Inequality

Chapter 15 – During Those Years

“V.”

V flinched at the tone and looked away. He had ruined the atmosphere. He knew it. He sighed and Akari turned to him and asked, “How did Jungkook catch his attention?”

“Jungkook... he... He can control memories.”

Everyone stilled in the room. Akari wracked her brain for some sort of information regarding the younger boy. Jungkook was well known for being the Golden child to begin with. His physical abilities were top notch, his mental capacity was above average, had a good personality, and to top it all off, he was young.

Youth.

That's what Clovis was after. Akari groaned at the realization.

His ability didn't awaken yet.

“God damn it all,” Akari hissed. V flinched once more and Akari noticed. She sighed and ran a hand through her hair before gently ruffling V's hair.

“It's not your fault, and I'm not mad at you either. You did well for sending Kookie off.”

“I hope he wasn't caught...” V mumbled. Akari nodded and she sighed. The only long range connection she had was with Dongjun. Wait. Dongjun.

Akari closed her eyes, and Chen recognized the calm and composed expression that suddenly came over her. Akari felt the same tingling feeling as Dongjun responded.

Morning sunshine, Dongjun chuckled. He glanced around his prison cell and Akari asked, How've you been?

Fine. They still hate me for letting you go, but they can't do anything about me. You know, they gave me an inmate.

Who? Akari asked, intrigued. Dongjun sighed, Our golden child. Jungkook. He's been unconscious for almost half a day though.

Akari almost lost her composure at the information. They had left Jungkook with Dongjun? What?!

I overheard, Jungkook developed Manipulation. They had originally labeled it as mind control, but apparently, whatever Jungkook says stays with them permanently. It's a bit scary. Considering it's pretty much Overwrite in an even scary sense. Dongjun explained. He peeked open to see Jungkook still asleep beside him and he closed his eyes once more and continued, Security has been lax recently though. Clovis has asked for a reevaluation of the people working as guards so...

Best time to strike would be now. Akari finished for him. Dongjun nodded, and Akari could mentally feel the affirmation. She sighed, and Dongjun chuckled and he said, You know how to get here. It'll be easier to just teleport in. The walls are down actually, since it's easier for teleporters to just warp people from the prison to the evaluation sight.

Let me inform the others then. Akari mumbled. Dongjun smiled, and he said, We'll be waiting.

Akari cut the connection first and she sighed and slumped against Chen, catching the boy by surprise as she rested her forehead on his shoulder.

“A-Akari?”

“Dongjun and Jungkook...”

She paused and she closed her eyes again while resting against Chen, reaching out to Luhan and the other five boys. Her telekinesis wasn't as strong as Luhan's, but she tried her best to mentally link all eight of them together.

We have a mission. Akari mumbled.

I thought you were Luhan hyung for a moment Akari-sshi, you scared me! Tao pouted. Xiumin and Lay laughed and V smiled. Akari shook her head fondly and she said, Head over to Chen's place. We'll be in the guest room waiting.

We're not moving to the living room? Chen and V asked. Akari pouted and she mumbled, I'm comfortable already.

Kris chuckled and he said, Give us a few minutes then.

A couple of minutes later, everyone had filed in and took up all the space in the guest room. Only Kris and Luhan opted to stand up instead of sitting/laying down on the bed or occupying the vanity chair.

“So, what's the mission?” Xiumin asked as he tried fixing his hair. Akari looked at V and she began recollecting what had just happened. That there were three people now known to be alive, and only two were in a condition that they could rescue them in.

“But L hyung,” V mumbled. Akari shook her head and she said, “Too risky. We don't even know where he is.”

Xiumin glanced back and forth between Akari and V and he timidly asked, “I'm just curious, but... why are there only so few of you guys left?”

V glanced at Akari who shrugged. She honestly didn't know, after all, she was missing for a good four years. V scratched the back of his neck and he said, “To be honest, I'm not even sure. Six years ago, when the war first started, there was over two hundred of us. We were classified by elements... and then at one point we were all partitioned into groups of 4 to 13. With the exception of Akari noona and Dongjun hyung. Those two were the top duo. They were the elites of the army.”

V smiled and he said, “I still remember, whenever noona and hyung walked by...”

“They practically worshipped us,” Akari shook her head fondly at the memory. She would never forget the looks of appreciation. Akari and Dongjun had pushed for better treatment for their fellow comrades that suffered under the same rule, controlled by the same fear.

“But then.. it was the day that Akari noona had defied Clovis that everything went spiraling downhill.”

Akari frowned, and she mumbled, “Sick bastard tried marrying me.”

“What?!” Chen interrupted. Everyone looked at him and his face flushed red and he mumbled, “My bad.”

