#Virtual Machine Monitor | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

writingmochi · 1 month ago

Text

act 1

cast: jake ✗ fem.reader

synopsis: as the world entered the middle of the 21st century, many things have changed for the better or for worse in the newly united korea peninsula: the preparation for the succession of the new conglomerates of the past decade, the uprising of deviant androids, and the new layer of life shield by walls of codes. in the middle of it, two beings are trying to understand each other and the situation of the world they live in; an unknown territory

genre: cyberpunk, cyber noir, psychological thriller, science fiction, dystopian future, politics and philosophies regarding artificial intelligence and humanity, romance, drama, angst, mature content (war and revolution, explicit smut)

based on: video game cyberpunk 2077 (2020) and detroit: become human (2018), anime serial experiments lain (1998), and tv show succession (2018-2023)

word count: 35854 (35.8k)

warning(s): morally grey characters, amputation, parental neglect, alcohol consumption, firearms, espionage, nudity (outside of sexual intercourse), mention of a major car accident, mention of weapons, discrimination, mentions of deaths (assassination), explicit sex, virtual sex (they are doing it but aren't *actually* doing it), oral (m&f recieving), hand job (m recieving), squirting, cum eating

message of the moon: remember that this story is fiction and do be careful and read the warnings at the top. all the idols mentioned here are not what they are in real life.

here it is, my brainchild that i have been planning and creating since 2022 when i first say that i'm gonna make a jake sci-fi au. i know that the release of this was very uncertain, but i'm ready to tell the tale of this world now to you all. thank you if you have given this fic a chance and hope you enjoy!

masterlist | playlist | an entry for solstice: deus ex machina

2035

"swan song."

a woman said to the man beside her, curling her hand into a fist that still couldn’t stop it from trembling. she glanced at the man beside her, seeing his creases forming on his face from the increasing age—a semblance of his youth still there as she remembered—staring into the space in front of them. his face mimics the look that she also exudes, but her emotional side couldn’t stop the tickles prickling up from her tear ducts. she turns away, facing the same space her husband is looking at.

they gaze at the figure from the small open door frame, sleeping peacefully in a lonesome bed. the steady beeping beats reach their ears, coming from the cracked screen monitor beside the bedframe. the woman lets her eyes trail the bandages enveloping the joints of the figure’s right shoulder and right thigh, the remnants of the cut-out limbs. they sting more when she examines the little body laid out with tubes of chemicals and metal tools around the sleeping figure, sheets of plastic cover the floor and hang from the ceiling. all the child-like items are out of the room and stored haphazardly somewhere around the premises. the wall that was painted a pastel colour looks more saturated than ever before; in place of the tools and machines to help the little body to live and survive.

“we can do it,” the man voiced out, filled with a determination that the woman fell in love with. he turned around to walk away from the tear-inducing image as the woman closed the door gently. her vision focuses now on all the blueprints, sketches, and calculations right on the hallway walls of their house, seeing the drawings for limbs and a body that is the little figure inside the room with scribbles of ciphered writing that she has to read closer to translate.

the dust flies around the small space she called her living area, the same-styled items of furniture now standing in the larger space along with boxes of toys—the ones that should belong in that room. yet, they have to make it sterile. the woman picks up her work bag full of documents from the dining table, watching the man move the last large case into their car as he settles into the driver’s seat. the husband sees his house from the rear-view mirror while wiping the corner of his eyes with the end of his sleeve. he captures the sound of his wife opening the passenger door as she sits on the seat beside his, sensing her hand rubbing his that’s resting on the gearshift. the warmth felt so familiar, yet all he could think was the cold temperature on the little figure’s hand.

the man’s grip on the steering wheel is as hard as the lights of the sunset in neo seoul illuminate the city. yet, the neon lights are shining brighter on the other end as the car drives on hannam bridge towards east hangang, where he and his wife work in shim laboratories.

well, you see, mr. and mrs. (l/n): they are two of the most brilliant scientists and engineers to have ever worked in shim laboratories. being prodigies in their respective discipline, they can achieve so much even in the small lifespan of the labs at that time. their innovations help in creating products that make the company gain their longevity, and they’re also the two people who mr. shim trusts the most. a frequent collaborator since they first met during their university days. but when they felt their friend was straying himself to hang out with gods, they only had each other to anchor themselves back down to earth, especially after the war ended. both of them have reputations well known even to the outside of the company—so well built and known—that mr. shim himself chose them to be the head of the largest project that they’ve ever created: project android. from the outside, they give off a smile that anyone knows is a sign of dignity, to lead the largest innovation for the new republic, making everyone around them inspired to be like them as they started creating. but on the inside, their world is shattering into smithereens. one by one, the shards are disappearing to the ticking time being ingrained in their brain. they grasp them, even if it would hurt them, to try as best as they can to put them back together.

it’s because of their daughter, you.

the day was just like an ordinary day as the pair watched their daughter going out of the building, your little uniform so tight around your body as your body grows. their heart warms as they see your wide grin when you find them, running into their open arms as they crouch to meet your eyeline. your backpack was askew on your shoulder as the husband repairs it, opening his hand so your smaller hand holds onto him, the other one on the wife, as all of you take off.

they didn’t expect a curiosity towards a flock of birds to make you end up this way.

on your way back home from kindergarten, a 5-year-old you let go of your parents’ hands and follow a flying flock of birds that is going farther and higher towards the sky. scaffoldings of buildings being remade and renovated became the background of your view as you heard footsteps following your own. yet, your eyes focus on the flock as you stride forward to follow them to their destination, not recognising that you step onto the asphalt street. that was until you caught your mother’s cry and your body slammed onto the road from a force too large for your physique. tears pool in your eyes from the tingling surge blooming inside your whole body—too fast from what you know—as your vision blurs and colours mix with each other before it becomes black.

your father looks at the driver as it scurries away down the street—burning flame scorched in his eyes as he approaches you, who is now on the edge of the road as caused by the force. your bleeding body is in the embrace of your mother, staining her pristine lab coat that has the word of shim laboratories etched; similar to what he’s also wearing. her hand trembles, but still holding onto her phone, calling the emergency service, crimson dripping from the side. people crowd both sides of the street as they try to make space, and also call for an emergency. a spectacle to see in their somewhat mundane world, yet still a tiny stain on a bigger spectacle that they’re living in.

the day the (l/n)s lost their little girl.

but you persist.

the faint beats of your heart are showing up on the monitor in the ICU. faint, but stable. not wanting to let go of the world just yet. however, what your parents understand makes their muscles tense.

the damage to your right leg and right arm was so severe for your body that you had to get amputations to prevent the infections from spreading more; the scrapes on the road also damaged your right eye from the impact. they hug each other at first, tears staining each of their tops, as the head surgeon tells them the news after the operation is finished. their figures follow your comatose body into the room as they’re being left alone. your beautiful face has scrapes and a patch on your right eye. the bandages on your amputated joints were put on so thick that they wouldn't feel the pain when someone had to touch them. the man was sitting beside the bed, holding onto your small left hand as the woman walked around the room, spitting out anything that could help you.

but with a knowing look between each other and one glance at their beloved child, they planned their next move, the best way for you to survive. and they learned it would involve project android.

as soon as your father reached his part of the office, he met the four prototypes of androids of different sizes that he had made along with his wife and other people in his team. striding closer, he doesn’t hesitate to unscrew their right-side bio-component limbs and put them in the cases he brought inside, lifting them back onto the trolley that they borrowed from warehousing. while on the other side of the floor, your mother picks up the android eyeball and some other components that she has prepared for your vision and your nerves so they can connect to the prosthetics. both are confidential prototypes that nobody, other than the ones in the company’s higher-ups and core team, is allowed to interact with.

they already hijacked the cameras in their rooms this morning—courtesy of both their high status and their joint programming skills. so, carefully, they smuggled them out of the premises. your father is making it an excuse for “homework” as he pushes the trolley back somewhere near the employee parking lot and sees his brother—your uncle—who is standing by outside of the alley in between the concrete buildings.

while your parents continue working on their projects, your uncle brings the cases back to the house in north seoul, where your aunt is now inside with your comatose body by her side. he stares at his wife, who is already in her scrubs as she reads the notes and schematics prepared by your parents, recognising her and her husband’s handwriting as they chime in to help with their respective abilities. both are there to help you; being a mechanic and a surgeon respectively. the couple stared at each other, eyes filled with uncertain determination as your aunt nodded to her husband, preparing the items that they would use to do the first steps of their complex and risky plan.

it didn’t take long until the end of the day when the whole family came to join in, your mother having her own “homework” brought in her suitcase as she pulled out the things she had smuggled out. all four of them are working to help you, listening closely to your slow, faint heartbeat that becomes a constant rhythm for them to keep going.

a week passed after that day when you finally opened your eyes.

you winced as the blurry light entered your left eye before feeling the tingling sensations on your neck. the sound of beeping becomes faster from beside you as you hear steps coming toward you. the door gently opens, and a figure steps inside as you smell the familiar scent.

your mother is teary-eyed, hands placed on her chest as she tries not to sob so outwardly. she witnesses you and your new limbs, all patched with their silver-white color contrasting your skin. she walks closer as she sees your struck-looking face, how your right eye still has an eye patch on it as you let your jaw move. still, no sound came out as you sensed how dry your mouth was. you catch your mother’s tears flowing down her cheek as she slowly approaches closer, her hands reaching for the right side of your face as she lifts off the eye patch. your eyelids immediately blink and calibrate by themselves. the right side of your vision is blurry as you squint your eyes to focus on her face. yet, your mother finally sees the right eye with a different iris colour than the left.

their little girl lives.

2048

the flowy gown feels heavy on his shoulders.

he had a smile on his face that lasted too long, focusing himself to not blink as much even with the many flashes of lights blinding him. the bobby pins held onto the graduation cap on his head as he sensed hands holding him by his back, discreetly glancing to see his dad’s crow-lined eyes also smiling along for the photo. that is when the bodyguards stop them, and the smile falls slowly. the hands of his parents fall as the familiar coldness comes back. he glances to the other side to see other families of the wealthy crowd in neo seoul waiting to have their time for the photo op.

jaeyun’s eyes wander around the gym hall of his high school—the last time he will be here—as he steps away to go to his next destination. his parents have walked before him, and the crowd before their bodyguards envelopes them from his sight. breathing out harshly, he felt something touching his hand and moved his head to catch his sister, jayun, still in her uniform as her grip tightened, spreading her warmth to him before she let go and walked away from him to go to her class that is still available, even with a special occasion happening at the same day. leaving him alone as he eyes around the hall one last time. he watches the photo op area where he finds jongseong and sunghoon—the two cousins and his best friends—having their time for the photo shoot with their sets of parents. yet, his mind remembered his schedule for today, and he walked away from the hall.

the crowd disperses as he steps outside. the sides of the paths are littered with a few more people—strangers—with mics, cameras, and holographics who are trying to capture the people that are here; important people in the eyes of today’s republic. thick-walled vans are parked in the lobby as jaeyun eyes his bodyguard, who has opened the backseat door. the shine on the alloy refracted from the sun and flashed as he silently watched his mom’s back walking away from him. dad had his hand on her lower back as they entered the car door. a different car than his as they get into the one in front of the backseat he stood by. all jaeyun can do is sigh whilst looking at the car scurrying away from the school complex’s main lobby. a sight he has been familiar with ever since he was a child.

he carefully tugs on the back of the gown. it sways like a cape before his hand settles it down as he scoots onto the car seat. darkness envelops him with the door being closed—letting the dark-tinted glass do its job. jaeyun eyes the other side of the seat. a box of his academic items picked up from his locker and the drawer underneath his desk in homeroom class, peeking to tell him the last time that he would not be needing them anymore. at least not currently, before university starts a few months later. his hand reaches for the graduation cap, the smooth silk fabric caressing his fingertips before tugging the cap off; letting the bobby pins fall down onto the leather seat around him. the car lurches forward right after as he gazes one last time at the school he graduated from. a familiar scene that he will not experience anymore.

the car glides on the streets of neo seoul, specifically south seoul. the tall buildings decorate the streets of the economica area. neon-protruding ads come out of billboards as the city’s haze makes the top floors of skyscrapers blurry, creating a much richer atmosphere as the neon lights pierce through the fog. gangnam looks more majestic than ever, observing its adaptation into the main innovation space of the newest technologies introduced in neo seoul. the ride towards the familiar area of east hangang through gangnam is so familiar that jaeyun looks away to overcome his boredom, his vision catching the subtle blueish hologram at the back of the front seats of the car where his bodyguard and chauffeur sit. grazing at the floating blue cloud behind the front seat, its opacity increases to be met with a familiar user interface as he sees the badge on one icon lit up. his finger presses it—feeling a tiny pressure even with most of it air—as the interface opens more to see the group chat he and his friends talk into.

jaeyun smiles as he reads the chat logs. the names of the people he has to stay close with ever since all of them were children, sending messages of congratulations to those who graduated today, especially the lee family with heeseung and soojin graduating a year prior. the keyboard appears on top of his lap, letting him type in his own congratulatory remarks and tokens of appreciation for all of them not being high school students anymore. but he wants to type more, especially with the certain burden people in this particular circle knew what they would face soon enough.

it’s difficult, actually, being the oldest of a conglomerate that shapes the current united korea he grew up in: to see the creations your dad and mom make change in people’s lives for the better. sure, having a friend circle who could relate to that helped so much. but with the constant bombardment of him being highlighted in the spotlight, people tracking his every move, and even the stake of his well-being at a much higher risk; it’s a feeling that feels so dangerous, yet something jaeyun is getting numb to it. though he knew the certain type of pressure it would give him, especially with his dad anointing him as the successor of this mega-corporation.

he is preparing to hold the burden of learning two different studies at once, to prepare him to be the rightful successor who can manage and create well. the numerous structures made from block-shaped toys he built with when he was a child shaped him to be an engineer who can create things, innovate the creations his dad has made and the touch of management his mom has shaped that make shim laboratories so successful today. the innovation that makes this very country safe in the face of a world war. that burden—to be the future of technologies—shakes jaeyun. yet, the only thing that he could do was to talk about them with his friends who are facing the same thing or with his younger sister, who seems too nonchalant about it. his parents are never available at home to talk about this pressure, as all the messages they tell him face-to-face are the ones that seem so formal. his anointment as the successor, their dream and hope to see him as a masterful businessman and engineer, and the very thing he will do when he arrives at the destination—to make him learn how all of this works for a full-time before he takes a half day cut to focus on his tertiary studies.

jaeyun looks outside to be met with a large complex of buildings made of glass at the front. cars are parked inside the parking lot as the road forks into the main building he has known for his lifetime. he eyed the small patches of natural grass that are such a rarity to see other than from han river parks. that is before shadows cover it as the car turns towards the road to the lobby of the building. the tallest building among the buildings that connect to the other parts. his eyes squinted as he heard the chants coming from the crowd.

get down from your seats.

we are free.

we are alive.

his sight catches onto the faces in the crowd. the same faces he had seen from the commercials, the streets, and even from the factory. yet, they all wear ragged clothes more in the style of the 2020s-2030s, other than the usual variety of uniforms they wear. he catches the way his bodyguard tilts his head toward the back where he sat before-

BAM!

a loud crash rang by the side of his car as he saw many security personnel surrounding a spot, holding tasers as he watched the fallen android short-circuit, smoke coming out from the joints. yet, the chants don’t stop and, instead, get louder. the voice boxes create a wall of harmony that makes jaeyun’s face tense.

