Fingers drummed impatiently on the wooden desk.

A sigh filled the room, making the atmosphere heavier. Kyungsoo stood in the middle of the room with his head held high, his eyes defiant but shining with intelligence.

 “Kyungsoo......” General Wolfe spoke from where he sat at the desk and rubbed his face, closing his eyes. “Why did you let him go?”

Kyungsoo stood as still as a statue. “I won’t let you execute someone who’s innocent.” He felt like a five-year-old child being chastised by his father.

“Is that the reason?” The general sighed again, leaning back on his chair. “How do you know he’s innocent?”

“I can’t tell you that sir,” Kyungsoo said firmly. The general studied him carefully with wise eyes.

“And why is that?”

“I-I still have to figure out a few things.”

“Kyungsoo, look–“ The general’s voice hardened. “You don’t have evidence, you don’t provide explanations. How am I supposed to help you get out of this? The Republican soldiers are all doubting your loyalty right now, me included.”

“I don’t expect to be forgiven,” Kyungsoo said, his lips pulled into a thin smile. “I humbly accept punishment, sir. Even though I know I did right by letting him go, it still makes me a traitor to the Republic.”

“No, no–“ The General held up his hands in defeat. “You’re one of my best men out there, Kyungsoo. I can’t do such a thing.” He rubbed his face tiredly. “I will however, ban you from activities for a week. You will not step out of your home until then.”

“Yes sir.” Kyungsoo said smartly, then turned around on his heel and proceeded to leave. The General called him back.

“Oh, Kyungsoo?”

“Yes, sir?” Kyungsoo looked back over his shoulder, gaze unwavering.

“Please be careful.” The general’s words sounded like an ominous warning. Kyungsoo was frozen for a while, then he bowed his head hesitantly and left.

~+~

Kyungsoo of course, have no choice but to go back to his apartment. On the way there, he walked past Alex, who averted her eyes. Kyungsoo wanted to laugh at the sight.

“Alex.” He called out to her, somehow expecting that she’ll ignore him. Instead, she stopped walking, her head hung low.

“Sir.” Her words came out stiffly. “About yesterday, I’m sor–“

“Stop.” Kyungsoo interrupted her, voice firm. “You were doing your duty, nothing more.”

“But Sir, I–“ Alex took a deep breath, locking eyes with him. “Y-Yes.”

Kyungsoo smiled and reached out to pat her head lightly. He thought he saw her blush, but then she bowed quickly and whirled around, mumbling that she had work to do. Kyungsoo chuckled, watching her go.

A few guards escorted him to the front door of his apartment even though he protested. He glared at them just before shutting the front door, letting them know that he wasn’t that easy to control.

The first thing he did was to rush over to Caramel, who barked happily and jumped into his arms. Kyungsoo hugged him tightly, his throat feeling tight with emotion.

“Gosh, Caramel.....” Kyungsoo whispered. “I don’t know what to do. I don’t even what’s happening, why I’m having all these weird dreams and why Kai just feels so familiar. I-I just know that I don’t want to lose someone important to me again.” Caramel whined and his face reassuringly, and Kyungsoo cracked a small smile. He then rose up slowly, letting Caramel down onto the floor.

He went to Victoria’s room. It was empty, except for a photo of them hugging together on the wall, and her laptop, sitting quietly on the desk. Kyungsoo sat down on the chair and started up the laptop. The screen flashed blue before the login page came up.

“Let’s see.....” Kyungsoo frowned. He tried her birthday. Error. He tried his birthday. Error. He even tried Caramel’s birthday, which also didn’t work.

Kyungsoo sighed in frustration. Caramel wound his tail around his legs, eventually settling down to lie lazily on the floor. Then something clicked. Kyungsoo sat up, eyes wide. He typed in 5 letters.

MR238

The cursor spinned around for a while, and Kyungsoo thought it wasn’t going to work. But then the login page disappeared and Kyungsoo was faced with a number of folders and files, all packed messily onto the desktop. His eyes darted over them quickly, absorbing the words.

