July 10^th, 2264
Seoul, South Korea
2:23 PM


Jinri didn’t like to go out of her way for things that she didn’t believe were important. But at the moment she was having a battle with herself. Over the past few days, it had become evident that her friends had no idea what she was talking about, which meant she still had no idea how she had ended up in Daesun. However, even when it was clearly a logical choice to pursue the matter and find out what had happened, her mind seemed to keep brushing it off, as if something was telling her to just let it go. Any memory she had of the evening of July 6th had managed to elude her, and no matter how much it freaked her out, she couldn’t seem to raise a fuss about it. Which lead her to her current dilemma; should she continue to try and figure out what had happened? Or just drop it?

It didn’t seem that important, she was fine and hadn’t been hurt. She hadn’t lost her wallet or any valuables, except a present she had bought in Eumseong for one of her friends back in Tokyo. That itself was fairly annoying, since she couldn’t stand being on the tram for long periods of time without wanting to punch everyone around her, and it had taken her some time to get there and back.

Or did it?

The end of her journey was foggy, and only if she strained very hard did she recall even getting off the tram in Seoul.

Panic bubbled up in her system, and she fought it down tiredly, as bringing back the memory of getting off the tram brought to surface the memory of finding out what had happened the day she had gone missing.

After returning home and rinsing herself off with tap water as best she could, she had stumbled outside and found a discarded newspaper lying next to the trash. The headline pulled her attention enough that she scooped it up without a second thought.

‘CITY TRAM STATION DESTROYED; NO CASUALTIES’

The idea of an accident, and a major one like this too, incurring without anyone getting injured was extremely interesting and very rare. As she scanned the article, her eyes widened and her hand began to shake until the wrinkled paper slipped from her grasp.

What had scared her so much about the article was that it had happened around 4:40, when she would have been at the station. It was said everyone had been magically moved to the second floor of the building, so no one was actually at the site of the accident when it occurred. Piecing together what she knew nearly caused Jinri to have a panic attack.

She had gotten off at the Seoul Station, had been there until 4:40. Everyone was moved to the second floor and safe. And yet, she couldn’t remember any of that, and had also couldn’t recollect the next 24 hours. She would regain consciousness kilometers away from the original station, in a seedy destination, with no memory.

It was enough for anyone to freak out.

And yet, despite her extreme heart palpations and dizziness, Jinri felt no need to tell anyone for some reason. It was very unnerving, like there was a hand in her mind forcing her to look the other way.

The only explanation she could think of was an S4S16.

There was no way everyone had conveniently moved to another floor so no one got injured. Jinri was also fairly healthy, and her memory was usually pretty good, so this sudden blip in her mind’s records was very unusual. Both cases pointed at someone or something interfering, and the only people with that power would be the S4S16s.

But if that was true, if she had encountered an S4S16 on July 6^th, why had they made her forget? Wouldn’t it have been better for them if they had witnesses to their grand and wonderful deeds? Maybe the whole thing had been set up and Jinri had somehow witnessed something she wasn’t supposed to, leading to her separation from the other citizens and her different fate?

Whatever the reason, she was going to have to be careful in what she did, as well as stubborn; the weird thing in her mind kept trying to make her change her plans.

As she pulled herself from her thoughts, Jinri refocused on the task at hand. After realizing she had no gift, she had grumpily headed back out for another one. There was no way she was going to go all the way to Eumseong though, so she decided to just stay in Seoul. Now she was attempting to move through the crowds in the beautiful City, heading for a large, curved building shaped like a delicate flower bud, its crystal exterior glinting in the sunlight.

Once inside, she released a deep breath, glad to have escaped the crowds without beating anyone to a pulp. She didn’t like crowds. Ignoring everyone around her, she headed for the pods that teleported customers to different floors. As she stepped into one and watched the doors close behind her, she selected a number on the wall to her right. Suddenly the space around her shimmered, before solidifying as it stabilized. Air streamed into the compartment, and the door opened to reveal another floor, alive with crowds of people.