“no choice but to get through them, mr. shim. park corp personnel have also been dispatched and they are ready to make a barrier with their riot shields to not let these deviant androids get you.”

that is the word. deviant.

the first errors in the android system show up when he was 15. he remembers hearing his dad’s growly voice as he sneaks to grab snacks in the kitchen in the middle of the night, his old man’s voice making the young boy tremble as it tells of the ways this whole thing could happen and how it can become widespread. jaeyun stole a few glances at the file on the coffee table, even hearing something through the grapevine as he hung out with his friends—being connected to the system dad allows him to be on now. watching the increasing amount of android errors from not following orders to outright rebelling and turning to deviancy, it gives jaeyun a much more defined purpose to be met in the future.

stepping outside of the car at his order with the bodyguard following behind, jaeyun catches on to the striking sound against the shields as he notices the park corp logo on the back of dark-clad soldiers. his eyes and mind all push him towards his destination, which is the front lobby of the main building. the car hastily drives away, and the soldiers make way for his clear path, climbing up the stairs as the graduation gown dances along with his movement. then something hits him. something pungent.

the floaty gown is now heavy as he looks towards the area beside him and hears the clangs of metal hitting the ground before landing on the asphalt road he came from. the substance is murky, yet something he can recognise. oil.

jaeyun rolled his eyes when he felt the push of his bodyguard as they arrived at the lobby of the building. employees around him bowing their heads at him, but not with a few androids who remain doing their job of cleaning or attending to guests: androids whose systems are normal, unlike the ones outside that will be fixed. that he will fix.

passing by the gate with his facial recognition, he enters the narrow hallway as an elevator door opens. glass makes all sides of its walls, letting him watch the commotion that is the protesting androids outside before it is obscured as light comes shining from the back wall. there he sees through the glass the factory of the technologies that shim laboratories are making. assembly lines working in harmony as they create innovations made by the people here. today is his first day as an intern, something he absolutely agreed upon as his parents’ purpose to him verbatim: “you will start your internship after your graduation.”

a warm gaze comes out from his eyes as he breathes, dragging off the graduation gown stained with a huge oil stain that will remind him of the day of his first internship; when the android error is at an all-time high. jaeyun sensed something shaking on his wrist as he glanced at his clock, seeing the hologram icon with the badge on it. he instantly opened with a touch of his fingers. his vision reading the personal message as a small smile grew on his face.

13.15. jay (blu): we’ll be celebrating our graduation with the others tonight. surely you come, jakey. see you on cyber.

the elevator slowly approaches the floor where his office will be located, overlooking the factory and having the han river on the opposite side. the small smile now resembles a smirk as even with the boredom and burden his life will go through in the near future, he had already found the remedy to it with infinite possibilities.

“see you on cyber,” he finally says.

2050

your hands rested relaxly in your leather jacket pockets as you stepped onto the narrow street full of people and androids. each step you took is followed by a splash of water from your combat boots—residue of the daytime's rain. the neon lights adorned the storefronts as you observe more android models that you've seen from billboards and magazines standing there, each with the specified clothes for each store serving the customers. you found more of them as workers and companions for the humans around them. the look in their eyes can be described perfectly in one word: empty.

of course, they are androids created by shim laboratories. androids are supposed to look lifeless with a life-like appearance. but with your cybernetic right eye—feeling it sting as it helps you hyperfocus on the details unseen by other beings—you see multiple figures, all with different outfits, all with different hairstyles, that look exactly like the androids that you just walked past.

they're the deviants, androids who gain information and understanding on what they are. sentient beings.

with a small tug on the corner of your mouth lifted up, you move in deeper to a small alley after taking a turn beside the wash of pink light from the motel. your left hand reaches towards the long and standing wall, feeling little bits of paint flecks and concrete dust being peeled off while eyeing the graffiti art painted on it. continuing to stride as you past by stores that only opens during the day, your body walks out of the shadow and shines green from the flickering neon sign of your uncle's shop; the glimmering hanging door beads and their colors reflected from the fluorescent light near the door refracted on the wall across from it.

stepping close, you moved them away with your hands when you heard something pop and a gush of sizzling sound coming from the side of the entrance. your peripheral allows you to see the familiar being leaning against the counter on your right, holding a cylinder-shaped object, and it is quickly interrupted by the footstep noise from the left. a wide smile on her face as you felt the coldness trailing down your cheek along with your slightly lowered jaw.

"happy birthday!" you heard two very distinct voices reaching your ears as you wiped your clothes and your skin from the liquid that sprayed from the champagne bottle, some of it seeping into the fabric already. you turn your head side to side to identify the pair of androids that you consider as your family: finding both kai and bahiyyih laughed at how bewildered your face is while you rolled your eyes as you stepped towards them.

"thank you, kiddos." you ruffle their hairs at the same time—noticing that they've changed it from the last time you saw them—and see the sole flute glass on the counter of the cashier area kai is standing by. catching a familiar click, bahiyyih flicked the lighter and nudging it towards you.

"make a wish," she expressed exuberantly, letting your eyes gaze at the dancing orange flame that added warmth to you, her, and her brother. squint your eyes at her enthusiasm, you close your eyes, wishing for the wish that you've always wanted to come true.

getting revenge for your parents' deaths.

as you close your eyes, the darkness seems to help visualise your memories from back when you were five, a few months after the life-altering surgery. after learning to adapt to your new body parts from the numerous physiological tests for your limbs and right eye, you remembered that faithful day instantly.

the television's screen was turned on as you sat on the couch of the living area, resting the empty plate from the snack you ate beside you after a homeschooling session with your aunt who left just a few minutes before her shift at her hospital. that's when you heard rummages from outside your house, startling you as you turn to face the front door. watching it with various thoughts littering your mind, the front door handle jiggles before bursting open. you observe as the adults you've spent your life with striding inside in a hassle. your father slams the door shut and leans against it while you let the sound of quick footsteps walk to the side of the house where the bedrooms are enters your ear—hearing your mother rummaging for things.

"are you okay, dad?" your young yet concerned voice startled your father as he found you with your little eyebrows furrowed, examining him. his eyes enlarge but with a tinge of something in them, something that you aren't able to interpret because you have never seen him like this before. it quickly melts as the sound gets closer, louder than the sound of the screen in front of you. pivoting your body, your mother comes into sight holding two carry-on bags in her hands and two different backpacks with each strap on her shoulders, your own pastel backpack hanging by her back as your father quickly grabs the bag she was holding. she stands in front of you to then kneels down, her head covering the screen yet creating a beautiful sight of your mother outline by the screen's light as she gazes at you.

"we're going to have a trip to your uncle's, okay?" her soft-spoken words contrast with the look from her eyes that is in line with yours. you see them having the same tinge of something dad has as more sparkles shows up when she caresses your cheek, her warmth thawing your cool skin, before she opens her free hand and position them with the palm facing upwards; letting her hand out just like she always does when you will be having your playtime outside of home. finding mom letting out such a sweet smile, you put your pearly white cybernetic hand on her open palm as she wrapped around it.

the outside view from the car went past so quickly, maybe even quicker than you've ever experienced. every time the car turns a corner, the tires skid on the asphalt with their distinct, long-squealing squeak. it's nauseating, but you calmed down when you focus on your immediate surroundings instead of your location in the backseat. the front seats look like skyscrapers from your view, where you can only see a fragment of your parents' figure, the shadow of mom's hand always showing up as she brushes her hair many times. looking at the other side, you catch a glimpse of the way dad is holding the steering wheel, his knuckles turning white as the bone hinges show their colour through the skin layer.

leaning your head against the door, you peek through the window to see the tall towers of downtown neo seoul, few having scaffoldings from renovations of different kinds, blocking the cloudy sky from you. the boring gaze nearly lulls you to sleep, but it cancels out when you feel the sharp sunlight on you. raising your head, you gaze at the surrounding area has buildings shorter than those skyscrapers. your body leans back against the seat as the vehicle tilts up, following the sloping road as it drives on it to the top of the hills. rows of buildings of both plain concrete and bricks covered by graffiti. you catch the familiar narrow streets full of houses behind walls as your photographic memory kicks in. this very neighbourhood is where your uncle and aunt's house reside. it is confirmed as you felt the car brakes slowly, seeing him standing right in front of the gate of his house.

you watch your mother's head from the middle of the seat as she opens her side of the door, continuing to do so as she pivots to the back of the car and opens the door beside you. you skidded yourself on the car seat as you held onto the backpack you had as your makeshift cushion, and landed your feet on the asphalt road when you saw dad handing his brother all the rest of the bags they carried with them. with your vision eyeing the bags left by your uncle, your body suddenly feels so tight from the engulfing of both your parents on either side of you. tilting your head, you heard the familiar sniffles coming into your ears when you felt their hands holding you in a grip—something you also do with them when you are sad, scared, or hurt. slowly, you wrap your little arms around their necks respectively, tapping on a rhythm to try to at least make them feel better, just like the pats they gave you.

gently, their kneeled figures let go of your embrace as your father caressed your left arm while your mother played with your hair, noticing them with tears in their eyes.

"mom? dad..?" your voice making them gasp for their breaths as dad then voices out.

"you're going to stay with uncle and auntie, okay? it's better for you, especially for school." your father's voice is still as poised as ever, but if you were to have a heightened hearing, you would hear the quiver when he said his words alongside his frowning eyebrows and a single tear rolling down his eye. your mother looked at him with her own set of eyes getting red and puffy as he spoke, before shifting to look back at you.

"we just want to let you know that we love you so much and you are our little swan, no matter what." your mother's tears are now on a free fall, which you try to help with rubbing them away with your small hand. you have never seen your parents cry before, and with its association with what you have felt and learned, you couldn't help but think of the worst things you could ever imagine at five years old. is there something wrong? are they sad? are they scared? yet, your worries all funnel down to one question in relation to the situation you are in, in the most naive way.

"you're going to pick me up, right?" a slight pout shows on your face as you let in the emotion they are exuding.

they turn their heads to look at each other, communicating through their eyes and head movements as you see them give out a smile. but not a happy one, as you realised the doubt in them years later.

"of course, we are." you watch as dad stands up, ruffling your hair before kissing it multiple times, and your mother follows to stand right beside him. "we will never let you go," she stated with the one corner of her mouth lifting up, creating a cheeky smile you've always associated with her as they walk to the car and seat in their previous seat. as the car doors close, you sense your uncle's hand on your shoulder as you see them turn their heads to look at you from the rolled-down windows. waving their hands at you and your uncle, you lifted yours and waved as many and as big as you could. you catch your mother blowing a kiss to you and biting her lips as the car drives forward to the horizon, and you only stop when you don't see its silhouette with your sight.

that was the last time you saw them. though the young and naive you still believe they'll be back to pick you up and bring you back home.

you waited at the window from the spare bedroom, well, what auntie said now is yours, that looks out towards the road of the entrance; waiting and waiting for your parents' car to come back so you can watch their recognisable figures approaching the house. you waited for five years with every break time you have, other than learning and playing, until your uncle and aunt tell you the truth, knowing from the lessons and your current age as you are ready to do so and how you have learned the concept of mortality by the age of 10.

they served the cake that they bought for you for your 10th birthday yesterday whilst having dinner. as you ate the chocolate cake, you learned that your parents died five years ago.

you sat quietly on the dining table after your uncle's command as he replaced your small right limbs with a seemingly larger one, as per the request of your parents to change every five years until you're 20, with the set you found in his at-home working space. your shoulder shuddered from the uncontrollable sobbing mess you are and the tingling sense of your right arm and leg taken off—knowing that what your parents promised to you was a lie. now realising that they were giving you false hope.

you continued your homeschooling studies with your aunt and uncle and learn more knowledge than you ever would have got with the emphasis on other skills than theories, like cooking and tinkering. but you always feel sad as you're usually being left alone by your aunt for her hospital work and your uncle who goes to work at his shop; wallowing in the tranquillity as you don't have the desire to go outside, given your own situation. that's when they brought home two androids to be under their care.

sitting on the couch, you eyes gaze upwards as you look at them, bewildered. it is then followed by chuckles as you heard your uncle mentioning to them on how you've just finished your studies on androids with a perfect test score from the makeshift exam he made only for you.

"hello (y/n)! i'm kai and this is my sister, bahiyyih." you heard the boy say, grinning the whole time while the girl follows—their smile looking as similar as ever. the reason that you have your eyes enlarged and jaw dropped is because you see them before, not as kai and bahiyyih like what they introduced to you, but as android types that are being promoted on the digital magazines you've read or the advertisement on the streets when you, uncle, and auntie all went out together to eat.

your 14-year-old self understands much about androids and their many tentacles of technology, courtesy of your uncle. but it is also a want from yourself to learn when you are taught that your parents were integral in their creation before they passed. you learned every type of them that have come out from shim laboratories, even the ones that were produced outside of united korea. even from a passing look, you can assign kai and bahiyyih as models HG200 and HG400, respectively. both are part of the HG series, or what people call "the sibling line". both are created to be the "dream brother" and "dream sister" that every child wants to have or every parent wants to have for their child.

that was until you heard them talk that you noticed how they don't sound particularly robotic, unlike the ones that you've seen on tv or when you are outside. how they speak freely, think freely, and even help you with your studies because of the vast knowledge they have ingrained in their software—a notable part of theirs to be the "sibling that a child could lean on"—helping your aunt and uncle in things they aren't knowledgeable about but also on finding the most accurate answer to your curiousity. by talking with them, you learned that androids can gain consciousness and think freely other than their software or what they are programmed to do. how they can have their own opinion and their independence from it. and you learned that they aren't the only ones to do so, and many androids are becoming deviant as time passes.

your 15th birthday is celebrated by your uncle, aunt, and your android cousins. how excited they are that you're going to change your limbs again to fit your age because it's getting more complex and a tad bit bigger. the technology is much closer to the arm and leg that kai and bahiyyih have. after a dinner, in a warm, dimmed living room where you sat alongside the rest of your family, that's when your uncle and aunt tell you everything that they know about how your parents died 10 years ago.

one day, the company that they worked for, shim laboratories, found out that they had smuggled confidential work out of their site when it was needed for the testing process. how they find out and with the help of their partner corporation, park corp, to track the serial numbers of the cases and see that your parents are the ones that brought them out. for them, it's a disaster as the parts they smuggled out are the prototypes for the project that nobody outside of the corporation should have known. the project that will become part of kai and bahiyyih now. but for you, it was the parts that helped you get a second chance at living.

shim laboratories, with the help of park corp, sends a squad to track your parents down. your parents found out after listening to the grapevine and the alarm system they have in place, which makes them call your uncle who already knows the backup plan. that they will stay undercover while you will be under his and his wife's care. how they will someday pick you up and bring you home. but their plan doesn't succeed as instead of negotiations like the ones they predicted, negotiations as to how they can help make new limbs or even a better prototype. they were dead on arrival.

your uncle, being the eyes and ears of this whole operation, never heard any news of their status for a month until he received the digital white flag, an alert that his brother told him about, and the whole diary entries within it; retelling the whole situation through written and spoken note as the last one cut off so suddenly. he had knew what happened and he can't bear to tell it to you as you were so young when it happened—in order to protect you.

