Chapter 1
Of Black Holes and Red Starlight“Ari-ya.”
Yes, captain.
“Engage systems check.”
Processing request… Engaging systems check… No abnormalities detected. All systems clear.
Junmyeon stared out into the abyss of endless black that engulfed the ship. There was no shortage of twinkling lights today, dancing and waving at him as one of the only constants in his life. It used to give him comfort, knowing that the brilliant stars would accompany him wherever he went—billions of years of black holes and supernovas and yet they still survived, they were still here. But lately, rather than feeling a sense of relief, it had filled him with nothing but dread. If they were still here after all of this time, how much longer would he have to endure? A deep fatigue was settling into his bones, and he pushed back into his chair with a heavy breath, wishing that it would swallow him up.
A distant beep and dull whirring sounded. Slow, careful steps approached him from behind.
“How much longer?” a soft voice asked.
I wish I knew.
“Six more days,” he answered, turning to look at the doe-eyed boy. “We’re making a pit stop at #1485, then heading home.”
“Home as in Earth, or home home?”
Junmyeon looked into the boy’s eyes with a mix of longing and sympathy. “You know it’s not safe yet, Kyungsoo.”
Kyungsoo quickly averted his gaze, choosing to look out at the same nothingness of the galaxy. A soft exhale escaped his lips.
“When will we stop running, then?”
A long pause followed. Junmyeon didn’t answer. Kyungsoo didn’t expect him to.
“Anyway,” Junmyeon began with a sigh, standing and grabbing his watch, “how are preparations going?” He gestured for Kyungsoo to follow him through the door.
“Everyone’s a little restless, but fine.”
Their uniform footsteps echoed through the long metal corridor. Upon their presence, the titanium door at the end slid open into the main foyer.
“I think Eri’s restless, too,” Junmyeon commented, a small smile playing on his face as he crouched to pet the small white cat lounging on the table. Eri blinked slowly and purred at the affection.
“Have you noticed Eri’s been weird ever since we left #1795?” Kyungsoo frowned. “She doesn’t follow us around anymore. And the other day, Chanyeol walked in and instead of going up to him like she usually does, she just ran away. She’s a lot jumpier now,” Kyungsoo spoke with furrowed brows.
Junmyeon shrugged. “I think she just hates being up here. We left her on the ship for who knows how long after we got trapped on #18112. That’s why we need to get her home, to #1485.”
“Can’t we stay there?” Kyungsoo asked, leaning down to peer at Junmyeon. “#1485 is closer to home.”
Junmyeon stood, seeming to consider the suggestion for a moment, but ultimately shook his head no. “The Red Force will know we’re there. We can’t endanger Eri’s planet like that. At least on Earth, we can hide and blend in with the humans.” He put his hand on Kyungsoo’s shoulder, squeezing it for reassurance. “It won’t be forever. Promise.”
“I hope not.”
As much as Junmyeon was a morning person, mornings on the ship didn’t give him the same joy as they did on Earth. He missed the way a tiny ray of sunlight would always worm its way between the crack of his blackout curtains, as much as he pretended to hate it; he missed the way an overwhelming sense of vigor would overtake him when he swiped at his shades and the sun greeted him hello; he missed the warm patches on his duvet where the light would settle for a little too long while he lazed around.
Maybe he’d gotten a little too used to life on Earth.
Junmyeon’s watch beeped at 9:00, indicating the start of a new work day. At least, he thinks, morning rounds give him a sense of routine, of stability. After spending a significant amount of time on Earth, the members had all agreed to stick to Earth time as closely as possible while traveling, to at least give them an anchor—and perhaps, a smidgen of sanity—as they raced around the universe. Time here was a construct. There were no rules in the EXO Universe but the ones the members created, so long as they were in power. So long as they could remain in power. So long… as they could fight for it.
Junmyeon shook his head. No time for wandering thoughts. He scanned his checklist for the day. First up: laboratory.
“Hey, Baekhyun,” Junmyeon called, poking his head through the lab doorway. The boy in question was high above, standing atop a scissor lift and intensely concentrated on observing RF-07. His arm was buried in the robot’s circuitry that spilled out of its metal casing. He was listening to its vocalizations, which were nothing more than mere machine hums. “Baekhyun?” he called again, certainly loud enough for the boy to hear. But no answer. He seemed to be entranced in his work. Junmyeon came even closer, right up to the base of the machine. “Baekhyun!”
