An old 80’s radio played an excerpt of soft, peaceful violin music early in the morning, which served as the family’s wakeup call. Although that didn’t always work for the kids still snoring in their shared room. It was understandable since this was yet another school day for them. The kitchen was busy with the mother cooking breakfast while her husband read through the newspaper. As per usual, a cup of coffee at his side, almost like a loyal companion. Once the eggs were sizzling, the woman reached over to grab some plates. Soon, the dining table was set and ready as she placed two other dishes across. She chuckled at how cute it looked, but it hadn’t yet reached perfection. Standing by the stairs, the woman hollered their names.

“Soojin! Hyewon! Come down and eat!”

That was enough to wake them up. They did as told, freshening up before rushing downstairs. Hyewon, better known by her friends as Zoa, was ecstatic to see breakfast, topped off with strawberry milk waiting for her. She hugged her mother tightly with gratitude, there was no better way to start off her mornings. Soojin greeted both her parents before digging in. The family chatted amongst themselves, sharing what they were looking forward to while also planning for a potential vacation in the future. They playfully argued back and forth about perfect places to visit, such as, Paris, Bangkok, Rome, LA, the list goes on. Zoa had suggested Tokyo instead since she and Soojin had been wanting to go there for the longest time. However, her mother wanted some peaceful, relaxing area, such as Guam perhaps.

“Aw come on, mom. There’s so much to buy in Tokyo!” Soojin suggested, to which the woman rolled her eyes. 

“Tokyo is so urban though. And it’s loud here enough already, it is probably even noisier there.” 

“You wouldn’t know if you haven’t visited Tokyo, mom.” Zoa slyly takes a sip of her strawberry milk, causing everyone to laugh. 

“She does have a point, honey.” 

The younger child continued adding on, “And there are places where you could get some peace and quiet too.” 

“Very well, we’ll have to plan everything as always. That being said, I’d definitely want to visit the spa area.”

Soojin and Zoa look at each other, turning back at their parents in shock. “You mean it?? We’re actually going?!” The older girl practically shouted. 

Chuckling, they both nodded. “We’ll take time to consider it.” 

Then the kids held each other’s shoulders, squealing ecstatically. “We’re finally visiting Tokyo, Zoa!”

“I know, I know!” 

“‘Zoa’? You’re still using that nickname, Hyewonnie?” Their mother amusedly asked. 

“Yeah. We’re not sure how it happened, but everyone seems to like it.” Soojin smiled and replied, petting Zoa’s head.

The family kept themselves occupied for the rest of their morning together. It’d been a routine since Soojin was born and Zoa was adopted. Initially their parents weren’t sure if the girls would get along with each other since Soojin was so shy. But like a miracle, they became inseparable. Having Zoa in her life shattered the shy bubble surrounding Soojin, which most likely played a hand in her becoming president of the student council. On the other hand, Zoa’s level of intelligence was almost frightening. People considered her a prodigy, excelling in all of her subjects and even skipping three grades. However, with Zoa’s accomplishments far exceeded expectations, there came jealousy amongst her peers. And thus, bullying was inevitable and her new name was "Alien Brain." Soojin was thankfully there to protect her every step of the way. Their parents took extreme measures to stop the kids from hurting Zoa, a vital key in how they remained a loving family. While the girls continued debating about the best type of donut, their father frowned after reading something in the newspaper. Soojin noticed this when passing him some bell pepper.

“What’s wrong, dad?” 

“I don’t know…but, this headline,” he spread the article out for everyone to see, “‘Mysterious disease still raging and going strong: kids are at higher risk of infection.’” 

“Oh my.” Their mother gasped. “That must be why I saw a lot of ambulances and police cars around the city lately.”

“Not sure either.” Soojin said.

Zoa spoke up. “Does that mean we still have to go to school? They might be closed for today with this news.” 

“Yeah, maybe we can go back once they get this under control.” Soojin suggested as her father folded up the newspaper, shaking his head. 

“You were able to go yesterday, so you can still go today.” 

“Honey…I’m still not sure about this.” His wife tried to reason with him, but even that was ignored.

“Don’t worry. I’m sure you two will be fine. And if anything happens, the school will definitely handle it.” 

“And if they can’t?” Zoa raised an eyebrow. 

“Well why wouldn’t they?”

“Because—”

An alarm from his phone interrupted her. “Oh, that’s my time to go to work. I’ll see you all back home soon, alright?” 