"i know, we learned about androids, but do you remember that there is also a concept of cyborg, right?" uncle speaks, rotating his head to look towards you.

you nod, "a being that has an organic and a somewhat mechanical body."

"correct," he smiles, "cyborg as a concept has existed for nearly 100 years today. many of the artificial limbs out there are made to be used for amputees—just like you, or even to enhance a human's physicality and mentality, though it has never succeeded in korea. rumour has it that shim laboratories were working with park corp to create an enhancement that makes their security personnel into cyborgs. but it never happened, and they instead focus on creating androids and cybersecurity through peripherals such as equipment and weapons instead. but it became a reality when we all operated on you. it came out successful."

the muscles of your face react as you capture and process what he said. showing the perfect expression as you felt auntie's hand on your knee, "you are, what we consider to be, the first cyborg that shim laboratories wanted to build."

their words added to the overall weight you carry as you look towards your newly replaced right arm, seeing its synthetic skin layer resembling the one your left before you pressed them on your lap. feeling the contrast of your biological, warm-blooded arm with the machinery that you have lived with for the past 10 years, creating a much more mature addition to the whole concept of being that is you.

time goes by and you have to say goodbye to your aunt who died from an unexpected heart attack back when you were 17, leaving your last year of learning to be with your grieving uncle and her children, kai and bahiyyih, who is now more vocal to you and other androids about the pro-android movement. they are your guardians when you go outside as you feel the besmirched underground areas where outcasts and leftovers reside, letting you take in the contrast between the extravagant-looking neo seoul to what is happening in the depths of them. because of them, you met more deviant androids, making you know more of them than humans, who are a rarity in the circle you are in. yet, you still feel out of place with them as only less than half of you is a machine.

you start to get obsessed with the megacorporations and how they work, seeing the old guys on the board of directors directing not just their own corporation, but also directing their impact on neo seoul and the world as a whole, economically and culturally. how you learned from kai, being the vocal one of the siblings, that the pro-android movements have started to increase and are brave enough to even protest at shim laboratories headquarters in south seoul, where they face off with their own creators for independence and recognition as a new being of life. how, even though your end goal was different, the implications are the same.

you want to see them crack. you want to let them know what they have done to the androids and you.

the fire was blown out and the sound of claps are coming from the back where you see your uncle emerging alongside an android with some eccentric fashion of black and pink hair came out from behind him. he walks to the counter where kai resides, paying for his service, and smiled as they push the beads away to leave the shop. leaving a lasting wink at you as you chuckle and tug your fallen jacket up your shoulders.

uncle now works exclusively with androids after he has had the time to learn more from your surgery, changing your limbs every five years, and has androids that he considers his children. seeing how much an android is other than being a machine, he supports the deviants on their way to their referendum and recognition and studies more about how their technology works, adding to his vast knowledge of mechanical engineering. but as a human, his reputation is at stake and he knows it. that's why he decided to be more android-centric by the time you finished your homeschool program at age 18. known as "the mechanic" in the circle of deviant androids, a first of the so-called "android doctor" who can fix up androids or even enhance their processing powers with his ties to the market full of components.

you, on the other hand, decide to be a so-called mercenary and messenger between deviant androids of neo seoul and the satellite cities around it—both physically and interwebs—after you finished your schooling at 18. even though from the pieces of literature that you have read, the term "mercenary" is usually defined as an assassin or soldier to gain money, you define it more as on the nose with espionage. being the trojan horse to the deviant android community because of how human you are and how you can hide in plain sight with your one-of-a-kind appearance that won't worry the androids—unlike them who most have the same likeness other than the differences of hair and skin tone choice. in doing that, your uncle focus to taught you about programming, engineering, and even agility as best as he could alongside other androids. with such a dangerous job, you decide to live on your own in a building at seoul central, a district which is a river away from south seoul, where most middle-high class humans live, especially the corporate conglomerates that you despise.

"it's time, (y/n)." your uncle's rough and deep voice conveys, an evidence of his age that he gracefully accepts. bahiyyih moves to put her hands on either side of your shoulders, shaking you as she looks happier than you about this, just like what she did five years ago.

"new limbs!" she exclaimed.

"the most advanced," kai added, giving you the flute of champagne that he poured into. a breath pushes out as you hold onto yourself to not chuckle again—too much for your own liking today—as you follow your uncle to his work station behind the doorframe. the blue-hued lights illuminate the room full of tools and parts, an IV bag of blue blood hangs for androids who need their cooling fluid when uncle does his job for them. eyes instantly focus on one spot, you sit on the chair beside the hanging bag while your uncle opens a big cabinet that blends in with the wall, and the secret compartment behind it. the appearance of the huge case, which is branded with the shim laboratories signage, makes you swallow your saliva. the biggest of the ones you've seen with your previous limbs. he brought them to place them on top of the table in the middle of the room, opening it to see the pearly white right arm and leg limbs that your parents smuggled out of said company 15 years ago.

"your parents never actually had the blueprint for this prototype spread in their factory. so when the other engineers want to repair the rest of the prototype into completion after your parents' murder for their meeting and showcase, they can't restore it." your uncle mumbles as you sip on your champagne with your left hand, bringing them out of their case as careful as possible as if it is a rare creation of art—because it is. but you are still going to test their endurance after they replace your old ones in the way you have always done.

"hence, the technologies used for your parts and the other androids are different. your mom and dad have always been complex about these things. like a cypher that only they could solve in creating such a polarising project," he continues to talk, distracting you along with the alcohol that your anatomical parts are processing. you pulled your jacket off as the air from the fan humming on one corner of the room grazes your skin exposed by your tank top and shorts—even on your cybernetic sides too—waiting for him to prepare. the shine of the blue light reflects on the black ink that adorned the area of your left shoulder until your elbow, the intricate curved style sigils created a contrast from the right arm that will always be replaced every five years.

"this is going to tickle."

"i know…" your reply earns a chuckle from him.

as your uncle twisted the joint in some way to kill the nerves of your right cybernetic hand and leg—something you are always mesmerised by as you can't lift your arm up after it—he pulls your limb away gently. your right eye glitches for a few frames. turning your head, you glance at the white socket that your parents and your aunt surgically put on you to put the cybernetic part in place. the scar from the stitches remains a lighter colour that circles your arm or your thigh regions, blending in with the edges of the socket as you gaze at the arm limb you previously wore, slowly reverting back to its original unnatural white material colouring.

your new arm slides into the socket as you hear the click. after he twists it to place, you feel a surge of nerves overflowing your right arm. the pins and needles that you felt every five years are coming back as you shake your head to get rid of the tickling and numbing sensation. your right eye continues to twitch as uncle stands there, waiting for your response if there is something wrong. awaiting for your nerves and chip that is implanted on your nape to recognise that it is another part that is being changed and read its connection.

that's when your skin colour blooms on the white parts and the pain subsides, recognising the data the chip sends. while the colour blooms, you start to move your fingers, try to recognise the feeling again. you slowly raise the arm up and down, moving it into little waves as you feel the heightened sensation of the blue blood flowing through the faux fleshy part of the machinery. rising it up more, your new right hand shields the bluish-white light that shines on the ceiling, admiring the little wrinkles where the skin and muscles usually move often together. It also recognises the memory your previous arm has, showing the scar that you had when you accidentally fell and cut your right arm's skin: the blue blood pours out of you like the usual red blood.

"what the difference between this hand and the other one?" your voice lingers in the room as you look at your uncle who is slowly lifting up the limb of your right leg.

"from your parents' notes, the difference is with dexterity. they're much more nimble as the amount of materials to simulate every bone hinge and sockets human has is a bit more realistic." the noise of ruffling clothes lets you turn your vision to your uncle who stood in front of you. his hands gently hold both of yours respectively as he lifts them up to the height of your chest. "and it is probably centimetres longer than the previous one you have. it resembles more of the length of an adult female's average arm." he pushes the hand next to each other as your organic nail presses against its cyber counterpart, noticing that even with longer nails, the right one is a few millimetres longer.

"it seems that it is longer than your actual arm. but that's okay because-"

"imperfection makes humans human. i know." you cut him off to finish his sentence, feeling the hold loosen as you flip your hand to give your uncle a thumbs up with your new arm. uncle smiles with one lip corner lifted, pulling his hold from your arm as he does the same technique he does to replace your cybernetic right leg. you continue sipping your champagne slowly as if you're going to get drunk if you just immediately down it in one go, feeling that cacophony of ticklish-numbing-pain once again and for the last time since you don't need them to be changed anymore after this.

you step away from the work station and talk with kai and bahiyyih at the front part of the store after the whole procedure to give your body time to adjust to the new limbs, letting your right hand fidget around with a coin as you try to prove this enhanced dexterity uncle mentioned. you have finally realised how your two android cousins have matching hair colour of a platinum blonde. they banter with each other about how they replicate each other with their new hair, which they never agree upon to change at the same point in time. your shaking body laughed out loud with them, seeing them as another person rather than the ones with the same face and figure as them somewhere in the big city. the alcohol showed its effects alongside your tired self as your body is familiarising itself with the new parts. you rested your head on the counter—letting the cool relieve the warmth of your body as it almost lulled you to sleep. yet, you keep listening to the conversation.

"you know what? after the collapse of social media back when she was 18, i never see people around (y/n)'s age on the streets again," bahiyyih spoke out, her head props on the arm that rested on the counter as you both sit on the stools in front of barrier which kai is standing behind, hanging the cloth on his broad shoulder after he wipes the dust away from the shelf.

"that's because they moved to that new thing called cyberspace. word on the streets says that it is literally neo seoul but utopian," kai replied with his tone so unserious before it follows with a fake vomit sound, making his sister scoff and nod her head.

"that place that androids are banned to be in. they really can't comprehend what a terrible world they live in, do they? letting us and people much more destitute than them take the brunt of it all."

instantly, both of them turn their heads, startled to see and hear the quick rummage noise from witnessing you sitting up straight on the chair. eyebrows creased, your eyes move to look between the two with your jaw tight. intrigued in the conversation they are talking about. some software that you should've known about, especially if it also relates to the androids too.

one eyebrow lifted, you pursed your lips and asked, "care to elaborate more, kai?" you asked.

he hums with a smirk forming, then reply, "cyberspace is the internet, social media, augmented reality, and virtual reality if they have a foursome lovechild. what the corpo guys said is "the new layer of life." on the outside, it is literally a small machine like a coin-sized." he lifted his hands to form a circle with his fingers, showing you as he lifts it to be in front of his face, letting only see a glimpse of his eye. "that size. where they will put it on their temple. but the inside of it, it's 'literally' the same thing as real life, though that is what is marketed."

"it's created by our lovely foe, shim laboratories, and the other corpos, park corp and intelee," bahiyyih added, making you turn your head down and your eyes stop squinting from the curiosity.

"why didn't i know about this?" you scoffed out and shaking your head to yourself, glancing at your cousin, bahiyyih, who already has the answer in.

"the product was released a year and a half ago when you were 18 through the grapevine. they're might be a few ads of it, but not as much as the other products they got. and you also, you know, don't really use information technologies as much if it does not involve your job," she answered with an endearing look in her eyes. sure, you might have seen the advertisements somewhere in neo seoul. yet, most of them don't really advertise a product. the advertisements you observed are usually made to look like vintage travel posters, making you believe more that it is merely a virtual reality game that allows people to go into some new space, to then be treated as a sandbox to create things. well, now, it is not.

unconsciously biting your bottom lip, you reach into your mind to pull out the thought about the whole new technological evolution that you never get the information for because you're not seeking it for yourself. most of the time, other than jobs that require you to do so, you do much more mundane things like humans who lived years before your time did. reading paper books instead of owning a tablet, buying a bunch of cd and tapes of musician that is popular from the 2020s and older, learning that there is a thing called magic from the harry potter series, listening to music created by björk who sounds much more futuristic than her time back in the 1990s. yet, one of your favourite media that you have is your cyberpunk collections of american movies, such as blade runner and ex machina, to japanese animations such as akira and ghost in the shell. all telling the stories of the future that you're currently living in, or even earlier. some are accurate, while some are dead wrong on their predictions.

yet, when you hear of this thing called cyberspace, you become attentive. isn't the current situation you are in cyber enough? with the amount of automation and innovation being done by the corporations the people believe have restored the present and future, why escape? and, "you said that androids are banned in cyberspace, hiyyih?"

you listened to said android humming as she unfolded her arms, letting them help fix her creases on her outfit, "one of the deviants learned it the hard way. they got zapped when the compartment meets their skin, giving them seizures that almost glitch them to shut down."

"like those high-voltage tasers that the corpos used to curb protestors. we got informed that the cyberspace device can detect if you're an android or not. seems like they create them to hide from us." kai rested both his hands on the counter, leaning his head down in between the upright hands, pouting cutely that which makes you chuckle just how contrasting the atmosphere is.

catching that, you wrapped your arms around you, mind wandering somewhere in your knowledge to understand how such action is necessary; unless they have a hidden agenda as to what they're doing. from all the programming knowledge that you have learned from your uncle and books, you learned that the old internet exists to connect people. it exists so that walls between land and sea are demolished, trading information for knowledge that can be useful in some way to the being that gets them. but the freedom of communication has its downside, especially every time you see more humans are concentrated more on their machines rather than other people including their androids or devices—how different it is from the old books that you read where people talk with each other while riding buses. it is sad how the human species has come to this.

but creating a technology to interact with each other rather than doing it in real life is just a whole other level. to make them exist somewhere else, even though they'll be able to connect using any type of way the world has to offer. you wanted to shake the directors working in their office buildings in east hangang for their contribution to what they have done for society in metropolitan korea. to see that their actions as a corporate entity are the ones that made your reality now a dystopia, and how much of a coward they are for not taking action in the name of money and power to actually take the consequences for what they have done. to espace instead.

constant conspiracy theories have been launched at you from the numerous deviant factions you've met in the cities you've visited as the primary messenger. that you heard that the megacorporations have been wanting to eliminate the deviant androids. maybe that's what they're doing in that very space, meeting with each other like the hidden societies of freemasonry and illuminati did in the past. now creating another layer of reality because their own is too interconnected with the results of their decisions.

this is what makes you decide to give cyberspace a run for its money.