Baekhyun jumped and the lift shook as his back hit a safety bar. His head whipped around rapidly until he caught a glimpse of the source of the voice. He placed a hand over his chest as he looked down at Junmyeon. “You scared me!” Baekhyun huffed and pressed the button to bring him back down.
“I called your name three times!” responded Junmyeon exasperatedly.
“No you didn’t! Wait… you did…? Oh…” Baekhyun paused, realizing his own obliviousness. He got back to the ground and stepped off the lift, breaking out into a sheepish smile. “Sorry. I was really focused I guess.”
Junmyeon dropped the subject, trying to get back to his duties. “Any progress?”
Baekhyun pursed his lips. “Sadly no,” he replied, turning back to face RF-07. “I’ve been tinkering with this thing forever but I can’t get anything out of it.”
“Has anyone else looked at it?”
“Yeah. Chanyeol and Jongin were helping me earlier. I don’t know where they went but…” Baekhyun simply shrugged, trailing off and beginning to mess with some nearby remotes.
Junmyeon tilted his head, squinting his eyes at the red laser eye that was now trained on him. The robot was silent, but scanning him no doubt. RF-07 was a tough case. He thought they’d be able to get it to talk or at least tap into its system by now, but it had been, what, over a year? A year and a half? And absolutely nothing. Junmyeon couldn’t help but feel dejected.
“Maybe you should just leave it alone, Baek. I think it’s a lost cause.”
Baekhyun shook his head. “Nah, I’ll keep working on it.” He turned to smile at Junmyeon. “After all, I have to get something out of this bastard for throwing me out into space, right?”
Junmyeon smiled. They were lucky to have gotten Baekhyun back. After defeating RF-05 on Planet #1795 and thankfully getting their powers restored during the eclipse, they had thought everything was over. But it was never that simple, was it? Next thing they knew, the ground shook and split open, revealing an army of RF robots ready to tear them apart. Turns out, RF-05 was only one of ten they had to worry about. Luckily, with their abilities back and the robots significantly disadvantaged without power orbs, taking them out was no problem. (Fighting Evil Pro Tip #1: Superpowers win over laser guns, any day.) All was well, until RF-07 managed to grab Baekhyun and take off, launching a space chase for the ages. Stars, comets, and shots whizzed by as they raced to get him back. At some point, they managed to shoot RF-07 down and capture it, but not without Baekhyun getting thrown into oblivion in the process. Let’s just say… they found Baekhyun a week later, floating in the ocean back on Earth. It was a miracle they had tracked him down in the first place. He was weak and dazed, but otherwise unharmed. It was probably the worst mission they’ve ever gone on up to this point, but in retrospect, at least they’d managed to recover RF-07—useless as it was—and their power orbs. Speaking of power orbs…
“Okay, I’ll see you later then Baek.”
Junmyeon could hear RF-07 humming again as he left the room. He walked down to the Artifact Chamber to find Jongin and Yixing.
“Jongin! Yixing! How are things going?”
Jongin was loading the orbs back into their slots to be charged. He turned to smile at Junmyeon.
“Good. Just taking inventory and refilling the ship supply.”
“We didn’t lose any of our restricted items this week, did we?”
“Nope,” Yixing answered with a laugh, “Everyone’s been on their best behavior.”
Junmyeon looked around, making mental note of some of the items that had to be accounted for. The glass cube from #18112, which has nearly been dropped enough times that it now sits securely on a cushion; full SWAT disguises from #1669, because you never know when you’ll need a quick escape; a ton of extra cash from #16818, useful for whenever they went back to Earth; and glass handguns from #181213, just for decoration. He placed his hand on the scanner to reveal the restricted items, just to be safe. And there they were, large jars containing bright blue liquid and candies—courtesy of Planet #17718—sitting on top of a massive alcohol cabinet filled to the brim, that they may or may not have stolen along with those handguns. (To be fair, they didn’t mind stealing from the Red Force.) Junmyeon chuckled at his own handwritten sign.
RESTRICTED ITEMS, DO NOT TOUCH!!!!!
