Chapter 2: An Offer You Can't Refuse

The music pouring through his headphones blared soft melodies, blocking outside distractions from breaking his concentration. Lying on his back on a creeper, parked beneath the massive torso of the Vulcan to access it’s open-faced shoulder, Jihoon tweezed together broken wires articulately. He’d been at it for two weeks now, working on getting his suit back in working condition. This time around the damage had been much more than skin deep. Repairs had to be made all the way through to the central circuiting, and many of the damaged parts had to be completely re-casted; they weren’t at all salvageable.

He peered through loupe goggles, magnifying in on the microscopic panels on the left shoulder-blade, where the arm had lost a big chunk of its major functions from disconnected wiring. He had to remember for next time, to try and adjust the servo. His left shoulder had faced the most fall-damage during his latest fight, so it must be a bit off balance. The goggles were set aside, and Jihoon blinked away a temporary wave of dizziness as he gave the repair-job a once-over.

He pulled over a sawdering mask after connecting the last of the wiring, watching with hazy interest as sparks flew.

“Hyung!” Chan slammed a hand down on the hunk of metal to alert Jihoon of his presence, leaning against a wall as he waited for the boy to wheel out from under the robot.

He flipped his mask up and pulled off his headphones, glaring behind a tired ring of dark circles at the younger boy.

“God, you look like a golem.” Chan tossed an apple to Jihoon, who fumbled to catch it. “Here, eat, before you die or something.”

Jihoon stared at the black smudges he’d left on the apple with a grimace, feeling his appetite shrivel. “Uh, thanks. Maybe later”

He sighed. “You haven’t eaten in two days. Can you at least pretend to care about your health? The other kids are worried.”

“I’ll eat it, just let me finish on the shoulder first.” He yawned. “And tell those guys to quit worrying. skipping as few meals isn’t gonna be the end of me.”

“Maybe not, but you don’t sleep, too. You haven’t showered, and you spend all day working on your back surrounded by propane fumes. If you don’t quit acting like a hermit, you’re not gonna live a long life, hyung.”

Jihoon smirked, placing the apple on the table nearest to where he was sitting. “Aw, is Channie-wannie worried about me?”

He rolled his eyes. “I really question whether you’re older than me sometimes.” Chan sat down on a desk chair, pulling up computer files while Jihoon wiped grease away from his hands. "Anyways, get a load of this."

On the screen played a video-recording of a man in his 40’s giving a public announcement. Jihoon recognize him as Hwang Se-Jun, the direct relative to the founder of JFE communications corp., and current CEO of JFE mobile. He oversaw this multi-billion dollar cell business due to the simple fact that his late ‘daddy dearest’ built the foundation from the ground up, and handed it down to him after biting the dust. He was a free-loading billionaire, in simple terms.

“Why are you showing me this?” Jihoon glared up at the man’s sickeningly enthusiastic grin as he spoke through a microphone.

Chan turned up the volume, his expression unchanging. “Just listen.”

“Mr. Hwang, is it true that you are teaming up with MANSAE’s research team to track down the Vulcan thief?” The reporter asked, holding her notepad open in a readied position as she spoke.

The man leaned in to the mic, smiling. “Yes, the rumors are true. It is a project that we have been working on for a while now, behind the scenes, but due to the recent attack against Silver Plutus, and the damage to our downtown residents, we have decided to go public with our plans.”

The crowd buzzed, jotting down cliff-notes and wreaking havoc gossiping among subordinates. The next man in the line stood, speaking to Hwang with speculation.

“But sir, how exactly is your company going to help?”

He cleared his voice before beginning. “I cannot disclose too much information, but I will say this. J.F.E communications currently holds the spot as the most wide-spread cell coverage in the country. We are a company which has worked with machines for years, and I believe that along-side the genius minds at MANSAE, the Vulcan thief will be in our hands in due time. He is merely a rogue robot, after all.”

Camera’s flashed, reflecting off a glimmer along the man’s forehead . He tapped a finger against the side of the podium, and Jihoon watched the motion scrutinizing.

Another reporter stood. “Sir, are you not afraid that the Vulcan Thief will target you after finding out your plans? He has been known to go after large corporations such as yours.”

