Fingers flinted across the keyboard. An atypical rhythm tapped its way between the numbers, backward slashes,letters, forward slashes, semi-colons. The screen of the computer glowed with two windows. A control panel overlapped a map. Circular notes of yellow pulsed from eight locations marked origins. Thin nodes of yellow shot out of each origin meeting each other in an electronic connect the dots. His screen flares red: Error: Convergence Point Does Not Exist.

“,” Sehun curses. Slamming his finger on the power off button, he sinks into his seat.

“It should’ve worked this time,” he murmured.

Then again, he should’ve worked the first time and the second time and the third time. He woke up extra early this morning to see if he could figure out why it didn’t work. The only way it wouldn’t work was if they kept moving, but that couldn’t be it. That koala bastard and his allies were too organized and comfortable to not at least have an hq.

Staring at his reflection in the blank computer screen, Sehun dragged his fingers through his hair.  If he could get even an area to look at, it would help. A small rubber duck peeked at him from the corner of his desk. He grabbed it.

Looking it in the eye, he sighed, “It looks like it is up to you and me again. Okay, let’s figure out what’s wrong with my triangulation code.”

Placing it in front of the screen, he began to describe the code. The more he spoke the more irritated the he became. There was nothing wrong with his code. It was a semi-basic triangulation equation mapped over Seoul.

“If it’s not the code, maybe it’s the inputs,” Sehun exclaimed, “More data creates more accurate results. Too much data muddles it up!”

Promptly shoving the duck off his keyboard, Sehun turned back on his computer.

“Come on, come on, I have two hours before my first class; I don’t have time for this,” Sehun urged his computer.

Staring at the eight points on the screen, Sehun looked for any outlier. He deleted the locations closest to the coast; those had to be when the koala was settling into the city. That took out three locations.

Glancing at the duck looking at him pitifully from the floor, Sehun commented, “Let’s hope this works.”

He hit enter.

Error: Convergence Point Not Found.

“Damn!” Sehun glared at the yellow duck.

His screen flashed white.

“What did you do?” he accused the duck.

Looking back at the screen, he noticed that words were forming on his screen.

Stop bullying that innocent duck.

Also say kimichi.

There was a sharp click noise. Sehun noticed that his webcam light was red. Suddenly, Sehun recalled that the koala had said that he wasn’t the only technopath.  The light on his microphone set also shoned.

“You’re the one that messed with it!” Sehun growled.

Took you long enough.

Sehun tapped the turn off button on his computer screen.

Aw, you’re no fun.

Sehun just pressed the button harder.

Fine. But I am taking my spoils of war.

The words faded into white. A striped blue, black, white flag shortly popped onto the screen. In fancy embroidery, the line: Conquered by the brilliance of GK  faded into and out of sight.

The red light on his webcam turned off.

He had to see Xiumin and he had to see him now. It looked like Sehun wasn’t going to be making it to class.

For the second day, the skies were stormless.  That made Xiumin suspicious rather than calm. Watching the horizon, he leaned on the metal bar that separated him from a steep decline. Few people occupied this mountainside giving Xiumin the illusion of tranquility.  The softness of the overcast sky reinforced the calm.

The quiet left Xiumin unsettled. Where were the deities that had been wrecking his home of late? What was their next move?

Rustling signaled a nearby presence. Closing his eyes, Xiumin felt with his mental muscles for the source of the disturbance. He relaxed once he realized it was a disgruntled Sehun.  

“We have a problem!” Sehun exclaimed a second later.

Turned around, Xiumin noted the sweat that clumped Sehun’s hair to face. The younger boy’s chest moved in uneven huffs. Bend over, the demigod supported his weight on a bench. Xiumin waited for him to catch his breath.  

“They’re trying to recruit demigods along with microgens and I think any other stray they come across. That koala bastard said so. They also -” Sehun rambled.

“Breath,” Xiumin interrupted, “Start from the beginning and speak clearly.”