NO DRINKING OR GETTING HIGH WHILE ON DUTY. NO EXCEPTIONS.
or junmyeon will kick your ~~
Junmyeon squinted. He didn’t write that last line.
Yixing came up from behind him and placed a hand on his shoulder. “When we get back to Earth, can we break some of this stuff out?”
He thought for a moment. “Sure.” Because he wasn’t as uptight as everyone thought he was. “I’m sure we all need a little stress relief.”
Attention. A crew meeting has been initiated by the captain. All crew members aboard EXO Explorer 1248, please report to the main hall by 5:00.
Jongin appeared almost instantaneously. A wave of air rolling off his body and faint buzz were the only things signaling his presence. He was first; no surprise there. But the minutes were passing and the guys were always late. He was growing impatient. Don’t get him wrong, he usually didn’t mind waiting, but time was a precious asset here and he couldn’t afford to waste it. He clicked his tongue in annoyance. Maybe he should just stop teleporting everywhere and take his sweet time meandering around the hallways like everyone else. But what was the use in walking when you didn’t have to?
One by one they filed in, the metal doors on all sides whirring open and closed, open and closed.
Junmyeon did a head count. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight including himself… He furrowed his brows; someone was missing. “Where’s Sehun?”
The boys glanced around blankly.
“Last time I saw him, he was going back to take a nap,” offered Minseok.
“It’s 5PM,” Junmyeon countered, his mouth pressing into a thin line.
“He’s been kind of out of it, lately,” Jongdae commented.
“Hasn’t he been sick, though?” Yixing asked, “He’s been complaining about his stomach everyday and keeps popping into the Med Bay. I think he’s eating bad food or something.”
All heads turned to Kyungsoo, whose eyes went wide. “Don’t look at me!” he shouted indignantly.
“Alright, alright. Ari-ya,” Junmyeon called, looking up at the ceiling.
Yes, captain.
“Find Sehun.”
Locating Agent 94… Scanning all rooms… Searching…
The system pinged several times.
Agent 94 located.
A holographic projection of the Crew Quarters came up in front of Junmyeon. Indeed, there was Sehun in his messy bed, arms sprawled out above his head, legs wrapped tightly in his thin blanket, mouth slightly agape letting short snores escape. Honestly, he looked sort of cute like this, like a baby, and Junmyeon almost considered letting him sleep in.
“Jongin,” Junmyeon looked over, “Can you get him please?”
Jongin said nothing but disappeared in a second, only to reappear within the holographic footage. He watched Jongin shake Sehun awake, the latter startled at the intruder ripping him out of his dreams. Jongin threw Sehun’s arms around his neck and instantly reappeared with them both. Sehun fell into the nearest seat, dazed and confused.
“Rise and shine, sleepyhead,” said Baekhyun, conjuring up a bright ball of light in his palm. He shoved it in Sehun’s face, causing the boy to yell and smack his hand away.
“!” Sehun hissed, rubbing his eyes still full of sleep.
Baekhyun and Chanyeol laughed.
Junmyeon ignored their antics. “Okay guys. Meeting starts now. Kyungsoo, how’s our schedule looking?”
“Everything’s lined up. We’ll reach Earth in about three-ish months.”
“Great. And you guys are all prepped to go through the eclipse, right?”
Nods and hums filled the room.
“… There’s an eclipse?” asked Jongin, eyes wide with hesitation. The room fell silent.
“Jongin…”
Jongin paused in the silence and then deflated a bit, giving the other guys a knowing look as if they were in the wrong. “Yes I know about the eclipse. I was just kidding. C’mon guys, it’s a joke.”
“Yeah, considering we’ve nearly died every time there’s an eclipse, maybe pick another joke,” quipped Minseok.
Jongin rolled his eyes. “I’ve actually been doing my tasks, unlike this one over here,” he said, pointing over at Sehun.
“I was sick!” Sehun defended incredulously. “Besides, Chanyeol’s been covering for me.”
Chanyeol nodded. “I helped Jongdae and Minseok finish up defenses and rebooted the security system. So you’re welcome for that.”
“Are the defenses ready, then?”
Jongdae beamed. “We have triple-layered shields now. I’m telling you, nothing is getting in.”
“Or out,” Chanyeol added.