“Yeah….” Soojin’s voice trailed off as he quickly left the house. “Well, I guess we should get going, too. See you, mom.”

“Thanks for the breakfast!” Zoa placed a kiss on her mother’s cheek before hurrying away with Soojin.

The sisters walked together hand in hand, playfully swinging it back and forth while looking around their neighborhood. The neighbor’s kids grew up with them and they would all go to school in one group everyday, playing all kinds of childhood games like tag and hide-n-seek. However, things started changing a little, until it got more noticeable. They didn't see their friends as often these days. Or well…anyone else around for that matter. Soojin was hoping to at least see Heejin, Hyunjin and Ryujin today, which sadly didn’t happen. She and Zoa tried messaging them these past few weeks but nothing. Even direct messaging or calls didn’t work. The sisters looked back in their group chat together with their friends, sorrowfully scrolling through delivered texts.

They weren't sure if it was alright for them to stay concerned since they didn't want to bother their friends too much. But more than a week had already passed by. Honestly, what could they even do at this point? As soon as they reached Hyunjin's house, the two stopped and looked. Maybe, this time boundaries should be crossed. Just as Zoa was about to open the gate, Soojin immediately grabbed her hand. “What are you doing??”

“Ring the bell?”

“You can’t go in there. They might think you’re trespassing.” 

“What else can I do? If Hyunjin unnie hasn’t been looking at any of our text messages, then she won’t answer the door.” 

“But—”

“Come on, unnie. Let’s just go check. And if she doesn’t answer after five minutes, we can leave.” 

“Then we’ll be late for school.”

“I’m pretty sure the teachers wouldn’t mind if we’re late for one day, unnie.” 

Soojin hesitated for another moment before reluctantly agreeing. “Ugh, fine. Then let’s hurry.”

Zoa was satisfied with the response as they opened their friend’s gate. Right then and there, all expectations of even reaching her doorsteps flew out the window. The sign read: “property condemned: no trespassing.” The sisters were rightfully taken aback by this, even more questions flooding their minds. Why did this happen and when? Was Hyunjin ok? And the others? But as Soojin and Zoa observed in the front yard, that alone pretty much spoke for itself. Hyunjin’s car was still in the driveway, along with her parent’s. Her yellow bike that the group pitched in for when she turned eighteen, the basketball she always had with her, their garden clearly left unattended, etc. But scariest of all was the abandoned house. Their heart broke when they cautiously etched close enough to see inside. It was dark, hollow…lifeless. Like all of the memories the group spent in Hyunjin’s room will forever be memories. Soojin bent down to grab her basketball, gazing down at it. 

“T-they’re fine, right?” 

“They have to be fine. There’s just no way they would disappear like this…and not even contact us back.” Zoa slumped and her expression fell. Who was she kidding? Something was definitely going on and the media wasn’t telling them anything. But then she should also ask herself. Does the media know as well? 

The older girl hugged Hyunjin’s basketball close as if it was her, before sighing. “Let’s get out of here. Don’t want to get in trouble for ‘trespassing.’”

They continued to school from there, all while constantly checking their phones in case any messages popped up. Soon enough they arrived at school, hoping to see a bunch of kids and some teachers roaming around in the field. But unfortunately, there was no one in sight. Zoa checked the time and figured maybe they were late to class. Even then, there would still be a decent crowd here. The sisters hastily entered and noticed how vacant hallways were, some lockers were left opened and unlocked, and there wasn’t the daily, bustling sound of kids talking amongst each other they’d grown used to. Almost like there was no school today. Soojin and Zoa never expected it to be as empty as this. If the news was that bad then why haven't any schools closed down yet? They both agreed to attend classes for the day and see how that goes.

When Zoa entered her room, she was shocked when half of the kids were gone. Before being able to ask about anything, Mr.Lee stopped her. “You finally made it, Hyewon. Please go to your seat.” Wait, not even a scolding for being late?

Shrugging, she hastily sat down in the first row at center as he continued his algebra lesson, which went on for a while. Inevitably, Zoa grew bored like everyone else. She knew practically everything about algebra so this was basically a waste of time. Though on the other hand, Zoa heard some of her classmates whispering about something. She perked up a little upon hearing one say “rumors.” This weirdly interested her as she wasn’t one to listen to others gossip. Maybe it was because there wasn’t anything else to do in class. Soon enough, half an hour went by quicker than acknowledged as Zoa was busy trying to figure out what was going on. Numerous news articles regarding this “mysterious and deadly disease” were everywhere. Even after minutes of scrolling, it was the only thing outlets were posting. Zoa made sure to jot down anything seemingly out of the ordinary, occasionally narrowing her eyes when looking over her notes again. She was quickly five pages in, each paper filled with long paragraphs, drawings, color coding, and more. Empty school? Condemned homes? Properties left abandoned? 