His smile never fell, but the corners of his mouth trembled, unnoticeable to anyone who wasn’t paying attention. “We at JFE are aware of the threat, which is why we have begun to take extensive precautions to protect our beloved staff and customers. If the Vulcan thief makes a move to stop us, it will only increase our chances of capturing him, so we are not worried.”

After that, Chan paused the tape, turning towards Jihoon with a frown. “What do you think?”

He scoffed. “It’s a bluff, that douche-bag was sweating actual bullets. This is just another dumb publicity stunt to silence the masses.”

“I don’t think it’s entirely a stunt, though.” He clicked back on the file, selecting screencaps from security footage to display. “There’s been increased sightings of superhero’s patrolling the JFE headquarters, and it’s been rumored that he’s in cahoots with Sergeant Coups himself.”

Jihoon crossed his arms, staring into the black-and-white screencaps with little discernable interest. “They’re doing it on purpose, Chan. What do you think the use of announcing this on live television is? It’s not gonna speed up their research, that’s for damn sure.”

“That’s for the public, isn’t it? To stop people from filing safety complaints over you.”

He shook his head, expression serious. “That’s not all, Channie.”

“Stop calling me-… ugh, fine. What else is there, then?”

“I can say for certain that this announcement is meant to serve as bait. They’re taunting me with a public figure who they know I would be happy to humiliate. It’s hardly a threat, too. I don’t think their cell-phone towers are going to be able to do much in terms of finding us. They’re just using the basis of his platform to pretend they have something on me, to make me feel pressured to act, you know?” He let out a breath. “And the superhero situation is because they legitimately believe I’m going to make a move after this. I think they’ve really misjudged my character.”

Chan raised an eyebrow at him. “You’re really going to do nothing? They basically broadcasted a big fat ‘ you’ to the whole country.”

Jihoon laid back down on the creeper, collecting his sawdering mask and headphones in his arms. “I’m not doing anything until the Vulcan is in working condition.” He rolled beneath the machine, voice muffled. “After that, we’ll see. Keep me updated on the situation if anything else comes up.”

Chan let out an exasperated breath as the boy’s feet disappeared beneath the robot. “fine, just don’t come whining to me when those MANSAE bastards knock down our front door.” His eyes wandered to the apple, smothered in oil and grease. “Oh, and if I come back and that apples not eaten, I’m gonna come down there and up your wiring, just so you know.”

“Fine!”

~

It was 3:00am when Jihoon had finished attaching the outer plates to the shoulder blade. Somehow between lying down, and finding comfort in the radiated warmth that came from his sawdering iron, he’d fallen asleep on the job. He rolled out from under the machine, coughing away chemicals in his lungs as his vision cleared. There was no way to tell what time of day it was from here, but he’d probably wasted a lot of time sleeping.

The apple was still there, still dirtied with oil and grunge. He didn’t doubt Chan's threats, though, so after a thorough rinsing under sink water, he began to eat away at it. His appetite hadn’t returned despite his fasting, it never did when he was in ‘repair mode.’ And yeah, Chan was right about it being bad for his health, but Jihoon hardly had the time to care about such trivial things.

After the process of repurposing and selling the loot from their recent scavenge, their profit had only come to about 790,000 won. The price of groceries and weekly expenses had cut that in half already, and after buying the new supplies needed for repairs, they were left with a measly 200,000 to last the rest of the month. It wasn’t going to be long before Jihoon would need to get back to work, but the Vulcan wasn’t even close to fitting his current vision.

It was a bad, a really ing bad idea to even consider this… But he may have to sacrifice some of the repairs to go on a brief outing. That’s only if they end up needing emergency money, though.

The door to his garage swooshed open, and Chan entered alongside Samuel and Song-min, all three rushing towards him with a sense of urgency.

“MANSAE released a televised announcement this morning, I just received the recording.” Chan let out, huffing to catch his breath.

Jihoon raised an eyebrow. “Catch your breath, wheezy. What’s with the panicking?”

“It’s big news, Hyung!” Samuel reached up on his tip-toes to put the USB stick into the computer, bringing up a video.

On the screen was Sung Soo-Han, The founder, and current head of MANSAE. Jihoon would be able to recognize that greasy face anywhere.

He tapped on the mic with a shaky finger, anxious as always, to test the sound before he spoke. There was a massive crowd surrounding his podium, fans and citizens, police-men, superhero’s, the whole shebang. Their eyes laid heavy on the anxious frame of their respectable Mr. Sung.

