Solar Soldiers

“Master, who is that?” Junhong pointed through the window in his new bedroom at a group of men walking together down the winding streets of the city. Black jackets fell to their ankles, and collars hid their faces up to their cheeks. As they walked down the sidewalk, many people stopped with a look of fear in their eyes. The men didn't bother to interact. They spoke among each other, and even then, only small phrases were uttered between them.

Yongguk looked away from the book in his lap, and looked out of the window. He brushed his hair away from his face to get a better view as he leaned his body against the window pane. Suddenly his eyes widened at the sight of the men, and without warning, he shoved Junhong away from the window.

“Empyreal soldiers.” Yongguk mumbled while he hid Junhong from the view of the soldiers. They walked away from the street, but Yongguk waited until they were absolutely out of sight to let out a breath that he had been holding.

The soldiers' long black coat had blue and green highlights outlining the ends of them, and their boots were a shade of deep gray. Their hair was short and spiked, and even though you couldn't see past their reflective, demonically dark glasses, their eyes were terrifying. Yongguk looked at Junhong, and while Junhong was forgiving of his master for the shove, he still looked very hurt. A sudden rush of guilt washed over Yongguk, and he brushed Junhong's hair away from his flawless face.

“Junhong, I didn't mean to push you like that. I'm so sorry.”

“No matter, master.” Junhong rose from the bed, hiding his gaze from Yongguk's. “What's wrong? Who are those men?” Yongguk frowned in response.

“Please don't take what I did to heart. I didn't mean it.”

“Master.” Junhong said firmly, brushing off the apology. “It's quite all right. I accept.”

“But... I feel terrible because we just saw your abused companion a while ago, and I said I would never abuse my own personal robots, and then I pushed you.” Yongguk ranted, hoping Junhong was listening even slightly.

Junhong cocked his head. “Unless you meant it as abuse, it's not abuse.” He said, and he gave his master a quick nod. “Will you please explain what an empyreal soldier is? I think I heard you mutter that... unless you didn't want me to hear!”

Yongguk felt ridiculously guilty, and after a few more apologies, Junhong crossed his arms over his chest in defiance. He had seen Jieun do the same when she was impatient with Yongguk. Yongguk couldn't help but smile at how adorable Junhong was, especially when he was trying to be serious.

“Okay, okay.” Yongguk said. Junhong relaxed and smiled. “Empyreals are.... They're officers of the government. They don't do much other than keep the cities functioning, and tranquil. They're robots, as you are, but they feel no emotion.” Yongguk paused. “Like, when you saw Tia scared of her master, what was your first instinct?”

“To protect her.” Junhong replied quickly. “I had to save her.”

“Yes!” Yongguk approved. “Just that! These robots, the empyreals, they do not feel like they must protect others. Only the rules. They protect the rules, but to no purpose. They just protect it for the sake of protecting it.” Yongguk continued. He felt like he still wasn't getting his point across, yet he didn't know any other way to say it.

Junhong slowly responded. “I understand. But why did you push me?”

Yongguk chewed on his bottom lip. “It's been rumored that the empyreals like to take robots for, “study,” as they call it. It hasn't happened in a while, but there's no such thing as being too careful, right?” Yongguk shivered at the thought of any of his bots being taken by the solar soldiers. They were not loving officers. “I just don't want you to be taken, Junhong. The empyreals— well, they also apprehend criminals. Torture them. Hurt them.” Yongguk spat out the last part.

“Why are they here?” Junhong's tone of voice was slightly terrified now. “Are there criminals in the town?”

Yongguk shrugged. “I'm not sure.” He looked out of the window. Many of the citizens spoke quietly, most likely discussing the soldiers that had just stormed past them. “But they're gone now. They should be in the next town within the hour.” Hopefully.

Junhong grinned, and ran his fingers along the silk blankets of his own bed.

“Thank you for the room.” He said, adding to the amount of times he thanked Yongguk for the room. His eyes twinkled with happiness. “Oh, if I could, I would embrace you, master!”

Yongguk considered the idea. Another embrace wouldn't have hurt anybody. It was just a hug, after all. Yongguk had with Himchan and considered it less that a benefit between friends. An embrace was nothing. But the thought of when Junhong first hugged him was still in the back of his mind. Why had Yongguk's face flushed when Junhong wrapped his arms around him, if Yongguk said it was nothing more than an embrace?