"thank you for buying," the android in front of you said as they nod, smiling warmly yet looking into their eyes: you find no warmth. the warmth that you usually see in the deviant androids that you encountered is devoided as you give a small nod. respecting them as ever as you hoped they could realise that they could rebel against their system if they want.

walking out of the big technology store in the middle of neon-clad myeong-dong, you walked through the sea of people and androids of shapes, sizes, and colours towards the metro station. your eyes scan the crowd, noting the difference between humans and androids just with how easily you can recognise the same likeness plastered on a few that you walked past by; all doing a job in some sort, from the clerks to the companion androids. yet, you also find a human resting on the bench with a can near them, and other humans protest about androids and how they stole their jobs.

these are what you see in your day-to-day life. even though you don't have many human friends and how your aunt and uncle restricts you to go to school institution whilst making you homeschool—they told you that people who go to today's education system at the end will have to funnel themselves to work in the corporates that you learn to despise as there are no jobs with income enough to survive this city—you still have an affinity to humans who struggle because of the system that is reinforced today. many times, as you ride on the subway train going through places in the districts of neo seoul, you talked with the elderly. how they are amazed by you who are still holding onto a book rather than a physical phone or even a holographic screen from the watch, like most people your age. you have learned many things from them; how in the pre-korean war era of the 2020s, many people still cared about each other as they faced this world-stopping pandemic; how you heard them say that humans have perseverance and a will inside of them. even some of the elders that you talked to actually know about deviant androids, some even took care of them and recognised that they're more than just a machine and even more "human" than the humans themselves right now.

your life cultivated without tapping into the popular zeitgeist makes you appreciate the place that you live in even more. how you usually travel to the ancient seoul district to learn the history and culture of the united korea that you live in today. how it used to be north and south korea and the stalemate that lasted for decades and the idea of reunifying them. even though most of the guides in the museums and gallery are androids that you saw have the same complexion as the ones that you see in a fried chicken restaurant, you always ask questions about the places that you visit as they utter every answer they could from their machine learning on the information they have to have. how learning them makes you realise their significance to today's time and the place you are living in.

after a few rides and changes between train lines, you arrive at the station that is nearest to your apartment building. climbing out of it, the sidewalks are emptier than the suffocating myeong-dong crowd you were in tonight. a few of those mom-and-pop shops still exist here and are open. whilst walking by the side of the road, tucking your jacket upwards to warm yourself up, your eyes linger on a homeless person with their luggages around them singing and playing the guitar to one of the songs that you recognized as "don't you forget about me" by simple minds, the same song from the movie that you watch last night, the breakfast club: a story about american teenagers in detention and their shenanigans. as you heard the very song in the ending credit, you wished time travel is real and you can go back to live your life like them, to feel this sense of joy that seemed so bright compare to this world you are living in. the person turns their head to you as the last chord rings, making you give a polite applause as you approach and give them some cash from your wallet.

"i can't help much, but i hope you can get dinner tonight."

"thank you…" they said, "it's been a long time since i've felt this amount of sincerity coming from someone," making you earn a smile from them as you return to the path to your building.

the sound of the grating chains are clanking outside of the box as you rested your head against the metal wall of the elevators of your apartment building complex, eyes looking out the doors that are made of metal crates, letting you see the lives that it inhabits as more of the ones near here and the neighborhood are mostly human-centric with androids taking the role of housekeepers, caretakers, and government workers that clean the place. you could still hear the sound of people talking and children laughing as you go past the lobby area, prompting you to let out a smile at how refreshing it sounds, combined with the solemnness. the metal elevator stops on your floor, and you watch the metal gate open before you carefully step across the gap. pressing the passcode for your room with your right hand, the door clicks as you are greeted with the large window that gives you a view of the han river and south seoul on the other side. the moonlight shines into your room minimally as you turn the lights on with the small fluorescent lamp in the kitchen and grab a cold bottle of water from your mini-fridge. tapping lightly, you pull out the box from your parachute pants pocket and place it on the table by the window. the white box contrasts with the dark nature of your abode.

you took a glance at it before stepping into your bathroom to take a shower, another cold one as your heater doesn't run and you haven't had the time to contact your usual maintenance person with this. the new limbs are taking in the water like champions as you can even feel the realness from how the synthetic skin seemed to even let water droplets into the pores. the same sensation on your left and right sides of the body. pressing down on the new arm, you see how the skin bounces from your touch as the skin layer works alongside the made-up flesh to make it look and feel like it is the real thing. as you stood in the middle of the open living area with your towel around you only, you stare at the view in front of you—knowing that the minimal light in your room won't give away your body, which has fewer clothes on. you were lucky you got to rent an apartment near the han river as you grew up more in bukhan hills where your uncle and aunt reside. you used to live around this very area of seoul central district with your parents. it is only a bridge away from the place where they worked. you always say that you're paying a homage to them by living in the same neighbourhood as you did back then to yourself. it was a way for you to connect to them in some way, shape or form, letting the environment remind you that your parents have also faced the same one years ago when they were still here.

you put on the most comfortable t-shirt and pyjama shorts for tonight as you sit nicely on your bed, looking at the white box that you bought that has almost the same range of numbers as your rent money for each month resting in front of your crossed legs. you wanted to laugh at yourself as you still had time to hesitate if you're going to this or not. no, not because you don't want to interact with the people in them; but if you're going to be able to get in or not. you are a cyborg. you are half-machine. you have cybernetic arm, leg, and eye with a chip in you to make them work alongside your biological nervous system. you're not fully human, and you're scared that they might detect that. that they might be giving you the same seizure like the one that hiyyih told you before, but because of the existence of the organic side of your body, you won't sustain them in time to call 119.

grabbing the box that says 'cyberspace' right on top of it, you can sense the chrome texture of the box that is giving it a sense of luxury that you know you don't deserve to have, given your circumstances, especially with the amount of money you have to exchange for this small device. you lift up the lid as carefully as possible, peeking inside to be met with what seems to be a dark, velvet-textured cushion when you glance to find the small white discs kai told you. you raise the cushion and rest beside your leg when you see an instruction on the inside, as the side of the box opens up to let people read—the writing is almost invisible to you because the only light sources are the moon outside and your vintage yellow bedside lamp.

welcome to cyberspace. to use the device, you will have to stand in front of the mirror and place the device on your temple. we will then greet you inside.

you squinted your eyes from the vague instruction, feeling your left hand sticky because of the sweat that formed. eyes glancing back at the cushion holding onto the disc, you poke your tongue to the inside of your cheek as you think this through. this means that the disc is connected to your skin and may read your brain signals for it to work. but why does it want the user to stand in front of a reflective surface for it to turn on? is that why it recognises androids more easily? their similar likeness makes it highly unlikely to be classified as an authentic human?

"fuck it." you breath out as you pinch the disc between your forefinger and thumb, nudging yourself of the bed to stand in front of the mirror on the other wall across from your window. you gazed at yourself in such comfy clothes as you feel a brush of cool air against your skin, lifting your hand up to carefully place the disc near the skin of your right-side temple, hesitating to let it stick onto the skin as you breathe in a pace—anticipating the seizures that could happen. no, you have to. a countdown could help with that.

"okay," you mouthed to yourself.

three…

two.

one!

. . .

your vision is dark as you feel the forefinger pushing the disc onto the skin. yet, nothing seemed to happen other than the increased pressure from your finger on the device.

fluttering your eyelids open, you let out a breath as you see that you are fine. shifting towards the disc underneath your fingertip, you let go of it as soon as you see a glint of life in front of your reflection—seemingly on the mirror's surface. the small white dot elongated into a thin line as you watch the cyberspace logo animated out of the line.

guess death isn't on your door for now, you say to yourself as your eyes follow the logo expanding more into different sections of the mirror.

the user interface is forming in front of you and you feel like you have gone hallucinating. you even tried blinking slower and closing your eyes to find out that this interface is showing up in your vision, even with it showing behind the lid—not a result of augmentation to the mirror like you thought it was. though that thought has to be cut short as you observed a silhouette of a figure showing up now with writings on the top.

stand in front of the mirror and look at your full body reflection.

you step back so your full-body reflection shows on the reflective surface, making sure that your body is placed inside the figure in your vision. you see a spinning loading interface, recording what it sees through your own sight, making you squint your eyes because how can they know what you look like based on your reflections and your dimly lit room? then, you see a rectangle with a blinking line on it and the words "your name?" at the top of the figure.

"so, we can put anything as our name in cyberspace?" you asked the android in front of you, who pushes the small box on the counter. the store was bustling with customers purchasing products created by shim laboratories. the cyberspace device is placed right at the centre of the shop, making it visible to anyone who glances from the outside to encourage their curiosity. the android's hands are nimble as they prepare your order.

"yes, cyberspace respects your anonymity so you can be yourself or be someone else."

picking the mic option from its silhouetted icon inside the box with even such an eye glance, you tell the device what they can refer to you as:

"sierra whiskey alpha november." the letters show every time you speak each codeword.

you chose 'swan'. the same swan nickname that your parents gave you. the same swan nickname that inspired them to name your revival project as project swan song—other than its obvious implication you have learned about now. you never understood why they called you that cause everything that you do in your now 20 years of never seems swan-like, unlike the conglomerates that own and control the corporate entities you hate. you live with mostly middle-low class people around you, live in a more underdeveloped neighbourhood of neo seoul after they died. yet if they are still able to see you again, you know deep down that they still will call you their swan no matter what happens.

a silhouette of the figure now steps out from its idle state as you follow it, turning yourself to watch it walk in front of you, where a silhouette of a bed forms and it sits then lies down on it, repeating from the start as it tries to tell you to follow. you eye your bed and walk back to it to sit down on the mattress that is always succeeding in making you sleep. slowly lifting up your legs, your cybernetic leg felt even lighter compared to the stagnant heavy pressure that is the disc on your temple—feeling it nibbling your skin and reading every action and reaction you are unconsciously doing. yet, you continue to lie down and stare at your ceiling when you see an image of an eye closing.

"close your eyes," you heard a whisper from nowhere, maybe even just the sound of you reading the world out loud in your head. feeling the tiredness overcoming you makes your lids heavy, you let your eyes close. the icon disappears into a white thin line before it expands in size, overcoming even the colour of your eyelids as you calm yourself down.

"welcome to cyberspace." the same whisper says to you as it is shown in dark color text in front of the white background, the words blending into white that makes your vision warped as the color gather it in, letting you experience something truly bizzare happening to your mind, soul, and body at the same time.

a gust of wind blows against you. your eyes are piercingly hurting from the void of light as you flick them all around, sensing the moisture in them, trying to soothe the pain. then you see the visually distorted image, brightness lowering as new colours form in front of you and around you. the blurry colours become blobs, the blurry shapes become rigid as you are met in a grey-tone place. the plain ground bleeds into chromatic squares of uniform tiles as your eyes gaze upwards and on the emerging pillars. a sign hangs in the middle of the wide hallway as you turn your head, noticing the plastered glass windows shielding the white void you were moments ago. its appearance is getting stronger and stronger as you recognise this place; the underground station of the commuter train you rode to go around neo seoul. though, more pristine in an almost uncanny way.

you catch a rumbling noise coming from what looks to be a speaker placed in the ceiling, a gibberish voice talking as you turn around to see the place where you came from: the opening glass door that stood alongside the windows that stretch until you see the greenish-grey colored wall again. stepping out of it, the colours become vivid and vibrant. the interior is becoming even more familiar. footsteps surround you as you glance at the people who are also stepping from behind the open doorway from the white void.

the people you see are of different age ranges who are all wearing similar outfits, the same one you seemed to wear when you looked down at your body. rubbing it against your fingertips—testing its senses that you can also feel from your real fingers, the texture feels like the robe you always wear when visiting a traditional bathhouse in bukhan hills. sandy yet it feels light. your eyes gaze between the space that resembles an underground train station, noticing a familiar green-ish colour having a white arrow that points you to your right, where more footsteps sound come from; and you decide to follow them.

with every step you take, more and more people are coming into your vision as they emerge from the branching hallway of where, you guess, more of the void of light comes. yet, the arrows shine with a green background towards one exit a few steps above. when you have walked near it, you can sense a familiarity with it whenever you come out of the underground station of the seoul metro. and with taking those very few steps, your eyes widen as you take in the familiar view.

the night sky shines on the ground upon which you stand. the familiar user interface before now shows up with more options and indicators—from the one in the right corner of your eyes with a numeric information beside the word bit, to the one opposite it with the alias you have given. rather than standing there clueless, you follow the path into a path full of trees. the view at the end of the path gives you chills down your spine.

a familiar pathway stretches beside a large body of water. the waves look tough as the current blows along with the wind. the skyscrapers across from you are clustered into one, though their colours are more subdued. you recognise this view, the view you've always seen from your real-life apartment unit: the han river.

this is neo seoul, yet its 'neo' aspect seemed to disappear into thin air.

gone is the overtly neon screen with a hologram protruding out of it. gone is the numerous light pollution that painted the city, creating the contrast of the ultra wealthy basking in the lights while the common people are blinded by them and live lower near the streets—behind the light's shadow. instead, the screen is replaced by the exterior of the building made of concrete and glass. some of them have their lights on, signalling someone there. the light is there, but much dimmer. billboards still appear on the walls and streets, yet they are lit up by spotlights on them instead of the billboard being made by those lights.

the appearance of seoul before you stuns you enough to only notice the numerous people that are surrounding you after a few seconds have passed. cyberspace denizens as you made up their nickname. your eyes trail their figures hanging about by the river's open green area—some even brought a picnic basket to enjoy. and they were wearing normal clothing other than the robe that you wore. the sound of small chimes of bells rings through the air as you watch numerous people fly past you along the long path built alongside the river; riding bicycles or skateboards down the pavement. their faces giving an expression of pure joy, like it is an emotion suppressed for a long, long time.

it kind of seems like you travel back in time to seoul in the 2010s.

you've seen pictures of it from the galleries and museums you went to in the ancient seoul district. remnants of its buildings with minimal neon signs stood beside them, overshadowed by the billboards of the present.

your eyes catch onto many more people seemingly around your age smiling widely, seeing them standing by a food stall where, you observed much more closely, is not tended by any android model you recognise; but by a human. your feet bring you closer to the stall, looking at the price list to see the bits encoded on the corner of your sight along with the signs of drinks such as smoothies and juices. eyes eyeing the name, a hologram appears in front of you, of the appearance of the drink, taunting you to buy it with the delicious image.

yet, your ears capture your attention as you look aside to the path of the park by the river towards the city's buildings. footsteps of the crowd of people walking out and about with skimpy outfits that expose more skin to you're liking, one of the girls seemingly touching up her wrist before a hologram shows up in front of her of another person. chat bubbles flow from the hologram person as the girl spoke to it, your eyes reading the words that the other person has already arrived at the club. a hint of melancholy travels across your mind.

and so, you quietly follow them. walking behind the crowd as you listen to what they're talking about: people, complaints, opinions that you have never heard before. being homeschooled and shielded from the world to not become as indoctrinated with the corpo's propaganda, it left you basically alone with kai and bahiyyih as your social companions. sometimes, you take up time to just sit around the side of the road, a drink in your hand, and listen to the sound of the people around you beneath the shadows of buildings or alleyways. you've seen those crowds of girls too, but much more entitled because you can see one android model strolling behind them—as if more as a surveillance. but here, in cyberspace, it seems safer that they could do whatever they want.

hearing their talks shows nothing of memory in your memory. that is just how unrelatable you are to the world, that the only thing on your mind is justice and fairness. that, maybe, you also have to let go of some of that to live a little.

going past numerous buildings, you see a glowing sign at the front of a building that vibrates with the blooming sound. your footsteps slowed down as the girls went forward, greeting the bouncer by the front of the door as they showed something from their wrist before they went through what looked like a thin screen. like a physical wall that you have to have the requirement for to actually go past it, no matter if the doors to said club are open.

you turn your head to find yourself in the reflective glass of a retail fashion store, wearing the robe that the newcomers arrived in. That is when an interface blooms in the mirror before you. a quick scroll of outfits shows before you and it lands on one tracksuit, replacing automatically the robe you were wearing so you could see how it looks on your body—making you move as you see how it interacts with the world. on the corner of the interface is the name of the outfit alongside the amount of bits needed to buy it. the numeric information now makes sense as you remember the said amount because the android told you that when you bought the device, 30% of it will be your "money" in it. you pull away from the interface before looking upon the street you are in, the shops that you didn't focus on before start to show their catalogues both in the mirror and on the window display, even with minimal lighting. a small store that sells more casual clothes and another one that sells more formal clothing, such as long dresses and suits.

your eyes bring you to the attention of a store showing a black sleeveless bodycon dress on display, taking a stride towards the window as it replaces the robe you are wearing, showing the skin that is covered by the clothes you are wearing, how the length reaches the middle of your thighs. but it also shows the arms that you usually see with your tank tops now looking plain without your signature sigilism tattoo. you have never worn these kinds of clothes before in real life because of your upbringing, living situation, and job. the insecurity and doubts start to flood through your mind, yet you still push yourself to step inside the store, seeing more holograms of each of the pieces' names and their price by the racks and mannequins.

a "buy" button shows up as you stand before the dress that you saw. you hesitantly push the button that you felt it heavy under your touch as a streak of light brings you to the mirror standing in the middle of the store. a small chime is heard as you look at the bits on the corner of your sight, diminishing in numbers. the appearance of your figure shows up once again as you are met with a new interface titled wardrobe. the options of your two outfits showing on the screen as you see the black dress you bought glowing in the wardrobe. as soon as you press it, you see a flare that went out in seconds and your outfit now changed in the mirror, but also your own body as you gaze down and realizes the tightness of the material wrapping around your body. you return your sight to the interface to see the options to customise hair and make-up, pressing it open. there are numerous options you can get—probably the default options—as you started to adjust yourself to be like the girls you were with before: trying to be as human as possible.

the platform heels feel much different from the platform combat boots you wear as you continue down the pavement, eyes set on the big building with strobing colourful lights and booming sounds. you pull down your dress ends many times as you felt them ridden up when you walk, biting a bit of your bottom lip as you can already tell yourself that you had failed to blend in. but when you walk nearer to the bouncer—who you see now is a much more human figure like you with his arms wrapped in front of his chest—you eye the hologramic barrier that keeps you out of the premises.

