Managing Director Suho was waiting for Kyungsoo, the male impatiently tapping his fingers against the table. Kyungsoo was hardly ever late. Suho checked his expensive watch, his eyes strained on the door when it opened and Do Kyungsoo, Director of SM, walked in. Suho cleared his throat at the younger male and Kyungsoo fell into a seat in front of him, leaning back against the seat just as Suho spoke.

“How’s Dana doing?” Suho asked. They have been going through countless meetings about Oh Dana. The fact that she survived the Marvel-U drug was enough to cause a stir with the higher ups and she was the talk of the town. “G.O.D is demanding constant updates on the girl, Kyungsoo. They say this is a breakthrough for SM.”

Kyungsoo closed his eyes. G.O.D, the board of people who everyone calls the “higher up’s” that have always given them direct orders through Suho. Sometimes he wondered how G.O.D had gotten the name, but he had to remind himself that the SM brand had started with an orphanage run by nuns. Christianity was within the roots of SM.

“Run through it for me,” Suho told Kyungsoo who nodded.

“We’ve talked to Oh Dana about it,” he said. “She says her brain forces her to remember things, it tells her things and her body complies. She doesn’t know how to control it yet. To put it simply, when her body is in danger, her mind activates a system that gifts her with skills in order for her to survive.”

“A defense system? Did she explain how it works?”

“Unlocking memories. A voice coaching her. Her body working on its own. Her intuition.”

“What if she’s not in a life and death situation?”

“She’s normal,” Kyungsoo said. “She operates as a normal person. She doesn’t have the skills until something tells her that she’s in danger.”

“So, like a switch?” Suho asked and Kyungsoo nodded. “Why was it that she could accept the Marvel-U drug? I thought it was an enhancer—”

“She was injected with the Marvel drug when she was a child. A very small amount. When she was born, a part of her brain was working,” Kyungsoo said. He didn’t tell Suho that it was the Jung family, knowing that even if it was past the statute of limitations, Suho was a little bit too moral for his liking. “It activated a defense system when she got kidnapped, stopping her body from feeling pain. At first, they thought it was the warrior gene. Knowing it was because of the Marvel drug makes much more sense.”

“The effects of the Marvel drug and the Marvel-U drug are different, aren’t they?”

“The Marvel drug gives them skills, Hyung. Different skills for different people. The Marvel-U drug gives them a set of skills, a whole system. The brain takes over the body,” Kyungsoo explained. “Whatever YG was trying to do, it seems like that have unlocked the perfect formula to make a perfect agent.”

“A brain that controls a body would be a brain that would be able to be programmed very easily.” Suho thought to himself. “How about the Hulk drug? Na Jaemin brought back files on that.”

“No idea. We just know that they were trying to make physically strong babies. Only one survived,” Kyungsoo said. “I believe they were trying to incorporate the Marvel-U drug into the Hulk babies. A combination like that is power.”

Suho his cheeks in, his mind running.

“If what you say about Dana is true, she’s an asset to SM. Just like the rest of the Seasonies.”

Kyungsoo kept silent.

“Thank you, Kyungsoo. I’ll pass the message to G.O.D,” Suho said to him, standing up and straightening his suit. “I’ll update you if there is news.”

And with that, Kyungsoo watched Suho walk out of his office.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

It had been a while and Sehun sat in a dingy basement, his eyes on the clock. He wasn’t a patient person but he knew his friend enough to know that he was punctual. Four laptops were open in front of him with an old printer and Sehun waited, his eyes going to the screen to see finally, there was an incoming call.

Sehun’s fingers tapped rapidly down on the laptop in front of him. Being a fugitive was hard. The things he had to put up in order to make sure the connection was safe and not spied on—No, he was as good as dead if they found him. Sehun had gotten into a lot of with YG and he knew it.

He just needed to know who to bring down.

“Jungkook,” Sehun said his friend’s name. Jungkook’s face appeared on the screen and Sehun saw that he too, seemed to be in an underground basement. “About time.”

“Sorry, I had to make sure I set everything up just as V told me to. Everyone can’t know I’m in contact with you, Sehun,” Jungkook said and Sehun saw his eyebrows furrow. “Give me a moment.”

Sehun nodded. “By all means.”

