They had slept for a night and eaten a bit, after that Kyungsoo felt better. The three who had not wanted to join them had left the same day. They had taken few things with them and had left without another word. The rest had still been discussing without agreement what to do with the remaining guard. He had been handcuffed and guarded overnight.
Kyungsoo was outside and watched the sunrise when Jongdae came to take him inside.
“We managed to contact the other camps!” Jongdae said stressed. Every colour drained from Kyungsoo’s face. Jongdae’s tone could not mean anything good and he could only think of Jongin. What if they had failed? What if they had been captured or worse…?

“Well, it’s camp three”, Jongdae said as they rushed into the controlling room. On the screen were familiar faces, they were in a similar controlling room.
“He’s here. Tell him what happened, Kyu”, Minseok said as he looked over his shoulder to point at Kyungsoo who came inside.
“I tell you what happened, Kyungsoo”, she said. She was calm but Kyungsoo could see even across the screen that she was really angry. The rest of the group had a similar expression.
“Wait, where is Junmyeon?” Kyungsoo asked as he scanned the room for his friend. Kyu’s eyes seemed to pierce through him even though she was so far away.
“I guess, he will be reaching the city soon”, Kyu said. Kyungsoo opened his mouth.
“Our ticket into the city, right? When we woke up this morning, Junmyeon had already left. Oh and he deleted every bit of research that had been saved on the camp’s main computer”, Kyu said.
Her voice was now shaking with anger, she seemed to be close to losing control. Kyungsoo shook his head.
“I don’t understand. Why would he do that? Have you contacted his grandfather?” he asked. “We did”, Kyu said and now her face changed.
“Well, Kenta here did. I should have been with them when they did so. I would have known immediately that he would betray us”, Kyu hissed.
“Betray? Why?” Kyungsoo called. Kyu stepped closer. “He would not stay on our side knowing that I am going to kill his grandfather with my own hands”, she said.
Kyungsoo’s eyes widened. “What do you mean?” he asked quietly. Kyu’s eyes looked almost mad with fury. “He is responsible for us. His grandfather was the scientist who decided to pair designer children. He was the one who made us. He created the project, he is the head of the scientist team. He is responsible for everything we were put through”, Kyu said roughly. “When you told me his grandfather was a scientist, you both seemed to have forgotten to tell me what kind of scientist he is”.

Kyungsoo shook his head, his body suddenly seemed too heavy for his legs to hold. “I – I had no idea. I swear – if I had known…”, Kyungsoo whispered.
“He will reach the city in roughly two days and alert everyone there”, Minseok said. Kyungsoo leaned against the wall. “Not if you stop him. Camp one is the closest to the city, he should pass by the road leading to the city near you tomorrow morning”, Kyu said.
Kyungsoo had his hand pressed to his mouth, his thoughts were racing. Nothing made sense. Junmyeon had been the one to rescue Jongin with him. If it had not been for him, Kyungsoo wouldn’t even have known how badly Jongin had been treated. He would not have reacted in time. But when they had been at the camp, there had been times when Junmyeon had behaved strangely and had said things…

“Did he say anything to you, Kyu?” Kyungsoo asked. Kyu frowned. “If you mean whether he warned me that he would leave us behind and betray us like that, no”, she said coolly. “What do we do now?” Jongdae asked. “We’re not going to stop him, we’re following him”, Minseok said. “We need to get into the city, not all of us at once. But as soon as we have one of us in there, it will be easier to get the rest into the city”.
Kyu nodded. “I’d say only those who will finish of the Feng group main members should go. Once it’s done, it will be easier anyways for the rest to come into the city”, Kyu said. No one looked like they wanted to agree, everyone here wanted their personal revenge on their tormentors.
“Have you heard from camp two?” Kyungsoo threw in then. Kyu frowned.
“No, we’ve only managed to contact you. Camp three was completely abandoned when we arrived. But camp two should be still up and running. I’ve been trying to hack into their security system but no luck so far”, Kenta said. Kyungsoo’s hands tensed. “That’s not good. They should be there already”, he murmured.
“We can try it from our side, too. Camp one has better technology”, one of the boys who had been at camp one said. “Good. We’re taking off then to join you. If you manage to tail Junmyeon or contact camp two, send us a message”, Kyu said. “How?” Jongdae asked. Kenta held up a small device. “Here, I found this and repaired it. You can call us or text us, if you use this number”, Kenta said and gave them through a number.
“Shouldn’t we note it down?” Kyungsoo murmured. Minseok tapped his temples. “I can remember it just fine”, he said. “Good, see you”. The connection was cut off and everyone exchanged looks.
“I’ll try to hack into camp two’s system”, the boy who had offered to hack into camp two's security system said. “What’s your name?” Jongdae asked. The boy grinned at him. “Giang”, he said. “Alright then, Giang. We’re counting on you”, Jongdae said.

