* this is my most triggering chapter, fair warning.
* restraining, panic, needles, blood (no heavy details)
Cold, unforgiving metal locked his wrists down. Minho gasped as his body woke up, his blurry mind slowly clearing as he tried to take in his surroundings. He’d been in this chair before, in this room.
How am I back here? Where’s Jisung? Jisung.
It came flooding back to Minho all at once. His foot aching as he pressed it firmly into the gas pedal. Seungmin’s defeated voice echoing through an unclear speaker. The flash of a van crashing into him.
He became aware of the feeling of the dried blood that ran down his face. Chimera was able to ambush Minho thanks to a spy from Solswor, who also happened to track Seungmin up to the cabin. I foolishly went after Jisung, and I fell right into their trap.
The door in front of him clicked open, and Minho leaned back in the metal chair he was far too familiar with, setting his glare on the person that entered. Hyeon had that smug smile on his thin face that Minho had always loathed.
“Good morning, ML-32. It’s been awhile, hasn’t it?”
“No, it hasn’t been long enough.”
Hyeon shrugged his bony shoulders and nonchalantly folded his hands behind his back, pacing in front of his prisoner. “Maybe for you, but that’s not the case for JH-47. Five years was enough freedom, don’t you think?”
“Where is he?”
“It’s in Holding right now. I’ll get to that machine later, for now, I think you and I have a lot to talk about.” Hyeon tipped his head down at Minho. “You are a difficult machine to pin down, I’ll admit that. I built you well. But, once I found that little weakness of yours, it was only a matter of time before I got you back.”
Minho sighed. “You got me, so you won, is that it?”
“It’s the beginning of my winnings. Trying to turn the mafia against me was clever, but two can play at that game. Once I find your men, annihilating the rest of the slop you’ve gathered will be fairly simple. Any remaining survivors will make great new machines.”
Minho wanted to laugh. It was so easy getting Hyeon talking. “Okay, and then what? Are you going to terminate me and keep building your empire?”
Hyeon scoffed. “As much as I would like to get rid of you, I simply can’t. You’re the best thing I’ve created, and I need a subject to study to improve my program. However,” he suddenly slammed his hands down on Minho’s wrists, his pale, wrinkled eyes staring at him menacingly, “I cannot tolerate any weakness, and that is exactly what JH-47 is to you.”
Minho’s blood ran cold, and he tried keeping his emotions down. “Weakness, you say?”
A mocking smile grew on Hyeon’s face. “Yes. You and that other machine share a… special relationship, do you not?”
He can’t possibly know.
Hyeon’s smile widened at the lack of response. “I do know a thing or two. I’ve learned that patience can be quite rewarding.” He pulled a photo from the pocket of his white coat and carelessly dropped it onto Minho’s lap. “Look familiar?”
Numbing cold seeped through Minho’s skin, freezing his blood and locking his lungs into place as he saw the blurry photo of him laying in bed with Jisung, their arms wrapped around each other. He couldn’t bring his voice to work.
I failed you, Jisung. You were never safe with me.
Hyeon continued. “Perhaps I could get rid of your weakness, much like I did those years ago. You really became obedient when I had you believing that JH-47 was terminated. Although, this time I will see to it that it is actually terminated this time.”
Him. Him, not, ‘it’.
“Then again, JH-47 has a lot of potential. It was also one of my best creations. Maybe I’ll try the memory extraction on it again, and I’ll do it right this time.”
Minho’s cold gaze locked onto Hyeon. “If you call Jisung ‘it’ one more time, I will snap you in half the moment I get the slightest amount of movement.”
Hyeon laughed, but he still took a cautious step back. “We’ll see how well that goes for you. Since you seem a little wound up, I’ll let you cool off for a bit. I’ll be back shortly.”
⧫⧫⧫
Jisung worked at the chains weighing down on his wrists, gritting his teeth in determination as he scraped them against the stone floor in an attempt to break them.
He woke up with a headache and rage filling his lungs, so he got to work doing anything he could think of to work himself free. He was nauseous sitting in this place, like his body knew exactly how evil this place was, and the uncomfortable feeling only fueled him on. By now, his wrists were rubbed raw and his shoulders were aching.
“Hey, cut that out,” one of the guards standing outside his cell growled, “or I’ll beat you unconscious.”