Jungkook knew enough about computers, the assassin-somewhat-hacker a good connection to have. Jungkook knew where his loyalties were and Sehun trusted him fully. Jungkook seemed to be adjusting something, tapping down on the keyboard before giving a satisfied grunt.

“Done.”

“You scanned all the files you got from YG?” Sehun asked and Jungkook nodded. “Send it through.”

“I’m still strengthening the network,” Jungkook said. His fingers sped over the keyboard as the man talked. “I still don’t know why you asked for YG’s financial reports, Sehun. I thought you would want me to grab some file on YG’s bioweapon. Imagine my surprise when I saw that it was just a bunch of numbers.”

“Numbers are knowledge, Jungkook,” Sehun said. “Besides, I’m against YG but I have no idea who they are. I don’t know who to take down. Hopefully, with whatever I find out today, it’ll give me a clear idea of who I should target.”

“Target?” Jungkook scoffed. “D.O.G. is a syndicate that owns YG, Sehun. It’s a bunch of people. How are you going to take down a bunch of people?”

“A syndicate is still run by a top head,” Sehun replied, a beep from the laptop coming up when the printer began to print pages. Sehun watched as all of the papers began to accumulate, Jungkook watching his friend wait patiently for it to be over. There were so many and Sehun found himself opening three new packs of papers and carefully binding the already printed papers into one when it ended.

“Did you look over the files?” Sehun asked, Jungkook nodding.

“Not the financial parts. The first pages printed out is the history of YG and a little about SM. Seemed like they were investigating on SM. Bad blood between YG and SM dates back to years ago, Sehun. You dug up something that YG was trying to bury. I didn’t even bother to read the later parts. It’s too many.”

“When I went on my mission to YG, it was to gather intel and I found out that they were trying to make a bioweapon, Jungkook. That’s why I started the gas leak.” Sehun frowned, his eyes going over the first pages and like Jungkook said—It was a bunch of pages about how SM came to be. Sehun discarded it to the side without reading the rest and moved on to the numbers.

He knew enough about SM’s history. The fact that it started off as an orphanage run by nuns, the fact that their motto was ‘Executing God’s plans for a better future’ and vowed to do good and only good. That was why the higher-ups of SM called themselves G.O.D. and curated their lists of missions to make sure they were moral.

“Did I tell you about Dana?” Jungkook asked and Sehun paused, nodding. He knew what his sister did and for the first few days, he had been pacing around back and forth afraid for her. He had hacked into SM to keep an eye on her and much to his relief, she had survived.

Sehun didn’t know what he would have done if she did not.

“They put her past a Phase 1 test,” Jungkook said, his fingers tapping against the keyboard.

“What are you doing?” Sehun asked, Jungkook concentrating on his screen.

“Communicating with V and deleting the digital trace of the papers. Anyway, they put her through a Phase 1 test,” Jungkook said and Sehun nodded. He knew about it. He was watching it at the same time and he blamed himself for allowing his sister to get involved. “I heard her defense system activates when she’s put in a life and death situation.”

Sehun his lower lip. He also learned that Dana was injected with the Marvel drug when she was a fetus and he was grateful it was the reason why she was alive but he was also worried about the long-term effects. He hated thinking about it but what was done was done.  He had to focus on knowing who his enemies were. As Jungkook droned on, Sehun shifted through the papers.

“These are the papers that Kwon Boa was trying to get a few years ago before she disappeared,” Sehun said and Jungkook looked up to the screen, surprised. “You know about her, right? She went to investigate a tip that was given to SM about a company called Asian Agent Investing Company. AAIC for short. There are rumors that it was Xiaozhan who tipped SM back then. Didn’t end well for her. She had to leave SM because of some unknown reason.”

“I heard of it,” Jungkook murmured. “AAIC is a company under YG, no? YG gets investments all the time and all the investments are handled by AAIC to allocate them into different departments in YG from research and development and testing and whatnot. What does this have to do with everything again?”

Sehun sighed.

“Because if we find out who is investing in YG and all their business activities, we will know who we are against,” Sehun explained and Jungkook’s mouth opened as Sehun continued to speak.

