Chapter 54:  06:42– REFLECTION BLACK & WHITE [5:18pm]

< REFLECTION:BLACK >

Time log, Mir Age: 15
8 years prior

Cheolyang stumbled. The street was littered with foreign debris and fallen bodies just ready to trip him up. But despite the breach and the damage to the outer walls, the factories still stood tall and proud, as if to say, try all you may you cannot break us down.

The factories were the foundation of the Ghettos. If the Peaks’ job was to control the flow of all information within the Three Levels, and the Mid-Levels to distribute and transport said information and goods, then it was the Ghetto’s job to process it all. And all the processing went on in the factories. So for someone to be attempting to break in meant that they were trying to get their hands on the system.

“But why did you have to involve her,” Cheolyang whispered as his eyes finally latched onto the crumpled form of his sister. He knelt slowly, unwilling to understand the sight in front of him.

“Wake up noona,” he begged as he lifted aside a large piece of stone that had moments ago been part of the factories outer most wall. “C’mon, it’s not that bad. We’ll get you home and Hyo Jin noona can patch you up and-“

The words caught in his throat as the last of the rubble tilted to one side and he could finally see Hyo Sun properly. The long column of her neck was bared, white but for the fine dusting of grey. Her long black hair was folded over her face, though through the strands Cheolyang could see her eyes and the dark flicker of the iris within it. She had died with her eyes open.

“Kid,” a low scrape of a voice growled. “What are you doing here? We’re cordoning off this area.”

Cheolyang looked up and rubbed his eyes, his sight mired by budding tears. An enforcer peered down at him. He made on noise of understanding. “Was this your sis?” the man said with a touch of pity in his voice. “I’m sorry about that. Nothing you can do for her now. She was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

“W-what happened here,” Cheolyang sniffed.

The enforcer flicked up his visor and crouched down, hovering over Hyo Sun. Cheolyang half wanted to slap his hands away, for who did he think he was, touching his sister like that? But the man’s movements were gentle as he brushed Hyo Sun’s long hair to one side and closed her eyes.

He brought his hands back together in a prayer.

Something seemed to crackle beneath Hyo Sun’s skin, electricity running fine white lines underneath veins and cells and her body thrummed.

The enforcer opened his eyes and turned to Cheolyang. “I’ve started her reboot process, so don’t worry. Now about what happened, there was an attempted break in. The attackers tried to blow a hole in the security. Suffice to say they didn’t get far, but in the process there was a lot of collateral damage.” The enforcer looked down morosely at Hyo Sun.

“My sister isn’t collateral damage,” Cheolyang snapped.

The enforcer raised both hands in surrender. “I’m afraid kid that in the files that is what her death will be written down as. I don’t write the rules, I just follow them.”

“Then why follow them,” Cheolyang muttered. “Why be an enforcer if it’s so bad.”

The enforcer chuckled. “It’s not all bad,” he said. “And if I didn’t do it, then who would? Someone needs to watch the streets and make sure that incidents like this don’t happen more frequently.” His expression darkened. “I’m sorry about your sister. I really am. If you want to blame someone then blame us enforcers for not doing our job better.”

“But it wasn’t you who blew up the wall and killed my sister,” Cheolyang said softly. But someone had done it. And because of that person his sister was now dead. That much was true.

“No it wasn’t,” the enforcer said, equally as softly. “But they were able to do so because we weren’t able to stop them.” His eyes look distant. Like this wasn’t the first time he had been met with such a tragic situation. Nor would it be the last.

“What were they after?” Cheolyang couldn’t help but ask as he followed the enforcer’s gaze up at the gaping hole of the outer wall.

The enforcer made a noncommittal noise. “Can’t say for sure. There are too many things of importance inside the factories. Even I haven’t seen in any further than the third wall.”

The factory defences were four ringed walls. The outermost was breach-able by physical attacks, but equally as easy to repair. As such these were patrolled by enforcers. Any further in though and you would be met by fully reinforced System defences.