Jisung’s lip curled into a sneer. “Just you try, big boy.”
The guard’s face reddened. “Why you-“
“Don’t let it get to you,” a gruff, female voice interrupted the scene. A tall woman appeared, dressed in dark blue scrubs with the emblem of Chimera embroidered on her chest. Jisung recognized her stern face and tightly styled hair immediately. It was the woman who’d spoken to Minho at the Assembly. “JH-47 has always had a sharp tongue.” She motioned at both guards. “You’re dismissed for a moment.”
“Yes ma’am.” The men strode away obediently.
Jisung’s eyes narrowed on the woman. “I should have known a snake when I saw one.”
She shrugged carelessly. “I’m a snake to everyone. I do what’s in my best interest, and that is all. But if you’re looking for someone to blame for your current circumstance, I’m not the right one.”
“Who are you?”
“My name is Jaya. If the name rings familiar, it’s because you and I are familiar. I’m the leading doctor here, and I’ve worked with every machine that has passed through the programs. You were always my most brazen patient. It was quite fun handling you.”
Jisung leaned back against the wall, unsure of what to think of this woman. “I’m assuming you’re here for a reason. What’s this about?”
“A loss of memory hardly changed you at all,” Jaya hummed in slight amusement. “I may be the head doctor here, but I only have so much power, and as I said, I do what’s best for me. Working with Minho benefits me in several different ways, so I’m willing to be of help.”
Hope jolted through Jisung’s body, but he didn’t dare hold onto it. “How?”
“I’ve left a path open. Eventually, your guards will collapse, and two men will come to get you. If the path I’ve cleared for you is overrun or blocked, I will not help you any further. This is all I can do.” Jaya started walking away.
“Wait, you’re saying you can help me escape?”
Jay paused. “I only opened the door. It’s up to you to actually escape.” With that, she disappeared down the hall, and the guards took their places once again.
Jisung didn’t want to trust her, but he didn’t really have any other choice. Minho had started working with her for a reason, he had to trust that, at the very least. He continued scraping at the chains, but he stopped upon hearing the sound of an opening door echoing down the stony corridor. A chill raced up his spine as footsteps approached. The guards stood at full attention.
A pair of scuffed, brown dress shoes stopped in front of his cell, and Jisung froze, not daring to look at the owner of the shoes.
“I shouldn’t be surprised that you’re already trying to escape. You were the one that always caused trouble no matter what we did to you.”
Jisung struggled to take in a breath at the sound of Hyeon’s voice. The voice that filled his painful memories, the voice that condemned him. His ears rang.
“I have questions for you, JH-47, and I’m sure you’ll be kind enough to answer them all nicely and willingly, right?”
‘You’re a delusional moron, if that’s what you truly think,’ Jisung wanted to say, but he couldn’t even get his lungs to work. I have to think. Think, Jisung!
The keypad on the door of his cell beeped, and his body shuddered. He instinctively curled in on himself protectively. His breathing was growing more shallow as the walls closed in around him, pressing him into the floor.
“Sit it up,” Hyeon instructed.
The guards hauled Jisung upright and held him back against the wall as Hyeon’s shoes approached slowly.
No.
Jisung turned his head away when Hyeon crouched. Cold fingers dug into his jaw harshly, forcing his gaze to land on Hyeon’s thin face. Jisung winced as the man’s nails cut into his skin. Pain flashed through his head, making him squeeze his eyes shut.
“Oh good, your mind is trying to remember,” Hyeon’s mocking voice cooed.
Jisung’s ears rang louder, and he bit down a yelp as the pain in his head sharpened. The floor tilted and swayed under his body. Please no.
The nails in his skin dug even deeper, causing his eyes to fly open His vision was fuzzy and swaying as if he were underwater.
“You’ll answer my questions, won’t you?” Hyeon asked, tilting his head to the side in mock politeness.
Jisung tried to focus on breathing. I need to get away. I need help.
Hyeon leaned back ever so slightly and motioned to one of the guards. He grinned wickedly as the guard handed him a blue, velvety case. “I do believe you recognize this, don’t you?”
Jisung’s lungs stopped working completely, recognizing the blue case of his interrogation kit. No no no. He kicked at the floor, trying to get his feet under him, struggling against the guards restraining him. He shook his head rapidly as Hyeon laughed.