The rest assembled to discuss who would set out to follow Junmyeon and how they would manage to get into the city with him. They soon had worked out a plan that Kyungsoo did not like at all.
“He will only trust you”, Minseok said. Kyungsoo looked down. “I know, but I’m not so sure whether he actually will put his trust in anyone”. Jongdae grabbed his arm.
“You’re our last chance. All of us who are purists here are registered citizens and we’re probably on a wanted list. I would not entrust the remaining guard here with such a mission”, Jongdae said. “We can only rely on you”.
Kyungsoo bit his lip. “Well, at least now you won’t have to lie”, Giang said. He stepped into the cafeteria. Everyone got to their feet. “What do you mean?” Kyungsoo called.
“I hacked into the security cameras at camp two”, Giang said. Everyone rushed over into the controlling room and Kyungsoo felt as if every bit of energy and feeling left his body. He felt very cold inside.
“Contact Kyu’s team. They better go over to camp two to take care of that. I will join Junmyeon and go into the city”, Kyungsoo said. Then he turned around to get ready.
He was in the training room where most of the weapons were stored, he knew that he was probably not allowed any weapons into the city but maybe he could smuggle in a few knives or a hand gun. He was just picking his weapons when someone came into the room.
“Kyungsoo?” He did not turn around, but Jongdae stepped next to him. “Are you okay?” he asked. Kyungsoo chose two knives and a gun, he wrapped them in a cloth.
“Yeah, sure”, he said. Jongdae touched his arm carefully. “Minseok – uh, he told me that you were close with Jongin. You helped Jongin escape, right?” Jongdae said. Kyungsoo turned towards Jongdae and straight faced said: “I’m fine”. Jongdae’s face softened. “I know what it’s like…”, he whispered.
He shortly looked over his shoulder but they were alone. “I kept telling myself that Minseok could never feel anything for me but I –“, Jongdae started.
“Well, it’s different with me and Jongin. I’m not in love with him and Jongin is very different from Minseok”, Kyungsoo interrupted him. Jongdae opened his mouth.
“I’m going to get ready”, Kyungsoo said abruptly and left the room.
He went to take a shower, he hated the camp and the dark rooms but at least there were proper showers there. At the shelter they could only splash themselves with a bit of water. He put on fresh clothes. They had found them in the upper levels where the leader of the camp had lived. The clothes were looking similar to the clothes the people at Kyungsoo’s hometown had worn. But these clothes were certainly more expensive and of higher quality. He put the knives into leather pockets, one of the boys from the camp had made them for belts. Kyungsoo had made an improvised ankle holster himself and fastened his gun there. When he went back into the cafeteria, no one looked at him strangely or asked him anything. For once Kyungsoo was glad that most of the people here could not fully understand how a normal human brain functioned.
“Kyu’s team will reach camp two soon”, Jongdae said when Kyungsoo joined them. “I think I will leave tonight, it will be more convincing if I meet Junmyeon in the desert than waiting for him and following him”, Kyungsoo said. They agreed and after a quick meal, Kyungsoo left for a short nap although he did not sleep.

