In the following days, Kyungsoo had another session with Dr Nakamura, who decided that Kyungsoo’s new friends were the best thing that could have happened to him. Dr Kim then announced that Kyungsoo needed no more weekly sessions and could reduce them to monthly sessions. So Kyungsoo could start working the next week by attending the next meeting.

Kyungsoo also went to visit the university and Dr Kim’s name apparently opened most doors. Kyungsoo was allowed to attend a few lectures and seminars, mostly in geography, history and law. But after the geography lecture with Baekhyun, they sneaked into the basement where the RDT had their rooms. They found Chanyeol, a girl and a guy working in a room. Kyungsoo watched very closely how they took apart the devices and put them back together. To Kyungsoo’s disappointment, there was more to it than just taking the devices apart. Chanyeol was sitting at the computer for over an hour and programmed something. The girl was so open to tell Kyungsoo a bit about the work. She explained a bit about microchips and programmes but Kyungsoo did not understand half of it. Even by watching he could hardly follow.
Baekhyun who seemed to be a regular guest had sat down at the old sofa and watched Chanyeol work. Baekhyun had pulled his legs up to his chest and hugged them, his chin resting on his knees.
“Maybe we should make you a phone here, it is really annoying, we can never meet up spontaneously”, Baekhyun said when Kyungsoo sat down next to him.
“You don’t have a phone?” the girl asked. Kyungsoo shook his head.
“You don’t want one if it’s Baekhyun that will text you at 2 am in the morning”, Chanyeol threw in. Baekhyun grinned and got up. He threw his arms around Chanyeol's shoulders as he leaned onto Chanyeol's broad back. Chanyeol shifted a little and the girl who was working next to him raised her eyebrows a little while hacking her fingerss louder into the keyboard.
“Come on, Chanyeol. It will be really useful”, he begged.
“No”, Chanyeol said simply. Kyungsoo’s high feelings immediately inflated. “I am not making an unregistered phone”.
Baekhyun got up and crossed his arms and sulked. “Boring, well let’s go, Kyungsoo”, he said. This time Kyungsoo was absolutely sure that Chanyeol had shot him a very nasty look as they left.

“I don’t know what’s wrong with Chanyeol” Baekhyun muttered as they had settled down in the park outside. They were sitting at the exact place they had met for the first time.
“I think he doesn’t particularly like me”, Kyungsoo said and shrugged.
“Huh? No way, he literally told me he thinks you’re a cool guy”, Baekhyun said and shook his head. Kyungsoo was surprised.
“Well, maybe he changed his opinion”, he said.
“Why would he?” Baekhyun asked and leaned back. He stretched and laid down.
“After you decided I was into boys”, Kyungsoo said. Baekhyun turned his head.
“Chanyeol doesn’t have anything against gay people!” he said distraught. “He never had any problems with me or any of our friends”, he said. Kyungsoo frowned.
“You told me you went to see Jongdae outside of the city… Were you and Jongdae -?” he asked. There was a faint blush on Baekhyun’s cheeks.
“No, we weren’t dating. Jongdae was never interested in me and generally not in boys”, he said.
“But why did you not tell Chanyeol then that you went to see Jongdae?” Kyungsoo asked. Baekhyun shrugged. “I don’t know. He would get mad at me”.
Kyungsoo bit his lip. “I think he’s jealous”. Baekhyun looked at him in surprise. “Why would he be?”
Kyungsoo raised his eyebrows and shrugged. “I would not have said I’m into boys”, Kyungsoo said. Baekhyun opened his mouths. Kyungsoo sighed.
“But there is someone I – really care about… and he happens to be a boy”, Kyungsoo said and shrugged. “Sometimes it doesn’t really matter”, he added.