“Oh, I do love when their tears start running as if they aren’t machines,” he hummed, opening the case. He grabbed one of the needles. “I recently found out that you love needles.”
One of the guards pinned Jisung’s head back against the wall.
“I think it’s time you try them for yourself.”
Help me.
Jisung thrashed and kicked, making the other guard stand on the chain between his feet. Someone help!
“Well, one thing hasn’t changed. You’re still quiet, no matter what I do.” Hyeon held the needle up, and Jisung’s vision went spotty as panic and nausea filled his body. The ringing in his ears was piercing. “Let me have some fun, and then we’ll get to the questions.”
Minho, help me.
⧫⧫⧫
Minho cursed himself into a mental grave. He failed to protect Jisung, and now he had no idea what to do to remedy this. He was locked down and unable to move, let alone able to escape. He didn’t know what became of Seungmin, and he felt utterly sick thinking about it. He felt more helpless than he ever did the whole time he was trapped within Chimera.
His spiraling thoughts were interrupted as Hyeon entered the room once again. Minho’s blood went hot at the sight of small blood splatters along the evil man’s white coat.
Hyeon smiled at the look. “Oh, don’t worry, it’s not my blood. It’s JH-47’s blood.”
Minho snapped. The metal cuffing him to the chair shattered as he broke free by sheer force of will.
Hyeon shrieked pathetically as Minho lunged at him, his eyes black with untethered rage as he slammed the man into the white brick wall, cracking it.
Electricity crackled behind him and whipped Minho’s back, sending him collapsing to the floor, his body convulsing.
The guards in the room piled around him, shoving him face first into the unforgiving cement floor. They scrambled to get Hyeon out of the room, who was screaming and cursing incoherently.
Minho’s body jerked as tasers dug into his sides, and his vision faded to blurry before fading out completely.
⧫⧫⧫
Jisung’s eyes slowly focused on the dark ceiling above him, his throat scratchy, his eyes itchy. His body didn’t want to move, like his limbs were filled with wet sand. All he remembered was sharp pain and his body shutting down in an attempt to protect itself. He’d blacked out the moment the needles touched his skin, but he still felt everything.
As his mind came back into focus, he slowly pushed himself upright, wincing and releasing a shaky breath when he put his weight on his hands.Â
A whimper of pain escaped his lungs at the sight of his hands. Deep grooves were carved into the tops of his hands, covered in a layer of dried blood. Off to the side, the needles Chan had crafted for him sat in a puddle of cracked blood, bent and snapped into pieces.
Jisung rolled to the side and dry-heaved. His body shook. He tried to catch his breath. He held his trembling hands out, disgusted by the marks the needles had left behind. Despite the aches and stings, he slowly flexed his hands, testing to make sure they both still had full functionality. Thankfully, all his fingers worked, though it hurt to move them at all.
He forced his eyes away from his torn hands and felt a tug of hope in his gut when he saw both of his guards laying limp on the ground. Jaya wasn’t lying.
On weak legs, Jisung staggered up and caught his balance on the bars of the cell. He glanced up and down the corridor, straining to see anything. Moments later, the lights flickered and shut off, leaving only the red emergency lights to cast an eerie glow.
A lithe figure silently dropped into the corridor from somewhere above, strong shoulders and shaggy hair being the only thing Jisung could make of the newcomer as he came down the corridor.
“Jisung?” the figure whispered.
“Yeah, that’s me,” Jisung confirmed, ignoring the way his head grew a little dizzy.
“We don’t have much time.” The figure kicked the door of the cell open and stepped inside, holding out a set of keys. “Free yourself, we’ve gotta move.”
Jisung fumbled with the keys for a moment before he got used to working his injured hands and unlocked the chains weighing down on his wrists and ankles. He tossed the keys back to the figure and followed him out of the cell.
“My partner is waiting just down that way to pull you up a level,” he said, gesturing down the corridor. “I’ll cover your backs.”
Jisung didn’t have the time or the brain power to question anything as he ran down to where the figure initially dropped down.
“Eyes up,” a voice called down from a dark opening in the low ceiling. A large hand reached down for Jisung to take, which he did. This guy had unbelievable, pulling Jisung up with one hand like he was picking up a piece of paper.
Jisung realized they were now on some sort of sub-level, the floor and low ceiling being nothing more than grates. He turned to thank the man. He couldn’t be much older than Jisung, with fox-like eyes, a strong jaw, and obviously dyed blonde hair.