“You understand, right? A syndicate like D.O.G. that uses YG as a front and bought out AAIC must get their financial resources somewhere. Where do they get the money from? A rich businessman who profits off the making of a bioweapon? A mad scientist? A group of people who believe that death is needed to make a perfect world? Money doesn’t grow on trees, Jungkook. They must get it from someone and nine out of ten times, that someone would be the one who I have to take down. Like SM. SM is funded by the government and investors.”

“Ooooh,” Jungkook said, nodding. “But YG Chemicals is such a big company. What if they just get their profits and circulate them in order to do their experiments?”

Sehun looked through the papers, his eyes running over the columns.

“Right. Because having a whole man-made island and four labs with two outer walls is not that expensive for a chemical producing company to have.”

Jungkook blinked at Sehun’s tone of voice, making a face. “Fine. I’ll stop talking. You do you, bro.”

Sehun hummed to himself, shifting to the last page when he saw a list of investors that invested in YG. He scanned the names before tilting his head to one side.

He had seen those names before.

Sehun ran his tongue over his teeth.

But it didn’t make sense.

“Why do you look like you got a revelation?” Jungkook asked, Sehun drowning in his thoughts when he looked to his right, yelling out the name of his friend. “Henry? Henry Lau? Are you in Macau?!”

“Henry!” Sehun said and there was a thud. Henry made his way down to the basement, his earphones in his ears when Sehun pushed the papers hastily at the man.

“Henry? What the , Sehun? Hello? Can you guys hear me?” Jungkook was being ignored, Henry removing his earphones before staring at the papers. “HENRY!”

“Hey, Jungkook. Yes, he’s in Macau,” Henry replied. “What is this, Sehun? YG’s investors?”

“Look. Look at the names and tell me that they don’t look familiar,” Sehun said, Henry studying the names before frowning to himself. He turned and walked to the nearest bookshelf, grabbing a bunch of files and flipping through them before going to Sehun. “Henry—”

“SM’s investors,” Henry said, laying the paper by Sehun’s newly printed ones. Henry’s ones were brown and it showed the difference in age. “Eh? Why is it identical?”

“Wait, first off. Tell me why you have SM’s investors in the first place,” Jungkook said, still not being able to wrap his mind around the fact that Henry was with Sehun. “And why did you leave SM so suddenly? Everyone said that the Phase 1 test drove you crazy!”

“I left because SM thought my skill was null and I found out that they wanted me to administer a second dose. When I left SM, turned out that I really did have a skill.” Henry said to Jungkook, cracking a smile. “I’m able to isolate sounds in my head. I tried to find a list of SM’s investors because I hoped that I could contact one of them to see if they could sponsor a reverse drug. I hated my skill. Do you know hard it is to hear everything all at once and not being able to control it?”

“No, no. The question is, why in the world are SM’s and YG’s investors the same people?” Sehun asked, his hands trembling. “Henry, why are they the same—”

Henry was frowning, not knowing how to answer the question when Jungkook blinked.

“Sehun. Go to the part where I told you about SM’s history. I told you it shows the relationship between YG and SM, I didn’t read it all—”

But Sehun was already on it, the male grabbing the first stack of papers he had discarded to the side. Henry grabbed the second, taking a seat beside Sehun and Jungkook watched both of them shift through the papers when he saw Sehun’s eyes widen.

“SM, an educational branch, has now expanded into different sectors. Though they are funded by the government, those who fund them belong to a group of people called the US.” 

“US has taken control of both SM and YG, pitting both sides against each other in a war of science and discovery in order to achieve one ultimate goal. A world void of emotionally, physically, and mentally weak people.”

“US or U.S, an acronym for the United Syndicate or as some calls it, ‘The Umbrella Syndicate’, believe that science must be used for the greater good. SM, a branch of schools run by the G.O.D (Greatness of Death), has taken the first step and found a way to create a drug called the Marvel drug. It seems that YG is one step behind, thus we must find a way to acquire it.”

“YG, standing for Your Genes, has tried to implement SM’s research into our experiments.”

“I heard the Marvel drug composition in the painting that SM sent the agents on was made so YG could steal it from SM.,” Henry said to himself. “They burned the building down and SM took it back.”

“YG made a Marvel-U drug with Eric Nam’s help, but he’s gone,” Jungkook said from the screen but Sehun just kept on reading.