It was as such because most of the activity took place between the fourth and third walls. So long as you were a factory worker and had proper access, you could enter and exit it freely. In there was where all goods that the city required was produced and checked and processed. Machinery did most of the work but humans were still required to some extent.

Between these two walls were also where the enforcers resided, far away enough from the hubbub of the ghettos, but still with easy enough access to restrain order if need be.

Between the third and second walls were the transport hubs, where goods were sent up to the Mid-levels. Only a few selected individuals ever saw this far into the factory rings.

And then, the inner rings. What lay beyond here were only rumours. It was said that between the second and the final wall was a top secret government projects, kept down here and away from prying eyes. Almost no one had access to those areas, not even the enforcers.

And finally, in the centre of it all: the System’s Core.

It was a black spindly chimney that rose from the centre of all the factories and straight up into the sky, where it would presumably reach the Mid-levels and then continue rising. It was a long black column that conjoined all three levels. No one knew what it was for but rumours said that if one was to access the tower from the highest most point at the Peaks then they would have absolute control over the System and the all Three Levels.

“Were they trying to get to the inner rings of the factory?” Cheolyang wondered aloud.

The enforcer gave a shrug. “Who knows? But if they do then it must have been something worth gaining at the cost of lives. And if so, then they should know that simply blowing a hole in the outer walls with do nothing. No one cares about the fourth walls. But go any further and not even a bomb will break down the firewalls of the third wall.”

“Then what would?” Cheolyang asked out of mere curiosity.

The enforcer gave a small frown. “Don’t let anyone hear me say this to you, but from what I heard, if you want to get in you can’t do it by physical force. You have to hack your way it.”

Cheolyang gasped. “But isn’t hacking a-“

The enforcer gave a grave nod. “An illegal method. One that if you are caught doing will guarantee you instant death and deletion no matter what your excuse is.”

Cheolyang closed his mouth. Instant death and deletion? He shuddered to think that hacking could insinuate immediate oblivion, no chance to even say goodbye before you were gone from this world. Was hacking that dangerous?

Something beeped. A monitor attached to the enforcer’s waistband. He lifted it off and his eyes scanned the words on the screen quickly. “Looks like I’ve got to go kid,” he said with a sigh. “Word is they’ve apprehended the assaulters.” The man peered over once more at Hyo Sun and pressed two fingers to her lips. “Looks like you’re done here as well kid. Your sister is just about to be rebooted.”

The enforcer stood up and tugged Cheolyang back, giving Hyo Sun space. Cheolyang had to constantly remind himself that the enforcer’s job were two-fold. One: to maintain order and peace, and two: to reboot the dead and grant access to their twenty four days.

Cheolyang watched as the whiteness beneath Hyo Sun’s skin faded and her body stilled. He held his breath as for a second, and then two, and then three, waiting and watching as nothing happened. But then a finger twitched and her eyes flickered open.

“Noona!” Cheolyang gasped and made forwards, but the enforcer caught him by the wrist and held him back.

Cheolyang turned, puzzled, and the enforcer shook his head. “Give her a moment to adjust.”

Hyo Sun didn’t seem to register the fact that Cheolyang was there. She was moving her eyeballs around their sockets, drinking in her environment. Then her left hand twitched again, and then her left leg, and slowly she was regaining control over her body.

“It’s not an easy, getting used to a cached body,” the enforcer explained.

Slowly Hyo Sun sat up. Her movements were creaky like an unoiled puppet.

“What is a cached body?” Cheolyang asked. His voice felt distant, detached.

The enforcer shot him a surprised look. “Didn’t they teach you it in school-“

“They did,” Cheolyang said shortly. “But what are they. Really?”

The enforcer gave him an appraising look, sizing him up. “Exactly what it sounds like. We take a imprint of the deceased as they were right before they died and we place all that information, memories, scars, habits, everything that made up the deceased, all of that goes into a temporary storage.”