Quarantine.

Zoa immediately perked up. But then again, she was still confused as to why adults weren’t seen around as much either. Suddenly, Zoa was interrupted when Mr.Lee spoke up. “Huh?” Raising an eyebrow, she looked around to see who he was talking to, but everyone was just as confused as she was. Then he muttered again to no one in particular. “What just happened?”

Ok, this is weird.

“M-Mr.Lee? Are you alright?” Zoa hesitantly asked as he slowly turned around. 

“No way….” Everyone sat still, having no idea what else to say to Mr.Lee. Shortly afterwards, he staggered forwards slightly, quickly catching himself blinking. “Huh…sorry, I must’ve spaced out for a bit there.” Right when the man was about to resume teaching, someone stopped him. “Yes, Soeun?” Zoa turned around to look. 

“Can I go to the bathroom?” 

“Fine…just go.”

He dismissed the girl as she frantically left, leaving everyone confused and a bit worried, but they didn’t delve too much into thought. With that being said, Zoa went back to note taking on her notebook while scrolling through the internet. During the next ten minutes or so, she would go between watching news coverage and messaging Soojin. Out of the many videos Zoa skimmed, one kept getting crazier after the previous, and it just went on. She witnessed objects levitating in the air, CCTV footage of buildings abruptly bursting into flames, an entire neighborhood’s lights shorting out in the middle of a night, and many more similar occurrences around the world. There was so much going on at once that Zoa needed a quick break to breathe. After refreshing the site once, doctors finally named this disease: Idiopathic Adolescent Acute Neurodegeneration. Or for short, IAAN.

She immediately wrote it down before looking over her notes, trying to figure out where her friends could possibly be and what would happen if she and Soojin got infected. Zoa thought up many different scenarios and possibilities, such as what their parents would do, where they’d be taken, all that quarantine stuff. The deeper these cases play out, the more Zoa realized. Maybe whatever this disease was most likely linked to these extremely bizarre events. And she had to tell Soojin now.

This was her cue to leave, thus she raised her hand to get Mr.Lee’s attention at his desk, which he quickly excused her as well. After bowing and thanking him, Zoa left and sped walked down the hall. But little did she know, Mr.Lee had witnessed her eyes brightly turn green while she was formulating her conclusion about this whole mess. He was terrified of this and waited till he could hear or see Zoa anymore, then walked out of the classroom, telling the rest that he needed to make an important call. And sure enough, that’s exactly what happened. Mr.Lee made sure no one was around to eavesdrop before dialing a certain phone number. It was picked up immediately and a guttural voice sounded.

“What do you want?”

“U-uh, o-one of my students, she’s a-a green.” 

“Name?” 

“Lee Hyewon.”

“Where is she?”

“Currently h-heading to the bathroom.”

“Hm. We’re on our way. Keep a close watch.”

As the school council’s president, Soojin had the privilege to sometimes roam about in the building and head into the office where the other council members usually hung out. At this point, Soojin didn’t expect to see anyone as she entered the room. And unsurprisingly, she was right. The girl sighed, sitting at her seat and took in the silence. This felt almost too foreign to her, the feeling of slight loneliness only growing. She held the basketball close, softly smiling when she saw all of their names signed on it, while Hyunjin had hers largely printed. Soojin remembered all of the times they would play multiple rounds of basketball, despite her and Heejin being the worst at sports. It was crazy how things changed so much within a span of about four weeks. And before all of this, Soojin had last seen them when they all left school. She nearly shed a tear but stopped herself before one could escape. Feeling nostalgic, Soojin left for the gym. 

Most of their fun memories during PE were there. Whenever it was time to play basketball, they always immediately hopped onto that chance. On one occasion, Soojin got hit in the face after saving Zoa from an oncoming ball. Despite the pain, it had all of them cracking up on the floor. The girl decided to spend some alone, constantly trying to make a hoop and get better at the game…just in case her friends ever come back. But after a few attempts, Soojin grew frustrated. All she wanted was just one perfect shot. Then with a rough toss, the ball stopped and levitated in the air. Soojin gasped loudly when seeing this, covering as she watched it bounce back down on the ground.