He cleared his throat. “As of today, the Management home, and National Superhero Agency of Education, will be opening a new, innovative program to the world. One which has never been attempted before.”

Jihoon rolled his eyes. This man must be the only one who’s ever said the full acronym; what a ridiculous name. Still, his interest was piqued at the implication of his words.

“For years now, our company has worked together with superheroes to clean the streets of criminals, and put them behind bars. We are proud to say that this organization has successfully helped to purify the name of Seoul city, and make it a proud place to be a part of.”

The crowd cheered, and Sung waited for the celebration to fade in order to continue. “However, there are problems that we have not addressed properly for some time now. Our prisons are bursting at the seams, and current rehabilitation systems cannot keep up with the continuous growth of criminal activity. For these reasons, I have decided to give project CLAP the green light.”

“What the fu-”

Chan shushed him with a finger. “Just listen.”

“CLAP being; the Criminal Liberation Assistance Program. This is a project which will introduce a new form of rehabilitation to criminals, by setting them up with the Superhero’s within our organization in a mentorship program. Rather than serving their full sentence, a wide range of criminals will be given the opportunity to enter CLAP, instead. It is our hope that through this mentorship program, more criminals will be able to re-enter our community as rehabilitated citizens.”

At that, the crowd began to cheer, and Chan put the recording on pause.

Jihoon scoffed. “That sounds ridiculous, who would ever agree to it?”

“As of this morning, their program has accepted more than 300 criminals into their mentorship program.” Chan deadpanned, reading through the stats he’d collected.

“God, where’s the ing appeal?”

Chan sighed. “The appeal is, they’re offering to cut a criminal’s prison time where it stands, and even offer jobs to eligible candidates upon completion. It’s a win-win situation for both MANSAE and criminals alike.”

Jihoon snatched the paper away from Chan, scanning through the rest of the information. “Even the ones who are currently serving time?”

“Anyone who’s below maximum-security level is eligible.”

“And I guess you’re thinking this is going to up our plans?”

Chan brought up a chart on the screen, the red arrow gradually moved up. “I’ve created an estimation based on current numbers. If CLAP is a success, the rate of superhero’s in the city is going to increase tenfold. So yes, this is going to up our plans; Majorly.”

Jihoon cupped his chin, humming. Song-min came up next to him with a steaming mug, tugging at his sleeve.

“Hyung, I brought your coffee.” He held the mug up with a bright smile, and Jihoon ruffled his hair as he accepted the offering.

“Thank’s Minnie.” He took a long sip, deliberating. They had enough trouble as it was, dealing with the current mass of superhero’s. If Chans numbers were correct, then they were truly boned.

“So? What are we gonna do?” Chan watched him drink, tapping his foot against the concrete floor impatiently.

Jihoon set his coffee down and laid back on the creeper, collecting the tools beside him that he would need to finish the Vulcan’s repairs. All that was left among basic repairs was checking up on the Servo and the CPU. It shouldn’t take much longer than a day if he powered through it.

Before rolling underneath, he smiled up at Chan. “It seems like I’m going to have to pay Mr. Hwang Se-Jung a visit, Channie.”

“Again, with the name…” Jihoon rolled under, getting back to work and ignoring Chan’s annoyance. He sighed. “Whatever. Let me know when you’re ready to suit-up, boss.”

“Don’t call me boss!”

~

“No disrespect, but really I don’t understand why you’ve chosen me for this, sir. I’m a hero, not a bodyguard” Seungcheol was standing by his coat rack as he ed his suit jacket. Mr. Sung stood by his side, fumbling with glasses nervously.

“Please don’ t think of yourself as a bodyguard, Sergeant.” He hummed, looking away as Seungcheol undressed. “Our team is certain that the Vulcan will act against Mr. Hwang, and we want to ensure you are there, and ready for action when he does… Think of it as an… Undercover mission!”

Seungcheol sighed, unimpressed, as he stepped into his uniform. “And if the city faces trouble while I’m undercover? What then?”

“No worries, we have stationed extra superhero’s all throughout the city during the time of your absence. There shouldn’t be any trouble.”