Whenever he closed his eyes he saw the scenes at camp two. He thought that if Junmyeon had seen what was going on there, he would have reconsidered leaving them behind. He kept trying to blame Junmyeon so it would be easier but all Kyungsoo really wanted to do was to forget about following Junmyeon and drive to camp two instead. If they brought down the Feng group what guarantee was there that all this would stop? How much power did this group have? Weren't they just the ones funding the project?
Kyungsoo felt like no one had a real plan concerning the time after the Feng group had been eliminated. Overthrowing the government, letting the citizens know what its government had been doing all these years and creating new rules. It all sounded so vague and most of all, unrealistic. But they didn't even have a proper plan on how to find the Feng group, for now they were just a faceless group of very rich people.
When he finally drifted into an uneasy sleep, he dreamt of Jongin. They were walking through high grass, the air was comfortably warm. Nothing like the desert heat. Jongin was talking and he smiled at Kyungsoo, Jongin’s eyes were of a warm brown. But then suddenly he stopped and his smile faded. Kyungsoo wanted to ask what was wrong but no sound came from his mouth. And suddenly Jongin’s eyes turned bright yellow, his pupils narrowed into a vertical shape and the grass started to wrap itself around Jongin’s arms and legs. He stumbled backwards and fell, Kyungsoo stormed over and pulled his knife to cut Jongin loose. But whenever he had cut through the grass, new grass shot from the ground and wrapped itself around Jongin. The grass was cutting into Jongin’s skin and he started screaming. “I can help you”, a voice said and it was Sarah, the girl who had been with them at the shelter. She was carrying a long sword. “I can cut him free”. Jongin screamed louder and just as her sword swished down, Kyungsoo sat up.
Sweat was running down his spine and he was shaking. Sarah had not been in Kyu’s team when they had communicated via the computer. But Kyungsoo had been pretty sure that she would have joined Kyu’s team. Jongin had warned him that Sarah was dangerous. Kyungsoo got up and took another shower to wash off the sweat but mostly he just hoped he could wash away that odd dream. He could not eat anything and so he just got ready.

It was dark outside and when he passed the cafeteria he could see that some of the group were still awake. “I’m leaving”, Kyungsoo said. Minseok looked up and carefully turned around. He nodded at Kyungsoo. A girl from the camp was sitting at the table working on a small device, similar to the one Kenta had shown them. One of the boys from the shelter was asleep, his head resting on the table. Jongdae was also sleeping, he was lying on the hard bench. His head however was on Minseok’s thigh. Kyungsoo thought of their short conversation earlier and wondered what had happened between Jongdae and Minseok and whether they had talked. Minseok knew that Jongdae had freed him because he was in love with him. Minseok moved carefully as if not to wake up Jongdae and Kyungsoo’s chest felt tight. He wondered if Minseok was able to feel anything akin to love for Jongdae. He half hoped that the two could make it out alive and got a chance to find out but he also envied them. Kyungsoo had never minded being alone, he had never been interested in love or relationships. But Jongin had become important to him and so had Junmyeon. But one of them had betrayed them and Jongin… it was so very different what he felt for Jongin. But now...
Kyungsoo’s hand clenched when he thought of the short clip they had seen of camp two.

He took a jeep and drove off. He did not look back and was glad he had not said goodbye. Somehow the uncertainty of whether he would see them again filled him with a strange feeling. He knew the way to the city, Jongdae had shown it to him on maps and on a hologram. The said hologram device was now next to the steering wheel and showed Kyungsoo the way he had to take. His hands held the steering wheel firmly and he was driving probably faster than he had to.
Early morning passed and so did noon, but Kyungsoo did not encounter Junmyeon. He wondered whether he had missed him or was ahead of him or whether someone had attacked him on his way. The sun was already setting when the horizon showed a different scenery. A gigantic grey wall was rising up into the sky. With the city so close Kyungsoo decided to take a break and wait. He could not arrive before Junmyeon so he had to wait for him. And so Kyungsoo waited for the rest of the day and the entire night but Junmyeon did not turn up. The surroundings were rather flat and even if Junmyeon had taken a different road Kyungsoo would have seen him at least in the distance. But it seemed like Kyungsoo was entirely alone. There was just the desert and the high grey wall in the distance. The next day Kyungsoo decided to continue his journey to the city, it was no good waiting around anymore. He could not turn back either. He had no idea what to do when he arrived at the city. He had no plan of getting in, he could only lie and claim that he wanted to see Junmyeon's grandfather. But that would pose a rather weak attempt of getting into the city.
Kyungsoo felt uneasy, it took him longer to get to the high wall than he had thought it would. He reached the wall of the city just as it got dark, he stopped at the gate. There were cameras on top of the huge closed gate and light was shone into the jeep.
“Identify yourself”, an electronical voice said. Kyungsoo’s breath was going fast, he couldn't think. What should he do now? What if Junmyeon had not made it into the city?
“Do Kyungsoo”, he said and narrowed his eyes when the light shone directly into his eyes.
“Eye scan complete. Identity scan complete. Lieutenant Do Kyungsoo. Status: missing”, the electronical voice said. “Access: denied. No official permission to enter the city. If you have a special permission to enter the city, please provide it now”, the electronical voice said. Kyungsoo’s heart was racing, he could only go with their original idea of seeing Junmyeon's grandfather. “I was invited by Kim Junmyeon and Dr Kim senior”, he said loudly. There was a moment of silence and then a rumbling sound. The gate opened.
Kyungsoo's mouth opened. Could this really have worked out?
“Entry granted. Welcome, Lieutenant Do Kyungsoo. Please register at the city hall, we hope you have a pleasant stay”, the electronical voice said and Kyungsoo drove through the gate. He could not believe that it had worked. But why? Why had it worked?