“What…what was…?” The girl asked no one while glancing in all directions to see what caused this. With utmost caution, Soojin slowly approached the ball while holding her hand out. It levitated towards her immediately after that, which startled the poor girl as she retracted. Soojin tried again and the same thing repeated. “Am I…doing that?” After moving it around more, things became clear. “I have t-telekinesis…holy !”

Excitedly, Soojin grabbed the basketball before taking a shot, making it score into the hoop for the first time ever. Even though that was technically cheating, but, who cares? The girls would freak the hell out when they see her newfound power. She cheered and was happily jumping until her phone buzzed with a message from Zoa. Reading it, Soojin immediately knew her sister was being serious. After determining their meeting place, she shoved the basketball in her backpack and ran out of the gym. Within minutes, Soojin arrived and while walking in, she failed to see another person leaving and accidentally bumped into them, causing both to stagger back a little.

“Oh my god! I’m so sorry, are you alright?” Out of her protective nature and instinct, she placed both hands on their shoulder, immediately recognizing it was Soeun. 

“I-I’m fine, I’m fine, um…excuse me.” The taller girl bowed slightly and walked away without another word, leaving Soojin worried still. Sighing, she entered the bathroom shortly after, searching around to find Zoa before whispering out her name. That was when the largest stall opened and she was hushed inside as Zoa closed the door behind her. 

“Hey, so what’d you find out?” 

“I wrote everything down in my notebook.” She handed it to Soojin. “Here, I got most of the information from news articles and videos.”

Soojin was astonished, flipping through lots of content. “You did all of this within an hour??” Honestly, Zoa never failed to make her more prouder by the day. “This is amazing!”

The younger girl merely smiled and shrugged at the compliment. “It’s just quick work.”

After some brief explanations and skimming, the sisters came to an understanding of what was going on. This “disease” somehow granted kids incredible abilities far beyond that of normal people, which is why survivors were labeled extremely dangerous. They both watched more news coverage on these cases, seeing the police force, SWAT team and military working together. In scenarios like this, the government was definitely enforcing quarantine to separate survivors from society completely. But as of now, the media didn’t address this part whatsoever, so no one knows where these kids were being isolated. In conclusion, since Soojin and Zoa were still alive meant both of them likely had powers from this disease. And they weren’t going to stick around to find out where they were going to be taken.

“So, my guess is that Heejin, Hyunjin and Ryujin unnie have all been quarantined somewhere this whole time.” 

Soojin was about to add on when she saw Zoa’s eyes. “Oh my god…y-your….”

She frowned in confusion before checking herself on the camera app. “My eyes! They’re green!” 

They both laughed. “Yeah it sure is. That must be your power!”

“I have superpowers??” 

“I think so? Maybe it’s super intelligence since you’re really smart!”

Zoa gasped as it did make sense after all. “You might have a point.” She giggled at the realization. Wait a minute. “Unnie…was that what you wanted to tell me earlier? About your power?” 

“Y-yeah, um…telekinesis. I was in the gym earlier and moved Hyunjin’s basketball without physically touching it.” Soojin looked down at her hands, unsure of whether or not she could fully control this new ability. 

“Holy crap! That’s so cool! You have to show me.”

“Not now. We need to leave. We have to find mom and dad and get the hell out of here.” 

“I agree wholeheartedly.” Zoa nodded along as Soojin quickly held her hand and opened the stall door. 

Before they knew it, an entire squad of female soldiers stood right in front of them. “Where do you think you’re going, girls?” Both sisters gasped and backed up slightly. “Did you say ‘telekinesis’ just now?”

“I—”

“And what about you, young lady?” The cop looked at Zoa. “You’re a Green, huh?” 

“W-wha—I don’t—”

“Please. Just let us go. We only want to go home.”

“Oh, there’s no need to worry about that.” The captain smirked. “You girls have a new home now.” 

“What do you mean?” Zoa nervously asked while hiding behind the older girl. 

“Just comply and you’ll be safe. Don’t even bother resisting.” 

They approached the sisters closer and were about to drag them away, Soojin did the unexpected. 

“No!”