Seungcheol gave himself the ‘up-and-down’ in the mirror, inspecting his uniform with a hint of insecurity. It was tight, flexible fabric, which wouldn’t break no matter what kind of situation he got into. Flame retardant, slash-resistant, the works. Still, it looked ridiculously flashy. He didn’t blame the Vulcan for using it against him during all of their verbal confrontation's. It was actually starting to get to him.

“Exactly how long would I have to play body-guard?”

“Until the Vulcan makes another appearance.”

He spun to face the man. “Sir! That could be weeks.”

Mr. Sung adjusted his glasses with a cough. “Yes, but we’ve promised Mr. Hwang that much.”

Seungcheol wiped a hand down his face. “This is ridiculous.”

“Please, Sergeant, you’re the only one I think can pull this off.” He clapped his hands together in a pleading motion. “And I think it’s the opportunity of a lifetime to defeat your mortal nemesis.”

He sighed. “Fine, but don’t expect me to sit still if a disaster happens during my absence.”

“Of course!.... And, uh… Sergeant?”

“Yes, sir?”

He handed him a paper bag, filled with all the components to a bodyguard’s suit.. “You’ll need to wear this over your uniform.”

Seungcheol took the bag, peering into black fabric. “Ugh… Yes, sir.”

~

It was a mere two days into agreeing to this dumb idea, that Seungcheol began to regret it. Here he was, on a Saturday afternoon, leaning against a wall in the middle of a party when he could be out there… You know, doing his ing job saving people. In the short time he’d spent getting to know Hwang Se-Jung, the man had proven himself to be a bigger prick than he’d ever imagined. He supposed that’s what happens when you’re rolling around in money since birth. Honestly, who the hell throws a masquerade ball as a ‘charity auction’?

It worked in his favor, he supposed. Today he was undercover as a bodyguard, undercover as a guest at the party. Hwang thought having Seungcheol loom over him all night would ‘ruin the fun atmosphere.’

But at least that meant he could sit in a corner and avoid dull party conversation. With a glass full of fruit punch, and a small plate of fancy party snacks. He could simply watch for imposing danger from afar and stuff his face.

Although the atmosphere of the party was light, as guests danced around in expensive clothing and embellished party masks, Seungcheol knew well that he couldn’t let his guard down. Anyone with an invitation to the event, or a spot as staff, could wander in without being questioned. As well, anyone bold enough to sneak in could mingle among the guests without raising suspicion. With everyone’s faces partially covered, even he, Sergeant Coups, stood among the festivity unnoticed.

He supposed the Vulcan Thief couldn’t exactly wander in here with a mask over his 8-foot ing robotic stature and blend in, but he wasn’t the only criminal in the city with a target on Hwang’s head. He’d need to keep his guard up tonight.

Speak of the devil, Seungcheol perked up when Mr. Hwang waved a hand to him, calling him over to where he’d been mingling with a harem of girls. He sighed, walking over without protest.

“Mr. Park!” He called with his arm wrapped around the narrow shoulders of a young girl. Park, being the alias he would use during this job. “I would like you to meet Eunha, my daughter.”

She bowed, smiling sweetly. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

She was very young, maybe seventeen based on the baby fat in her cheeks, and the innocence of her complexion. She was also short, slender, with a bobbed brunette haircut which framed her face charmingly. Her mask was delicate and silver, hardly 'masking' much of anything. Seungcheol returned the bow with a hint of adamance. “The pleasures mine.”

Hwang ran a hand on her back, causing the girl to look temporarily uncomfortable as he nudged her forward. “Eunha is turning nineteen very soon, her birthday is just a week from now. Isn’t she a beautiful girl, Mr. Park? She’s just as stunning as her mother was!”

“Uh, yes, very lovely.” Oh god, was he trying to set him up with his daughter? Seungcheol let out an awkward laugh as Eunha looked up at him with round, enthralled eyes. It seemed like the girl wasn’t too against the idea, either. Whoop-dee-ing-doo.

“You will be here for her birthday, yes? At my private property.”

Seungcheol smiled. “Yes, of course.”

“Ah, good.” He looked out towards the dance floor, smirking. “Such a lovely night, isn’t it? I’ve been trying to convince Eunha to dance, but she’s just too shy to ask anyone. Won’t you accompany her, Mr. Park?”

Had this guy meant to hire a bodyguard, or a marriage candidate? Seungcheol held back the need to call him out, seeing as he was on the job, and he couldn’t exactly curse out his temporary boss... It was completely inappropriate, though, and he wasn’t about to go along with the charade and entertain the fantasies of these snobby s.