‘24^th Floor. Please exit as swiftly as possible and have a lovely day,’ a feminine voice spoke softly from the speakers inside the pod. She ignored it, and marched out; as soon as her presence left the compartment, the doors sealed shut and the air flickered beyond the glass doors, ready to receive other customers.

Moving onwards, she examined the shops around her. Loud signs and bright colors jumped out at her, pulling her eyes from one place to the next. Some moved, as if alive, enticing her to step closer, to enter the store. Jinri had become jaded to the mechanical wonders over the years however, and turned her attention elsewhere. Slipping her hands into the hidden pockets of her mid-thigh top, she prowled towards one shop in particular, a store promising unique and authentically Korean gifts. It looked like a rip off, and she doubted any of the gifts were actually made in Korea, but her friend didn’t know that. What she didn’t know wouldn’t hurt her. However, her friend’s opinion over her gift was one of the last things on Jinri’s mind. She was still mulishly puzzling over what could have happened with the S4S16s.

Grabbing some random object that looked pretty and Korean, she quickly purchased it. As she waited for the pricey item to be wrapped, her mind poked at her conscious, trying to distract her from her buzzing thoughts of the evening of July 6^th.

Thanking the clerk absentmindedly, she walked out of the store into the mass of people. With a sense of déjà vu, someone brushed roughly past Jinri, knocking the package out of her hand.  

A foggy repeat of a memory began to overlap itself in her mind, and as if moving in slow motion, she darted after the gift, her hand reaching out for it. She watched as a foot was about to step on it, and let out a bark of annoyance. The foot suddenly kicked backward as the person fell, waving their arms around, to avoid landing on the package. Hitting the ground with a thud, and a few choice words that Jinri couldn’t quite hear over the crowd, the person, a young girl, picked up her package to save it from another foot that was about to wreck it. Walking over to her savior, Jinri smiled down at the Indian girl wearing the purple sweater, relaxing for the first time that day. Reaching out a hand to help her up, Jinri chuckled.

“Thank you, that’s the second time I’ve done that in the past week. I really need to buy some super glue; that’ll keep me from dropping thi-“

As the girl grasped her hand and pulled herself up, the words died on Jinri’s lips. A flash of gold and a low hum emitted from their hands, and suddenly it was like a curtain had been lifted from her mind.

Memories came flooding back, of walking off the train, dropping her previous gift, having a girl with a braid step on it. Chasing after the girl to talk to her, hearing a rumble, hearing a pop. A train moving too fast, two strange boys, one a Lee clansman, the other wearing goggles and an old maroon jacket, appearing. Both S4S16s. Another girl showing up, the Lee clansman grabbing them, teleporting them, using his Power. Suddenly they’re in a library, more people, more S4S16s, someone is throwing up, and someone is bleeding to death. A group of S4S16s join them; too many, too many for Jinri. She wants to panic, but holds it in; no sign of weakness for these monsters to exploit. Too many names thrown around, Ji Ae, Sungjong, Sunyeol, Sunggyu, Dongwoo, Hoya, Sanghee and Tablo; too many people. Tablo; a living legend, the deadliest S4S16 of them all; he was in this room, too close for Jinri. Feeling the urge to scream, to run, but holding it in. Suddenly they’re talking, like people; no, no, no, words run through Jinri’s head; it’s all wrong, S4S16s are monsters, they kill! The one with the black eyes, the blonde hair is suddenly chasing her again, down that alley, following her as she flees to her family’s restaurant. Suddenly everything is burning again, the smell of roasted human flesh fills her nostrils; it’s like her older memories are getting entangled with her forgotten ones.