He drove through the gate and gasped. The city was lying before him, glowing in the night. It was gigantic, houses were reaching far up into the sky. The windows were glistening with light, there was a large river that was rolling through the city and its riverside was speckled with lights. The river led directly – into the sea. Kyungsoo was on top of a hill overlooking the city otherwise he would not have been able to see the sea. On the hill was nothing but a big house. He stopped his jeep in front of it and got out. Now he could see that a cliff was still separating him from the city. He walked towards the house and at the entry someone was already waiting for him.
“Junmyeon!”

Junmyeon looked different. He wore different clothes, they looked like a uniform and his hair had been cut, his face was washed and clean.
“Kyungsoo”, he said. “What happened? How did you know I would come?” Kyungsoo asked. Junmyeon smiled. “Oh, I had asked to be informed about everyone trying to enter the city. I told them to inform me, should you turn up alone”, Junmyeon said. Kyungsoo frowned. “Let’s go inside”, Junmyeon said and turned around. The glass doors of the house slid open. Kyungsoo stepped inside the cool house, there was a wide hall and something like a reception. A young woman was standing there behind the desk, she smiled at them. “Good evening, Dr Kim”, she said and bowed her head. “Welcome, Lieutenant Do. We need to register you, if you please place your hands here”, she said and Kyungsoo put his hands on two square shaped scanners. He noticed that a glass wall was separating him from the woman. “Now look here please”, she said and something in the shape of a fist sized ball zoomed at his face. “What is that?” Kyungsoo asked. “It will scan your eyes”, the lady said with a smile. “What is the purpose of your visit?” the lady asked.
“He is my guest”, Junmyeon said. “Certainly”, the lady said and typed something into her computer. “Please, go to the decontamination room to your left. The elevator will take you into the city. Good evening”, the lady said and bowed her head again.
“Decontamination room?” Kyungsoo asked as Junmyeon walked ahead. “They scan you when you enter the city. As a security measurement you will be decontaminated from radiation and any other possible infections”, Junmyeon said. “Don’t worry. It feels like a nice shower”, he said with a smile. Kyungsoo nodded and they both stepped through another door. Junmyeon showed him where to go and told him he would be waiting on the other side.
Kyungsoo walked into a small cool chamber. An electronical voice instructed him to take off his clothes and Kyungsoo hesitated. If he took off his clothes, he would reveal his weapons. Kyungsoo bit his lip and took the knives and the gun out, holding them in his hands he put the clothes into the niche where he was instructed to put them. He placed his weapons on the floor. Junmyeon had been right, it felt like a nice shower. His clothes had disappeared by the time the shower had stopped. Instead a fluffy towel and fresh clothes appeared, a plain shirt and trousers as well as underwear. But his weapons were still there to Kyungsoo’s relief. Kyungsoo took the fresh clothes and fastened his weapons at his new belt and his gun in the back of his trousers as the ankle holster had fallen apart from the shower. He stepped out of the chamber where Junmyeon was waiting for him.