Cheolyang watched as Hyo Sun flexed her hand, slowly getting used to this new foreign vessel.

“This new storage, the cache, is disconnected from the main system of this world. It’s long enough for them to avoid death for 24 days, but in exchange they cannot interact with anything of the living world.”

 “And then after twenty four days,” Cheolyang asked hollowly, though inside he knew the answer.

“After that the system automatically deletes them. You can’t exist outside the system without being considered a foreign body. And of course all foreign bodies are considered dangerous and deleted.”

Hyo Sun got to her feet. She could move mostly normal by now, but as she stood and brushed back her long hair to one side, Cheolyang could see a fist sized bruise on her left temple and the dried blood that caked it.

“You called it an ‘imprint’,” Cheolyang said hesitantly.

“I did.”

“Does that mean…she’s just a reflection of my noona? An echo?”

Eyes widened. “Are you asking if that woman is truly your sister?”

Cheolyang nodded.

The enforcer let out a sharp exhale. “A kid as young as you are shouldn’t be asking those questions. They’ll get you nowhere.”

“That doesn’t answer my question though,” Cheolyang grounded.

The enforcer was silent for a moment as the two watched Hyo Sun brush down the front of her skirt and take a step towards them, her eyes lighting up as she saw Cheolyang. “She’s as real as you want her to be kid. You only have twenty four days left with her. Don’t sweat the small stuff. Just treasure the remaining time you have left.”

As Hyo Sun stepped into the faint sunlight Cheolyang saw the way that it sifted through her, giving his noona a translucent appearance. He blanched.

“Cheolyang,” Hyo Sun said softly, sadly, as she came up close. “Are you okay?”

She sounded just like her. She looked like her. She was exactly the same but for her translucent quality and the bruise and blood on her forehead.

The enforcer gave Cheolyang a quick nod and flicked down his visor. “Take care,” he said, voice muffled, and walked away. Cheolyang stopped to watch him go.

“Who was he?” Hyo Sun asked.

“An enforcer,” Cheolyang said, the words bitter and tough in his throat. “He…rebooted you…”

Hyo Sun’s breath hitched. “Then I’m dead…” she said slowly.

Cheolyang nodded, unable to meet her eyes. Hyo Sun however did not avert her gaze. With one hand she reached up to touch the blood on her forehead and when she pulled away, it came out coated in red.

“So this is death,” she said, mostly to herself.

“Noona…” Cheolyang said suddenly.

“I’m alright Cheolyang,” Hyo Sun said, giving him a gentle smile. “I’m alright. But you aren’t.”

Cheolyang nodded, breaking down into silent sniffles. “I’m sorry noona. I’m so sorry.”

Hyo Sun enfolded him into a hug. Or at least she tried to. Her hands went through his back, so she made do with encircling her arms and body around his waist. “Shh, it’s okay little brother,” she said soothingly. “It’s okay. I’m okay. We’re going to be okay.”

“No we’re not,” Cheolyang sobbed. “You’re dead. You’re dead and I’m going to lose you in twenty four days, and this wasn’t supposed to happen!”

“Nothing ever happens as it’s supposed to,” Hyo Sun said. “That’s why life is so precious little brother.”

“But I don’t want to lose you!”

“You’re not. Not yet at least. We still have twenty four days, and for that we should be grateful.”

“But-“

Hyo Sun pulled away and grasped the air around Cheolyang’s face. Cheolyang would like to think that he could feel warmth emanating from her palms. Anything that might suggest she was still alive.

“Let’s go home little brother,” Hyo Sun said. “And then we’ll deal with whatever tomorrow brings then. Okay?”

Cheolyang sniffed but nodded.

Hyo Sun held out a hand and Cheolyang took it, pretending to hold it all the way home.

< / REFLECTION:BLACK >

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< REFLECTION:WHITE >

Time log, Seungho Age 20
6 years prior

Seungho sat his desk, surveying the spectacular view of the Peaks. In just two years he had climbed the ranks this far. His father was more impressed than he dared to let on. The higher your authority, the higher your office was situated. And the higher your access to the System and its files were.

