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CHAPTERSEVENTEEN

❝BIO-ENGINEERINGQUANTUM

PARADOXFACILITY:PARTFOUR❞

Everyone grew quiet as they made their way deeper into BEQP underground labs. There were five floors in the underground section, so it wouldn’t be long till they made it to Dr. Wu’s lab, which was situated on the fifth floor. Just like on the first floor, every room the group entered thus far was completely empty. Their footsteps and the occasional shutter of Hoya’s camera echoed in the halls.

Woohyun was unimpressed with what he saw in the facility so far. That was because he saw a lot of science fiction and fantasy movies when he was younger, but the labs he saw now looked nothing like how it did in the films.

There was hardly any proof of the detestable crimes everyone claimed the government committed down here. They did come across a lot of computers and monitors, similar to the ones they came across on the first floor, but majority of them had a blank screen. And the ones that weren’t blank or had various formulas and equations listed upon it, were too complicated for Woohyun to even comprehend.

It wasn’t until the group reached the third floor when the silence was truly broken.

“Isn’t it about time you told me exactly why you all are here? Why do you need to see Dr. Wu?” Taemin asked. He was no longer struggling against Sunggyu’s hold, for he had long given up hope of escaping.

They had just entered yet another room that had a ginormous monitor attached to the wall on the other side of the room. The screen was blank, though. From what Woohyun could see, the room was ten times larger than the main rooms on the past floors.

What caught Woohyun’s interest, though, was that the room was filled with several glass cylinders. They were tall and were attached to the ceiling. There were rows and rows of the containers.

“The doctor and I have a lot to discuss,” Sunggyu answered Taemin.

Woohyun walked ahead of the group and approached one of the glass containers. It was filled with a clear liquid that Woohyun could not identify. Woohyun was surprise to not see someone floating about in them.

“And?” Taemin urged.

“And it involves Woohyun,” Sunggyu wasn’t really paying attention to what he was saying to the other. He was just as fascinated with their surroundings as Woohyun was. The rapid shuttering of Hoya’s camera could be heard in the background. Sunggyu didn’t see Woohyun wander off.

“…C’mon! You've gotta give me more than that!” Taemin whined.

“Time travel,” was all Sunggyu said. He released Taemin and inspected one of the cylinders.

“Time travel?” Taemin’s brows furrowed as he warily eyed Sunggyu. He then directed his attention to Woohyun, who moved further into the room. “After what happened six years ago, I’m surprised you’d even associate yourself with anything relating to time traveling… And what does that have to do with him?” Since Sunggyu was no longer holding him and his comrades weren’t paying attention to him either, Taemin quietly snuck off in the direction Woohyun went.

The group’s chattering became faint as Woohyun wandered further into the room, subconsciously distancing himself from the others.

Woohyun wasn’t sure what the containers were for, but he had an inkling that the victims the scientists experimented on dumped them into the cylinders. Something told him that the substances within the cylindrical containers were some sort of chemical that would be absorbed into the victim’s bodies.

Are these used to create super soldiers? Woohyun wondered. He pressed his hand against one of the glass containers. The liquid within made the glass warm.

Through the glass and fluid, Woohyun saw a table further ahead. It was sitting directly in front of the large computer monitor on the wall.

As he approached the table, he noticed that various paperwork and files were strewn upon. He picked up one file and skimmed it. Not much made sense, and there were a lot of terms he did not understand. They were probably unique to this time period. The words Rune, Adamantine, and Mythril came up several times in the paper.

Woohyun assumed that the documents were important. He glanced over his shoulder to call Hoya over, but no one was there. The brunet knew he had journeyed far but not far enough to where he could not see or hear Sunggyu and the others anymore.

The brunet shrugged and examined more of the documents. One read:

Project KOT

Subject: Adamantine

Time Period: High Middle Ages/High Medieval Period (preceded by the Early Middle Ages and followed by the Late Middle Ages)

Century: 12th Century CE

Destination: Canterbury, Kent, England

Return: N/A

Woohyun pursed his lips in confusion. Nothing made sense. But then again, he was never good in the science and math department.