Junmyeon was smiling and Kyungsoo was now surer than when he had been let into the city that he could no longer trust Junmyeon. “Sir”. Another man stepped next to Junmyeon, he was wearing a white uniform and a golden emblem was embroidered on his chest. “Sergeant Choi”, the man in the white uniform introduced himself.
“I’m afraid I have to confiscate your weapons”, the man said. Kyungsoo’s eyes narrowed. “Relax, Kyungsoo. He’s from the police, it is standard procedure to take away your weapons. You will get them back in a few days, once they have approved of your status”, Junmyeon said.
Kyungsoo pulled out his gun and his knives with hesitation and handed them over. The police sergeant took them and handed him a small card. “You will receive notice from us when you may pick up your weapons. Please bring this card with you”, Sergeant Choi said. Kyungsoo nodded and put the card into his pocket.
The Sergeant bowed his head and walked away. They were standing in a large hall that was nicely decorated. White columns were holding the high ceiling, beautiful lamps filled the hall with golden light. The walls were of a soft golden colour, paintings were decorating the walls. “Off into the city then”, Junmyeon said.
“Are you not going to ask why I came alone?” Kyungsoo asked as they walked through the hall. Junmyeon’s smile disappeared. He stopped at the end of the hall and pressed a button next to a glass door. “Well, you came alone that means you are not here to kill anyone. They would not have sent you”, Junmyeon said. And Kyungsoo realised the glass door was actually the door to an elevator. With a ping the doors opened and they stepped inside.
“How can you be sure?” Kyungsoo asked. Junmyeon looked at him seriously. “I heard rumours about camp two”, Junmyeon said. Kyungsoo’s hands clenched but he had to stick to the plan. Instead of asking Junmyeon why he had not helped or used his apparently newly found influence to stop it, he looked through the glass at the city.
“The rumours are true. The group could not manage to gain control of camp two. Many of them were killed, the rest is now imprisoned there”, Kyungsoo said. Junmyeon cleared his throat. “I thought, the only reason that you would be here instead of rushing over to camp two…”, Junmyeon started. Kyungsoo’s shoulders tensed.
“I’m sorry”, Junmyeon said quietly and he actually sounded as if he was really sorry. And that was what bugged Kyungsoo the most. Had he still had his knife he would have stabbed Junmyeon on the spot. How could he be sorry if he hadn't done anything to help those at camp two? Why did he not rush over to help?
But Kyungsoo took a deep breath and calmed himself, he had to pay close attention to the way they took and work on a plan on how to get someone into the city who was not allowed to.