All of the cops flew back by her telekinetic force being released from her hands. She held them out, causing all of them to fly into the walls and get injured. Soojin and Zoa stood frozen, utterly shocked at what had just happened. Immediately afterwards, the younger girl gripped her sister’s shoulders, excitedly shaking her. When they looked at each other, she gasped when Soojin’s eyes glowed with a blue color. However, their little celebration was interrupted after one of the soldiers blasted ultrasonic ringing with a large gun, instantly immobilizing Soojin as she dropped to the ground on her stomach, groaning. Zoa, on the other hand, fell to her knees covering both ears while screaming for the soldier to stop hurting Soojin. Thankfully, the captain ordered so and she backed off, although Soojin still couldn’t move and panted as the ringing still lingered in her mind. Before Zoa could even make sure her sister was ok, both were picked up from the ground before being dragged outside. 

Soon, they sat inside a trunk filled with other kids, who looked just as terrified. Soojin was handcuffed while Zoa kept the older girl’s backpack close as the vehicle ignited and moved. Their only light source was through a small window from the driver’s seat. Soojin could see them taking certain turns before ending up in the city. It stopped when she saw a larger crowd of police cars and SWAT trucks at front. Everyone froze when a soldier yelled:

“I SEE KIDS!! GET THEM!!”

“Run!!” Soojin raised an eyebrow, recognizing that voice.

Before anyone could properly react, the truck abruptly sped off when the driver slammed its pedal, seemingly chasing after something. Or someone. Soojin and Zoa gathered themselves to get up and look through the little window. To their horror, police officers were chasing after a group of girls, two being captured while the other duo kept running away. Soojin narrowed her eyes and was even more surprised when she saw Soeun running into a tennis court, until the truck suddenly stopped again. Within a few minutes of this chase, the doors opened, revealing the girl herself in handcuffs. She was pushed to the back where Soojin and Zoa were, their frowning expressions evident upon seeing her bloody nose. Then, they were on the road once more. After a while, the sisters whispered to each other.

“Hey, Zoa.”

“Yeah?” 

“Can you get the handkerchief from my backpack? I feel like Soeun could use it.” 

“Oh, ok.” Soon, she sat in front of the girl and tapped her shoulder, whispering. “Hey, that looks pretty bad and it’s still leaking. Do you mind if I check it?” 

“Sure….” Soeun seemed shy by the offer, but nonetheless didn’t question Zoa, instead letting the younger girl wipe some blood away before wrapping the cloth up and plugging her nose. 

“Alright, that should do it. You just need to leave it in for like twenty minutes and you’re good to go!” 

Afterwards, she was about to say thank you until she saw her green eyes. “Woah! What’s wrong with your…?”

“O-oh, it’s actually just—”

She was interrupted when the driver slammed on the brakes, instantly jerking everyone forward. Soon, they all exited the truck as Soojin and Zoa gasped, realizing they were at some large campground. No questions were asked while being lined into a building full of other kids that had been captured. The sisters saw most wearing green, blue and yellow suits, some of them were up against the fences just staring mindlessly. They seemed pitiful seeing more batches of captured kids being taken away from their lives and forcibly jailed here. Soojin and Zoa had to be separated for a bit as they had to wait for assigned rooms. After a few hours of patience dimming, the sisters reunited again for lunch and almost chuckled at each other when they saw their prison suits.

"Hey."

"Hey…." Zoa didn't even have the energy to look up at her sister as the older girl sighed.

"Let’s go sit, yeah?” Soojin softly squeezed her hand before leading them towards a table. Once seated, Zoa looked like she was on the verge of crying which prompted for a much needed hug. “We’re gonna be ok.” She petted Zoa’s head, something Soojin always did whenever the girl felt down. But this was entirely different; worse.

“I don’t want to be here….” 

Soojin solemnly agreed, slightly nodding. “Me neither.”

“I wonder what mom and dad are doing right now. We were supposed to leave school in 3 hours.”

“They’ll definitely do something. Mom and dad wouldn’t just let the military take us away from them like that….” She whispered. 

“I hope so.”

“Yeah. We shouldn’t stay in this place for long.” At least there was some reassurance they could depend on. The sisters remained in a warm embrace for a few more seconds, until Zoa lightened the mood up a little. 

“Blue actually looks good on you.” She chuckled. 

“Thanks...I don’t like it though.”

“Yeah…you know, green seems pretty popular around here.” Soojin smiled at the light joke. 

“How was your room?” 