But everything is on fast forward, she can’t slow it down; her mind wants to recover the memories she lost and is too greedy to take things leisurely. She had said something; she had mentioned the Wando Institute. Everyone was upset, angry; what a stupid idea, who the hell would mention that horrible incident to a bunch of pissed off S4S16s. Jinri, that’s who; she couldn’t help it, she was angry, feeling betrayed that the other human girls were actually listening to the monsters. Tablo had said something, something about taking them back. The one named Sungjong moved towards them, his eyes gleaming gold in the dark. Even as she watched and heard Ji Ae muttered a curse, she was too late to react. Sunggyu had frozen time, kept them from running, and Sungjong must have overwritten their minds, a forceful memory lapse. Or at least, tried.

Pulling herself back into reality was like resurfacing after diving too deep. It was a struggle, and when she finally felt like herself, she shook her head, her chest heaving for breath. A sudden wave of dizziness hit her, and she bent over, feeling ill. Fighting the bile rising in , she chanced a peek around her for the girl, the one who had given her back her memory. Nowhere in sight, while her gift sat at her feet. How did she know she had been forced to forget something? The girl must have been an S4S16. What was she doing in the mall? Then again, Sungyeol and Sunggyu had proved that the S4S16 population wasn’t afraid to leave the slums for the City. Forcing the air back into her lungs, she pulled herself together the best she could and stood up straight, trying to look over the moving forms for the little Indian girl with the purple hoodie.  

She thought she saw a flash of color, and without hesitation, she ran after it, pushing thought the crowds forcefully. If her memory had been wiped, then Ji Ae and Sanghee had probably gone through the same thing. She needed to get theirs back; she refused to be the only one baring the secret of what had happened that night. Another hint of purple, so close; Jinri surged forward, desperate, and reached out, grasping for a piece of the cloth. The feeling of soft fabric beneath her fingertips was unbelievable, a massive relief. Gripping hard, she almost ran into the girl; thank God she hadn’t been chasing the wrong person.

The girl turned around, curious as to what had been grabbing her. Her eyes widened when she saw Jinri, and she smiled, unsure and uneasy. “Hello again. Can I help you?”

She probably saw the wild look in her eyes and thought she was crazy, Jinri thought, a small smile returning to her face. “Actually, yes you could. My name is Yoon Jinri,” she held out her hand, fighting the small part of her that recoiled at the thought of touching an S4S16. This was much more important than that now. “I need your help actually.”

 The girl blinked, glanced down at her hand and shrugged, reaching for it. A friendly grin lit her face up, “Hey! I’m Kwon Francesca. But you can call me Fran! Whadja’ need?”

-v-v-v-

July 10^th, 2264
Seoul, South Korea
 

Looking out over the City, Sanghee couldn’t help but recall the discussion with her father. It had gone better than expected, but that didn’t mean much. The disappointment in his face had been evident as he spoke to her, face-to-holographic face. Her mother hadn’t even spoken to her since, her distress preventing her from saying anything that was understandable. After her father was positive that she felt guilty and miserable for what she had done, he asked what she had done. She informed him that she had no memory, but wished to stay in Korea for another week. Immediately, her father had gone into overbearing father mode, worried something had happened to her, but after reassuring him many times over that she was fine and had seen a doctor and everything, he let it go.

His final decision was that she could stay in Korea for another week, under the supervision of a family friend. It was a little embarrassing since Sanghee was 20, and by no means needed a supervisor, but she let it go, since she had worried them sick. As well, when she returned home, she was to have a serious chat with her parents concerning her future choices. She didn’t like the sound of that.

Someone walked closer near her, the vibrations rippling against her bare feet. She glanced over to make eye contact with her ‘supervisor’, Soojung.

Choi Soojung was an odd woman; just a few months older then Sanghee, she had met the Shin family when she was 9 when they had come to visit Korea. Her parents had become fast friends with Sanghee’s mother and father, and Soojung had decided to take on the role of teacher, instructing Sanghee and her brother Jae Sun, on the ways of the Korean language. She was the reason they even knew how to speak it. When her parents died when she was 10, the Shin family had offered to adopt her and her brothers, but her eldest brother refused, mostly out of pride. He was of legal age to support them, and took over the ownership of the chain of hotels her parents had own. In fact, all of the Choi siblings had worked hard for years to earn the care and respect that was now held for them to this day.