“YG has decided to have a change of plans. We have decided to go forth with the making of the Hulk Drug and try to make a different version of the Marvel drug instead. This version will be an enhancer for the babies that have been injected with the Hulk drug.”  

“All of them died.”

“One survived.”

Sehun flipped through the papers.

“SM said that the Marvel drug was used to make perfect agents. Their mind, their skills would help people. Not because they wanted to recreate a world full of mentally advanced people.” Sehun’s heart dropped. What did he do? Dana was in SM.

Henry flickered his eyes over the papers, sighing. “Thinking about it, G.O.D. which is ‘Greatness of Death’ seems like people die for the greater good. Which means, science. And D.O.G. which is ‘Dictatorship. Oppression. Genocide.’ means that the US wants everyone to be under one ruling. A new dystopian world with perfect people.”

“Dana mentioned that YG was dabbling in making two gendered people. I think they are also trying to create an equal world,” Jungkook said and Sehun chewed on his bottom lip. “I think when you found out about the bioweapon, YG saw you as a threat. If you dug a little deeper, you would have found out about US and that is why they went after your family as a threat.”

Sehun blinked, realization settling. “SM was the one who sent me on that mission. The one where Minseok died. I remember thinking that it was weird to send one strategist and a hacker but Kyungsoo said it was a direct order from the higher-ups.”

“It could be that YG told SM that you found out about a bioweapon and SM was trying to find a way to get rid of you for them. Whatever is a threat to YG is a threat to SM too, even though they are against each other in the name of science,” Jungkook said. “This is not okay, Sehun. This just puts everything into perspective—”

Sehun began tapping down on the keyboard. “I need to get Dana out of there. As soon as possible.”

Sehun’s fingers tensed up when a new incoming document came up on the screen. He had gotten into the research and development database of SM to see what their plans were for Dana when he froze. Henry leaned forward, reading the experiment proposal that had a big “CONFIRMED” stamped across it.

“Sehun…” Henry said, Sehun reading the proposal. “It’s not just Dana who is in danger. It’s all of them. All the Seasonies. Because Dana turned out the way she did, they are going to experiment on them again.”

Sehun’s head felt light and he tried to regain control of his emotions.

“I have to go, Jungkook,” he told Jungkook, the assassin asking him what him what he was going to do. “I need to bring my sister out of there. But first, I need to contact Chenle.”

“And what next, Sehun?” Jungkook asked, Sehun turning to look at Henry who was deep in thought.

“Then I’ll make my way back to Korea. We need to find the base of the Phase 1 Seasonies. We need to find Xiaozhan.”

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I was in the cafeteria, Johnny beside me with his sandwich while Mark began talking about something. He again, was chewing with his mouth open and telling us that he believed in UFO’s. I looked at Johnny who was zoning out when my phone dinged.

Jeffrey: I’m coming.

I had gotten a message from Jaehyun a few moments ago that I would go through surveillance the day after and they would run tests on my blood so I had to be careful of what I was eating so he would come and give me my lunch.

It didn’t take long before Jaehyun appeared, placing the tray hastily in front of me. I saw that he had dark shadows and his eyes looked tired. He rubbed his face with his hand, Johnny greeting him.

“Busy morning?” Johnny asked to which Jaehyun nodded, falling into a seat beside me. I stared at the salad and oatmeal, making a face. I hated oatmeal but I was hungry enough to not care about the taste anymore. I didn’t eat grilled cheese in the morning because Johnny woke up late and he had to rush me to class.

However, I could already sit in class without looking at my phone and it was a development. I did enjoy coming back to the lighthouse and seeing Johnny after a long hard day and after class was what I looked forward to every day. But today Johnny had an exam to proctor and that was why he was having lunch with us.

“Eat, Dana,” Jaehyun said and I shoved the oatmeal into my mouth before making a face. It was somewhat bitter, but then again, Jaehyun had always put weird things into oatmeal. Finally finishing the oatmeal, I drank water and checked the time.

“Class starts at 12:30 today,” I said to Johnny who nodded. “You want to go swimming today? Maybe you can do your under the water meditation thing.”

I have been trying to help Johnny as much as I could and I think I was becoming a little too obsessed with it. Johnny chuckled, shaking his head.

