby table. "Tea?" Yongguk nodded absent-mindedly, before calling "Iced!" after him as he manned the drinks dispenser that can summon virtually any type of drink you want, courtesy of the Science Department. Grabbing a hot mug of camomile for himself, and a glass of cold barley tea, he headed back to their table. 

   "I have no idea why you still drink hot stuff even when it's boiling outside," Yongguk commented while downing his glass in one go. "I'd feel like suffocating if I had that." 

   "That's because you just went training." Alex broke apart his pair of wooden chopsticks, picking his way through the salad and making a face, before carefully depositing the carrot strips onto his partner's plate. "Besides, hot drinks are good for the body. I need to stay healthy if we're remaining at the top of our game." 

  "Questionnable, but okay." Diligently, Yongguk started mixing the carrot strips into his curry rice before putting a spoonful into his mouth. "So, what's the game plan for today?" 

  "You taking a shower immediately after lunch." Alex deepened the already visible annoyance on his face. "Then I'm going to weapons maintenance. You can come along before your job, I'm guessing you're already tired of rifting through documents. I'll do that while we check on the armoury." 

  "Thank God." The exclamation burst out of his lips before he could stop it, and Alex felt the corner of his lips tug up at that. "I hate paperwork." 

   "Unfortunately, we'll be doing some more paperwork and checking on the groups' process to make sure they're doing their job." Alex chuckled at the crestfallen expression on Yongguk's face." "Luckily, I can do that for you since it's just some quick small tasks. I'm guessing you want me to deliver a verbal report after that?" 

  "As long as it doesn't involve any more reading," Yongguk practically pleaded, which Alex promised with a wink. "Don't worry." 

  Yongguk came out of the shower with his hair still damp, black curls flattened against the base of his neck, with a towel half around his neck, the other half still rubbing the water out of his hair. Alex could feel his heart give a tiny skip at his look, along with the short-sleeved shirt that emphasised his biceps. He mentally chided himself. "At least you don't smell like a towel out of the wash festering in the summer heat anymore." 

  He sent Alex a sideways glare, which he returned with a loopsided grin. This time it was Alex's turn to lead the way, and he navigated the CARDS Headquarters with ease. He knew both him and Yongguk had been in CARDS for...probably longer than most of the others, at least definitely Daehyun and Hyunwook, (though that boy had an uncanny knack for finding corridors he himself had never even seen. Alex strongly suspected some very strong Fey magic was at play) along with Saebin. Adrian too, definitely. One look at the boy and he knew it was his first time in the Turkish headquarters. He wasn't sure about Minjung, but he heard that she had been there for quite a long time. At the very least, she was on familiar terms with Carroll. "I thought you were in the Medical Department, Alex," Yongguk begun behind him, and judging from his tone, Alex could feel a conversation forthcoming. "What's this business about...'weapon maintenance'?" 

  "This concerns the strategic part of my job, namely my obligations to Wonderland. It's not on official business that I do this. Most of it is off my hands anyways, Vidya does all of the technical and engineering work." They stopped in front of a chrome door, and Alex produced a metal card, carelessly pressing it against the authentication pad. "She's amazing at it."

   The doors slid open to a room that Alex had been spending most of his waking hours in, aside from the medical lab and one or two of the Wonderland meeting rooms. To him, it pales in comparison from what he normally had on hand in the Medical Department, yet Yongguk was staring at it in awe. Divided into two parts with a hologram that would actually serve as a solid wall if something goes amiss, the left side, where he and Yongguk were entering, was the research room, a place he and Vidya do most of the initial brainstorming and of course, researching. Furbished like a library, the two walls were lined with bookshelves crammed with books, reports, and god knows what else, while the drawers underneath hold a multitude of spare parts that he let Vidya tinker with. In the middle of the room was a long steel table that was usually painted to resemble a wooden one (because God forbid any practically ruins the aesthetic), at which Vidya was currently at, typing away at a holoscreen while a few mechanic parts laid strewn on the table before her. The other side of the room was an entirely different matter; an industrial-grade training room padded with shock-resistant tiles, which could just about shield and contain anything from a fire to a nuclear bomb (they haven't tried that yet, but that was what the manufacturer promised, and Alex decided to take him on his word). There were also about a hundred cameras and censors placed around the room, which would pick up the agent's actions and vitals for weapons analysis later, as well as form stimulations to make the data more accurate. Long cylinders of light were wedged between the tiles, forming the bright atmosphere of the testing room. 

  "Good afternoon, Vidya." Alex made sure he called out to her before approaching; experience taught him doing otherwise might just get his neck sliced off. "How are you?" 