*

The elevator stopped and they stepped out into a fresh breeze. It was comfortably warm and there was no sand that got in one’s eye with every gust of wind. Kyungsoo had only seen pictures of big cities and how they had looked like before the war. But this city was even more beautiful.
Lampions and street lamps brightened the night and the ground was plastered with stone shaped in pretty hexagons. The streets were lined with palm trees and the square that Junmyeon and Kyungsoo stepped out onto had a nice fountain in the middle, benches were put around the square. People were sitting there, chatting and laughing. Some people were walking over the square, enjoying the night. “We’re taking the car to my grandfather’s house”, Junmyeon said. “You can stay there for now”. Kyungsoo looked at Junmyeon. “Really? Is that okay? I mean he doesn’t even know me”, Kyungsoo said. Junmyeon flashed him a smile. “I could take you there and he wouldn’t even notice, the house is so big”, Junmyeon said.
He turned around and crossed the square and walked towards the street leading ahead. With his back turned to Kyungsoo he could not see how Kyungsoo frowned. The small car that was waiting for them was nothing like the military jeeps. It was a glossy midnight blue and the doors opened and closed smoothly on their own. Junmyeon and Kyungsoo got inside. The seats were very soft and the inside was cool and elegant. “Good evening, Dr Kim”, a voice said. Kyungsoo flinched but there was no one sitting at the driver’s seat, in fact there was no driver’s seat at all. There was just a long instrument panel. “To Dr Kim senior’s home, please. House on the hill to the sea”, Junmyeon said clearly.
“Understood. Enjoy your ride”, the electronical voice said.
They drove through the streets and Kyungsoo could not help but stare out the window trying to take everything in. The houses had not been that high near the square, higher than any house Kyungsoo was used to but the really high buildings were lying ahead of them, in the middle of the city. They drove past many stores that were all open and bright lights were shining onto the street. People were going in and out of the stores, they were all wearing colourful clothes. The chattering and laughter were hardly audible from inside the car, it blocked out most of the sound from the street. “I would tell you what all this is, but I have no clue myself”, Junmyeon said then. Kyungsoo shortly looked at him.
“You kind of gave me the impression as if you knew the way around rather well”, Kyungsoo said. Junmyeon laughed a bit. “Well, it is the same way I took when I arrived and to be honest I was told exactly where to go and where to expect the car”, Junmyeon confessed.
They drove for about 20 minutes and reached an area where the houses were farther apart from each other and bigger. They drove up a slight slope which Kyungsoo hardly noticed until they stopped and he saw that they had a great view onto the dark ocean and the city behind them. Junmyeon had been right, the house was huge. It was snow white and a large garden was surrounding the house as well as a little square in front of the house. The two got out of the car and a man wearing a dark green uniform bowed to welcome them. He leaned over to the car and touched the instrumental panel with a little black device.
“Payment successful. Thank you for riding with us today. Good evening!” the electronical voice said and the car drove away. “The master is awaiting you”, the man in the green uniform said. The man in the dark green uniform led them into the house through a big entrance hall and large doors to the right into what looked like a living room. An old man was sitting on a white sofa, he was wearing the same midnight blue clothes as Junmyeon. “Master, your grandson and his friend”, the man in the green uniform said. He bowed and went outside. Junmyeon’s grandfather closed the book he had been reading and looked up. Kyungsoo was startled to see so much of a resemblance between Junmyeon and his grandfather.
“Good evening”, he said. Kyungsoo cleared his throat. “Good evening, sir. I’m Do Kyungsoo”, he said. “Lieutenant from what I have heard”, Junmyeon’s grandfather said. Kyungsoo slightly bowed his head. “Well, since I have left my hometown I am not sure whether I can still call myself Lieutenant”, Kyungsoo said. The man laughed. “You went on a big adventure with my grandson”, he said. “Have a seat, you two”, he added.
They had just sat down on the other sofa when the doors opened and two other men came inside carrying trays. They were also wearing green uniforms and Kyungsoo thought they were most likely domestic staff. They put down three cups of steaming tea and three glasses and a huge jug of water. “We will have dinner in an hour or so”, Dr Kim said as he leaned forward and took his cup of tea. Kyungsoo took a glass of water but Junmyeon followed his grandfather and took the tea.

“So Junmyeon only arrived a day before you. He has already told me that he followed my wish and became a scientist but the old town was only a cage. I am glad you two could leave it behind. They only hold back people who are of higher intelligence. I was surprised to hear that you came across an Aureum Luscus”, Dr Kim started. “A what?” Kyungsoo asked. His head was spinning, he could not understand any of this. They had not simply walked out of their hometown, they had freed Jongin and had ran away. Kyungsoo had killed a soldier. So far he had expected to be arrested on the spot should his past be revealed. He had somehow not thought that the people in the city would find out or know who he was. But since they did know... why had he not been arrested yet?
“A mutated young man with golden eyes that resemble those of a cat. We call that an Aureum Luscus”, Dr Kim said. “Oh, right”, Kyungsoo murmured. Dr Kim crossed his legs and leaned back. “Junmyeon said that you have had a lot of contact with them after you left your hometown”, Dr Kim said. Kyungsoo shortly looked at Junmyeon, he wasn’t sure how much Junmyeon had told him and whether he had been entirely honest. Maybe they didn't know under what circumstances they had left their hometown...