“Thank you.”
“Don’t thank us just yet, we still need to get you out of here. Follow me, and watch your head. If they find us down here, they’ll snatch you up like a monster would,” he warned, a subtle, playful smile on his lips. Without another word or glance, the man turned away and rushed down the narrow hall of the sub-level.
Jisung hurried after him, his chest tight with anxiety. He took in deep breaths and let them out slowly in a lame attempt to calm himself down.
Shouts rang out from somewhere above, making Jisung flinch in surprise. Running footsteps echoed above them.
“Hyunjin is catching up, don’t let him scare you,” the fox-faced man warned.
Seconds later, the figure from before appeared behind Jisung. He was beautiful, with long legs, full black hair, full lips, and sculpted cheekbones. “They’ve flooded the hall below us, our only way is through B-3,” he called to his partner.
“Jaya really couldn’t make things easier for us,” the other muttered in response before taking a sharp turn to the right.
Jisung hesitated at the sight of a ladder stretching up into the darkness. There’s no way my hands can handle this in their current state.
Hyunjin noticed his hesitation. “Jeongin is scouting ahead, and he can warn us about anything.”
“That’s not what I’m worried about,” Jisung muttered under his breath. Steeling himself, he took a hold of the ladder and started pulling himself up. He swallowed down groans of pain as the scabbed wounds broke open from the pressure being placed on his hands.
A somewhat distant alarm rang out.
How do they already know I’m gone?
After much too long, the three of them popped out into a blindingly white hallway, and Jisung’s feet locked into place as flashes of memory clouded his vision. The emblem of Chimera decorated the walls every few feet. This was the hall that led him to getting his memories erased.
“This way!” Jeongin’s voice shook Jisung to the present, and he took off after his two rescuers.
Something crashed behind them, echoing down the hall loudly. The commotion was followed by thundering footsteps.
Hyunjin threw Jisung around a corner, saving him from a flying net by mere inches. Jisung’s head spun and he stumbled as he felt the familiar wave that always came before he fainted. His body swayed, but Hyunjin caught him and easily supported his body, keeping them moving.
Just ahead, Jeongin kicked a door off its hinges, revealing a massive parking garage. “Head out, I’ll get us transportation!”
“Take them down! NOW!”
Jisung glanced over his shoulder in time to see a soldier fire a strange gun, and a black net unfurled as it flew at him. He dropped, sliding into a crouch on the smooth floor of the garage. Beside him, Hyunjin caught the net and hurled it back with so much strength, it took the closest soldier down.
Gunfire exploded from behind the soldiers, and they all collapsed. Jeongin ran to catch up, slinging the gun he now carried over his shoulder. “The vans are no good, we’re on foot!”
The group fled the massive garage as another alarm began blaring, alerting every one of Chimera’s guards. The lights outside the facility were so blinding, Jisung nearly thought it was daytime, but the inviting darkness beyond the fence-line told him otherwise.
“Open fire!”
Jeongin shoved the other two down behind a concrete barrier as a storm of bullets rained down. He sat up and returned fire.
Jisung’s head spun again and he cursed under his breath. Just when I thought I was done with the damn fainting spells. He pressed his forehead into the heel of his palm, closing his eyes to let the dizziness settle.
“We’ve got a clear shot, let’s move!” Hyunjin shouted, helping Jisung to his feet. They retreated for a shadowed area of the towering fence, keeping their heads down in case someone tried shooting them down.
Just as they reached the fence, two soldiers appeared in front of them, guns raised. Jisung instinctively shoved Hyunjin down. A shot cracked through the air. Followed by two more.
Jeongin cursed under his breath, stumbling back as the guards dropped dead. He was now holding his shoulder, blood leaking through his fingers.
“Jeongin!” Hyunjin gasped.
“I’m fine, let’s move!”
Hyunjin nodded and pulled something small from his pocket. It appeared to be nothing but a wire strung between two pieces of metal, but the wire suddenly glowed red, and he used it to cut through the metal links of the fence. He peeled the fence back, holding it open just enough for the other two to slip through, and the three of them disappeared into the dark forest beyond, closely pursued by Chimera.
—————– Hyunjin and Jeongin have finally made their appearance! Ma bois. Thanks for reading (t-t)
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