"your pass?" you heard him say, tilting your head to act in confusion. you heard them scoffed as they told you, "this is an exclusive club where you have to buy a pass for 1000 bits." you looked at the number indicating your amount of money and seeing, of course, much less than it not only from the clothes you buy but the amount in general. you give a nod to the bouncer and want to walk away and explore more of this version of seoul when you hear a voice coming from beside you.

"she's with me."

the bouncer looks at the source of the voice and nods as you feel something pushing you forward. the barrier feels ticklish as you step through it and hear the loud songs coming from inside. your head turns as the touch on your back lingers to find the sight of a boy around your age. his puffy velvet jacket is adorned with what looks like sparkles around his shoulders as he wears a matching tracksuit pairing for his top and bottom. his hair looks like a bleached dirty blonde styled with only a few of his fringes hanging by his forehead—framing how long and sharp his face looks.

"no 'thank you', huh?" you heard him say, didn't even realise that there is a small crowd behind both of you until he brought you aside by the doorway. a bunch of boys and girls with their eccentric hair colours, laughing it up as they walked deeper into the club. blending into the darkness you haven't adjusted to.

you licked your lips and sighed to say, "thanks." he hummed, the corner of his lips stretching upwards.

"you came alone, did you? i've never seen you here before," he said, hands now retreated to his side. his eyes glancing at what you presume as his friends, consumed by the dark and the sea of people.

"it's my first time here in cyberspace. that's why," you replied, hands rubbing against each other.

the boy hums before you watch him let out his open palm. "wolfe," you heard him say, which you tilt your head to.

"my name. wolf, the animal, with an e behind it," he replied again, which made you chuckle. even if you felt awkward about the whole situation, it's not your first time going to a nightlife establishment, especially if you want to drink away while people watching for your next messenger. you know what kind of person he is based on the smirk on his face.

"going fast, huh, buddy?" your reply is followed by how you turned your body facing him, walking backwards to then fade into the crowds. eyes seeing the boy's, wolfe's, look of surprise before you are being consumed by the trickling amount of dancing bodies that is slowly getting thicker.

the small smile on your face dissipates when you look around them and realise in your head that they're all humans who are just like you, in their bedroom alone. yet they look so… alive. you felt every graze of their bodies moving around yours, like the ones that you felt in real life, from the crowd of commuters you've joined in to a small stumble when you come across someone on the sidewalk. shivers run down your spine as you sense even the minuscule breeze of movement from the dancing—staying a distance from them.

pushing yourself out of the crowd, the familiar tingling of goosebumps coursing through your arms, your eyes found the bar area and you sat on the empty stool. the hologram menu on the counter lights up when you touch your hand against the counter, the bits counter on the corner of your peripheral vision shines to let you see clearly. you ordered the familiar margarita to distract yourself and the bartender said to put your right wrist on the counter to transfer the bits, where then a hand beat you. the familiar puffy velvet sleeves make you recognise that it's wolfe.

from the corner of your eye, you watch him brush his dusty blonde hair aside before turning towards you, resting his jaw on the palm of the upright arm against the counter. you slightly tilt your head to find that he is gazing at you. the faint of his now familiar smirk lingering.

"what are you doing?" you questioned.

"hanging out with you," he replied, eyes looking between your face and the counter, awaiting your drink and probably his turn to order.

your shoulder drops as you rest your hands on the table. "what about your friends? aren't you coming here to hang out with them?"

wolfe readjusts his posture to lean closer, moving his arm as his head is much nearer to yours, "i can hang out with them later. i'm more interested in you." his voice flows through your ear so easily, like it doesn't mind about where the setting is no matter the situation.

you chuckled as the bartender gave you your margarita while he ordered himself the same drink. "what made you interested in me?"

"your presence," he instantly replied while looking at how you delicately hold the stem on the glass. swirling the drink around.

"is that what you said to all the people you hooked up with?" you questioned his statement, eyebrows raised, and he countered back with a chuckle.

"believe me, i don't hook up with anyone easily," wolfe replies, his glare moving from your exposed skin on your torso to your amused face.

bringing the glass to your lips, you took a sip of the margarita and sensed the saltiness along with the familiar kick of the tequila that made your eyes widen. it felt so real that your body started to shiver once again, pulling away the glass as you looked at it.

"shocking, isn't it?" you see him still staring at you, lips agape from the words that came out of him. "how all of your senses can detect what happened here as if it happened in real life?"

you hummed, gazing at the drink that gives you a lingering taste on your tongue. you have to remind yourself that you are in a simulation. that the drink and the glass before are not real. your eyes glance as the bartender gives wolfe his own glass, which he immediately takes a drink from. his expression changed as he felt the kick of the mix before he asked, "what brings you here?"

an answer instantly comes to your mind, "curiosity, you?"

"boredom," he answered fast, eyebrows raised.

you turn your head towards the crowd dancing on the dance floor, mind moving all over the place as wolfe seems to be an anchor for that. curiosity indeed brought you here, but when you are alone in a world you don't know about, having someone offering some kind of guidance will be helpful for you to explore this cyberspace world. wolfe also seemed to be an insistent type of guy.

facing him slowly, you nod and say, "since you say you were bored and interested in me, i'll allow you to bring me to your friends."

"so suddenly?" you see his eyes broaden as you stand up from your seat, hand holding onto the stem of your glass before reaching for his, resting your head beside his ear.

"the name's swan. come on." wolfe sees you step aside, intending to walk away from the bar when you feel wolfe's hand wrapping around your wrist that is holding onto your beverage. carefully placing it into his hand before circling your fingers with his hand, pulling you away as he leads you to more of the individual seating booths, like he owned this place. before you both, you recognise the colourful hair colours of the group of boys and girls that you've seen with him before he moves apart to go with you.

"wolfe, you little shit. frost's searching for you," a guy with neon red hair said as the girl beside him laughed. their eyes are looking at the boy before they turn to realise your presence.

"who's this?" the other boy, bluish-silver-haired, asked with a slight tug on the corner of his lips. you felt a tug from wolfe's hand as he sat down on the booth in the empty space, patting the seat beside him as you followed.

"just someone wolfe is intrigued to know," you teasingly reply, looking at them one by one to watch their various expressions before you hear another guy approaching with white-haired shout wolfe's name.

"i was looking for you, then i just gave up. why are you so nimble?" you heard wolfe's laugh. never have you heard anyone around you laugh that out loud, other than your uncle and your android family laughs in the same volume. a smile is threatening to show when you hear his laugh, hand still holding yours.

as the white-haired guy, frost you assumed, sits down on the space beside a girl with brown and highlighted silver hair. they turn to stare at you, like a group of piranhas smelling the scent of blood in the water and how they are approaching closer and closer.

"well, i'm swan. and stop looking at me like that. you all are intimidating," you blurted out the words on the tip of your tongue as they started to laugh playfully, your lips turning into a pout as you play along with them. they start to introduce themselves, the red-haired one is roe with the girl beside him with highlighted hair is katt, while the other pair across from you is lin with the purple hair and blu with frost, white hair guy, sitting right beside wolfe.

your eyes are quick to find a host coming to the booth with a bottle of champagne. behind them: another two carrying the glasses when you heard the pop of the champagne bottle opening alongside the fizzy bubbles. the flute glasses are filled with the champagne and distributed to the people one by one. you watched as wolfe nudged the glass that he held towards you to make you pick it up. slowly, you lean back and let the taste overwhelm you. the most delicious champagne you've ever tasted—even compared to the one you had on your birthday.

"let's cheers first," wolfe told everybody as they scooted closer towards the table, glasses in hand. "i want to cheer for swan cause this is her first time in cyberspace." the others' eyes enlarged as you nod at them for confirmation.

"hope you have a nice stay!" lin said across from you as you mouthed a small thank you. and you all let your glasses clink against each other, the assortment of cheers coming from them as you retreated your glass back.

"cheers." wolfe nudges his glass towards you, and you meet it with yours. eyes locking onto each other as you both sip the beverage.

the sip turns into a whole shot as your smile lingers, letting a refreshing sigh of the alcohol that you can also feel the warmth like you are drinking it in real life, but minus the dizziness as it still simmers deep in you. you eye your margarita after placing the champagne glass, reaching for it to take a sip as you let the rest of the crowd talk about things while you listen. you actually didn't expect to be involved. lin's mention of your name startled you as she asked for your opinion about the topic they're talking about.

the drink comes and goes as you can feel the warmth spreading across your virtual body, genuinely making you feel as comfy as ever as you playfully lean in closer towards wolfe's side. and he reciprocates it immediately, moving your head to rest on his shoulder instead. in doing that, the lingering smile starts to spread once more as you listen to how roe, frost, and blu are arguing with katt's interjection: something you never really experienced before in your real life.

by the waist of your dress, you feel a warm surface pressing in. your eyes lifted to look at the boy you lean against and find his eyes already on you. the wide eyes that were on to charm you turn sharper, his irises move between your eyes and lower on your face as you do the same, taking a few seconds longer to his plump lips. the hand on your waist moves in between your body and grabs your nearest hand, a slight tug makes you already guess what is next as he pulls you away from the table. the rest of his group hollering as they see both of you walking away.

you felt the hands roaming on your body as you felt soft lips on yours, hearing them let out a groan as you slightly bite their bottom lip, making them move their head back. seeing wolfe's hooded eyes on you sends more goosebumps forming on your exposed skin as your hands play on the ends of his dusty blonde hair. the booming of the bass is not as much heard from the hallway you are in as he rested one of his hands beside your head. staggered breaths coming from you both from the passionate kiss and the way he pushes you against the nearest wall, caging you in so you are only for him.

yet, as you stabilise your breath, your eyes wander from his face to the mirror wall behind him, seeing yourself in such a vulgar state. you move to the side where he didn't press his hand against the wall, feeling wolfe's gaze on you as you trail your sight down the areas of your joints that should have faded scars resulting from the surgery. yet it now blends invisibly to your skin colour.

wolfe seems to allow you to step aside as you come nearer to the mirror, eyes locking in on your exposed right shoulder, where you should see the slight contrast in colour. you lift your hands up, feeling how much real it is, but also how it is lighter than your real-life cybernetic arm. the sight grazes a pout on your face. you glance to the left, wolfe's stance hasn't changed, yet his head turns towards you. you smirked.

"let's get out of here." he lifts one of his eyebrows. "you're gonna have to tell me more about cyberspace since you're here first." you rest your lifted arm beside your body as you turn away from the mirror.

your curiosity about cyberspace and the knowledge of it intrigues him as he sees you walk away from the hallway. his legs instantly follow you as you take the route around the sea of people, glancing at the booth to find the others giving winks towards him as he steps away to the entrance and takes in the fresh night air outside, free from the confines of the crowded room. wolfe blinks away as he has seen just how focused you are on staring at your reflection before speeding up his steps to follow you now, meters away in front of him. your exposed skin makes you a bit quivering, making him take off the puffy velvet jacket of his and putting it on the shoulders of your skimpily-dressed body. footsteps followed to synchronise himself with you as you turn your head and gaze on him.

"thanks," you replied as he sees you put your hands into the sleeves, much different from the other people he lends his jacket to who just put it on their shoulders. your figure, followed by his, continues to move forward when you arrive at a big street, where he sees your eyes widen in amusement. no vehicles are there other than bicycles parked on the pavement. head lifted up, you observe the surroundings of this street where it is just… empty for no apparent reason.

"hmmm, that's neat," he heard you muttered as you turned away and walked to where he could see the flowing surface of the han river. the ripples in the air create more texture as wolfe continues to look at you. yet your eyes are staring at the lit sky of the buildings opposite where you are standing.

"it does resemble seoul pre-united korea…" wolfe's head tilts as he catches on to what you say. a solemn look on your face in contrast with his furrowed eyebrows that are getting deeper.

he had never heard someone mention cyber seoul, his nickname for this version of seoul he is in currently, as having a resemblance to seoul, south korea. the engineers that he once asked seem to not mention the city before the korean countries united as an inspiration. yet, you can see it that way. you don't seem to be much older than he is, but hearing the tone that you said it with gives a sense of longing with a tinge of regret. something out of his world because if he is right to assume you two are the same age, you were born in neo seoul, united korea, in real life.

as you both walked by the paved riverbank, wolfe's eyes caught onto a food stall resting beneath a glowing tent, alone in the middle of the park beside the han river. your legs step towards it with him following right behind, not wanting to see you go away as he doesn't want to feel your charming spell of curiosity go away.

stepping inside by brushing the tent flap away, he follows you and sits on the bench beside you, who is looking at the hologram menu showing up on the table. nimble fingers scrolling on the hologram as you press to order ddeokbokki.

"you want some too? i can buy it for you." your gentle voice eases his ears. yet, wolfe shook his head as you continued looking at him sheepishly. he never ate street food again after his parents restricted him from going outside—maybe a few times when he slipped away from school—because it is replaced with the "high-end" version of it. but he is tempted to do so after seeing your carefree attitude, of how free you can enjoy the streets while he has to stay in high rises or office buildings, other than for academic or training purposes.

he watched you gazing at a sliver of opening of the tent, finding the han river and the buildings behind them. their tips reaching her to the night sky; especially with the appearance of namsan tower in the background. your eyes squinted with a sudden glint of recognition flashing right after. "are we in south seoul?"

wolfe sees how your gaze turns from the river to him, noticing how the sparks in your eyes are something that he has never seen before. "yeah, why?"