Baekhyun gave him an odd look. “Are you – are you implying that Chanyeol is in love with me? No way, no, no. He has a girlfriend”, Baekhyun laughed.
“Have you never thought about it?” Kyungsoo asked. Baekhyun frowned. “Uh, no. Chanyeol is my best friend, we grew up together… no”, he said and shook his head.
“Well you grew up with Jongdae as well”, Kyungsoo said. “That’s different”, Baekhyun murmured.
“Because Jongdae was not interested in you?” Kyungsoo guessed and felt bad immediately after he had said it. Baekhyun looked a bit offended and hurt.
“Sorry”, Kyungsoo said quickly. “It’s just how it is… how I myself… the guy, I like, he cannot like me back”, he said hesitant.
“Why not?” Baekhyun asked. He slid a bit closer and Kyungsoo looked at him. “Because he – he”, Kyungsoo started.
And for the first time he was glad that Chanyeol was coming towards them, walking pretty fast.
“Hey!” he called. Kyungsoo looked away. “Baekhyun, we had an appointment. I was waiting for you. Hurry up”, Chanyeol said roughly. Baekhyun turned around and looked at Kyungsoo to wave goodbye. “See you at the party then”. Kyungsoo nodded and waved.

Kyungsoo went home and he felt strange inside. It was the first time that he had confessed to someone that he had feelings for Jongin. It had made it real, before that he could have easily pretended that he only cared for him because he felt responsible. He still did not know what happened at camp two after the scenes he had seen. He felt sick thinking of it again. They had Jongin, that was all he knew for sure. He had looked beaten up badly, he had been lying on the ground. Kyungsoo pressed his hand to his mouth. His chest felt tight and hurt as if he had gulped down a handful of thorns.
That night he dreamt of Jongin again but this time the dream did not end with Jongin dying or being tortured in front of him. He was lying with him in the tent back at the shelter and they were just looking at each other. Jongin had always had the tendency to stare, unaware that it could come across as weird. Jongin had touched his face and whispered: “Warm” over and over again. And just as the dream faded Kyungsoo found the words and courage to say the words he should have said back then. But before he said them, he woke up and his words would not reach Jongin.
“I won’t let them hurt you again. I’ll come and get you out of there”, Kyungsoo whispered into his too big room. And there was nothing left for him to hope that Jongin was still alive but with every day that passed Kyungsoo felt that the possibility for that to be true was declining.

Kyungsoo went into the city to buy new clothes for the party, he did not really know what to wear but a shop assistant was more than excited to help him find the perfect outfit. In the end Kyungsoo had an entire new outfit. Black trousers and a shirt with a nice print on it, as well as new shoes. Kyungsoo got the new clothes already washed and prepared waiting for him when he arrived back at home. It didn’t take him long to get ready.

“Are you going out?” Eric asked when Kyungsoo came down the stairs. Kyungsoo smiled. “The university party”, he said.
“You look great”, Eric said. “Thank you!” Kyungsoo said.
Eric smiled and Kyungsoo got into the taxi. The party had already started and there was a huge crowd at the campus. But it was easy to find Chanyeol, he was simply the tallest and he was standing far away from the crowd. “Chanyeol!” Kyungsoo called as he saw him. Chanyeol turned around.
“Are you alone here?” Kyungsoo asked looking around for Baekhyun and Chanyeol’s girlfriend.
“Where is -?” Kyungsoo started. “Baekhyun? He is late”, Chanyeol interrupted him.
“I was going to ask about your girlfriend”, Kyungsoo said carefully.
Chanyeol looked surprised for a moment then his expression changed again into a grumpy expression. “She’s no longer my girlfriend”.
Kyungsoo felt a bit awkward. “Oh… sorry”, he murmured. Chanyeol hummed.
“Listen, maybe you should tell Baekhyun what you feel”, Kyungsoo said then. Chanyeol had crossed his arms. “Huh?” he asked.
Kyungsoo sighed. “You don’t have to be worried or jealous of me… I am not interested in Baekhyun and he knows that, too”, Kyungsoo said.
“What? I’m not – jealous”, Chanyeol called heated.
“Sorry, I’m late!” Baekhyun came running at them. He stopped out of breath. “Let’s go”, Chanyeol said.