“All guns and rays are updated. Freeze rays, electric rays, rock blasters, everything. We have more ammo than I know what to do with,” Minseok continued.
“Sounds good.” Junmyeon felt a little bit more at ease now. “I think we have everything we need. On Thursday by 2PM, I need everyone at their stations, you hear me? Kyungsoo up at Navigation with me; Minseok, Jongdae, and Sehun at Defense; Baekhyun and Chanyeol at the Central Monitoring Station; and Jongin and Yixing at Supplies. Got it?”
“Aye aye, captain. Can’t wait to see what terrible fate awaits us this time,” Sehun said dryly. A few of them snickered.
“C’mon guys. I know it’s been hard for everyone. We’re more protected now than ever, and we won’t even be on the ground this time. It’s just precautionary. We’ll be fine.” Junmyeon scanned their faces, noticing how worn some of them were. Small grey bags had begun to collect at the bases of their eyes. The members had been quite snappy at each other as well, no doubt on edge from all of the harrowing experiences they’ve had to endure. “After that, not much longer until we’re back to Earth. Then we can lay low.” He hoped they’d cheer up, but they didn’t seem to be convinced. “What matters is that we’re all here together, right? After everything we’ve been through, the whole team made it. We’ll celebrate after we land on Earth.” Blank stares. “And… I’ll… break out the restricted items, I guess,” he relented.
Well, that caught their attention. Their eyes sparkled under the light.
“Drinking party?”
“I call the Hennessy.”
“Damn it, I told you we should’ve stolen those beer pong tables!”
“How many candies do you think I could shove into my mouth? Bet I could fit more than you guys.”
“The chubby bunny challenge was like five Earth years ago, Yeol. Kinda late there buddy.”
“Try not to hog the whiskey this time Soo!”
“So will I have the blue lemonade to myself, or what? I’ll straight up chug it if no one stops me.”
Junmyeon shook his head, laughing to himself. “Okay guys,” he called, trying to speak over them, “We’ll get there when we get there. For now, keep up the good work. Meeting dismissed.”
The members dispersed one by one. Sehun slumped into his seat, feeling fatigue set in again. He sighed.
“Jongin,” he called, waving his hand at the boy across the room, “Can you take me back to the Crew Quarters?”
Jongin turned back to look at him. “I’m not your taxi service, Sehun.”
Sehun clicked his tongue. “It’ll take you like two seconds!” he whined.
Jongin let out an exaggerated sigh and wordlessly extended his hand. Sehun pushed himself out of the chair and trudged over, relieved that he wouldn’t have to walk all the way back. Just as he was about to reach him, Jongin quickly retracted his hand with a playful smile, eyebrow quirked in a tacit challenge.
“Too slow.”
He disappeared into thin air.
Kyungsoo kept close watch on the radar, looking for any signs of approaching entities. Junmyeon checked his pocket map, the tiny device projecting their coordinates in front of him.
CURRENT UNIVERSE: EXO UNIVERSE
CURRENT GALAXY: MILKY WAY GALAXY
CURRENT PLANET: N/A
TARGET STATUS: EARTH, IN PROGRESS
Right on track. Junmyeon pressed the intercom button. “Is everyone in position? Eclipse in 10.” Green indicator lights began to glow on the ship map, indicating that everyone was checking in. “Standby for eclipse.”
Honestly, Junmyeon couldn’t help but wonder if he was overreacting. After all, they likely wouldn’t feel the effects of the eclipse much, given that they wouldn’t be under totality for too long. Junmyeon could see Earth, its curved edge touching the sun as if the two were about to kiss. There was something beautiful about eclipses, despite always instilling in him a deep sense of doom.
He buzzed into the intercom again. “Expect to be here for a few hours. Full totality will only be a few minutes, but it’ll take us awhile to get out of the partial shadow.”
Kyungsoo looked out, narrowing his eyes at the few asteroids floating in the distance.
“I’m gonna slow the engines down to navigate through the asteroid belt easier,” he said.
Junmyeon nodded. “It shouldn’t be a problem, right? Should we pause the engine and wait out the eclipse?” Suddenly, he was hesitating.
Kyungsoo shook his head. “The asteroids are too far apart to hit us, I can barely see three of them right now. And I think stalling the engine would just bring us more off course later. We’ll waste fuel.”