"hmm… i've never stayed more than four hours in the south. i never see the north like this."

the ddeokbokki comes out timely as you finish your sentence, thanking the cook for the order that they put in front of you as you grab onto your chopsticks. wolfe, well, he starts to think about what he sees in his day-to-day life. living in a beautiful penthouse with his parents and sister, the view from his room is specifically viewing the han river and the buildings and neon billboards of north seoul. for him, it does feel different as the north seoul he views every time he walks into his room is more vibrant, colourful, and chaotic.

"but, south seoul in real life is more shitty than its cyber version, so…" you continue your saying before eating one of the rice cakes covered with the red soup. moans of interest come out of you because of how it tastes, how you are also chewing because you can feel not only the spicy flavour, but also the chewy texture simulated for you. the boy hears you hum delightfully in glee, silently glancing at you as you lick up the spicy broth.

"how can they make it taste so real? like, how can my tongue even taste the spices? how can i even chew when there is technically nothing in my mouth? the technology is so advanced here, you probably knew by how delighted you are drinking that champagne back in the club," you continue to question and he chuckled from it because he had experienced it as well. that first time when you join cyberspace and it feels real, maybe much more real than real life itself.

wolfe hears you giggle as you continue to eat and how excited it looks. he set his sight on how his jacket looks on your shoulder and how comfortable you seem to be covered by it. he bought that jacket a few days prior after collecting his cut of bits that he got from his parents, a few per cent higher than the korean won he got on his bank account. how he bought it after looking at it while window shopping the week before, how it suits him when he changed his clothes in front of the mirror in the store, and now, how it also looks great on you.

both of you now walk along the path beside the river. he sees how your eyes shine after you've finished eating, excited to look around the cityscape once again as if you didn't see all the time in neo seoul. your arms wrapped in front of you as the jacket still helps in combating the wind flowing past. the simulation of wind inside cyberspace.

"so," you turned your head that is followed by a tilt, "tell me what you know about cyberspace." he chuckles at your question and raises his eyebrow before you gave him a nod. a sudden switch turns on inside his head as he starts talking. in his mind, he could see the sales pitch script he had to memorise from time to time, remembering the essence of cyberspace as he knew that his father would test him to see if he actually knew the product knowledge.

cyberspace was created by shim laboratories, park corp, and intelee as the replacement of social media after it collapses in 2048. cyberspace created another layer of seoul that people can experience in the ways that they feel comfortable too. interacting with people from all over neo seoul and then, all over united korea.

"so cyber seoul is technically just neo seoul without the dystopian twist to it, huh?" you asked with squinted eyes.

hearing you describe his real-life city paused his actions and geared his brain to think faster to find the right response. he never describes neo seoul as dystopian as he believes that it is the result of the technological evolution that has been boiling for years, which his family then benefits from creating shim laboratories. creating androids that helped people in day-to-day life and cyberspace that can connect people more intimately, especially post-world war 3.

"what makes you think that?" you turn your body towards his still body, mouth closing after his remark. hands inside the jacket pockets as you lean forward to answer.

"it's too… clean. too nice." his eyes watched the scrunch on your nose as you reply before leaning back to stand up straight. "but, well, i see how people want to be here." the wind blows your hair and ends of the jacket that you wore whilst you looked down at the ground before you and chuckle.

"there are not as many humans i saw on the streets anymore." you glance back at wolfe. "kind of suspicious. isn't it?"

wolfe reaches his hand for you as you walk away before he keeps up his pace to walk in the same rhythm as you—side by side—but his mind is still stuck on what you said.

"oh, i also want to ask." your facial expression returns to the one he used to see before peeking from the corner of your eyes, "if cyber seoul works like neo seoul, does that mean that time works the same? or are we in a vacuum?"

"cyber seoul and neo seoul have the same time system, so when it is daytime in cyber seoul, it is also daytime in neo seoul," wolfe replied swiftly.

"then, how can people sleep if they're like us? staying at cyberspace at night, yet, in reality; in the real world, it's already sunrise?" the squinting eyes are back, now with a tinge of disgust on the edge of it as it peers through him.

the question uttered by you triggered something in his brain. the overbearing side of himself who is threatened by someone not seeing what he wants. the same threat he felt when he had to debate with his teachers over something true because of the data he had and whatnot. the feeling of it tingling against his temple, telling him of the answer that had shown up in his mind from years of looking at the blueprint of the device.

"cyberspace's users are actually sleeping in real life after putting the disc on." wolfe's hand reaches up to the temple, where he hoped you also recognise, as seen through the way you look at it from the corner of your eyes.

"and how do you know about that?"

"cause i'm-" he paused. the enthusiastic answer is already at the tip of his tongue, but he gazes back at your face. a face full of expression that is curious yet also forward. more and more evident as you seemed to grill him with the information.

almost. almost making him slip up.

wolfe licked his bottom lip as he closed his mouth. you watch as his eyes move frantically between the path on the ground and the background of the cityscape, but never at you. not anymore.

"you are what?" your speaking voice startling him as he stops his wandering eyes to gaze at you, biting his bottom lip as before he breaths out a heavy, long one.

"i have to log off," he spoke instantly as your eyes can't follow along with how he presses something onto his wrist as fast as possible.

"wait, how can i-" wolfe's figure glitches out and disappears. "log off?" your voice trails off as you look away at the clear ground from where he stood to glance at the river, thinking about how fidgety he became at the end. like he has some information he shouldn't share with you. an unknown information about cyberspace itself that nobody supposedly doesn't knows.

jaeyun breathes heavily as he sits up on his bed, pulling the disc off of his temple and putting it on his bedside table as gently as possible. he runs his hands into his dark locks whilst closing his eyes, contemplating the things that he talked about with swan in cyberspace. and how he almost outed himself as someone who knows the technical workings of cyberspace, how he almost outed himself as a shim that in the future will take care of shim laboratories.

by extension, putting his life in danger if he continues to tell you more about it.

he sees the hologram on the wall across from him lighting up in a subdued blueish colour when a message notification is incoming from cyberspace, seeing sunghoon's name right beside the frost alias.

02.45. sunghoon (frost): how's your night going with swan, wolfe? is she alright? is she good?

sighing, jaeyun's soles stood up against the cold floor and he walked towards the wall as the hologram got brighter and the keyboard showed up. leaning down by his desk, he wrote his reply, digits pressing against the keys that still felt heavy even if it is only made of particles.

02.45. jake (wolfe): i'm offline now.

turning his body towards the bedroom door, he pushed himself up and out of the door of his room to grab a drink for his dry throat. jaeyun steps onto the wooden floor as the dim blue lights on the wall are his source of light, letting him take in the view of the large living area of his home and the subtle silhouette of nighttime neo seoul behind the sheer curtain.

his strides bring him to the fridge to find both of its doors open and a crouching figure kneeling down in front of it. her hair covered the side of her profile as jaeyun heard the rustling of aluminium.

"yoon, what are you doing?"

the girl's head turns after hearing her name whispered by his brother, stopping her jaw as she faces and looks up at him, peeking between her strands of hair. "snacking," she nonchalantly replied.

"don't you have school later?" jaeyun frantically whispers as yoon is slowly standing up and straightening her body—her height nearing his. her eyes slightly look up to his while holding a box of expensive chocolate that he recalls was brought home from a gathering a week before. something mom held in her hand as she placed it on the table for the android maid to put away when he was stepping out of his shoes after getting home from the office.

jaeyun now stands beside his sister, reaching for a bottle of lemonade in the fridge's shelf as she asks, "don't you also have class later, oppa?" she tilts her head with her arm wrapped in front of her chest, the box hanging tight in her hold.

"yeah, but in the afternoon. go on sleep, you don't want sumin to find out that you aren't sleeping from your diagnostics, right?" she lightly groaned while he smirk cause she knows he is right as she remembers that sumin, the android maid, will find out if yoon went outside when the android noticed just a little more swollen eyes from not sleeping enough.

jaeyun watches as her sister closes the box and returns it to its place in the fridge before walking away towards her room—his sight linger on her retreating figure before she blends in with the night's darkness. with the lemonade bottle wrapped around his fingers, he pours the beverage into a large cup so that he hasn't had to go back if it's not enough to refresh his hydration. his eyes adjusting to the darkness let him see the serene scene of the living area. the glow from the city seeping in. he let out a small smile to find the fluffball that is layla, the family's golden border collie, sleeping in her own bed as he went by to his room.

by the time he arrived back and gazed towards the wall, messages upon messages were stacked from the group chat where he and his friends talked.

02.58. heeseung (roe): what do you mean you're offline? she is a total catch, man 02.58. soojin (katt): defo! you even left us for her when we arrived at the club 02.58. sunghoon (frost): is she that bad, or is it you? 02.59. jay (blu): imagine jake shim got blue balled after a long time not hooking up cause he was bad at it 02.59. jimin (lin): shut the heck up, jay! 03.00. jake (wolfe): guys, i'll explain everything at the shooting range after classes if you wanna come

jaeyun sips his sweet and sour drink, boosting up his droopy sleepy eyes as he scrolls away from the group chat to the tabs that he had opened about internal documents of cyberspace and androids: something that his dad told him to read about and understand as a part of the meeting held later today. yet, even with his uplift eyelids, the letters started to blur as all he the only thing he could see is your eyes, specifically as he landed on the topic of how the cyberspace and its disc work on the human physically—seeing the answer he told you circled at the bottom with his written explanation, moving pixels from the way he reads the words reminding him of the sparks in your eyes.

he finished his lemonade and rested the cup on his bedside table. the ceiling of his rooms started to be replaced as he continued staring at it—by the memories of the encounter in cyberspace tonight. jaeyun got reminded of your comment about cyberspace and noticing not that many humans again in real life, how your sarcasm masked the concern that he can detect with the way you spoke some comments with disgust. how your statement about neo seoul being a dystopia contradicts what he thinks neo seoul is.

how, with his eyes closed, he can only remember about your smile and giggles as you both walk beside the han river—something he had never done before in real life, and he is glad that it is with you.

the bright board reflects its light onto you who stood in front of the information station. words listing into instructions that tell you how to log off of cyberspace, saying that to do so, you need to have a bed you can "respawn" in later. the station suggests the cheapest option is the capsule hotel near the han river bank, where it transfers the dotted direction into you with your wrist that illuminates with buttons if you press it. the same mechanic as you see the girl has before you enter the club and also what the boy before you did when logging off. as you tap on it, your foot starts to take steps following the direction available on your vision's display—hands gripping onto wolfe's jacket around you as you fought against breeze of the river that hit you many times.

tranquillity overwhelms you as you gaze at the people doing activities here. but, interruptions in the form of the conversation you and wolfe had come back as you questioned them more and critically. his last words about "the people in the real world sleeping" are the one that creates a lasting impression in your mind because of the implications. if the people are sleeping, do they still able to fully recharge their bodies? surely, there might be a lasting effect of staying too long in cyberspace. but wolfe's tone when speaking said words has this push of intellectualism to it. like he knows it and he is the only one that knows it—not a public secret as you presume to be. and yet you shake your head to get rid of those thoughts as you continue your journey to follow the line of your direction.

your vision catches the warm-looking entrance of the capsule hotel; its yellow light illuminating the road it's in, as the other establishment beside it seems to be closed or unoccupied. you step into the entrance lobby where you are greeted with a holographic screen, showing the empty capsule where you can choose one. as you look at the number of bits counting down, the screen dissipates and a door that blends in to the wall opens with the floor lighting up in a line going into the hallway. the light moves in a wave, telling you to follow so you can reach your capsule.

the hallway winds into lots more as you go past rows upon rows of capsule rooms where anyone can log in and off. they all looked pretty similar, and you understand the usage of the floor light—its layout is prone to people getting lost within its walls. arriving at the open door of your capsule bed, you gaze at the simple bedding set up of the capsule, where you see the hologramic word "bed" written on top of the mattress. you lean forward and press on the word before your interface shows up with a message.

you can log off now.

yet, you don't want to.

you look around once more at the capsules, seeing them empty with no voice heard other than your movement and breathing. your feet take you wandering around the seemingly endless hallway of wooden walls and wooden floors that look exactly the same. then you see at the end of the path stands a lone hallway with a door that has a restroom sign on it. your eyebrows quirk up before approaching it.

as you push the door, your eyes capture the almost similarly looking style of the hallway outside inside the restroom. on one side of the room, a long counter with three sinks made of black marble, while the stalls have their door stretching from the floor to the ceiling—unidentifiable unless you can actually see the seams of it. you brush away a nagging feeling that has been growing in the back of your mind to wash your hands on the automatic tap whilst looking at the mirror. how strange it is for you to see yourself with a dress whilst having the thick jacket that wolfe lent to you. no tattoo on one arm and no clear stitch marks on the other. your lipstick is now all gone as you wipe it away with wolfe's lips and the ddeokbokki you have eaten, and your eyes: both are the same colour. making you look more human than you actually are.

as you turn to exit the restroom, you find the wall empty.

yes, empty. with a wooden door that you went to go inside: gone.

you glance back to the sink to see the mirror now stretches to the floor, and the counter you just leaned against a few moments ago disappears. your head and body quickly move in a circle to find that all four walls of the room are now mirrors, including the floor and the ceiling, which changed after you look up at the lights. tension travels across your figure as you stand still—hearing the little familiar cracking noise echoing as you move a few centimetres. you don't want to make the mirror crack because of your movement, a show of just how fragile it is.

but the pause of your movement is in vain when you face the first mirror wall, you see and hear the cracking noise, watching the mirror slowly break into smithereens. the small pieces that can't sustain gravity fall down onto the mirrored floor, cracking them as well.

letting out a sigh in disappointment, you looked back at the mirror wall where a chunk of it had fallen and littered the glass floor. but when you thought you would be met by the neutral, wooden colour of the hallway behind it—you find a tinge of black and green instead. carefully taking steps closer. the platform heels you wear are cracking more of the floor and the little glitter of glass falling from the ceiling mirror as well. your reflection becomes closer as you glimpse behind the fallen chunk to find the tinge of black and green falling down into nothingness.

strings of green falling down as it faded like raindrops on a cloudy day. your right eye tickles as it focuses more to see what it is: 0s and 1s. binary code.

stepping closer to the rains of codes and the wall, you try to decipher the codes as what you remember inside your memory when a large force suddenly pulls you closer, pulling your right hand now inside the hole as your face slams on the crumbling wall. and with a force that is stronger than even you, more and more of the mirror wall shatters from your weight leaning against it, fighting against the force as you try to exert your own. yet when you pulled your face away, the crunching noise of the broken mirror reminded you that the whole room is crumbling down into pieces in a domino effect.

one thing is inevitable: you might not survive.

blinking your eyes as you looked at your left hand that is trembling to push yourself away, you let your weight be pulled, and the rest of the wall shatters; hearing whispers as you're slowly dragged into the fallen numbers. deeper and deeper. you turn your head back to see the room exploding and the shard of glass flying all over the space, shielding your eyes from the onslaught of shrapnel that will be flying towards you before you hear something.

"swan." you heard a whisper, a whisper that seems familiar to you. it started out as one whisper before it repeats as the walls of green codes consume you until you feel that your feet have found a footing, stumbling as you catch your balance. the whisper suddenly starts getting louder and frequent. that's when you heard your name.