They walked into the building that had been decorated and Kyungsoo waited until Baekhyun and Chanyeol had gotten a bit of alcohol, then he sneaked off. He took the stairs down into the basement only to find the doors locked. He was just wondering whether there would be an alarm if he broke the door open, when he heard someone coming downstairs. Kyungsoo quickly hushed around the corner and hid behind a locker.
“Baekhyun, you’re already completely drunk. We’ve been here for hardly 20 minutes, really now!” Chanyeol said upset.
“I just want to get that phone”, Baekhyun said. “We’re not getting a phone!” Chanyeol called.
“But Kyungsoo needs the phone”, Baekhyun said.
“Get a grip, Baekhyun! That guy is only contributing to getting you into more trouble than before!” Chanyeol called. “We’re going back upstairs now!”
He dragged Baekhyun up again but they were bickering all the way until the bickering turned into a real fight. Kyungsoo had made it back upstairs, just in time to witness their fight. “What’s wrong with you, Chanyeol?” Baekhyun shouted, he sounded close to tears. Chanyeol looked overwhelmed.
“I – you. I should ask what is wrong with you!” he shot back then.
The loud music thankfully drowned out most of the ugly words they threw at each other and most of the other students did not pay any attention to their fight. Baekhyun stormed off and Chanyeol stood rooted to the ground with a very strange expression on his face. Kyungsoo wondered whether he should try to find the girl who had been working with Chanyeol and get her to make him an unregistered phone. But he wasn’t sure whether he could trust her. Kyungsoo walked around for a bit, half-heartily trying to find her. In the end he left the building for fresh air and wondered whether he should simply leave. But he needed to find Baekhyun before that, if Chanyeol was no longer there to keep him out of trouble, it would be best if he looked after him and got him home safely. He looked around whether he could find him outside and just as he was giving up, he saw Baekhyun. He was in the park, near the river.

The lampions were dimly illuminating the park. Kyungsoo quickly walked over to him. If Baekhyun was drunk he might get strange ideas of going swimming again and might drown. But Kyungsoo stopped at the edge of the park, 10 metres away from Baekhyun because he was not alone. Chanyeol was with him. But the two didn't notice Kyungsoo.
It looked like they had made up but Baekhyun’s face was covered in tears. “Do you like me, Chanyeol?” he asked.
“Of course, I do. You’re my best friend”, Chanyeol said.
“No, not like that… I mean like… more than that”, Baekhyun said. Chanyeol looked at him and without warning Baekhyun tiptoed and pulled Chanyeol down by his shirt and kissed him. He let go off him just as quickly and stumbled back. He looked as if his own actions had shocked and confused him.
“Can’t we go back to how it was before?” Baekhyun asked. He was crying again. Chanyeol looked at him and then looked down. “No”, Chanyeol said but he cupped Baekhyun's face to wipe away Baekhyun’s tears and then hugged him.
Kyungsoo turned around and left them alone.

*

“It is good to see you finding a bit of normality”, Junmyeon said. Kyungsoo looked at him, he had gotten good as well at faking a smile. It was Kyungsoo’s third week in the city, a Monday, the day before the first meeting. Junmyeon had joined his grandfather for dinner, usually Junmyeon did not appear for mealtimes. Junmyeon had picked up a very strange and uncomfortable manner of speaking and Kyungsoo hardly recognised his friend in that shadow of his former self.
“What are you talking about?” Kyungsoo asked carefully.
“Oh, I have heard that you have found new friends and you even attended the semester party from university”, Junmyeon said.
Kyungsoo did some very quick thinking, he could not risk anyone investigating Baekhyun or Chanyeol. Baekhyun was a troublemaker and Chanyeol’s studies at the RDT could raise anyone’s suspicion.
“Yeah, they’re great. They’re showing me around or we relax at the beach or go to a restaurant”, Kyungsoo said and shrugged.
“You also attended a few classes at university?” Junmyeon said.
“Yeah, well I am living in this city now. I thought it would only be appropriate to learn about it and integrate as well as possible”, Kyungsoo said, hoping to convince Junmyeon. If Junmyeon found out about his visits to the RDT rooms and his hope of stealing an unregistered phone there, his plan was spoilt for ever. And he would lose everyone’s trust.
“So are you planning to enrol at the university?” Dr Kim asked now.
“Well, I wouldn’t know which subject to choose. But I want to find something, I need a job. I mean another one, something that keeps me busy during the day”, Kyungsoo said.