“It was fine. I got a bed, closet, bathroom, all that jazz.” 

“I see. I’m just glad they allowed me to keep my backpack. Maybe someday they’ll let us play basketball.”

“I guess. We’re mostly doing work though.” 

“Oh come on, it can’t be that bad, right? The food might be good, so…wanna go get lunch?” 

“Sure.”

As they both lined up with their tray and utensils ready, Soojin may have spoken a little too soon. When she got her bowl full of…weird looking gruel, she nearly gagged before quickly moving on with her tray. No way in hell were they eating whatever Satan's spawn this was. But thank god there were various kinds of fruit juices available, at least some bits of humanity from this hell hole. The two decided on apple juice before sitting at an empty table. Soojin tried a small taste of the gruel just to test it, which was a horrible idea. She downed all of the apple juice immediately after to get rid of the taste. With that being said, the sisters merely resorted to beverages for lunch instead. While they continued talking about whatever was on their mind, a few soldiers roamed around, not even bothering to be subtle on eavesdropping others' conversations. That meant if kids even mentioned anything about escaping this place, they’d most likely be punished or killed. While in the middle of their discussion, Zoa felt someone tap her shoulder, instantly feeling her heart drop thinking it’s a soldier. And by the miracles, it wasn’t.

“Monday! You’re here, too??” She quickly noticed the older girl’s eyes. “Woah, hey are you alright?” Monday shook her head.

“A lot happened…last week.”

“Please sit down.” Soojin gently held her arm. Once they were comfortable, she questioned. “What happened?

“It was just……really bad.” 

“Hey, don’t worry, we’re here.” 

“You don’t have to tell us if you don’t want to.”

Monday took a deep breath. “I want to get this off my chest.” 

“Of course. We’ll listen.”

“Alright so…long story short.”

“I’m home!” Monday called after a long walk back from school, taking off her sneakers and hanging up her backpack before appearing in the kitchen after her mother called back. She was currently making dinner and its delicious aroma of miso soup and eggs spread throughout. 

“Welcome home, Jiminie. Your dad is outside in the backyard fixing our fuse box. Something’s up with it again apparently.”

“Dang, really? That’s four times this week already.”

“Yeah. Honestly, things have been crazier especially with the news going around.” 

Monday had grown nervous about constantly hearing about peers and even younger kids dying because the disease was spreading rapidly. She quickly cleared . “I know. But I’m sure we’ll be fine.”

“How was school today?” 

“Same as usual, sort of? But there weren’t many people attending today.” 

“Hm, that’s really weird. Did your teacher tell your class anything about it?”

“Actually, she wasn’t even here today. We just had a sub.”

“I see.” Her mother frowned slightly. “Well, let’s get ready for dinner. Tell your dad I’m almost done.”

“Alright.” Monday entered her back yard and saw her father visibly struggling as he narrowed his eyes at the fuse box. She laughed while he kept pulling some wires with tweezers. “Dad, you’re gonna need more than just that tiny tool.”

He playfully rolled his eyes back. “I know. I went to the store for new batteries, but they’re all sold out.”

“Are you sure it just needs fuel? Our electricity is still running fine.”

“Yeah, for now.”

“Maybe you can call in a mechanic.” 

“I’ll think about it. I’d rather not spend money to fix something that I already know how to fix.”

Monday smiled back, doubting her father’s skill. “Right. Also mom’s almost done making dinner and she wanted us to get ready.”

“Nice. I’ve been out for two hours now. I definitely need some fuel myself.”

They both chuckled as he walked in first. She was about to follow him but her eyes locked onto the fuse box and wondered how to fix it. And well, curiosity killed the cat. Monday checked the kitchen, seeing her parents were too busy in the middle of their own conversation to notice. Therefore, she walked away when they weren’t looking. Then, out of nowhere, Monday’s hands felt weird, like a stingy feeling and vibrating. The closer she approached, it got more prevalent. She furrowed her eyebrows and looked down at her hands, utterly confused on what was going on. Monday picked up a wrench from the toolbox and instantly, electrical statics spawned. She gasped while instinctively dropping it. 

What was that just now? And where did that even come from? But the real question is, how did Monday not feel anything? Surely that contained thousands of volts enough to start a car. She picked up the wrench once more and gazed at the electricity traveling through it. Monday soon understood this was her doing after all and smiled excitedly. She had superpowers! However, the last thing the girl expected was for some static to spurt out and shock the fuse box. It exploded, causing Monday to duck away as a chain reaction occurred. At a speed of light, her entire neighborhood’s light shut down. Frightened, she quickly got up and ran for the door, but it was locked.