   "I just reprogrammed your table back to my style," She called back, face hidden from view with her curly hair, which was chocolate brown with the roots fading into a sunset pink, though subtly. Alex gave a sigh as a look confirmed that the table was indeed back to a sleek black, with metallic silver lines running through its surface. "Don't get mad at me." 

   "How could I ever get mad at you?" Another sigh, though less exasperated. "Anyways, meet my...partner, Bang Yongguk. He's the leader of Wonderland."

   "Hi," Yongguk greeted her with a raised hand, though Vidya barely looked up from her work. "Didn't I tell you not to bring people to our lab? Your precious edge would be lost, and then where would we be?" 

   "Vidya," Alex started again, patiently. "He's the leader of Wonderland." 

   "What now?" Vidya whirled around, and he could see the multi-coloured contacts flashing in irritation at his direction. A moment passed before she registered what was going on, and her anger subsided. "Oh, wait, sorry, hold on." She tapped the screen once, making it vanish immediately. "Sorry, I get too caught up in my work when I'm working. Anyways! Nice to meet you, I'm Vidya Chatterjee, your resident engineer. Or as I call it, weapons magician." 

  "Bang Yongguk, leader of Wonderland." Yongguk took her outstretched hand and shook it. "And you're, uh..." 

   "Indian! I was born in India, went to university in Britain, came back to work for CARDS. Oh, you mean my lineage? I think I'm part Unseelie, but honestly it's so thined out in my family that I don't think anyone really knows. You gotta be really careful with the questions though," She half squinted her eyes for effect. "Sometimes people get really offended by these kind of personal questions." 

   "I - I'll keep that in mind." Yongguk seemed taken aback at her energy and reminder, which Alex chuckled at. "Vidya is friendly to everyone, so feel at ease with her presence. Just don't try disturbing her when she's working, she might try to kill you." 

   "Says you?" She glared at him. "And besides, I only try to kill people when they come without warning. Next time remember to call ahead when you drop by, Yongguk, okay?" 

   "A-alright." 

   "Oh, I almost forgot!" Stooping down, Vidya scooped something off the floor. "Meet Cleo! She's our resident lab cat." An Egyptian Mau laid almost lazily in her arms, with a black collar with golden lining, the same colour scheme as the bench. "She was once bitten by a dog when she was little, and severe infection had set in. The vet had to amputate her front paws, but luckily I managed to get her prosthetics." As if on cue, Cleo waved her front paw at Yongguk; it was the once more the same colour scheme. "And this is Kakigori." 

   A small robot rolled up next to Yongguk and bumped him affectionately, and Alex could never forget the shriek he let out. "Y-you named him after a dessert?" 

   "Ah, I'm glad you noticed! Yes, it's my favourite sweet so it's only natural I name my lab partner that. Especially when Alex refused to be christained something else." She sent him a pointed look. "I'm currently working on Kakigori #2 now, since this bad boy have some functions that still need fine-tuning." 

   "Vidya, let's not forget what we're doing today." Alex knew the scientist get carried away too easily whenever she started talking, and it was crucial to get things rolling. 

   "Always the killjoy, are you? Fine. I'll man the control station, you walk him through what we've been doing." She resumed her post, and summoned the holoscreen again. "What we're doing now is essentially doing maintenance on our members' weapons and developing specialised ones for each of you. In CARDS, all Players start out with all of your standardized weaponry from the armoury, but since you're essentially 'elites' - " This she said with air quotes from her fingers. Alex noticed that her nails followed the same colour scheme. "We thought it would be better and more efficient for you guys to have weapons catered for your use and different capabilities. So here we are!" 

   A 3D hologram of a silver longbow popped up above the bench, with two further diagrams of its side view and its concealed form, a silver bracelet. Alex recognised it immediately; it was Hyunwook's Artemis. "This is Hyunwook's weapon, a bow. It's not just any ordinary bow though, I'm pretty sure it's an artefact from the Unseelie Court, when they inititate the Hunts. Hyunwook himself is still trying to figure out most of its capabilities. Anyways, right now it's equipped with...a scope system, a multi-firing system and an automatically equipping system." 

   "Its frame is also strengthened compared to before; I put a layer of faerie armour on top of it," Vidya added, obviously proud with herself. "I'd say this one doesn't need much improvement, though I'm sure Hyunwook would want us to add a self-firing system for him, so he doesn't have to do any work. But I'll modify it a little so he can use it for other purposes, like a sword. Or should it be able to break apart into twin swords?" As she spoke, her fingers continue flying across the keyboard, and the different designs manifest themselves. 