While they continued eating, someone arrived at the house loudly demanding to see Dr Kim. Dr Kim got up and left the dining hall. Kyungsoo and Junmyeon continued eating dinner, but Kyungsoo concentrated on catching a few words of the conversation in the hall.
“It is terrible, Dr Kim. We have to do something about it... lost so many on both sides, we cannot let them continue with that!”
Junmyeon did not seem to bother, he wasn’t even trying to listen.
“…definitely one of the original 10 among them, what if she dies?” the man in the hall said upset.
“Quiet. Into my office now”, Dr Kim said. Kyungsoo was trying to suppress his excitement. Did that mean the fights in camp two were still ongoing? They had been fighting for over two weeks now. Two weeks in which Kyungsoo had not done any workouts or training. He had not gotten back his weapons, instead he had received a note that they were confiscated and locked away. Eric had eventually entrusted to him that no one in the city was allowed to own weapons except for the police. Any possession of weapons lead to a prison sentence of at least 6 months. More than once Kyungsoo had considered going into the kitchen to steal a knife but he had seen the cook actually count his knives every morning and evening.
How much longer would they last in camp two? And what if Dr Kim send troops of police over to camp two to bring the fight under control? Kyungsoo had to act quickly, he needed to get his hands on a phone and contact Kenta. He sat down in the evening in his room and tried to remember the number Kenta had told them. Minseok had remembered it easily, no one had written it down. Kyungsoo remembered a few digits but not all of them, if he asked Baekhyun, he would tell him how many digits a phone number had, that would help a lot.

On Tuesday, it should have been Kyungsoo’s first meeting but it got cancelled. No doubt because of the riot and fights in camp two but no one said that out loud. Junmyeon had locked himself in his room and Kyungsoo went outside. He went running, down and up the hill. On his way he practised a few punches and kicks. He jogged all the way into the university park where he took a short break at the river. “Kyungsoo!”
He looked around to see Baekhyun with a side bag walking across the grass. “What are you doing here? I thought you were working today?” Baekhyun called. Kyungsoo smiled and shook his head. “Uh, it was just a meeting and it got cancelled because – my boss was sick”, Kyungsoo lied.
“Oh. Did you run?” Baekhyun asked looking pointedly at Kyungsoo’s sweaty clothes and his red face.
“Yeah, I haven’t worked out in a while and thought I could use the opportunity…”, Kyungsoo murmured.
“You’re crazy! No one goes running in the city, you better train at the fitness centre, they have air conditioning”, Baekhyun said. Kyungsoo laughed.
“I’m used to training at higher temperatures. This is okay with me”, he said. He did not tell Baekhyun that if something were to happen, it would surely happen in the city on the streets, not in a comfortably cool fitness centre.
“Are you sure you’re okay? You look so serious”, Baekhyun said.
“Yes, uh listen. Where is Chanyeol?” Kyungsoo asked. Baekhyun frowned.
“He is in a lecture. Why?” he asked and then blushed. “Oh if it’s because of the party. I – uh – haha, I got very drunk, right? I can’t remember too much. I hope you’re not angry because Chanyeol and I both suddenly disappeared”, Baekhyun laughed nervously.
“I saw you two fighting. Did you make up?” Kyungsoo asked. Baekhyun pressed his lips together and he sat down next to Kyungsoo.
“We only fought because I was so drunk and said something really stupid. We fight all the time, it’s nothing serious. You don’t have to worry, of course we’re still friends”, Baekhyun said and smiled. Kyungsoo eyed him.
If it really was that normal, Baekhyun somehow did not look like it. He was not his usual cheery, loud self, he was quiet and lost in thought.
“Baekhyun”, Kyungsoo said suddenly. “Huh?” Baekhyun looked at him surprised.
“I have to tell you something. It’s a secret only you will understand”, Kyungsoo said quietly. Baekhyun inched closer.
“I never got a normal new phone because I need an old one. An unregistered phone”, Kyungsoo whispered.
Baekhyun’s lips parted but before he could say something Kyungsoo continued. “I need to call someone. I told you about him… but he – he is… you know, he might be in trouble. If I use a registered phone, the police would immediately investigate”, Kyungsoo said quietly.
“The guy outside of the city? The guy you like?” Baekhyun asked quietly. Kyungsoo nodded.
“Baekhyun, I don’t want you to get into trouble”, he started. But Baekhyun shook his head. “I’ll help you”, Baekhyun said firmly.
“This is bigger than any trouble you’ve ever been in”, Kyungsoo said quietly. There was a hint of Baekhyun’s usual cheek glittering in his eyes.
“I love trouble and a good adventure”, Baekhyun said.