Seungho had climbed this high for that sole purpose.

‘Accessing System Files,’ a cool voice announced, female and automated. ‘Please scan fingerprints for authorization.’

A panel slid out from underneath the white furnished desk, dark and netted. Seungho placed his right palm flat on the screen and a fine green line scanned it.

‘Thank you,’ the woman said. ‘Welcome Yang Seungho-ssi . What is your request today?’

“Access me data pertaining to the Purge on the Mid-levels two years ago please,” Seungho requested, swivelling in his leather chair to the left so that he could pull up one screen panel with all the past data to do with the Purge. 

Seungho’s main job as junior administrator was to deal with the backload of system data, to organize it completely and maintain that there were no outstanding errors or potential problems. It might have sounded boring to anybody else, but Seungho found it intriguing. It allowed him to immerse himself into knowledge of the Three Levels. And he had always had a hobby for fixing and organizing things.

This was his latest job. To look into the causes and casualties of the Purge two years ago and to confirm that nothing was out of order. It had been two years since the incident, but admin liked to double check past data annually for the next five years before an incident was shelved for good in the archives.

There was a gentle beep as the OS announced the loading of data complete. Seungho hummed as he tapped open the file, pulling out and dragging separate documents with the touch of his finger. He scanned the enforcer reports, noting who had instigated the Purge, the location to which the fires had spread, and the number and names of the deceased. Seungho did so with a grimace. Purges were rare in the history of the Three Levels and so only used when absolutely necessary. From what Seungho could gather it hardly seemed necessary to use such an extreme method to simply teach ‘rebellions’ a lesson or two.

Seungho frowned and dug deeper.

He sourced it back to a group of people, the ‘rebels’, who had wanted better life and treatment on the Mid-levels. The Mid-levels did indeed hold the largest number of citizens, and as such had been juggling space issues for years. The Peaks were built upwards with the offices in the skies and the residences at the base of the skyscrapers, but they had the least amount of space and citizens to balance with. The Ghettos on the other hand had huge expanses of land, but much of it was dedicated to the bulky factories that occupies the centre of it all. And since the factories were mostly run by machines, there was little need for human involvement. The Mid-levels however were stuck with little ability to expand land else it would damage the fragile structure of the Three Levels.

But it was the Mid-levels that needed people the most. And the combination of a bursting population and limited land space meant the Mid-levels suffered from low living standards. Seungho made a note to bring that up at the next meeting to try and improve the standards in order to quell the dissatisfaction. He could use this case study as an example to curry favour. Particularly since expanding land was not an easy task. The amount of labour and energy that would be required was enormous, and many of the high ranking admins would rather let the Mid-levelers suffer in favour of using their world more efficiently.

Seungho sighed. Unfortunately this was the way people worked.

Seungho finished making a side note and saved it to his personal files, then returned to the case.

A great deal of people had died, and it was all because of some noble intention to try and improve their lives. An intention that had gone horribly wrong and done the complete opposite.

At random Seungho selected a file and flipped it open. It was an enforcer report that told him the ringleaders of the operation. They had called it Code:Red and all of them had been eliminated prior to the Purge. Kim Jin Nam, Yoo Seok Nim, Kang Yong Nam, Jung Jong Su, the list went on. All had been accused of treason and culled. Reading onwards, it appeared that the real reasoning behind the purge had been to smoke out and subdue any other supporters of the plan.

Seungho’s frown deepened. The plan had been to leak some documents directly hacked from the System. Not only was hacking illegal, but the documents must have been of great importance, and thus great danger, for the higher-ups to decide that a Purge was the necessary solution. 

What had been in those files?

Seungho’s fingers clicked furiously over the screen. He scrolled through further reports of the ringleaders and their families, all who had known nothing. The men had kept their plan within a close circle of themselves. The most they had revealed to their families had been that, the day was near, and that the time when their lives would improve was coming close.