Or history and art and foreign languages (mainly English).

Or physical education.

How he was able to join the school’s soccer team back in junior year was a mystery to the entire school.

Woohyun placed the document back on the table. As he was reaching for another paper, a hand suddenly pressed over his mouth. The brunet struggled and panicked against the hold, but the newcomer was much stronger. The man’s other arm wrapped around Woohyun, restraining him further.

“Shh,” a voice whispered in his ear. “Make one sound and I’ll cut out that tongue of yours.”

It was Taemin’s.

“What are these used for?” Dongwoo asked, knocking on the glass of one of the containers.

“I’m not too sure,” Sunggyu turned to address him. “These were not here when I was still in the military…” The caramel haired man trailed off. He frowned at his second-in-command, disapproving of the younger as he pressed his face against the glass, making funny faces at Sunggyu.

“Um, guys?” Hoya asked, lowering his camera. “Where’s Taemin?”

“He’s right here,” Sunggyu pointed behind him, not bothering to actually look.

“Um, no, he isn’t,” Hoya shook his head.

Sunggyu’s eyes widen, whipping his head around. Taemin was nowhere in sight. The leader cursed under his breath as he pulled out a gun, readying to cause Taemin harm as soon as he found him.

“You lost Taemin!” Dongwoo wailed. He jumped and spun around, trying to see if he could see Taemin.

“Um guys… Where’s Woohyun?” Hoya asked. Sunggyu groaned, noticing Woohyun’s disappeared as well. He massaged the bridge of his nose, feeling an oncoming headache.

“You lost Woohyun!”

“Stop. Struggling.” Taemin grunted as he literally dragged Woohyun down the stairs.

“Sunggyu!” Woohyun screamed, holding onto the railing. It was very strenuous for Woohyun, though. He could only hold onto the railing with his right arm since his left was injured, and it took all of Woohyun’s strength to hold on with that one arm.

By the way, how many times has Woohyun gotten himself into a bad situation since he arrived in the year 2862 SE yesterday?

About seven, right?

“He can’t hear you! We’re on the fifth floor now! They’re on the third!”

“Just kill me now!” Woohyun hollered.

“I would, but obviously, you’re important to INFINITE and have something to do with time traveling!” He successfully forced Woohyun to release the railing. The brunet whimpered in pain as he slid down the steps, the concrete bruising him during the process.

Taemin, holding onto Woohyun’s right foot, opened the door that led them to the fifth floor. Woohyun did not have anything else to hold onto, so he just allowed Taemin to drag him into the next room.

“Dr. Wu! Are you here?” Taemin eyed their surroundings, looking for the scientist.

The main room of the fifth floor was circular. The ceiling was high and in the shape of a dome, and another huge monitor was attached to the far wall, curving against it. Computers and smaller monitors surrounded the room while dead in the center was a metal lab table and a chair that was bolted to the ground. Above the center of the room, attached to the dome ceiling, was a generator. The only way to access the middle of the room was by walking down some more stairs.

Woohyun whined as his head banged against the steps.

“Dr. Wu! Are you–”

“Why are you yelling?” A voice snapped, walking into the room. He came from one of the various doors that led to the main room.

Woohyun looked to the voice and saw an older version of the man he saw in the newspaper clipping Dongwoo gave him earlier. The man still had short, blond hair, but it now had a few streaks of gray running through it. He looked just as serious as he did in the picture, though, he looked a bit more annoyed at the moment.

“I have a gift for you!” He let go of Woohyun’s foot and forced him to stand up. And then he the brunet into the metal chair. Woohyun didn’t dare move from the spot.

“What is it?” Kris frowned at Woohyun.

“I’m not exactly sure, but Kim Sunggyu was bringing him to you.”

“Ah, yes. Yongguk did say that we would receive a visit from INFINITE today. I was supposed to leave with everyone else, but I was busy.”

Taemin looked at Woohyun, “Tell h