Baekhyun had instructed him what to do. Kyungsoo had to find an old device and instead of turning it in he had to make sure no one knew there was this old device that should be collected. He needed to bring it to Baekhyun who would convince Chanyeol to turn the device into a phone without informing the RDT. It was Thursday when Kyungsoo got lucky. He heard Eric cursing in the kitchen and when he went to look what was the matter, he saw Eric holding a hologram device.
“He’ll kill me, he’ll kill me”, Eric whispered frantically.
“What’s wrong?” Kyungsoo asked. Eric let out a quiet scream and jumped.
“My heart! Lieutenant, I nearly had a heart attack”, he called. Kyungsoo smiled. “Sorry for that. What happened?” he asked.
Eric flushed. “The cook gave me a pretty new hologram device because mine was so old it had quite a few bugs. And I needed to do some shopping and synch it with the cook’s hologram for the recipes. There was also a To-do-list on it. Now this just broke down, it is completely – gone. I think I broke it, I don’t know why”, Eric whined.
“Why don’t you just get a new one?” Kyungsoo asked. Eric stared at him. “They are way too expensive!”
Kyungsoo blinked. “Oh, I didn’t know. I don’t own one…”, he murmured.
Eric continued to wail and worry what would happen when the cook found out.
“Eric, I’ll buy you a new one. I’ll take the broken one and keep it a secret from everyone. You just need to secretly synch the new hologram with the cook’s once again for all the data, right?” Kyungsoo said. Eric stared at Kyungsoo. “But Lieutenant –“, he started.
Kyungsoo smiled. “It’s all right. You remember most of the things on your To-do-list? Good, I head right into the city and buy a new hologram. You act as if nothing happened”, Kyungsoo said and took the broken hologram.
His heart was racing, he finally had obtained an old device. He hurried into the city where he searched for Baekhyun for over an hour. He found him eventually in the library, sitting in front of large maps. When he saw Kyungsoo he quickly put them away and they left the library together.
“Hi, what are you doing here? Were you looking for me?” Baekhyun asked.
“Yeah, remember when we took a little break at the river last time?” Kyungsoo asked. Baekhyun opened his mouth.
“Right, right. Let’s go there again, great idea”, he said loudly and they took off. They had reached the park when Baekhyun took down his backpack and took out a packed lunch. “Drop it in there, quick”, he hissed and Kyungsoo leaned in, pretending to look at Baekhyun’s food and dropped the old device into the bag.
“Looks delicious. Did you make it yourself?” he asked when a group of girls passed them. Baekhyun sighed and closed his bag.
“No, my aunt made it for me. Want to eat with me?” he asked.
Kyungsoo was under time pressure but he thought it might look suspicious if he left straight away, so he sat down with Baekhyun for half an hour. Baekhyun told him where he could find a good electronics shop to buy a new hologram. Baekhyun eventually went with him to the shop and only then Kyungsoo realised the flaw in his plan. He had to obviously register the new hologram and should anyone check, they would know that he had Eric’s old one. But it was too late now and there was no reason why anyone would check on Eric’s hologram.

They took Kyungsoo’s fingerprints and he paid with the card Dr Kim had given to him. The hologram was indeed expensive but when Kyungsoo went to a counter to check his balance, he was glad that Baekhyun was shortly distracted and had not seen the amount on Kyungsoo’s account. Dr Kim had put a very high amount of money onto the card, although Kyungsoo had not yet contributed anything to his study and had not attended the meeting. He wondered how much he would get for actually working for Dr Kim. And suddenly he realised that this could be what had blinded Junmyeon. Junmyeon was one of the main scientists for Dr Kim, he must get an obscene high amount of money. Maybe it was also a way of pressuring or persuading them into working with Dr Kim.
Kyungsoo brought the hologram back home after saying goodbye to Baekhyun who promised him that he would get his phone to which they referred as little present for his friend’s birthday in case someone overheard them, in about three to four days. Kyungsoo met Eric in the hall but Dr Kim was just talking to him, so he greeted them and went upstairs. He hoped that Eric had not been found out yet and that he kept calm long enough. It was just an hour later when Eric came into Kyungsoo’s room.
“I’ve brought your laundry, Lieutenant”, Eric said, still standing in the corridor.
“Thanks”, Kyungsoo said and while Eric carried the basket full of fresh clothes into his room, Kyungsoo dropped the new hologram into the pocket of Eric’s uniform. Eric nodded shortly and left.
Kyungsoo picked up his clothes and hung them up in his wardrobe. Then he picked up the towels and brought them into the bathroom, just as he was about to store them in the small cupboard in the bathroom, he felt something hard inside the towel. He knew that the bathroom was one of the few rooms in the house that was not monitored with hidden cameras. He unwrapped the towel and his heart skipped a beat. It was a gun. Kyungsoo took a deep breath and looked around. He had to hide it somewhere in his room. Somewhere where no one would think of looking but such a place did not exist in this house.
Eventually he shoved the gun into his shoes and stored his shoes in his wardrobe as usual. When he went downstairs for dinner, he was nervous. He had no idea how Eric had gotten the gun and what he knew about him. And most importantly, why would he give him a gun?