   "The twin swords might work, though I think Hyunwook wouldn't really use them much, since he's really all about long distance," Alex tapped his chin, pondering on that question. "He's also stronger as a rear guard, but on the other hand if he's ambushed he would be helpless without some close combat." 

   "What about his magic?" Yongguk offered. 

   "Those are also mainly defensive in nature," Alex sighed. "Since it's mostly illusions." 

   "The close combat theory might work." Vidya zoomed in onto the diagram of the twin swords. "Cause let's be serious, if he's ambushed, his arrows wouldn't do much against the enemy. It'll be quicker for him to break his bow apart rather than sling it behind him then summon another close range weapon." 

   "True," Alex nodded. "Alright, let's go with that. And no more black and gold combination," He added as Vidya's fingers hover over the keyboard. "Keep it silver, like the rest of the design. Just anything besides black and gold. Black and silver even works," He added, just to appease her. "If you want." 

    "Okay, I'll work with Amanya on the designs, making sure none of that black and gold is on there. The arrows I told you about are also done. After Hyunwook comes back, I'll have him test those out. Right, moving on, Daehyun's war scythe." The hologram changed to the picture of a large lunar scythe, the handle wrapped with canvas cloth, with a scythe sitting on top of the blade. The skull had always gave Alex chills down his spine, even though he had seen worse on the battlefield. Somehow, it gave the sense of something...intrinsically evil. Vidya didn't seem affected in the least though, so it was likely something Unseelie. "I still haven't figured out its capabilities, mainly becaue it's a tricky piece of work and Daehyun doesn't really use it. He still mainly fights with his knives and guns." 

   "Put it aside first, then, we can figure out something later." 

  "Alright. So what did you come to me for today? I thought - " Immediately the confusion in Vidya's eyes cleared. "Oh, I see." 

   "Yes. Could you take care of that while I type up reports?" Alex gave Yongguk a fond pat on the shoulder before planting himself on a bar stool on the other side of the room, where there was a table directly attached onto the wall when Alex needed to work while supervising the weapons development. Yongguk turned and stared at him in bewilderment. "We're going to tailor make a weapon for you." 

Corazones headquarters
—  toronto, canada; 25.7.2017

   "A problem," Hyunwook repeated, for the third time that night. Adrian winced at his tone, but he understood why his sunbae was so irritated. After the initial surprise and wonder melted away, what he called a problem now seemed a bit stupid in his mind now. 

   "And how is a stuck wardrobe a problem, exactly?" Hyunwook clearly didn't bother keeping the irritation off his tone. "I doubt you're charging into battle with that, no?" Adrian could hear the stop-wasting-my-time-over-trivial-bull underneath.

   "Yeah, but look, sunbae." Jaehyun stepped forward and Adrian had to admire that. Just a few moments ago he was telling him how much Hyunwook frightened him - which he couldn't blame him for, since Hyunwook frightened Adrian as well - and stretched out his hand to attempt tugging the wardrobe away from the wall. The wood vanished beneath his fingertips, and he was left holding air. "See, it disappears. That's the problem." 

   "Really?" Hyunwook tried to touch the wardrobe. Magically, it remained intanct, and he ran a finger down its gilded design. "I can touch it just fine. Maybe you two are just sleep-deprived and started hallucinating?" 

   "Says you," Adrian muttered, and successfully received a burning glare. Luckily, just before he could be incinerated, the Branch Head rolled up. And by rolled up, Adrian meant the exact sense of the word; he was in a wheelchair shaped like a throne made of intertwining branches, which was also...hovering? "Quiet down, children. What's the fuss?" He sincerely hoped Patrick was referring to Hyunwook. "I hear something abuot a stuck wardrobe." 

   "The brats are complaining they can't move this damn thing." Hyunwook rapped his knuckles on it. "And can't touch it either, apparently. I don't see the problem here." 

   "Just because you don't see it doesn't mean it doesn't exist," Patrick said patiently, and Adrian was reminded of the numerous times he was lectured by him in his office. "Alright, let's have a look." However, just as his gnarled hand came into contact with the wood, there was a flash, and he instantly drew back his hand as if it was burnt. "Aha, I see." 

   "What do you see?" Hyunwook leaned against the wardrobe, as if purposely aggrevating them.

   "Open it," Patrick instructed, and the Unseelie did as told, flinging it open. Immediately, Adrian could hear a sound like a whirlwind, before being thrown back by the force of the wind blasting out of the wardrobe. "Ah. As expected." He thought he could hear Patrick's worry in his tone. 

   "What is it?" Adrian groggily picked himself off the bed. 

   "An Unseelie portal." Hyunwook coughed, and he could see that both him and Patrick were the only ones remaining standing. That's why they can't touch it, right? There's some powerful magic at work here." 