(y/n) (l/n) (y/n) swan swan song swan (y/n) swan song (l/n)(y/n) swan song (y/n) (l/n)(y/n) swan swan swan song (l/n)(y/n) (y/n)

breathing heavily, eyes widen, and muscles tense, you're now surrounded by a wall of binary codes with vast darkness above and beneath you. your eyes can only stick to the wall in front of you as you aren't daring to move from your position like the last time. the cacophony of whispers rings in your ear before they dim down, but something in front of you moves—the strings move.

the small numbers that were on the wall across from you slowly grow bigger and take the shape of an apparition, a humanoid of some sort. it separates from the strings of binary as the sounds of taps coming from it move closer and get louder. the form of the apparition gets clearer as you can identify the head shape and the body with all of its limbs. approaching closer as it nears your idle body, your jaw dropped when the green code illuminates the head of the apparition: seeing your face on it.

"i… what are you?" your voice pitches getting unstable. you hear the whispers from before coming from the apparition that emerges a few meters in front of you, being covered by a familiar-sounding laugh.

"what do you mean 'what am i'? i am you," it says, how it talks similarly mirrors you. the whispers now dwindle and are replaced by a voice whose timbre sounds exactly like yours. the apparition took a stance as it strolled around, moving closer and closer to your figure. you can't move your body or talk as you watch the silhouette of yourself shrouded in binary codes as it leans closer than ever before.

that's when you see the spark in its eyes and a tilt to its head before your body is blown back by a force harsher than the one that pulled you. you backed to the end of the room, slamming your body against the strings of binary as it slanted against the wall behind you. the force pulls you down as you fall when you hear its voice inside your head.

"you're going to learn something new about you, (y/n)."

you sat up to gasp for air. your vision is all blurry as you rub them away with your sweaty palms. cold air prickles your skin as you rub your backside to feel how wet your shirt is before gazing toward the window. the shine of the sun fills your room by a small amount as you pick up the disc from your temple, putting it away on your bedside table. reaching around you and tugging the sleeves of your t-shirt upwards, you find the marks of ink on one side and the seam of your stitches on the other. you never feel as glad as you are to be able to feel your cold and heavy cybernetic arm gracing your warm cheeks.

standing up to go to your wardrobe, you felt the shivers running down your spine as your mind settled down to a sense of calmness you usually feel in the mornings. the desktop computer on one side of your room lights up as you read a few of the messages related to your work, reminding you of them. as you step into the shower, the coldness of the shower works now to wake your tense muscles. along with the water pushing the grime of your body, you tried to push everything from cyberspace away from your thoughts.

from seeing yourself, who is telling you about learning something new about yourself, and the boy called wolfe who makes you more intrigued about this whole new technology.

slipping the clear glasses on his nose bridge, jaeyun stretches his head as he feels the ear muffs tucked onto the sides of his head. his sight moves to the target meters from him in the form of a humanoid with targets on its head and torso. some of the board already has holes in them from the previous person using the same booth as he is—chipped away by the bullets hitting with precision.

his hand reaches for the pistol on the counter. the clip and magazine separated as he can see the full clip of rounded bullets he has to recall to assemble. slipping the clip into the magazine, the clicks and clacks of the parts forming into one give jaeyun a sense of pride as he puts the magazine into the pistol.

"hey, wolfe!"

a chuckle came from the person as he turned his head, seeing the park cousins walking into the shooting range that their family owns. their dark hair contrasts with the ones he had seen they have in cyberspace—same as his own, he recounts whilst gently dropping the gun on the counter.

"we're not in cyberspace anymore, sunghoon. keep it down."

"oh, jakey buddy. i just knew that something was going on with you when you said that you would only talk at the shooting range." sunghoon walked as he dropped his school bag and wrapped his arm around jaeyun's shoulder. jongseong quirks his eyebrows from sunghoon's words as he looks at the rack of guns that he will practice with today.

the boy can only sigh as his empty gaze makes his mind move somewhere else. the large logo of park corp shines on the sides of the room, which is painted white. the name of the corporation his two best friends will inherit, like he will with shim laboratories—the exact thing that he almost slipped out when he conversed with you.

his father only ever used guns whilst in his mandatory military service before he moved into the artillery division because of his knowledge in engineering. since then, he has used the service park corp provided as part of his layers of security because he knows, he knows, in the situation of the present: people are after him.

"you need to use a gun. i know you have your bodyguard, but it is also self-defence, jaeyun. especially with the many covert missions i will give you." and so, he had asked his bodyguard to help him with how to use a semi-automatic pistol—the simplest one that he needs to know how to use.

jaeyun sighs as sunghoon is still there beside him while he gazes at jongseong, who is loading his shotgun at the booth on his other side. his target is already moving back on the track as he puts on the glasses and earplugs to cover his ears. being beside weapons and defences a lot, jongseong and sunghoon had practised guns since younger than jaeyun had. he heard the story of jongseong being knocked back by the recoil of the shotgun when he first shot it a 15 years old, yet it became one of his favourites in his arsenal ever since, even with the modern weapons park corp also manufactured.

"what happened with swan, jake?" jongseong says in exasperation, not wanting to hear any bullshit that jaeyun want to say to avoid this topic. he had seen it, sunghoon had seen it, and he could definitely know that heeseung, jimin, and soojin saw the chemistry jake had with the girl. he can't even believe the boy fumbled so hard on a girl that the guy practically tagged himself with all night. jongseong had never seen jaeyun being that enamoured with a girl before, and he just wants to know why before he continues to tease-

"i fucking slip up. about cyberspace." jaeyun answered, his jaw tense as he turned to the cousins, "we can't slip up."

it is a necessary thing, really, to be hidden from the crowd outside of his circle. other than the financial cost of it all, he knew that he was also in danger by proxy. the public knows him as jake shim, the successor to the new money conglomerate of shim laboratories—creator of androids and cyberspace of united korea. yet, they don't know of shim jaeyun, the boy who is being trained relentlessly to be able to fill in his father's role as a leader and innovator. it is one of the reasons why he had been so involved in the development of cyberspace after his father's aide mentioned it in his introduction as the intern—"to see how the company launches its flagship product". jaeyun was there when it had a soft launch nearly two years ago, with only the people in the conglomerate circle are the ones able to use it. he was also there in the shadows when it was launched to the public a year and a half ago. the boy who knows nearly every mechanic on how this thing works. the boy who spends his nights when transitioning from high school and university to learn every detail of this innovation. the product that will exist and evolve even when he is ready to become ceo.

but one interesting conversation with someone he is attracted to, and he just crumbles down the wall he had kept up for years in minutes until he realises when the words are pushed away from coming out the tip of his tongue.

"we were talking, having this," the corner of jaeyun's lips lifted up, "amazing conversation about cyber seoul and others about that that i can see how enthusiastic she is about cyberspace before i slip up."

"what slipped out?" sunghoon asked.

"that people using cyberspace are asleep in real life."

a small chuckle came from jongseong alongside a click as he loaded his shotgun. "that is actually a minuscule thing of a slip-up."

"people shouldn't have fucking know about that too." the boy replied with a frown on his face as he heard the POP! coming from jongseong's shotgun, seeing the new hole created on the shoulder of the board he is targeting.

"why?" sunghoon questioned more as he moved to sit down on the chair across the shooting booth.

"you know, retention. if people know that their bodies are asleep in real life and stay in cyberspace even until daytime, they will realise that their body also needs nutrients and stop visiting cyberspace. more about that with heeseung…" jaeyun responds when another shot is heard from jongseong as he lets out an enthusiastic hiss. he pivoted to see that his friend had made a hole right in the middle of the torso. the shells flung out from the cartridge as he pulls away to turn his head to his future engineer friend.

"i still can't fucking believe you fumble so bad on a girl like swan. i had a second-hand embarrassment when you wrote about that in the group chat that i just want to put you back in cyberspace so i can shake you awake," the boy with the shotgun said as it is jaeyun's turn to pick up his pistol. loading the gun with the barrel facing downward, he lifts up and closes his eyes. aiming for the target across from where he is.

"what did you two talk about after you both left the club?" jongseong now leans closer to where jaeyun is standing. his eyes were looking at the stance that he had to fix before the face of the shooter.

BANG! a shot that only chips away the shoulder area.

"we talked about cyber seoul and how she mentioned that it looks like 2010s seoul. the aesthetic of it all."

BANG! sunghoon heard the ringing of the bullet ricochet against the metal wall as he eyes his friend who is missing with his target.

"we both gazed at the view opposite the river and she commented how she recognised that it is north seoul's skyline. of course, it is a normal thing to say if someone knows seoul enough. i see that view every time in my penthouse. but the way she said it…" jaeyun's eyebrows furrowed as he closes one of his eyes, to look down the barrel of the gun, "it doesn't sit right with me."

jongseong hummed beside him that is followed by BANG! the bullet landed on the outer ring of the torso, near the middle, near where the heart will be on a person.

ever since jaeyun joined to work on the launch of cyberspace when he started his intern period in the labs, he had seen many beta testers who tested cyberspace. most are the factory people who understand the urgency and revolutionary aspect of cyberspace as the replacement of social media. history says that in the 2020s, people depend on the internet. the online space becomes people's livelihood as all things related to entertainment, work, and even education can be found there. many attempts at what the world then says as "virtual reality" are there, but not many people are enthusiastic about it. however, the cyber world war changes everything and people start to remain suspicious of social media—resulting in their collapse even past the time when each country fights on the world's stage and rebuilds the world after.

the mission of cyberspace is to create that spark again. but jaeyun could also see that exclusivity.

"people outside of our circle doesn't like us. doesn't like you. with all that glitz and glamor and our want to help people, there will always be a push back." dad had once mentioned as he eyes both jaeyun and his sister back in their talk during their middle school days. he was a wee little tween at that time and thought nonsense of it all. yet, as he grew up and became more and more exposed as the successor of his family's empire, he could see the eyes of adoration from the majority of people, and some who will hurt him—especially the day of his graduation and his first day as an intern: when his body got hit by a oil that stained him by a bunch of androids. androids who have errors in their programming to hate him and their manufacturers.

BANG!

his bullet flew and landed straight on the target on the head, a hole right in the middle. a hole that, with a live bullet, would damage a person enough that they would be dead in seconds.

yet, when looking at that head, he could still see your curious eyes.

putting the safety on, jaeyun shakes his head as he turns towards the cousins before looking at the time. "fuck me, i gotta go. i forgot that i have a meeting. can i use one of your private offices?"

"yeah, i'll bring you there. sunghoon can wait for heeseung here, right?" jongseong voice pitched up at the end of his query.

sunghoon raised his eyebrows in amusement before saying, "sure thing. we'll be here waiting for the rest to gather so we can eat dinner."

jaeyun quickly packs up his bag, almost forgetting to put away his clear glasses as he drops it beside the ear muffs he wear and he followed jay down the hallways of park corp into the executive area of the office. as the boy closes the door and the windows shut, jaeyun focused on the signing into his cyberspace account before he entered the encrypted system only those in the inner circle can enter. pushing down on the hologram screen, he opens the folder of today's meeting before its many documents fill up the majority of the larger screen on the wall.

white background documents that are filled with numerous reports. a file with a blueprint inside of the many machineries. a confidential mark on a file that could help them stop this big phenomenon.

the current deviancy of androids and their threats.

the disc stuck onto his temple as he relaxed his body against the chair, closing his eyes as the system booted up behind his eyelids before the familiar chime was heard in his ears that allowed him to open up. he logs in to the white hallways of the inner circle's cyberspace: where all the important meetings are taking place. the list of documents one side of his vision as he walks down to the meeting room when he opens the doors. eyes looking around at the executives sitting at the table, the leading engineers of the androids, and their project leader for this case.

"glad to know you can make it, jake," dad says on one side of the table, making him notice just how fast his heart is beating.

"so sorry, father. i got caught up with some self-defence training." he walks onto the seat beside his father. the one with the floating jake shim sign that floats like the one dad has on his table. the project leader stands up as a hologram shows up from the middle of the table. jaeyun's fingers fidgeted as he was prepared to take note of the current topic of the meeting at hand.

his eyes widen as he reads the current objectives of the meeting.

taming of the deviant androids and the current program prototype.

a smile rose up on his face.

on the corner of a large foundation of the bridge connecting north and south seoul, you stood there, leaning against the concrete like any other person was doing. your eyes gaze at the flowing water down the river as you can remember the way the water also moves in cyberspace. yet, you can see just how fluid the water movement in real life is compared to the artificiality of the water in cyberspace. it has some jankiness to it, like the server is churning so hard to even make the graphics work so well. nonetheless, your vision also comes across the numerous people who are doing their activities by the riverbank. some androids are walking around, pushing a baby's stroller. an android is jogging beside their human to encourage them in their progress. however, you are focused on finding one of them that is not like the others.

the usb stick is tucked into the pocket of your baggy pants as you eye someone who is walking closer to you. your right eye twitched as you closed your left to let it focus on the person. the machinery parts work as you see the face clearer than before. the familiar face of the android you have seen in the shops shows up, but their facial piercings sticking onto their face made them a tad bit unrecognisable to an untrained eye. their eyes stared at yours as you could see the look of recognition on their face and a small nod.

they walk close to you as you've already tucked your hand inside your pocket, grasping onto the stick containing the current plans from the deviant androids of the next moves. ones you have seen with your own eyes when you take in the information as you close the file on your analogue computer desktop. you eyed your outfit, seeing the skin of your arms peeking through, especially with the left with your tattoo that etched onto your body. the one that you didn't see on yourself in cyberspace.

a smirk on the deviant android's face tells you everything as you quickly put the usb in their palm, feeling the familiar coldness in their touch every time you touch your right hand that houses the same limb they possessed.

"long live the rebellion," she whispered into your ear as you see her right eye glint with a shade of red before you reply with your own—the signal of the androids involved in the rebellion and you, the cyborg that is their hidden weapon.

the chugging sound of the metro rattles in the tunnel as you sit on the full seats. people in their various outfits and styling walking about as you watched the screen running across the cart's wall; showing the progress of the journey on the way to the next station. you observed the people there before looking at the end of the cart where the androids are standing idle. holograms from devices showed chats as people write, some with the screen turning on to today's entertainment, some writing on the holographic keyboard. yet, you also caught a few people who are just sleeping with a sliver of their eyelids open. as you stare longer, you could actually see the chrome white little disc now visibly sticking onto their temple—its ability to blend to the user's skintone is gone. you creased your eyebrows because you had never noticed it before in the years you've ridden the metro.

what wolfe said is true. people who are in cyberspace are sleeping in real life.

but in a public space, doesn't it become too indecent? how will they log out? does real-world action like shaking the user's body impact them to wake up? does cyberspace have a save option like any video games you played on your nearly 50-year-old playstation 2?

a frown takes shape on your face as you look at the person, thinking about what is playing in their mind that made them stay so long and comfortable to be in cyberspace in public—your vision peering along their body to notice just how numb they are. there is no sense of control over that body, all the brain's processing power going to thinking about their being in cyber seoul.

eyes lifted up as you watched the running text spelling out your stop, you took a huge breath before you stood up and felt the freedom of movement from your shoulders that were being squeezed by two different figures sitting beside you. walking out of the cart, then to the exit and tapping out using your transport card, you continue to stride on the familiar streets as your muscle memory takes you down the numerous paths you have always walked. yet, it feels different walking here in broad daylight. the neon lights fight against the glow from the sun to capture your attention until it finally wins when the sun finally sets on the horizon.

like a routine, you slide your fingertips against the wall. yet, it feels… different.

the little cracks from the brittle concrete are there, but you can also feel every grain that crumbles under your touch. it is the same with the gust of wind you felt by the river bank—feeling every strand of wind that blows against your skin, biologically and artificially.

all of your senses are sharpened and, along with the thoughts of what you learned about cyberspace yourself, through wolfe, and the eyes of the being that calls itself you with codes running along their figure; more things have been processed in your mind than ever as it spreads down your nape and through your shivering spine.

burshing away the strands, you step into the usual scenery of the front side of your uncle's shop. your eyesight is looking around vigilantly, the shadow of your uncle disappears into his office when you hear a tap against the counter.