“If you want to swim, then we’ll swim. We don’t have to do the underwater meditation thing,” he told me and I frowned. “But if you want me to do the underwater meditation thing, then we will.”

I smiled at him when my vision began to blur and I placed my hands on the table to steady myself.

Huh, weird.

“Hey, Dana. Maybe tonight we can come over to watch a movie,” Mark said and I blinked slowly. “Haechan said he wanted to do something after his exam today.”

“You know, it’s still my lighthouse and if I’m in front of you, you can just ask me for permission.” I heard Johnny say to Mark and I slowly leaned to the side, pressing my face against Johnny’s shoulder as my head spun. I felt Johnny’s arm circle my waist before he pulled me closer. “What’s wrong? Headache?”

“But everyone knows that if Dana wants it, you’d let her anyway,” Mark said cheekily and I reached up to press a hand against my forehead. “What do you say, Dana?”

“Uh…” I mumbled, my eyes closing.

“Dana? Are you feeling okay?” Johnny asked and I shook my head when I felt energy leave my body and I out.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I woke up in the infirmary, IV in my arm and my head a little bit woozy. I saw Johnny sleeping by the bed, my hand in his and when I moved, my vision became clearer. I saw Jaehyun on the phone, the guy going to the fish tank and feeding his fishes when I saw Doctor Zhang come in.

“Jeffrey. We’re running out of time,” Doctor Zhang was saying and Jaehyun looked over to me, striding towards the bed. “They are arriving.”

What was he talking about? I sat up, massaging my shoulder when Jaehyun asked me how I felt.

“I’m fine, Jaehyun. What’s wrong?” I asked, taking in his worried expression. He was about to say something when Johnny woke up, stretching. I saw Jaehyun look over to Johnny, his facial expression unreadable when he went over to the side of the room, Doctor Zhang disappearing somewhere.

“Johnny. Can you help me with this?” Jaehyun asked and I could hear the tremble in his voice. What was happening to him? Maybe he was working too hard.

Johnny stood up, walking over to Jaehyun who had his back against Johnny.

Suddenly there was a clang and I saw Jaehyun grab a pot that he used to boil oatmeal and try to hit Johnny with it. Johnny’s reflexes were fast and his hand shot up to shield himself from getting hit, his hand going around Jeffrey’s wrist.

“Jeffrey…” Johnny asked slowly. “Did you just try to hit me?”

“No…” Jaehyun mumbled, cowering against the wall. “I was just the distraction.”

I opened my mouth to scream in surprise when Doctor Zhang appeared from nowhere with a syringe in one hand, stabbing the needle into Johnny’s neck. Johnny fell onto the floor, hand going up to his neck. I witnessed him sway before he crashed onto the ground, limp.

“He’s tranquilized,” Doctor Zhang said and Jaehyun ran over to me.

“Jaehyun… Jung Jaehyun, what the is going on?” I asked, Jaehyun ripping the IV away from my arm and I felt a pang of pain when it was gone. “Why did you do that to Johnny? Jaehyun—”

“Listen, Dana,” Jaehyun said and I saw Xiaojun walk into the infirmary with a backpack. Doctor Zhang was dragging Johnny’s body to the side and I felt the tension rise. “Dana, listen to me. You and the rest of the Seasonies are in danger.”

“What—”

The door opened and I saw Chenle walk through the doors, dragging a sleeping Jaemin behind him. Jisung was following both of them, confused.

“Your brother contacted Chenle and sent him an experiment proposal,” Jaehyun said, swiftly putting everything into an ugly backpack. “They confirmed it, Dana. They want to experiment on you and the Seasonies because you survived it.”

“Jaehyun—”

I watched as he pushed the backpack to me. Chenle was talking to Doctor Zhang when I heard a rumble and it sounded like planes were landing.

“Look, Dana. You’re not safe here. If they get to you and experiment on you, we don’t know how far they will go. And apparently, SM and YG are under the same syndicate and—” Jaehyun was running out of breath. “Anyway, go to mainland. Try to keep a low profile. I already told Chenle what to do. You need to find Xiaozhan. Ask him to keep you safe. Rumor has it that he gives asylum to Seasonies because he thinks they are in danger.”