   "And why it rejected me," Patrick confirmed. "Because like everything else Unseelie in nature, it is designed to reject everything else Seelie in nature." The worry lines became more obvious in his face. "Where it leads to, I do not know. But we must take care. Whoever planted this portal here...they must be rather powerful." 

   "Why? What's so special about 'here'?" Adrian didn't understand most of what they were saying, which annoyed him a little, but he was used to it. He was also used to the annoyed look on his sunbae's face, he reflected, which made him a bit tired. Luckily, the Branch Head took over the explaining. 

   "All of the CARDS buildings, regardless of status, are heavily protected by magic or wards of some kind. It's incredibly powerful magic to ensure no random person doesn't come blundering in, but also to prevent invasion of any kind. If you don't have the correct...ah, key for entrance, you would end up just losing your way. Sometimes it helps deflect intruders, if their magic is offensive enough." Patrick let that hang in the air. "To create a portal also takes immense magic and power, and only seasoned members of the Fey could do so, like me, for instance." He opened his palm, and a small sapling grew into a daisy, before wilting, its petals falling. A flame rose to consume it and he closed it again. Nothing was on it anymore. 

   "Not me," Hyunwook said in a bored voice, clearly not impressed by Patrick's display. "Though I'll work on it," He added hastily at the Branch Head's pointed look. "But yeah, it takes a lot of magic to invade any of our headquarters. And then it takes more magic to create a portal to god knows where, then remain unseen and undetected." He crossed over and slammed it shut, effectively silencing the whirlwind. "Besides, our system usually repels intruders, or at least alert someone if they tried to force it open. Unless - " Adrian saw him come to a realisation, and his head immediately whipping towards Patrick's direction. For a moment there was some kind of silent exchange, before he continued in a tone that didn't suit his alarm earlier. "Unless it was faulty and someone decided to do this as a prank." Something didn't seem right. His tone was too falsely bright, and though Adrian hadn't been spending too much time around the elder, it was clear the two came to a conclusion that they didn't want to discuss in front of Adrian and Jaehyun, which made him even more irritated. If it was anything dangerous and concerning Wonderland, he wanted to hear it; he was already part of the team, even if he was the youngest. What could possibly be so dangerous that they had to keep it from him? 

    "You just said making an Unseelie portal requires a ton of magic though," Adrian shot back, trying to expose him. The agitation building up inside him started making him restless, and he felt a sudden urge to throw something. His fists balled up next to him, and the familiar rush of adrenaline that comes with ADHD started flooding his mind. "So what's going on exactly?" 

    "We'll tell you all about it tomorrow," Patrick promised, though he still wasn't entirely convinced. "Something I need to go over with Hyunwook." 

   "Well, if it concerns Wonderland I want to hear it!" Adrian could hear himself starting to yell, and he couldn't control it. "I'm part of the team too. I'm one of the members and I'm already an adult. Stop treating me like a kid!" Jaehyun tried appeasing him but he shrugged him off. "At least give me an idea of what's going on here," He added, trying to soften his earlier outburst. 

   "Don't worry, kid." Hyunwook planted a gloved hand onto his unruly hair, and even though Adrian's veins were still running with residue anger, he felt himself calm down a little. Just a little. The ruffling still made him mad, but not as angry as he was a moment ago. "We won't leave you out of the loop, but we want to make sure we're on the right track before informing anyone, okay? No point spreading false information." Adrian knew he was just trying to appease him, but he found himself believing every word. "Okay." 

    "Good," Patrick was clearly relieved as he approached them with his hovering wheelchair. Hoverchair? Wheelhover? "For now, I would suggest you both get some rest first. It's currently the middle of the morning, and we need you up for training and strategy meetings tomorrow." Strategy meetings. The thing Adrian hate most in the world, needing to sit in the same place for hours and hours on end. The mention of strategy meetings almost made him irritated again. "Goodnight, then, gentlemen." 

    Adrian wasn't sure, but he guessed the Branch Head put some kind of sorcery behind his words, because the moment the door closed behind Hyunwook and Patrick, he felt himself slumping back onto his bed, eyes fluttering shut into dreamland as Jaehyun crawled in next to him, like they always did as kids.

Updating Enigma is my way of procrastinating in whatever I need to do and don't even @me, because y'all are the same

Sidenote I need to go back to the UK in three weeks and ya girl is internally and externally freaking the out :) 

Also why is Alex's part so long??? And uhhh, I think my writing style changed a little cause I was reading the Hunger Games lately and Suzanne Collins' writing might've rubbed off me.