“Hey! Let me in!” Monday desperately pounded on the glass entrance. “Mom? Dad??” It was pitch black inside and nothing could be seen. But she heard their muffled voices full of terror. 

“Y-y-yes…she’s right o-outside…please come quickly.”

Dad…? 

“W-we saw it, she’s—she’s a monster!” They were talking about her. 

What? Mom?! No… 

They…feared her. She was just talking to them minutes ago like a daughter. The child they were supposed to love, no matter what. And all of that just disappeared immediately after this. But why? Monday didn’t do anything wrong, she didn’t hurt them in any way. But now wasn’t the time to stay and dwell on this sudden betrayal. She quickly ran out of the backyard, not wanting to look back. Whoever Monday’s so-called parents reported to were now hunting her down. Soon, there was a whole SWAT truck honking to stop as she continued sprinting from pursuing soldiers. They eventually caught Monday before the girl could make another sharp turn. Naturally, she resisted arrest and accidentally shocked one of them, which resulted in a harsh blast of the ultrasonic sound. Monday was quickly handcuffed and shoved into the truck. Then it drove away, never looking back.

“And that’s the end of it.” Soojin and Zoa almost cried hearing their friend’s story. The older girl held her hand. 

“God, I’m so sorry you went through that. You never deserved it.”

“What your parents did was—”

“They’re not my parents anymore. And I know what you’re about to say. Thanks though.”

“Hey, if you ever need to talk, we’ll be here for you, ok?” Soojin gripped Monday’s hand a little tighter, her protective instincts visible. 

“Yeah…yeah. Thank you.” 

“Of course.” Zoa patted her shoulder before giving a side hug. 

“You know….” Monday trailed off as the sisters looked at her, anticipating. “I don’t think I can ever trust adults anymore, like, parental figures.” They felt their hearts crack at that, but it was completely understandable. 

“I get that. I mean…I still trust mine.” The oldest girl rubbed her neck out nervously.

“Yeah same, although, your case really brought a new perspective for me.”

Monday nodded softly, realizing her friends’ point of view. “I hope you guys will be safe.”

“As you, too, Jimin-ah.” Soojin smiled and rubbed her shoulder to offer some comfort. She then looked down and noticed something, then frowned. “Why are you wearing rubber gloves?” 

“Oh my god, wait. You’re a gold? That’s so cool!” Zoa gasped. 

The girl herself chuckled and looked at her yellow suit. “Thanks. I see you guys are blue and green.”

“Gold is electrical powers, right?” 

“Mhm. I have to wear these because whatever I touch will get zapped with thousands of volts.” 

“Oh, wow. Dangerously cool.” They giggled at Zoa’s statement. “Let’s meet up tomorrow at lunch again? They’re gonna call us in soon and we have to do work.”

Both Monday and Soojin groaned at the reminder. “I have to help the troops load ammunition and move heavy crates into their storage.” She looked around to see if any of the soldiers were nearby before whispering. “So weak they can’t even do it themselves.” The other two smiled at the very much deserved insult. 

“They’re making us green people do some engineering and we’re forced to build machine guns for them.”

“I’m tasked with powering up this engine they’re experimenting with for whatever reason.” Monday rolled her eyes. “You know, typical military recruiting science to advance their little army. I have a feeling they’re a bit insecure while we’re doing their dirty work for them.”

“And with sticks up their asses, they love boasting about how powerful they are.” 

“Seems about ‘white’.”

Soojin’s joke had Zoa nearly spitting out her apple juice and Monday trying to keep herself together. The small commotion had a soldier demanding them to be quiet which they had to comply for their safety. For the last half hour of lunch, Monday gave some tips to the sisters and showed them a map she hid in her pocket, which Zoa decided to keep for the time being. Eventually, it was time for everyone to go back to work again. The girls wish each other good luck before heading off for more hours of labor. Sooner than expected, night falls and all the kids were instructed to head to their rooms. The rules at this time were simple: don’t stay up past your bedtime, don’t let anyone in your room, and absolutely, no sneaking out. Monday tried her best to sleep as much as possible while the sisters kept the hope that mother and father would get them out of here. However, patience dimmed over the next few months. Now a part of them wondered……could they still trust their own parents?