“I don’t…”

“Come here.” Jaehyun dragged me out of the bed and I saw Jaemin being placed on a wheelchair.

“How about Doctor Zhang?” I managed to ask.

“He has to leave too. He is also considered a Seasonie. He has a mission of his own,” Jaehyun told me and pushed me forward. “Hurry, Dana.”

I stumbled forward, my body still buzzing. I saw Xiaojun hug Doctor Zhang, the doctor turning to grab a bag before exiting another way. Jaehyun grabbed my elbow, practically pulling me away from the building before he brought me to the back of the Medics and Labs building.

“Xiaojun, Chenle—Take care of Jaemin, Dana and Jisung. Dana, trust your instincts,” Jaehyun said, rushing to the side. I saw that it was a dock and it was the first time I have ever been to this part of the school. Chenle nodded, both he and Xiaojun grabbing a sleeping Jaemin and bringing him to the edge. Jaehyun pressed on a remote and we saw a submarine emerge from the water.

“Go, put him in—” Jaehyun instructed and I grabbed Jaehyun’s arm.

“Why aren’t you coming with us?”

“Dana, if I come with you, it’ll be suspicious,” Jaehyun told me and for the first time, he was showing me affection. He gripped the sides of my shoulders. “Go to Xiaozhan, I’ll follow you soon. Understand? I’ll bring Johnny out too. If I leave now, they’ll think something is up and—”

“But if you don’t leave now, they’ll think you’ll have something to do with us leaving. You’ll be in trouble,” I told him and Jaehyun paused, a hand going press against my cheek.

My best friend suddenly pulled me into a tight hug, patting my back before pulling away.

“Dana, I will die for you,” Jaehyun said and I saw concern in his eyes. “You’re my best friend and I have to make sure you’re safe.”

I blinked back my tears, my brain still not fully processing everything when Chenle told me to get on and when I did, Chenle pressed down on a button. The submarine lowered itself into the waves and I couldn’t tear my eyes away from Jaehyun who finally gave me a final wave.

Why did it feel like it would be the last time I would see him?

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Chenle and Xiaojun were driving the submarine and I sat there, my body cold. My mind kept going back to Johnny and everyone in SM. He said that YG and SM were under the same syndicate… What did that mean? What did SM want to do to us that was so bad? I leaned against the side of the submarine. What was the plan when we reached mainland?

“WHERE AM I?!” Jaemin screeched and I jolted up, seeing Jaemin now wide awake. He looked at us, his eyes shooting from Chenle, Xiaojun, Jisung, and me. “Where is Renjun? WHERE IS JENO?”

Oh, boy.

“Na Jaemin, calm down. I need to explain to you what’s going on—” Xiaojun began to say when Jaemin screamed, his voice bouncing off the sides of the submarine. “Na Jaemin. Calm down!”

“Jeno! Jeno! Jeno! Jeno!” Jaemin took a deep breath. “Renjun! Renjun! Renjun! I need them! I need them!”

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!” Jisung’s voice began to merge with Jaemin and it made me want to follow suit. I buried my face into my hands and began to bawl, whispering Johnny’s name. Xiaojun stood there, stunned when he brought his fingers to his mouth and began to chew on them aggressively.

Chenle, the only Non-Seasonie, was beginning to get stressed.

“Why would you bring me out of there! I was happy! I was happy! Now, I’m sad! I AM SAD!” Jaemin howled when Chenle bellowed.

“OI! LISTEN!” Chenle punched a button. The submarine came to a stop and we all lunged forward at the inertia. Jaemin fell off his chair and Chenle grabbed a pair of handcuffs from his bag and handcuffed Jaemin. “From this moment on, I am President Zhong Chenle and you all have to listen to me! Xiaojun—”

He threw a pack of gum at Xiaojun. “Chew that!”

He rummaged through the bag and brought out a small video player. “Jisung, I downloaded 150 videos on contraptions so watch that! Dana—”

He grabbed a jacket and threw it at me. “That jacket smells like Johnny so smell that—”

“No, it doesn’t—”

“Well, tell your brain that it does!” he snapped at me and I felt the corners of my mouth turn down.

“What about me?” Na Jaemin asked, Chenle glaring at me.

“Na