As they had gotten older, they still spoke and occasionally hung out when Sanghee visited Korea, however they had taken different paths as time had gone on. Sanghee was forced to restrict her activities because of her weaknesses, and Soojung did the opposite, going on to do many things, like taking pilot classes, learning about vehicles, performing in races. It seemed that once she saw her brothers’ control over the family business was secure, she decided to finally let loose all of her personality that she had been forced to restrain when her parents had passed away. At the age of 16, she had moved out and now lived on the 57^th floor of one of Seoul’s best condos.

Soojung had been busy the last time the Shin family had visited Korea, about a week and a half ago, but she respectfully accepted the role Sanghee’s father wanted her to perform now without hesitation; adult babysitter. Even now, Sanghee began to recall why she had adored Soojung when they had been younger.

‘Hey you,’ Soojung winked, spreading her arms wide and dancing back a few steps to give Sanghee a full view of her wardrobe outfit, ‘think this will do for a day of riding?’

Her long black hair was pulled back in a tight pony tail, her bangs fashionable held back with a few choice bobby pins. From neck to lower hip she wore a long sleeve grey riding jacket, the arm cuffs skin tight and reaching out in a v-formation over the back of her hands. Her hands were covered in black gloves with black leather finger tips, and her skin tight pants echoed the design; pure black except for the kneecaps and the long thin strips along the sides, which were made of the same, dyed leather. Little black boots peaked out from under her pant leg, which only confused Sanghee as to how she managed to tuck the remaining boot underneath the already tight cloth.

 Despite how boiling the woman looked in the outfit, the sun blazing behind her in the sky, Sanghee knew better than to say anything. Soojung only picked the best outfits, based off the vehicle she rode, the occasion and the weather; for all Sanghee knew, her clothing probably had tiny stripes that allowed air to circulate, and prevented her from getting heat .

‘Huh? Huh? Do I look good, or what?’ Soojung prodded while wiggling her eyebrows, grinning and spinning around, carefree.

Giggling and shaking her head, Sanghee pointed at her backside, ‘You have a sticker on your .’

‘What?!’ She spun around, trying to see the nonexistent sticker that her friend had pointed out.

‘Just kidding. You look spectacular. So are we going now? I thought we had to go get your license from your repair shop?’ Soojung worked part time at a mechanic shop, just for fun, and had accidentally left her wallet there this morning, along with her license to drive both air and ground vehicles.

Soojung stopped moving around for a moment and shrugged guiltily, ‘Yeah, well, yah see, I was thinking we could just wing it and take one of my bikes over and try to not get caught? We should be fine if we don’t speed or break the lines,’ she added hurriedly, looking out the window. Her father should really reconsider who he thinks are good role models for her, Sanghee thought lightly, fighting a smile.

‘I guess who could try. Just be sure to obey the traffic laws, alright?’ Soojung had a bad habit of sometimes pushing her limits, as well as the laws. It didn’t always end well.

The older woman kicked at the ground and grinned, both her hands going up to tighten her ponytail, ‘Sounds good! I was going to take Signor. Grab a helmet and meet me out on the dock in 3 minutes.’ She paused at the door, looking her up and down. ‘You sure you wanna wear that on Signor?’ Signor was her fastest hover bike, and one of her favorites. Even Sanghee thought her long skirt may be too much. But she was too lazy to change out it and just brushed aside Soojung’s comment.

‘Yeah, I’ll be fine. I’ll throw on some shorts underneath or something.’

‘Suit yourself; be out in 2!’

-v-v-v-
 
                The dock was a section of Soojung’s condo that had been hollowed out to store all of her air vehicles. She had 5 in total, 4 more than the average person. They were also all top quality vehicles and were quite pricey. ‘Signor’ sat at the edge of the dock a rumbling purr emitting from him, just outside of the building; Soojung had lifted her ‘garage door’ and her bike, so it didn’t tumble thousands of feet to the ground when she shoved it off the edge. Heading over to her fellow rider, Sanghee slid on her helmet, after carefully tucking her hair underneath, and moved to sit behind Soojung. The other woman looked behind her, her head cocked in a silent question: was she ready to go? With a nod from the other girl, Soojung turned and brought Signor roaring to life, pulling slowly away from the condo. Making sure to close the condo door to discourage thieves, they flew off, heading for the Middle, the little stretch of land that stood between the slums and the City.