CONFIDENTIAL: ALCHEMY

EXPERIMENTAL TEST 1: REPORT           

EXPERIMENTAL TEST 2: REPORT           

EXPERIMENTAL TEST 3: REPORT           

ANALYSIS ON GROWTH OF TEST SUBJECT #77

PHOTOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS ON TEST SUBJECTS #1–#89

Kyungsoo’s eyes grew wide with confusion, but his finger did not hesitate to click on one of the folders. He began reading, his fear slowly strengthening as he continued on.

Experimental Test 1: Report

This test was carried out to see the capability of the test subjects to withstand the high blood pressure of Outcast 23800’s blood. Out of 100 people, only 2 survived. The other 98 people died of either high blood pressure, bleeding of the internal organs or the malfunction of their nervous system, which eventually led to a brain infection and death. The causes for these are unknown, but it is believed that test subjects with a blood type of O have a greater probability of surviving.

The remaining 2 people who survived showed new amazing abilities. One was able to heal miraculously after being shot in the head. The other one unfortunately died after 23 hours and 10 minutes. The cause of this is unknown and was not predicted.

The Outcast, a healthy young boy of age 12, showed no signs of danger after the blood was extracted. After 24 hours, he has become normal again. He still had his healing abilities, but they where significantly weaker as he healed only 12 hours after being cut on his hand. His intelligence however, remained the same. His memory–

Kyungsoo stopped reading, his face etched with disgust. So that was it. The Republic had been conducting experiments on the Inferiors–but for what purpose? He clicked on the other folder, only to gasp and try not to vomit at the gruesome sight.

There were many photos. All were taken in the same room, but were filled with bloodbaths of broken and twisted bodies everywhere. There were children, there were old men and women, and there were young ladies and men. All of them had a haunting expression on their faces, as if something terrible had killed them brutally. And Kyungsoo can already guess what. 

He closed the laptop instantly and tried to breathe evenly, but his breath came out in ragged short gasps. Who had been doing such a thing?! Now he knew that Kai had been telling the truth about the annual election. Kyungsoo tried not to think of Kai’s friend, his body dripping in crimson with a the same haunted expression on his face. Now he knew why they wanted Kai. One Outcast probably wasn’t enough for their experiments.

Kyungsoo took out Victoria’s journal again and flipped through it, tears gathering in his eyes. They probably killed Victoria to silence what she knew. Knowing the strong sense of justice in her, she definitely wouldn’t just stand by and let the experiments go on. Kyungsoo cried out in frustration and slammed his fists down on the table, cursing himself. The book fell down open faced onto the floor. Kyungsoo stared at it, unblinking as realization dawned on him.

March 10^th 2044

Today I was assigned a very important, but odd task. Or so it seemed.

I was asked to take care of a little boy, no older than 12. Even though I laughed about it, the higher-ups were all very serious about it. It kind of feels ridiculous and suspicious at the same time. But of course I knew better than to talk back to my seniors.

When I first saw the boy, I was shocked. Never had I seen such empty, glassy eyes filled with no emotion. His whole presence felt so unreal, it almost made me think that he didn’t exist. There was also something else about him, something that I can’t make out. He seemed to have this strange power. I think the higher-ups felt it too, as they looked at him with uneasy, careful eyes, like he might spit fire.

I asked him his name, but he couldn’t reply. It was as if he wanted to know what his name was, he wanted to say it, but he just couldn’t remember. He was lost. Lost in a foreign place, with people he doesn’t know. My job was to make him feel welcome. I spotted tiny letters engraved on the necklace around his neck, a blue pendant. I assumed that was his name, so I asked him if it was his name. His eyes lighted up once, as if he finally remembered who he was, and then he said it. His name. I was so surprised that I was speechless for a while.

“Kyungsoo”.

That was his name.

Author's Note

OMG so sorry for updating so late!! I have exams coming up soon so the next update will probably be in a long time :s But anyways, this chapter reveals A LOT, hope you guys enjoy it! Please comment below and tell me your thoughts! :))

P.S. It's really interesting to see people come up with theories about what's happening next :3