“Well, yeah. We stayed with a group of them for a while”, Kyungsoo said. “Yes, yes. There had been a rumour that some of them had started living together after running away”, Dr Kim said and sipped on his tea. “You don’t sound like you believe that is actually possible”, Kyungsoo said carefully. Dr Kim smiled and put his cup into the saucer.
“You see, Lieutenant, I know them. They are not able to live in a society like ours, so they had to be trained. I have to admit my own failure in many cases that we were unable to train”, Dr Kim said. Kyungsoo had a hard time to keep calm, his fingers held onto the glass tightly and he was surprised the glass hadn’t burst. He suppressed the urge to throw the glass at the man sitting in front of him. Here he was sitting in his clean and nice living room, sipping tea and talking about them as if they were only going through a mildly exhausting sports programme. Kyungsoo forced down a gulp of water and nearly choked. At least through his coughing he could cover his anger.
“You mean their tendency to violence and lack of understanding for human emotion?” Kyungsoo asked when he had stopped coughing. “It is not the lack of understanding for human emotion, we taught them everything there is to know about human emotion. The problem was that they could not feel those emotions themselves. At least the first 10 children were absolutely unable to. As soon as we noticed this mistake, we tried to fix this with the next generation. I would say we were only partly successful, these children did still have a tendency for violence but I would call that an expression of their immense strength and lack of control over it. Over the years they learnt to handle it”, Dr Kim said. “You disagree?” he asked. “Please, describe what they are like. I am most curious to hear how you experienced them”, Dr Kim asked.
Kyungsoo looked at Junmyeon who had the same fixed smile on his face. “They are very intelligent, it was sometimes hard to follow their conversations and way of thinking. Most of them are very strong but not all of them. I have met a few who are rather timid and quiet”, Kyungsoo said.

Dr Kim’s eyes glowed with greed, he was sliding to the edge of the sofa. “But Dr Kim, from what I heard you were the one who started the programme, shouldn’t you already know what they are like?” Kyungsoo asked. The man shoved his glasses a bit higher and his lips twitched into a smile. “One has to listen to all the different opinions, I cannot rely on my own experiences alone”, he said. Dr Kim was so focused on Kyungsoo otherwise he would have seen how Junmyeon’s smile had slid of his face. “Still you are convinced that they are cruel and unfit for society”, Kyungsoo said. “Unless they let their – ah – disorder be treated properly. There is a way to control their violent side and they can take the hormones they are lacking. Of course, they are more of an imitation of a human than an actual human being”, Dr Kim said. Kyungsoo had to put the glass down his hands were shaking too much with anger. He wasn't sure for how long he would be able to contain himself anymore.

“There were mutated people who were not cruel and did not constantly beat everyone up. They were not violent and they had made friends”, Kyungsoo said. Dr Kim smiled.
“Are you sure? As you said yourself they are very intelligent and they have a comprehensive knowledge about the human nature. Thus it is easy to manipulate people into trusting them and believing them. But they themselves do not believe in things like friendship or love. Their brains have a defect, they cannot produce hormones such as serotonin and oxytocin. Alexithymia is a rare occurrence but all of the first ten Aureum Luscus were diagnosed with it. Statistically speaking this was impossible but we could not find any other explanation”, Dr Kim said. Kyungsoo frowned. “Dr Kim, why exactly are you telling me all of this?” he asked. Dr Kim smiled.
“I hope you will join my team, like Junmyeon did. Of course, Junmyeon is a brain scientist, so he is incredibly valuable for me. But your experience with the mutations is also valuable data, especially since you are not in the position of a guard. You spent time with them in a different context so your observations are important”, Dr Kim said. Kyungsoo opened his mouth to say no but changed his mind in the last second. “N-okay”, he said. If he joined the team, they might trust him enough so he would get back his own weapons and maybe get new ones. He would also be able to move freely in the city without being suspected if they counted him on their side. That would make it easier for him to send a message back to Minseok and Kyu and help them into the city.

“Fantastic! Junmyeon here had not been too sure whether you would actually want to join”, Dr Kim said and clapped his hands together. “Well, I – I have taken an interest in the – uh – Aureum Luscus”, Kyungsoo said. Dr Kim smiled brightly. “Yes, Junmyeon told me you were interested. But after you took the Aureum Luscus with you when you left the city, I was sure you would want to join. After all, our work will provide a cure for them. We are helping those mutations. We are doing something good, Lieutenant Do”, Dr Kim said. He shook Kyungsoo’s hand and Kyungsoo forced himself to smile although he felt sick. He had heard similar words before. Back then he had been told they were doing something good for humanity if they caught a mutation, so they could cure diseases.

So so sorry for the long hiatus, I hope you haven't abandoned this story already ^^'

I was really looking forward to introducing the City to you, I hope you like it!!