He smiled respectfully. “I’m sorry, I hate to admit it, but I have two left feet when it comes to dancing.” He turned quickly, picking up an attractive-enough young man from within arm reach. “This man, however, would be delighted to lead you.”

In the short moment that the three were left bewildered, Seungcheol had wandered back to his post beside the buffet table. He sighed. If only those bowls were filled wine instead of punch.

To his surprise, the man he’d snatched from the crowd blindly, was now woo-ing Eunha onto the dance floor, and they looked to be a much better fit for each other than he would have been. Seeing Hwang grind his teeth in a corner sort of made it worth the aggravation.

“Not much for parties, huh?"

He jumped, turning to face the voice with a hint of surprise. When had this guy creeped up beside him? Seungcheol took in his appearance quickly, ensuring there was no danger. He was a bit short, with pitch-black hair brushed neatly over pale skin. A black mask adorned with crystals covered the majority of his face, stopping him from examining his appearance too carefully. Nonetheless, Seungcheol smiled, relaxing back against the wall. He didn’t give off any sense of suspicion, anyways.

“I’m not against them, this is just a little much for me.”

The boy let out a small chuckle. “I get what you mean. Mr. Hwang really goes all out for charity, doesn’t he?”

Oh, yeah, ‘charity.’ I guess you could call a bunch of rich guys chucking dollar bills at corporate pity auctions ‘charity.’ He was sure all the money was going towards that starving homeless child on the projector screen. “He sure does.” He replied, with a tinge of sarcasm. He shifted onto a shoulder to face the boy, who was peering up through his mask with round brown eyes. It was probably just because of the mask, he supposed, but he did get a mysterious vibe from the stranger. “And what about you? I don’t think the corner by the buffet table is exactly the ‘hottest’ place to mingle.”

“I’m not really one for… mingling, I guess.”

Seungcheol chuckled. “Oh, really? What convinced you to come keep me company, then?”

The boy smiled, dimples forming against his skin. “You seem… different. I was just a bit intrigued when I saw you.”

A part of him had little alarms going off at that, at the implication that the boy had recognized him, somehow. Then again, Seungcheol wasn’t all that used to having guys flirt with him, and that was certainly the vibe he was getting. Not that he was complaining, anyways.

“Different how?” He questioned, a playful tone against his expression.

The boy was in a nice, tailored suit, which Seungcheol admired with a quick glance.

“Not to sound rude, but you have an honest face. Everyone at these parties are always laughing, smiling… But you looked kind of angry, actually.”

He chuckled. “Ah, really?” Damn, he needed to control his expression. Even if it wasn’t a regular gig, he was still on the job. “I’ve just had a… tough day at work.”

“I guess that’s the way it goes when you work with Mr. Hwang.” His expression didn’t waver, peering up at Seungcheol as if examining his reaction.

“Uh, sorry?”

For a moment, he looked surprised. “Do you not work for him? I saw you two talking before.”

“Oh, right… I wouldn’t say I work for him. It’s more of a business partners situation.”

“Makes sense. I just thought it's safe to assume everyone here has some kind of a connection to him. I’ve heard working directly with him is a pain, though.”

He scoffed. “You’re telling me. The man’s a cocky bastard, that’s for sure.” Seungcheol winced at his own words, giving a little pleading look to the boy. “You’re not gonna bring this all back to him, are you?”

He held a finger to his lips. “Your secrets safe with me.”

Seungcheol sighed out, relieved. “Great. Hey, could I offer you some punch? I’m sorry I don’t have anything to spike it with to dull the pain of sitting through the rest of this thing.”

The boy let out a real laugh at that. “I’d love some, no spiking necessary.” When Seungcheol handed him the drink, he took notice to the way their fingers brushed together, gently so. “I only spike my drink when the conversation is dull, anyways.”

At this point, Seungcheol could safely assume it was flirting. And he definitely wasn’t complaining. “Glad I’m not boring you… uh, I’m sorry, I just realized I don’t know your name.”

“My names Lee. And you?”

“S-, uh, park. It’s park.”

They shook hands. Seungcheol had almost let down his guard without even realizing it. Giving out his real name was not the professional way to go about this! Cute mysterious boy or not, he was on the freaking job.