A low growl emitted from Akari and V mumbled, “It's disgusting. Just thinking back on it disgusts me.”

“What happened?” Tao asked softly. Akari hissed, “I fought against him.”

She was trembling and she could see the images flashing through. The memory of that day. Was she the reason why Clovis had taken a turn for the worse? Or I suppose, became even worse.

Clovis reached the limits of his sanity, and madness touched him. Akari sighed, “So what happened after Clovis tossed me into prison?”

“The guy went nuts,” V declared. V shook his head and he said, “Something about making a human weapon that surpassed you noona.”

“Those didn't turn out so well,” Lay chuckled. Everyone nodded in agreement and V said, “It was kind of stupid. And then he developed a strain of viruses that were similar to noona's ability, but... you know what happened to those.”

Everyone nodded and V said, “But as for why there's so few of us left, Clovis ran out of experiments. People were dying left and right, so he started picking off the units, going from the weakest units to the stronger ones.”

V closed his eyes and he mumbled, “In the end, Kookie, Hoseok hyung, and I were the last ones left in our unit, N hyung and Leo hyung in theirs, and Sunggyu hyung and L hyung in theirs.”

“Hoseok hyung found out about Kookie's ability after Jimin hyung went... And he realized that if they discovered Jungkook, he would have been used immediately, so we asked Sunggyu hyung to take him into his unit.”

V was starting to tremble as the memories replayed. He took in a shaky breath and he continued, “So hyung said okay after we explained it to him. But... in the end, they ended up getting to hyung and the rest of us. They pit us against our own team mates.”

“Hoseok hyung knew I wasn't capable of killing him, so instead... hyung ended his life, making it look like I won the fight, giving me the chance to live.”

Akari froze. Although it must have hurt even more for V since he experienced it, Akari could picture everything. The deaths, the negotiations, the expressions of fear, panic, and sorrow. She closed her eyes and her hands clenched into a fist.

V felt her tension and he took her hand into his, and he said, “After that... you know the rest. N hyung, L hyung, and I took the successful experiment tests, and L hyung and I used it on ourselves. I think... I think N hyung gave his to Jungkook though, in order for Kookie to escape.”

Typical N hyung, always giving up more than he needs to. Akari sighed as she relaxed her tense muscles.

“So then.. you, L, and Jungkook have the successful experiments – what do you even call them – in you?” Tao asked.

V nodded and Akari said, “DNA strands. Viruses or parasites, whatever you prefer.”

“But.. viruses and parasites aren't the same,” Luhan mumbled.

“It's a parasite then,” Akari declared, “They need us to live after all.”

Everyone shuddered and Kris mumbled, “Clovis is a sick bastard.”

They all nodded in agreement and Lay asked, “So, what's the plan?”

“For what?” V asked. Akari spoke up and she said, “I teleport us in, we release Dongjun and Jungkook, and then we teleport out.”

“That sounds easy and all, but can you teleport all of us in at once?” Kris asked. Akari shook her head and she said, “The maximum I've ever tried was two people excluding myself.”

“How are we splitting the team up?” Luhan asked.

“Luhan is staying here,” Akari declared. Luhan looked over, his eyes narrowed, and asked, “Why?”

“We need someone to keep base. We always need someone to keep base.”

Luhan opened his mouth to oppose the thought and Akari said, “Besides, we have a direct mental link, if anything happens, I can inform you right away.”

Luhan sighed in defeat. Akari had a good point. However, Akari looked around and reevaluated the group once more and she said, “Chen stay here too.”

“What? Why?!” Chen argued. Akari sighed and she said, “No offense, but your aim is horrible.”

Chen flushed red and he mumbled, “Fine.”

V looked around and he said, “Pair me up with Lay hyung.”

Akari nodded and she admitted, “I was thinking of doing that, and having Kris and Xiumin in the same team. Leaving you with Lay would mean that you could take Jungkook and have Lay heal him as you fly the two of them to safety.”

V and Akari exchanged glances and Akari grumbled, “Fine.”

“Thanks noona! And besides, I was practicing in the middle of last night.” V exclaimed. He was as happy as a child and the other boys looked at him in confusion and Akari said, “He can Shadow travel. I think it's something his wings gave him.”

“Now that sounds cool,” Lay responded. His eyes glimmered with excitement and he turned to V, “Show me!”

“In a bit! After noona gives us the plan layout.”

“Wait, Akari-sshi, so am I with you..?” Tao asked hesitantly. Everyone turned to him as he seemed to shrink and he mumbled, “I... I'm just curious, I mean, I don't think I'm that helpful after all.”

Akari smiled fondly and ruffled the older male's hair and she said, “Don't worry, all of you will be helpful.”

They all nodded and she asked, “So, Chen got a pencil and paper?”