“You're too kind.” Yongguk said, messing with Junhong's hair. He sat next to his beloved bot, staring into the comforting glasz eyes that met his gaze halfway. Junhong was so innocent, Yongguk thought. So kind, and naive. “Junhong, how do you feel about Himchan and I?” Yongguk asked. Junhong tilted his head.

“I don't understand.” Junhong's voice was delicate “I accept what my master does. You're my master.”

“But how do you feel....” Yongguk sighed in defeat. He didn't have the words to express what he was feeling. “Do you like Himchan?”

“Himchan has been very kind to me.” Junhong nodded. “I consider him an acquaintance.”

“And you don't mind what we're doing?” Yongguk asked while he pushed Junhong's hair away from his face. Junhong shook his head, grinning from ear to ear.

“If master doesn't mind, then I don't mind.”

***

“Are you ready?” Yongguk's voice was quiet.

“Yes, master.” Junhong nodded.

“I'm gonna put it in.”

“Yes, master. I-I'm ready.”

Yongguk slipped the USB drive into a small slot nearing Junhong's back. Junhong slid his eyes shut, and then opened them again, but his eyes were blank, gray. After situating himself at the desk, Yongguk pulled out his glass keyboard, tapping the keys softly.

“Let's see what he can do.” Yongguk pushed a headset to his ear. Although he never used it for his cell phone, he did use it for internet hacking. It was a way to keep contact with other hackers, without having to type it all out. Their voices were altered through the headsets, so nobody could determine who a person was through their voice.

Yongguk first opening the paranoid linux system, which he used to hide his hacking activity with fake chat rooms, and emails being sent to false a false email address. Yongguk then opened his server, typing in “936777” in the user entry, with which is opened Junhong's server. However, even with the linux system in effect, Yongguk never spent more than five minutes on a page for fear that his IP address would be retrieved by a government spy and Yongguk would be arrested. And Yongguk would never, under any circumstances, allow his computer to blue screen. The blue screen meant that his files would be wiped, and that meant Junhong's memory being wiped. Another repercussion was the fact that your bot could never be used to hack again.

Although Yongguk didn't think he would mind if he couldn't hack with Junhong, he did like how fast Junhong was working at the system. In less than a few seconds, Yongguk was searching through the government's data. He hoped the reason the empyreals were in town was somewhere in the articles. Curiosity killed the cat, Yongguk thought, but he was still living.

Yongguk found a page concerning the empyreals. “Read paragraph three through of the article aloud, please, Junhong.”

“Yes, master.” Junhong's voice was uncomfortably robotic. Yongguk didn't like the nearly emotionless sound to Junhong's voice. Then Junhong's eyes transitioned to a light shade of gray as he began to read off of the page.

“Lieutenant General Jung Daehyun issued a warning to all empyreal soldiers pertaining the safety of the people, and the towns. There has been rumor of a code 291; rogue robot, accompanied by Squadron ST's rebellion leader, Yoo Youngjae, age 18. The rogue robot described by many witnesses, is a fembot, nearly age 16 or 17, reddish brown hair. The rogue's clothes are described as worn, torn, dirty, and most likely child-like, possibly blue pants. Warning; said rogue robot is said to be armed, dangerous, and causing heavy destruction to anyone, and anything in its path.

“Squadron ST's rebellion leader, Yoo Youngjae, is described as a rough looking juvenile male. Height is five foot ten, weight undefined. Clothes are dark, and most likely worn. Yoo Youngjae escaped juvenile prison through ways currently unknown to the public. Youngjae, after leading the rebellion that caused the destruction and ultimate demise of Squadron ST, is danger. Again; dangerous. Empyreals have been sent on foot to search for any sign of Youngjae. Citizens of all squadrons are warned to stay inside of their homes, lock all doors in the home, and show no obvious signs of movement to keep safe.

“We advise many masters and mistresses to watch their bots carefully, as the fembot accompanying Youngjae is a skilled hacking bot, and could, at any given moment, infiltrate a robot's defenses. Empyreals are currently searching for the reason the rogues are running. Sources claim Youngjae is searching revenge, but this is unconfirmed. Citizens must know that if they are seen helping or harboring a fugitive, they will be killed on sight. If citizens have hints or tips about the rogues, allow them to reach the emergency line. A statement about the rogues will be issued in a week if not captured within that time. If said rebels are caught and quarantined before a week's time, government officials are to say that the empyreals were doing nothing but an annual sweep, and should not be worried.”