Junmyeon nodded again. “Alright. Well, looks like it’s starting.” His gaze landed on the massive orbs, light and dark colliding like Yin and Yang. A paradox that pulled itself inwards, volatile ends meeting in the middle for a moment of calm.
He and Kyungsoo sat back in their seats, only the beeping of their navigation board filling the open silence.
An hour passed. Then another half hour. There was a long shadow cast over the ship, the edge of the sun barely peeking over the Earth. Like a crown bestowed on the planet, a gift for the fulfillment of the astral phenomenon. Stunning, but fairly uneventful, as of late.
This time, Kyungsoo buzzed in. “Everyone good?”
“All good. Cams up and clear.”
“Everything’s in place. Extra supplies at the ready if anyone needs them.”
“Nothing popping up on our end. Shields still at 92% power. Sort of wish there was something to shoot at. Sehun’s napping again.”
“Well wake him up,” Kyungsoo responded, “Don’t get too relaxed. Full totality in 20.”
They watched as the Earth slowly engulfed the sun. Only the faint glow of the navigation board lit up their faces. It was peaceful, honestly, but there was a type of uncertainty that made it so you could not tell whether this was the end of it, or whether it was the calm before the storm.
And then it happened.
A deep rumble and quake shook the ship. A long metal screech echoed into the hollow chamber, causing Junmyeon and Kyungsoo to jump out of their seats. Red lights flashed overhead.
“What the hell was that?! Did we get hit?!” Junmyeon yelled.
“There’s nothing on the radar!” Kyungsoo shouted back, frantically scrolling through screens to find the systems report.
The intercom was cutting in nonstop. Static punctured through every word, needles piercing through the deep moans of the ship.
“Did you guys fe-”
“What the fu-”
“I heard something on-”
“! We’re lo-”
“Ari-ya! Status!” Junmyeon called.
Warning: Severe damage to hull. System breach detected. Pressure destabilizing.
Junmyeon pulled up the map. The Artifact Room glowed red, angry. He took off through the door, sparing a glance behind him to his right-hand man.
“Kyungsoo, activate the emergency system!”
He ran. And ran. And ran.
The noise was getting louder. A shrill whistling sliced through Junmyeon’s eardrums, the intensity of fifty fighter jets aimed towards his head. He rounded the corner and they were there, several members gathered outside the Chamber trying to shove through the door. He joined them, trying to get a glimpse of what was going on.
“What happened?!” he called from behind.
They stopped and looked at Junmyeon with wide, worried eyes.
“It activated!” Jongdae yelled, trying to be heard over the noise.
“What activated?!”
Junmyeon pushed through the present members and pressed his face against the window.
A white ball of light shot around, clinging and clanging on the walls, floor, ceiling. There was a gaping hole on the side of the ship where a strip of sheet metal had been ripped away from its bolts. Supplies were flying out, creating a tornado of debris vaporizing immediately upon contact with the inner shield. What the hell is that?! Junmyeon looked closer, squinting at the flying object.
No, that wasn’t a ball… it was a cube. The cube from Planet #18112, the one that had been dormant for almost two years, the one that had them into the simulation back then, the one that no one was supposed to touch. Why had it activated?
Faster than they could even process, the cube jumped again, plastering itself to the wall opposite to the hole. Like magic, the flow reversed. Documents, books, tiny chunks of metal collided with the cube. It was creating a vacuum. Things were flying to it, attaching to its body, crashing into the empty wall around it. The quaking started again as space rocks flew to the ship, only stopping at the transparent wall of shields as if they were magnetized. The shield pulsated repeatedly at each blow.
“It’s fine, it’s fine,” breathed Minseok, watching intently through the window and visibly panicking, “The shields are strong enough to hold them.”
As if the ship had heard him and laughed, the belly of the ship rumbled and the shields flickered. And one by one, they deactivated.
“The power isn’t out, why are they dropping?!” Jongdae shrieked, immediately taking off back into the Defense Room. Minseok was hot on his heels, right as the space debris started to fly in. It was denting the inner walls, threatening to burst through at any minute.
“We’re going to blow. Everybody move!” Junmyeon yelled, pushing the members out of the way and signaling for them to run back. They scrambled, desperately trying to regain their footing over and over as they stumbled down the hallways, the ship lurching left and right.