Then he found it. Project Code:Red. Seungho his lips and tapped open the file.

A warning screen came up. ‘This file is restriction level access four’, the woman OS informed him. ‘Do you have sufficient access?’

In response Seungho slid out the authorization panel and slammed his palm down. There was the movement of a green line and then a high pitched beep.

‘Authorization approved,’ the woman said. ‘However please do note that your accessing of the files will be noted and recorded by the System. Is this allowable?’

Seungho rolled his eyes. It wasn’t like he could refuse the System.

“Yes. Understood. Please proceed with the action,” Seungho said in a clear voice. He leaned back into his chair and took a sip of his cooled coffee as he watched and waited for the OS to finish gaining him access and load up the files.

It did so, smoothly and quickly. And then there it was.

Seungho put down his coffee mug and tapped at the first file. It opened. PROJECT CODE:RED was scrawled in bold capitals across the top of the file screen. Seungho scrolled down. The first few pages were dedicated to the outline of the plan. Leak the information found below and reveal the government for what it truly was. It was a plan to gain the support of all the citizens in the Three Levels. That totalled to at least 80 million, give or take. Even the highest of the admins could do little against the people. Purges wouldn’t be a solution then, because what would you do if all your people were wiped out. And even if Purges did work, a country ruled by fear was a doomed one.

Seungho skipped to the second section of the tattered files. The information. He sped-read it, inhaling almost the paragraphs like a starving man. The government is playing with our lives...Death Laws implemented, nothing to do with high crime rates…we must reveal the truth to the public, not just for the public’s sake, but for the sake of those living in this world and the next…experiments…Ghettos…the inner rings of the factories…this is just the tip of the iceberg…because we have all forgotten that the world we live in is not the real world and the government is exploiting this fact and turning us from humans into mere-

ACCESS DENIED

The words flashed, bold and red, across the screen.

“What’s happening?” Seungho snapped, his hand coming down hard onto his varnished table, with enough force to knock over his coffee mug. He barely noticed as the brown dregs crept across the table and slowly dripped down the side. He was on his feet, so immersed into reading the files that this rejection had shocked him.

“OS. What is going on?” he demanded.

There was a whirring sound and then his female OS spoke. ‘I’m afraid sir that your authorization level is not high enough to access the remainder of the files-‘

“Bull,” Seungho hissed. “You admitted me just now.”

‘I’m afraid the authorization level was changed between the time of opening the files and just a few seconds ago.’

“Are you telling me someone changed the authorization access level just like that? So suddenly? Who did it?”

A pause whilst the OS scanned the backlog of data commands. Then, ‘Yes sir. The access level was changed from level four to level eight one minute forty seconds ago.’

Seungho blanched. Level eight was practically the authorization level of the top tier. It belonged to those who controlled the very essence of the System. To those who had built and managed the System since its birth.

Was the information in the files that important that it involved the very structure of the System?

There was a beeping sound from Seungho’s right-most screen. A request for a call.

“Who is it?” Seungho addressed his OS.

‘Kim songsaenim,’ she replied.

“Put him through,” Seungho said without hesitation. This wasn’t a coincidence.

“Seungho-ssi,” his teacher said gravely the minute the call connected. “What are you doing dabbling with the Code:Red files.”

Seungho’s eyes narrowed. “I was under the impression that my job was to sort through old Enforcer reports and ascertain everything was in order. The Code:Red files were attached to my current project of the Purge from two years ago on the Mid-levels.”

His teacher frowned. “Seungho-ssi, I understand you like to do things thoroughly, but you should have never seen those files.”

“Why?” Seungho asked challengingly. “I have sufficient access. Or at least I did until just a few minutes ago. What are in those files that are so dangerous that someone of class four authorization can’t even see it?”

His teacher exhaled sharply. “Seungho-ssi, just asking that is already asking the nature of those files.”

Seungho pulled a face.