The boy took a sip of his punch, eyes peering up. If only he wasn’t wearing that mask, Seungcheol really wished he could see the rest of his face.

“I guess it makes sense that you’ve had a tough time at work, after that announcement Hwang made. Is he really working with MANSAE?”

Seungcheol up the little voice in his mind that was screaming ‘impress this boy with your inside knowledge!’ and settled with something vague. “I haven’t heard much, but that would be a pretty stupid lie to announce on live TV.”

“Yeah, I guess… Aren’t you afraid? A lot of guests didn’t attend this because they thought the Vulcan would show up tonight.”

Seungcheol scoffed, feeling his stomach twist at the very idea. Scared of that metal coward? How absurd. “I doubt he’d show up to something like this. He’s never crashed charity events in the past.”

“Oh, you seem to know a lot.” He chuckled when Seungcheol’s eyes went wide.

His palms were a bit sweaty. Had it always been this hard for him to keep his composure? He felt like he’d reverted back to a nervous middle-schooler in the presence of a long-term crush. “Ah, I just keep up with the news. It’s hard to avoid when they’re always talking about him, you know?”

“That makes sense. When do you think he’s going to attack, then?”

Seungcheol thought for a moment, humming. “I’d take a wild guess and say the daughter’s birthday party.”

“Her birthday is coming up?” He leaned a bit closer, an air of innocence around him.

Seungcheol felt the proximity as an invatation for him to loom above the boy, playfully domineering. “Yeah, next week or something. It’s probably going to be big since it’s her nineteenth, sounds like the kind of event he’d love to up.”

“Sure does.” He smirked, almost knowingly. “They’re probably going to bump up the security for it, though. Plus, I doubt they’d throw it somewhere public.”

Seungcheol took a quick peak around to ensure nobody else was listening in, feeling a bit nervous about the conversation topic. This kid seemed to be really interested… Almost too interested. But, he was probably just keeping the conversation going. It wasn’t surprising that people would want to analyze the situation, seeing how relevant it was right now. “Yeah, I don’t think they would have the party without taking precautions.”

He hummed, looking away from Seungcheol, and watching a the hands on a far-off clock tick by. “Oh damn, It’s getting pretty late. I guess this is goodbye?”

As he set the glass down, Seungcheol felt himself panicking to find an excuse to make him stay. “You’re leaving?”

“Yeah, I should get going... It’s been nice talking to you though, Mr. Park”

He turned to leave, but Seungcheol caught him by the wrist, feeling embarrassed when the boy looked up at him with curious eyes. “Will I see you again?” 

“Maybe at another one of Mr. Hwang’s charity events?” he chuckled

“What about the birthday party? Will you be there?” Seungcheol loosened the grip on his wrist, leaving his hand rested gently against soft skin.

He hummed, considering. “Where’s it being held again?”

“His house! The main one. You should come, It’s going to be a boring night without my buffet buddy.”

The boy smiled, slipping away from Seungcheol’s grip teasingly. “I’ll be there. How can I refuse an offer like that?”

“Great! I’ll bring a flask next time, in case I bore you.”

He laughed, turning away with a humored wave.

The mysterious boy disappeared among the crowd of guests, vanishing from Seungcheol's eyeline as he found himself falling back against the wall, feeling a bit wistful. He shouldn’t be flirting on the job, he had to remind himself. Maybe it was just the casual ambiance of the party, or the fact that he was bored out of his mind, but all the walls in his head had crumbled seeing that dimpled smile.

It was also pretty foolish for him to be looking forward to that party, knowing it was the day that Vulcan bastard was most likely to strike.

Somehow though, a chance to meet the mysterious boy again made this stupid undercover mission kind of worth it.

~

When Jihoon had finally managed to slip away through the back-door of the buildings kitchen, he made his way into the shadows of a nearby alley-way. Hidden in darkness, he removed his mask, shoving the heavy accessory into his suit jacket for safe keeping. His smile had fallen as he felt the biterness of friendly conversation catching up to him. Nonetheless, he'd gotten what he needed. One week from now the beloved daughter of Hwang Se-Jun would hold her Nineteenth birthday at their private residence. A glorious get-together, which only the wealthiest, and the most relevant guests would attend.

It would seem he had some time to finish extra repairs on the Vulcan, before the party began.