“Yesterday, this guy in a suit and koala mask invited me to join them,” Sehun spoke moderately slower.

Sehun paused,  “He implied that the Lost Gods had many allies. He also said that they talked to you before.”

The demigod glanced at him, observing his reaction. Xiumin blinked, debating the pros and cons of replying.

“More than once he came to us, each time he was turned way. No good comes of those who wish to divide people into ‘us’ and ‘they’, the Lost Gods and the Exo Gods,” Xiumin commented.

Sehun nodded, “They’re onto us. They had one of theirs mess with my locator program. What should we do now?”

Xiumin leaned onto the bar. The reinforced metal bit into his back, protecting him from the dangers below. He closed his eyes.

“It seems that we may need to gather allies of our own,” Xiumin replied, slowly.

A division had been created without his knowledge. No, perhaps it always existed, Xiumin thought.

“The time has ended where we sit idly,” Xiumin stated, “It is time for us to act.”

From the corner of the cafe, Music adjusted his cuff links. He wore a navy suit paired with a midnight blue tie.  Smoothing out the ruffles in his clothes, he settled into his suit. The smell of coffee formed a delightful symphony. The taste matched with a complicate composition of beans. Music expected nothing less of his friend, Time.  Disaster sat, consuming the lunch that been prepared for them.

While his friend ate, Music observed the establishment. A wooden counter occupied the left wall with a glass display case mounted on the wall. The upper shelves were filled with glassware, antique machinery, and displays of unroasted coffee beans. On the last shelf, worn photographs of their old friends and acquaintances formed a cadence. Time stood between the case and the counter like a sentry.

Music’s surveying was delayed by the door of the back room opening. The bleary-eyed man stumbled over to a seat at the counter. Based on the heavy, staccato allegro of his aura, Music recognized the tired deity as Chen.

Music tensed. If they were recognized now, all his planning would be for naught. He listened carefully. He know that Time would not set up a situation in which they failed.

“Black?” Time asked. He was calm.

“Mhm?” the groggy Chen responded.

“Definitely black, your hangover isn’t gone yet,” Time stated.

Chen protested, softly, “I wasn’t drunk.”  

“A hangover is a hangover; if you’re that bad not on alcohol, I wonder what happens when you’re on it,” Time laughed.

“Only had it once,” Chen replied, “hated it.”

“You had a bad experience?” Time inquired.

Chen chortled, “Got stabbed and robbed.”

There was a weighted silence.

“That was one eventful day,” TIme chuckled.

“I got conned, robbed, stabbed, and thrashed,” Chen clarified.

From there, the conversation lapsed into an uninteresting unison. Relaxing, Music wondered why Chen did not sense their presence. Sensing a barrier between the young deity and the outside world, Music realized that he shielded from the world.  Such an act would dull Chen’s senses, of course the man hadn’t felt Time for the last year. As long as they never made prolonged eye contact, there was no way for Chen to realize that Time was also a deity.

That made things easier. They could use the Exo’s destruction deity without him ever knowing.  

Luhan stared at the computer screen. The whiteness of his nonexistent fourth page haunted him. He had an hour before the paper was due. His professor was cruel for making a paper due in the middle of a day instead of at the end of it. Procrastinating, Luhan glanced at his phone. Lay had sent an array of photographs focused on Orange. Tao had his useful mix of complaints and requests. In the  middle of checking his messages, his phone rang. The display showed Kris’s name.

“Hello,” Luhan greeted.

Kris replied, “Hey, are you coming over later?”

“I can’t,” Luhan coughed, “I’m busy.”

This wasn’t the only assignment that Luhan had foolish neglected.

“That ,” Kris continued.

Luhan inquired, “What do you need?”

“Nothing, if you’re swamped we can talk later,” Kris replied.

“I’ve got a bit of time to kill now,” Luhan lied.

He didn’t want to face the reality of his unfinished report.

“Are you dorming next year?” Kris coughed.