-v-v-v-

  
“Hyung, the stains won’t come out of the carpet. Make Sungyeollie clean it up, why do I have to?!”

Sunggyu glanced up from where he had been petting one of Dongwoo’s dogs. Sungjong had stamped his foot down to emphasis his point and was scowling fiercely in his direction. Raising an eyebrow, the man leaned back and crossed his arms.

“It’s your job because you’re the youngest,” He replied, smiling teasingly. “All of us had to go through with cleaning up blood from each other.”

The healer huffed, crossing his arms, while delivering a frosty look at him. “I may be the youngest, but I was one of the first to meet Tablo hyung. I’ve been here the longest!”

Rolling his eyes, Sunggyu shook his head. “You haven’t been here the longest; that would be me and Sungyeol and Mei, thanks. Then you, then Woohyun, Dongwoo, Hoya and Myungsoo. Anyways, you know the stain is just setting in deeper with all the time you’re spending arguing.”

Wrinkling his nose and flicking his head to the side, Sungjong turned back to scrub at the ground, “Old man.”

Sunggyu moved to stand from his position in one of the overstuffed chairs, “Aish, cheeky-“

Suddenly the world flickered out of focus, white and black blotches covering his vision, like the reverse effect of burning film. Slowing taking in a deep breath, Sunggyu forced himself to sit back down, fighting through the familiar fog, a difficult process. The process of receiving a vision could radically differ from each occurrence, but Sunggyu had been having them for years. His experience thankfully allowed him to have slight control over the situation; it had been a long time since he had woken up from a vision coated with bruises from collapsing in random locations.

He faintly heard Sungjong calling his name before he was pitched into pure darkness and absolute silence. The strange sensation of floating bolstered his body from the rolling stomach feeling of falling. Suddenly there was a ground beneath him, and random pieces of a scene began to set themselves up before him. He crossed his arms as he patiently waited for the scene to be completed. It took what felt like years, but in reality, was probably a few seconds. He was surrounded by people, standing in what appeared to be a large domed room; corridors supported by massive stone pillars stretched out in front of him, as well as to his left and right. It took but a moment for him to recognize the location; the Seoul Atlas Library. Created roughly a hundred years ago, it had originally been a small and simple building on the outskirts of the city. However, as decay and over population had taken over the land, the library was suddenly part of the regrowth of the City, as the other libraries were swallowed into the Slums. It had been rebuilt a number of times, growing in size and knowledge each time, until it became one of Korea’s finest jewels.

Unfortunately, Sunggyu knew that if he was having a vision of this building, no good would occur for it.

Appearing from the right, Sungyeol and Myungsoo ran across his line of vision. He bit back his sense of relief at seeing them; he didn’t want to get his hopes up that this would just be a vision of them saving the day. There was a reason he was here.

The air rippled and everything stopped moving; he was here as well. Of course; he had to be at every scene to prevent the humans from spooking and running. His eyes followed the lone figure as vision-Sunggyu picked his way through the crowd, careful to not brush his hands against anyone. As he reached where Sungyeol and Myungsoo stood, mid-step, he brushed his fingertips against their shoulders. They fell to the ground, panting and shaking their heads.

“Sunggyuuuu, next time, give us a little warning, eh?” Sungyeol whined while picking himself up, as Myungsoo brushed his own pants off busily.

Vision-Sunggyu ignored him, passing them each a device, keeping one for himself. “We have to hurry; Tukutz’ batteries can only hold for ten minutes, remember? And we have to get this center room clear before the bombs go off.”