“I understand why you feel frustrated as you do, but understand, you cannot be privy to all the information in the System. There are things that must be guarded, and things that you must not learn about unless you are part of the top tier.”

Just like his teacher was.

“And songsaenim,” Seungho said brusquely, “Why is that? Shouldn’t all information be shared fairly? Surely there cannot be something so drastic that it would cause an uprising.”

“There is Seungho-ssi,” his teacher said gravely. “There always is. And this particular file… We’ve all done things we’re not proud of Seungho-ssi. Things we are not proud of, but necessary things nonetheless. You of all people I would love to trust, but unfortunately you are not ready to learn of such things.”

Seungho felt heat rise to his cheeks. “What do you mean by that songsaenim! How am I not ready? Have I not dedicated my last two years to being the best I can be? To climbing the ranks as fast as I could? Can you tell me that there are any other twenty year olds who have class four authorization access like I do?”

His teacher sighed and rubbed his temples with his fingers. “Seungho-ssi, you fail to grasp the meaning of my words.”

“Then explain it to me!” Seungho snapped, his patience running very thin.

His teacher’s eyes flashed, and Seungho suddenly realized just how thin of a tightrope line he was walking. His teacher was usually a calm and well-spoken man. To see anger in his eyes…well…

“Seungho-ssi,” his teacher barked. “It is not hard work and class that matters. It is that you are soft-hearted and when it comes to cold and cruel decisions I can guarantee that you will not make the decision that benefits the majority.”

Seungho flinched, stung.

His teacher’s voice lowered, as if he realized too that what he was saying was harsh indeed. “It is not a bad fault, but it is an obstacle in what we need of the top tier admins.”

“Are you saying that if the public found out about the content of these files…then they would view it negatively?” Seungho asked tentatively.

His teacher sighed. “Still asking questions to the very end,” he muttered. “Yes Seungho-ssi. In response to your question, yes. The public would view it very negatively.”

“But you still think it is necessary,” Seungho continued, treading lightly.

His teacher’s eyes flashed again warning. “Yes it is Seungho-ssi. It is extremely necessary. And that is as far as I will answer. Do not attempt to access the Code:Red files again. Wrap up the Purge case as neatly as you can and move on. And unless I see you at authorization level eight, I do not want to be hearing such questions ever again. Understood?”

Seungho gritted his teeth and gave a stiff nod. “Understood songsaenim,” he grounded out. It appeared to be satisfactory because his teacher gave a sharp nod and cut the call.

Seungho let out the huff of annoyance that had built up inside of him. He threw himself down into the chair and fisted one hand.

What was this bull? Access levels changed at the last minute? Being told by his very own teacher that he did not have the steel that was required of those who ruled the Three Levels? That he should just sit back and accept things quietly?

To hell with that.

That was not the kind of person Yang Seungho was.

Seungho glanced down at his CPU consumption rates. There was a new exe file and he knew it was a monitoring program. His teacher and the others were keeping an eye on him and his activities. Somehow this infuriated him even more.

Yang Seungho was not the kind to just sit down and let it lie. If he couldn’t get through to the Code:Red files directly, then he would bypass it and look from a different angle.

Ghettos…the inner rings of the factories…this is just the tip of the iceberg… That had been what the files had said.

Seungho took a deep breath and made an order for more coffee to be made. He would clean up this Purge case as quickly and as neatly as he could to avert any warning gazes. And then, when the fire died down and the eyes were no longer on him as intently he would begin his investigation anew.

This time starting with the Ghettos.

< / REFLECTION:WHITE >

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A/N: Just a fyi/heads-up. I've gone back and edited the G.O/Joon past to change their ages. G.O was 24 and Joon 23 when The Purge and the Warehouse incident happened. And just a question: is this story getting too confusing? Am i explaining things well enough? I know my story plot is convoluted and i will try my best to explain things in time, but i feel like the concept of death and 24 days is a bit difficult to digest. Idk. Let me know.