Sehun froze, mouth agape as he looked through the window.
“Sehun move!”
The boy wouldn’t budge. His eyes were plastered on the scene in front of him, causing Junmyeon’s eyes to follow his gaze to the open void. An asteroid, larger than the room itself, barreled towards them at extraordinary speed. On instinct, Junmyeon grabbed Sehun’s collar and yanked him backwards.
And just like that, they were spinning.
Spinning, tumbling. Heads collided with titanium walls, bodies smashed into equipment, hands wildly thrashing for something to grasp. Emergency alarms wailing, red lights flaring, the thunderous screams of metal bending and scraping reverberated in their ears.
Spinning. Spinning. Spinning.
And then it was black.
It was black.
It was black for some time. It was nothingness, just like the vast pool of the universe. Floating, wandering, drifting. Nothing.
Just black.
But somewhere amongst the black, there was something else. A stain of color willing itself to push through, a deep velvet concentrated in the darkness. And in a snap… it was red. The black shattered, red gushing into the onyx space and painting every corner it touched a bright crimson.
The first thing Junmyeon felt was his head. The sharp stabbing at his brain, feeling like a thousand needles jabbing into his skull. He couldn’t hear, the ringing too loud for anything else to come through. The first thing he saw through his foggy, clouded vision was the blood running from his hands, the red liquid flowing onto the surface below. He was on the ground, lying flat on his stomach. Outside. Where? The ground was glowing red. Not from his blood, no; the sand was red.
It was hot. Far hotter than he was used to. Scorching, even. He sat up, wincing at the pain in his side as he struggled to look upwards. Staring back at him was the gigantic, bright, neon and angry red sun, spitting rays at him as it towered over the horizon, threatening to swallow the entire landscape.
Where am I? Junmyeon coughed, looking around at the remains of the ship. Scattered metal scraps were everywhere, smoke clouding the nearby terrain. There was no one in sight, nobody that he could see.
He spotted his pocket map, glowing and glitching just a few feet away from him. He crawled until he reached it, weakly tapping the screen and willing for it to work. Please, please, please…
SEARCHING FOR LOCATION…
ERROR… ERROR… ERROR…
Junmyeon hit it onto the ground several times.
SEARCHING FOR LOCATION…
After what seemed like an eternity, it flashed again.
LOCATION FOUND.
CURRENT UNIVERSE: ERROR UNKNOWN
CURRENT GALAXY: ERROR UNKNOWN
CURRENT PLANET: #191127
TARGET STATUS: N/A
#191127… No. That was impossible. After countless expeditions, Junmyeon had the map of the universe memorized. #191127 didn’t exist. Not in the EXO Universe. If it did, they would’ve found it by now. This had to be a glitch. Try again.
SEARCHING FOR LOCATION…
LOCATION UPDATED.
CURRENT UNIVERSE: EXO UNIVERSE
CURRENT GALAXY: RF GALAXY
CURRENT PLANET: #191127
TARGET STATUS: N/A
R… F… Galaxy… Junmyeon felt a chill run down his spine, a deep and incredulous chill as his entire body was burning. No. RF Galaxy didn’t exist. There’s no way it could exist. EXO had discovered every galaxy in the universe thus far, and RF had never been able to capture one. Junmyeon wouldn’t forget something like that, not when RF’s mere existence threatened theirs. The screen kept glitching. So he would try again. And again. Until something made sense.
LOCATION UPDATING…
ERROR. REALITY DISTORTION DETECTED.
RECALIBRATING…
CURRENT UNIVERSE: ĖX̅Ø ÛṄÏṼĖŘŞĖ
CURRENT GALAXY: ŘF̄ ĞÃŁÃẊŸ
CURRENT PLANET: #191127
TARGET STATUS: N/A
Junmyeon stared in confusion at the distorted letters. What does that even mean? He tried pressing buttons to get more information. But suddenly, a searing hot current shot up his spine and traveled down the length of his arm, causing him to drop the device. He yelled in agony, feeling his head get shoved down into the dirt by another figure. The pain was numbing his senses, clouding his mind until he was fighting to maintain consciousness.
And once again, it was black.
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