Sunggyu frowned as he heard those words. He hadn’t had a vision about a bombing. How would he have known to go here without that? Something must have changed the vision drastically enough that he didn’t get time to even experience the original version.

The other man had continued speaking, “…and make a 100 feet perimeter. I’ll count to three, and we’ll turn them all on, okay?”

Myungsoo and Sungyeol nodded grimly, all business now, before setting off at apposing angles from him. Vision-Sunggyu let out a moan, sweat beading on his brow; Sunggyu couldn’t help but feel a prick of pity and worry for himself. No matter how often he froze time, it was always difficult; no amount of practice made it easier. For those ten minutes, he had to hold the world still, and freeze everything, from the smallest raindrop to the largest stampede of animals. Because of how public their rescues had become, he couldn’t chance not holding everything still; it would only take one person to walk into the building and notice something was amiss. If a whole city went still, the world would notice. So everything had to pause, just for a few moments.

The man in front of him lifted the back of his shirt briefly to glance over his shoulder at a trio set of foot long tubes strapped against his back. Tukutz’ batteries. The man had the ability to give energy to anyone as long as he was near or touching the person. Thankful, Tablo, Mithra and Tukutz’ had managed to develop a creation that allowed him to store large quantities of his Power and give it to the others to use through the use of the ‘batteries’, and needles feeding from the storage supplies directly in the blood stream. They were the reason the boys had been able to move on to saving more people with less risk to themselves and their public identities.
 
Myungsoo and Sungyeol were lost among the immobile crowds, until they reached their positions and waved their hands in the air for vision-Sunggyu to see. Nodding, the man lifted his own device and began to prepare it, twisted different knobs and touching a small holographic screen. Lifting the device up, he yelled, “Alright, you guys ready? On the count of three. One.”

Something seemed wrong here. Sunggyu frowned, glancing around quickly as he tried to find the error in the picture. Everything was going to well.

“Two.” Vision Sunggyu brushed his fingers over the screen again, and a high pitched humming erupted from the device. Two more twin keening noises joined the air, echoing from Sungyeol and Myungsoo’s locations. Thin green lines appeared in a triangle formation, connecting between the machines, and safely enclosing the first batch of people in an oily blue sheen.

Something wasn’t right.

“Thre-“

Suddenly a single gunshot rang through the air. Blinking, vision-Sunggyu moved to touch the hole in the center of his temple, before a sigh escaped his mouth. He fell like a bag of rocks. Sungyeol’s screams ripped through the silence, followed by Myungsoo’s worried calling.

“Sunggyu? SUNGGYU!?”

His voice was lost as vision-Sunggyu’s Power vanished, releasing its hold on the world, bringing everything back to life in a burst of sound and movement. Numbly, Sunggyu stared at his body, not even registering the screams that were triggered throughout the crowd as his body was discovered, sticky crimson blood pooling around his head. He opened his mouth and closed it, shock preventing any words from escaping, and could only watch was Sungyeol and Myungsoo barreled through the crowd, launching themselves at his body, tears streaking from their widened eyes.

Even as he felt the edges of the world around him fall apart as the vision ended, he could still hear Myungsoo shaking Sungyeol’s shoulder, his voice rough with emotion, “Sungyeol, we have to go, we have to go! Take us back to Tablo’s, now!”

The last thing he saw before the final edges of his view peeled away was Sungyeol sobbing, his body wracking with his howling, as he rocked back and forth clutching vision-Sunggyu’s bloody corpse.

HIS bloody corpse.


A_A_A_A

A/N

Sorry that took so long; I started University for my second year and it’s been chaotic. I was going to add more, but I thought you guys have waited long enough; plus this is 10 pages already, sooooo. Yeah! Hope you guys like this! Please comment to let me know how I’m doing! I like to hear your reactions :>

Thank you Wynthe for the comment; I shall reply as soon as possible!

Thank you to all the subscribers, commenter’s and readers!

Love,
WhosThere13

PS Hmmmm Gonna go play Mario 64 when I have time. Hmmmm that game makes me happy.