Luhan shook his head, “Don’t know yet. Why?”

“If you want, I can get a good word for you in with my landlord,” Kris commented.

“You’re moving?” Luhan shot back.

“Something like that,” Kris spoke, “but I don’t know if I’m going to be at a place that keeps cats.”

“Orange,” Luhan agreed.

Kris sighed, “Yeah, tell me if you wanna in the next week or so. Bye.”

The dial tone signaled the end of Luhan’s distraction. Flipping his phone over, Luhan cracked his knuckles. He was determined to spit out a few more half-supported body paragraphs to turn in. He had a meeting with that third year in an hour or so to keep anyway.

“Sorry for being late,” Sehun apologized.

He had sort of lost track of time hunting down the members of pantheon. Xiumin wanted a meeting to discuss their problem.

“No problem,” Luhan smiled, “I just turned in my paper.”

As they talked, Luhan insisted that Sehun didn’t have to do this. Sehun simply smiled and continued to drag his unwilling elder. If he had a choice in the matter, Sehun would rather be heading toward a milk tea shop. Coffee wasn’t to his tastes.

“What’s your major?” Sehun asked to pass the time.

“I’m double majoring in communications and foreign languages,” Luhan answered.

“Cool, I’m in Computer Science myself,” Sehun grinned.

The polite conversation continued until they entered the Minute Cafe. Sehun steered them into a seat next near Chen. From the stiffening of his shoulders, Sehun knew that Chen was ignoring him.

“Hello, Chen,” Sehun greeted him, forcing false cheer.

“You know Chen?” Luhan asked. A wrinkle formed between his eyebrows.

“We’ve been acquainted,” Sehun glanced at his glaring elder.

The squaring of his shoulders, the pressed thinness of his lips, the hunched over shape of his spine suggested that Chen did not want to speak to them. Like Sehun was going to allow that to happen.

“It’s been a while, hyung,” Sehun grinned, “This is Luhan.”

Sehun gestured. Chen discontinued his cutting stare to look over at Luhan.

“We’ve met,” Luhan commented, “a few times actually.”

Chen turned away, focusing on the cup that sat in front of him.

“Rude,” Sehun muttered under his breath. It was in an octave a little too low for human ears but understandable to the two deities and one demigod in the room.

A low growl was Chen’s response.

“You can’t go by hating everyone on this planet,” Sehun scolded.

“Just the worthless humans, halfling,” Chen remarked.

Sehun’s face flushed. The emphasis on the halfling made it a jab at Sehun’s status. It implied that Sehun was somehow inferior. He knew he would rather be drinking milk tea than here.

“One bad experience and you never stop your wounds. Boo, hoo,” Sehun spat back.

He faintly recalled Xiumin hinting at Chen’s disdain for the human race.

“Shut up,” Chen ordered.

“Why would I listen to an idiot who can’t even behave politely with company,” Sehun replied.

“Better than being a mutt,” Chen coughed.

A second later, Chen stood up and headed toward a door in the back of the room. Moments after, he reappeared with an umbrella. In brisk movements, Chen shoved the object at Luhan.

“Thanks but I’m not so weak as to need this,” Chen asserted.

On the weak, Chen gave a pointed look at Sehun. Then, he left.

“What was that about?” Luhan asked.

Raising his voice to an audible leave,  Sehun frowned, “I have no idea. Chen was never the talkative type.”

“That’s true,” Luhan nodded.

Clenching his cup tightly, Sehun relaxed when the manager glowered at him. The microcracks on the cup were still infantile, unable to weaken the overall structure of the ceramic.

There were those of godkind that believed that interaction with humankind was essence to their continued existence. There were those who believed that interaction should be minimized as if it weakened the integrity of deities. Chen was obviously of the latter of those groups so Sehun and he had rarely met.

A/N: A lot happened in this chapter. Things are starting to get more exciting. (Also I am running out of words to name chapters after.) What was your favorite part?