“Tomorrow will be a meeting, Kyungsoo. It will be a replacement for the last meeting that should have taken place on Tuesday”, Dr Kim said as they had just started eating. Kyungsoo nodded. “Good, I am looking forward to it. I have been waiting for that”, Kyungsoo said. Junmyeon looked up from his plate.
“You have?” he asked.
“Of course, I want to contribute to the cause”, Kyungsoo said.

*

The meeting was nothing like Kyungsoo had imagined or hoped for it to be. It took place in Dr Kim’s office. There was a group of scientists, 5 including Junmyeon, Dr Kim himself and Kyungsoo. He was sitting at the head of the table and the scientists interviewed him. He was not allowed to ask questions himself and no one told him anything about new results or the secret project Junmyeon was working on. Kyungsoo was not really prejudiced against scientists, but he did not have a high opinion on them either because they were the cause of many cruel experiments. However he had never thought of them as a group of weirdos or strange people like many people at his hometown had. But the group that was taking part in the meeting was just that – strange.
They all asked questions that seemed to be of utmost importance to them but they still seemed oddly detached from everything. Kyungsoo realised that Junmyeon had come to resemble them a lot. They were all reserved and although they were a group working on the same project, they seemed to stand oddly alone, not taking any notice of the others. They were not taking any notes. Kyungsoo saw that he was being filmed and it made him very uncomfortable. They asked about the time he had spent at the shelter. How they had lived together and in what kind of structure they managed to coexist. What they ate and whether there were any routines. When Kyungsoo told them that a group had prayed everyday they listened up.
“They were praying?” Dr Kim asked and leaned forward. This seemed to be news to everyone in the room but Junmyeon and Kyungsoo.
“Yes, 6 or so were praying everyday in the morning and evening. They had different religions as far as I know, but they prayed together. Or well, at least in the same spot and never argued about it”, Kyungsoo said.
“Could you hear what they were praying for?” one of the scientists asked. Kyungsoo screwed up his face, trying to remember.
“No, I – I can’t remember”, he said.
A lot of details had blurred out and often enough he had to answer that he could not remember. Dr Kim ended the meeting an hour later.
“Kyungsoo, I want you to try your best to remember. We will have another meeting in two days, please write down anything you can remember”, Dr Kim said.
“Dr Nakamura had told me that you might not be able to recall several details because of the trauma”, he added.
“I am not traumatised”, Kyungsoo said almost offended. Dr Kim smiled benignly.
“There are several methods of bringing back your memories”, he said.
“It’s not entire memories that I have forgotten but small details”, Kyungsoo said annoyed.
“Correct. But there are methods to make you remember even the smallest detail. You would be able to tell me the exact amount of people at the shelter and what it looked like. You could even tell me the name of the medicine they used”, Dr Kim said.
“What kind of methods?” Kyungsoo asked ignoring Dr Kim’s interest in the medicine and drugs they had had at the shelter.
“Drug supported hypnosis for example. Or you could use just the drug. Ah don’t worry, no need to make such a face. It simply enhances your memory abilities. Many students in fact take it for better results at their exams, they should make stricter tests to see if someone took the drug”, Dr Kim added thoughtfully.
“I’ll think about it”, Kyungsoo murmured.
He had to be careful when it came to drugs, what if it made him say the truth and he would spill out his plans? He was going to ask Baekhyun whether he had heard of the drug and whether he knew someone who had taken it.

ahh angsty Baekyeol content ^^
I'm sorry for bringing them into such a sad situation, but stay tuned, there will definitely be more of Baekyeol!!

Also, Kyungsoo is finally one step closer to contacting his friends at the camps and getting their plan rolling...