Yongguk swallowed hard. A rogue robot? It had been years since a robot had rebelled, and the last one had caused so many deaths. Yongguk remembered fearing for his bot's safety, as Zinger was just a tyke at the time.

“Please read paragraph seven aloud.”

“Yes, master.”

“Government officials are calling the rogue team a scamp at the time, since of the small threat from the team. They are extremely loyal to their rebel cause, and they will stop at nothing to satisfy their hunger for revenge. While it is still unclear what the rogues are fighting for, it is clear that they are willing to kill others to reach their goal. Officials have just received a body count of seven dead in squadron 9V, and hear rumors of a body count of at least twelve in Squadron FE. The rogues have been on the run for two weeks. The rogues, as said before, are armed, dangerous, lethal, and most likely without mercy for anyone, or anything. Generals advise a serious warning to citizens and their well being.”

Yongguk leaned forward. “Thank you, Junhong.” He his fingers against the keyboard, quickly closing the pages, but he saved the article. After saving the article on his computer, Yongguk opened his encrypted email server, sending the file to Himchan. He must have seen the empyreals, there was no way he could miss them. After all, Himchan walked to school every day. He couldn't have missed the empyreals walking that morning.

“Get ready for deactivation, Junhong.” Yongguk walked up behind Junhong, his hand traveling to the part where the USB met Junhong's skin. Yongguk carefully slipped the USB out of Junhong's back. Junhong stared blankly at the ground before his eyes restored to the breathtaking colors they always were. Junhong rubbed his eyes as though he had woken up from a long nap.

“Did I do good, master? Did I satisfy?”

“You did fantastic, Junhong! Better than expected.” Yongguk helped Junhong off of the high table by lacing their fingers together. “But I think we'll keep you away from the hacking for a while.” It was probably be in everybody's best interests if Junhong stayed off the grid for a while.

“Why?” Junhong asked, frowning slightly. “Did I do something wrong?”

“No, of course not!” Yongguk exclaimed, and tapped his finger on Junhong's soft nose. “But there are some rogues running around the squadrons.”

“Rogues?” Junhong's eyes widened like a puppy's, and Yongguk couldn't resist the urge to coo. He did so, but quietly.

“They're evil people, Junhong. They're killing others. One of them is a bot like you, but not with the same values.” Yongguk said, realizing that a grimace was now on his face. He was speaking firmly, trying to keep the distaste for the rogues out of his mind. “She could hack into your defense. I would never risk that.”

Junhong clasped his hands together behind his back. “Why? Am I not strong enough? I'll become stronger!” Junhong punched at the fake air, throwing a few weak punches with giggles coming out of his mouth.

“No!” Yongguk said again. Junhong jumped at how fast his master spoke. “No, no, you're very strong, Junhong. It's just that....” Yongguk paused. What was the reason for the concern of his bot? What was Yongguk so scared of? Junhong was a very complex robot, he could probably handle more than anybody thought he could. He was stronger than anybody could actually tell. It was the simple fact that Yongguk could lose Junhong that scared him. What if this fembot was harsher than a blue screen? What if she wiped Junhong's memories and emotions? Sure, Junhong was only a few weeks old, but to lose the bot that Yongguk had grown so fond of in less than a second was something he would not allow.

“What, master?”

“I don't... I don't want to lose you. Just as I don't want to lose you to the empyreals, I don't want to lose you to the fembot either.” Yongguk said. He inhaled after saying the entire sentence without taking a breath. “You are very important to me, Junhong.”

“And you are important to me as well, master.” Junhong smiled.

“Then you understand why I don't want to lose you.” Yongguk straightened Junhong's shirt out. “You're previous to me, just as Jieun, Zinger, and Kiyah are. If not, more important.” He said in a whisper. “But you don't tell them I said that.”

“Yes, master.” Junhong giggled.

Yongguk brushed a few stray hairs from Junhong's face, and he leaned close to Junhong's ear, murmuring soft words on his cheek.

“Have you ever heard music, Junhong?”

Le sigh... sorry this is so late >w< but thanks for sticking with me! I got a little update in before I went on my mini hiatus though c:

I'm also excited to say I've put up a oneshot involving a couple that didn't include BAP members! :O Out of 32 stories I've written so far on this site, it's the first not about BAP! It's a little Yunjae oneshot that I should have up by today or tomorrow which you can find here.
Hope you check it out!~ ^w^
& I hoped you liked this chapter~ Don't forget you leave me some feedback <3