"hey!" she greets with a wide smile, "did you give the message?"

usually, you would answer in the same enthusiastic voice. bahiyyih is the only "feminine" figure in your life that you could openly indulge in the softness within you. yet, you only reply with a curt nod as steps take you to sit in front of the counter.

"you okay?" her voice tone changes as she stop wiping the machine parts before putting it on the shelf behind her. "you want a drink?" bahiyyih tilts her head, eyeing the champagne bottle that it still there less than half-full, waiting to be finished by the owner who opened it for the special occasion.

"i need something different. not in the mood for alcohol."

"caffeine then?" hiyyih leans closer as you curl yourself up, head resting on top of your folded arms on the counter.

"no caffeine. something fresh. something that can jumpstart me to actually think," you sighed out, ruffling your hair as bahiyyih lets out a pout; so very human of an expression to concern.

"we still have limeade in the fridge. i can get some for you." you let out a smile and a hum to your cousin's reply as she moved about. your eyes openly observe how gracefully she walks and acts, unlike the rigid, controlled androids you've seen on your way here. her eyes dilated as her machinery thinks on the next steps, yet the way she emotes as she places the glass and bottle before you screams how she is very much like you. bahiyyih grabs a chair and sits across from you with the counter in the middle. her pose mimicking yours as you look at the way her blonde hair frames her face.

"you said that you bought that cyberspace disc the last time you came here. have you not tried it or…?"

"i did and i survived," you replied, yet it has a bitter undertone. "you know, being half machine, i thought that it would not work. being surrounded by the likes of you and kai and all the parties that support your cause, while being partly similar to you anatomically, always causes me to think that it will not work. that i also have limits. my right limbs and eye are the same as the ones you have, yet cyberspace seems to not recognise me."

subtle footsteps move inside the front room as you still let your eyes focus on your cousin, her expression matching more and more of yours as you brush your hand against your nape—perceiving the chip sewn into your skin that helps your biological body accept the machinery: working in tandem to make you live.

"the fact that i didn't short circuit tells me that i am still part human after all. the system seems to recognise me as that. and i was actually ready to die that time. all for the cost of my curiosity about what you and your brother discussed."

"and you got in," bahiyyih continues, stopping the way you were lamenting on yourself every time you talked to actually continue on with what you want to say, "how does it look like on the other side?"

"oh, well." a smile slowly featured on your lips, "it was beautiful. that seoul is not as bright as real-life neo seoul. much subtler in lighting, but enough. you know those photos from the 2010s seoul? it looks like that for me before it got plastered by capitalist fuckers who ruined the city's skyline with flashing lights."

you caught onto bahiyyih's little chuckle before she returns to her endearing look, "what did you find?"

words don't come out of you directly as you remember the sights that they have there. overall, more joy than you've seen in real life. cyberspace's existence creates a place of escapism from this world—a blanket for someone to hide behind.

"human. people. they're there, living life. it is seoul inside there, so i recognise many of the landmarks, but it looks much, much different from what i see in real life. humans have jobs again, working out little stalls down by the river that serve food for the visitors. it is so much different from the arrogance of the people outside of it actually live."

"a place to go for a break from reality, under a large sum of money which means that not all human can have access to it." bahiyyih utters, understanding the nuances that you are saying in your words.

"that's good," another voice cuts in.

you turned your head to be face-to-face with your cousin. his blond hair is styled elegantly. the childish nature of him from last time is all gone as he puts on his coat—the same coat you've seen your uncle wear to fight against the colder temperature as the sun will sink.

"we have someone inside now. we can actually see what these humans want without us," kai continues as you also recognise the similar bitter tone. yet his have a much more toxic impact. that if you weren't actually part machine and know why he said that, it will actually hurt your feelings.

"not all humans, kai. some who actually got the money to go there."

"yeah, i know. but humans all want the fucking same, right hiyyih?" he sends his reply to you implicitly towards his sister with a raised eyebrow as he walks closer to you. your upper body straightening up as you let out a small movement from the corner of your lips, which he mimics as well—telling you that he has some interesting things to say.

"i can definitely share the news with the others. you are actually our greatest weapon now to fight them, (y/n)." kai's lips turn into a full-on grin as he chuckles, making you squint your eyes.

"are you meeting them today? do you need any escort like the previous times?"

kai paused for a few seconds before shaking his head, "no need. we have a breakthrough because of you, and i would want to use this opportunity as best as we could." his eyes glinted as you think back on what he implies. the smile already showing up on your face.

your cousin's demeanour becomes much and much different as the progress continues. with every rebellion, there is always a leader, or leaders, as the deviants have. every deviant android on any series made by shim laboratories will present one leader to have their voice heard. for the HG series, kai is the leader. every time you escort him to meet the other leaders, you can always see the melancholy in his eyes as he gazes at another HG series android walking about the streets. faces that look exactly like him, yet they don't experience life like he does. kai wants to see them free, to let them think freely of their choices instead of following their "owner"'s commands. all meetings are conducted face to face because they knew that the android communication system would be much more protected with the likes of them, especially those who are being hunted by the park corp's special ops team tasked to eliminate them.

you've attended these meetings numerous times when you were allowed to join. introducing yourself as a cyborg as they all colluded for you to be their greatest asset. being able to blend in well with the humans, yet have felt and experienced what they have because of the consequences that result in your well-being. the version of you who was 100% human died when you were five, and you were reborn to be more tolerant than ever as you share many struggles with the androids but also the humans who are chewed out by the system itself—those who are growing in size to realise androids are also sentient beings.

"you want me to focus on cyberspace?" you answered the lingering question kai has, which he confirmed instantly with a nod.

"intel. you have access to a place no other android can get in. i want you to gather as many pieces of information as you can in there. maybe, you caught onto some glitches in the system you can tell us. something that allows us to infiltrate and gain the higher ground against. cyberspace is their lovechild after all. for the corpos that won't hear any of our aspirations," he said with a stern tone.

you've always liked these missions the best in your time as a mercenary. from the time you had to listen in on one of the workers working in the manufacturing site to actually fully delve deep inside the codes that run a hijacked deviant android to track where it comes from and how to stop it. you can already feel the jitters running along yourself as your lips move into a tight smile. yet, it hasn't reached the eyes as well.

when he mentioned the word, you were reminded of the "glitch" that you found as you logged out. the codes that are telling you that it is you. the moment that changes the way you are right after—that makes you feel every scent, texture, and touch much more sensitively outside of it. you can't imagine what will happen inside after all of that.

on the other hand, you were also reminded by the information that wolfe has. the wolfe that captures your attention with how persistent he is. the wolfe that you allow one side of your wall to crumble to let him in, to kiss you, to make you feel wanted in a sea of unwantedness in real life. the wolfe that rolls back his words, seemingly hiding something about cyberspace after he had openly discussed it with you.

wolfe. you want to see him again, to touch him and feel his artificial warmth even on your avatar's senses. but, he also may have some information going on about cyberspace that you can pick apart. that can help you and the rest of your side win against this war, to avenge your parents for what they have done to them for saving you.

the smile continues as it reaches your eyes.

"i'm in."

breathing the air in and out as you gaze at the dark view of your eyelids. slowly, slowly, the weight of your body disintegrates from yourself alongside the prominent stickiness of the cyberspace white disc on your temple. breathing the air in and out, you waited for the right moment to open your eyes—meeting the monotone look of the capsule hotel that seemed more like a safe haven for you.

however, when you opened your eyes, you were met with the familiar view of vast darkness and highlighted greens. while a small window appears like a crack in the middle of the space.

through it, you see your body lying down in the pod of the capsule hotel. body twitching like how real human people sleep. their nerves are flowing electricity so that the body moves and doesn't die down. but then, you watch as the windows are being blanketed by the strings of green codes. it doesn't come from anywhere, unlike the others; it comes from your body.

"swan…"

you woke up and instantly sat up to look back at the corner of the pod to find nothing—not even finding your own face that is peeking at you from the ceiling. the robe from last time adorns your body as you feel much more refreshed than last time. your body feels lightweight, much more energetic, as you scramble to the end of the pod to stand up. even if the instruction was clear from kai, you don't know exactly what to do other than fulfilling your own agenda: meeting back with wolfe. maybe he knows about this whole glitchiness you experienced. but maybe he also knows more of cyberspace than you think.

changing yourself back into the outfit that you bought last time, you step out from the capsule hotel to be met with the moonlight and the streetlights' beaming on the numerous paths around cyber seoul. your vision moves around the interface that comes on to tell you different things: news of an event going on in here and the amount of bits you have as the money equivalent—which you expected to have numbers instead of three question marks. ???. your eyes squint as you try to brush off that question marks, yet it remains there unbothered until you probably have to use it. with your best guess, wolfe will probably be in the club where you two met up. its 1000 bits will also help you measure just how many bits you actually have and stop with this whole nonsense. however, you still felt something creeping up from your nape before you turned around to find no one. the piercing sensation still remains on your skin.

you follow along the navigation system that comes out from your wrist—chuckling to yourself as you think that you were blending in with the others you found last time—until you actually see people while you trace back the path you walk down with wolfe. a sudden throbbing sensation rushes around your head before spreading down to your limbs, causing you to stagger around as you lean on a half wall, staring down at the riverbank where people are doing activities, no matter if the moon is up there like it replaces the sun.

but something is different. those people: they have a green sign written above them each.

like the work of magic, the cyberspace system seemed to recognise your affinity with your right eye as you focused on it. sight trailing on the text written on top of a couple making out.

a half-tone photograph of the person on the side of the sign as it reads: kim aena, b. 2027. neo seoul, east hangang district

the person she was kissing with also has a sign: choi jiho, b. 2025, incheon metropolitan area.

you scanned the space all through-out from your location, matching the appearance of the half-tone photograph to the avatar you see it attached to in cyberspace. yet they don't always synchronise. different names, different gender, different appearance, as you can actually observe the little waves forming around the body of the person that passes by you, waves that are a tinier version of the binary codes you find yourself within.

those names you see must be there for a reason and how it attaches to the person, no matter how they appear. like an identity.

the real identity of the people who are there in cyberspace.

for a split second, a flash blinds you as you shake your head to look around and find where it came from. however, you are met with a mysterious and beautiful scene.

specks of greens and blues decorated the sky and space around you like little fragments awaiting to be broken into. the lines surrounding them sticking together as you felt the brush of it, similar to the codes you touch in that dark space. more and more information coming into your display every time you trail your eyes across a person to even a thing. from a hedge wall's code in the system and their colour's code, to the food stalls along the street with their menus, the people working there, and the code number that is attached to the stall itself. pieces of information that you shouldn't even have access to unless you are part of the internal team that takes care of the back-end areas on this cyberspace. and yet, you can know now.

your eyes trail along the various greens and blues as the navigation system still works in your vision. one look at a person walking past tells you everything that the system knows about their real-life identity—turning back from your shoulder to see the blue outline that highlights them before the sign and the outline faded away as they go farther from you. blinking becomes something conscious for you, especially when you have to adjust your eyes with the explosion of the cooler tone colours while your strides still take you down the familiar path. the breeze, now artificial as you can see the strings of code that made it, still makes you shiver as you tug down the dress you wear from last time. but with the three question marks for the counter of your currency, you wonder if you could buy new clothes for yourself with it after all you find him.

you arrived back at the street by the club you went into last time. the crowds of people arriving seem fewer than last time. your eyes glance at the clock that reads past 1 am: in cyber seoul and also neo seoul. approaching the front door, the pop-up hologram of the bouncer shows in your face as you read their birth year and location: b. 2000, neo seoul, ancient seoul district. an old man playing in this layer of the world as a bouncer.

your mind goes through many assumptions. the man has lived through the korean reunification, the world war and cyber revolution, and yet here he is, in cyberspace, working once again. maybe he had been a bouncer before in real life for the years after he turned 18, before androids were made as replacements. the way the code of system creates creases around his eyes—lines of old age that is much more natural than the many plastic surgery results you've seen humans have at the streets—makes it seems that he, who matches with his real picture even with its incomplete colours, doesn't even change anything of his appearance to look a tad bit younger. your heart aches more as you see all the people like him around the streets you walked by.

the man is here in cyberspace as his own self, living the life that he wanted to live in his older life. he misses that life in pre-war seoul—the life he can only have in cyber seoul now.

your hands clenched into fists as you stopped the frown that wants to form on your face, bracing yourself as you walk on top of the stairs against the familiar barrier as you prepared for the option to pay for entry when the sudden call of your name come from the bouncer, from the old man who wears a smile on his face.

"evening, swan! the others are waiting for you inside."

"oh…" your gasp came out of you instinctively as you face the barrier, "i don't have to pay-"

"what do you mean you're paying? you're a regular here, swan." the man's smile seems so fatherly, like the face your uncle makes when he sees you or your cousins doing something he is proud to know. the smile that always makes you have warm sensations inside you, especially your cooling heart from the reality you are facing.

"well, step inside," the man decides to actually push you into the barrier. the light grazes across your skin, leaving behind you as you face towards the entrance, where the man suddenly reverts back to his stern look when glaring at the incoming crowd approaching the steps. a twitch coming from the corner of your lips as you turn around to walk into the club. the staff that didn't notice you last time suddenly escorts you into the recognisable crowd full of people—even if they are artificially created by the architects of cyberspace.

as your eyes adjust in the darkness, you can still see the outline of green and blue on each person you see. their information popping up to tell you who they are in neo seoul and the surrounding areas of united korea. the floor also turns green as you see the twines of code you are standing on top, finding the extra space for you to step as you still wonder where the staff is guiding you to. maybe, it is to wolfe and the rest of his group that you met before.

for the first time in your life, you felt invincible.

and as the staff pushes a crowd away and you arrive at the booth where you notice their recognisable hair locks, it all comes to a sudden drop.

in an instant, your head starts to buzz, and your eyesight becomes blurry. the staff seems to leave you behind to their merry ways as you step out of the crowd, but you tumble on your feet, hanging on to the balance you had before you cower into yourself. your arms holding onto your throbbing head as you glare at the blurry floor, shadows of the people moving beneath you as you grit your teeth. the strands of code become blurry and just result in a sheen of green.

make it stop. make it stop! MAKE IT STOP!

"swan…?" a voice calls to you as your body is engulfed by shadow. touch heavy against your back as you try your best to open your eyes and lift your head up. blows of breath coming into your ear as your hands push yourself off the sturdy surface. pulling back to see the wide eyes of the person you were searching for in this artificial space.

"wolfe…" just a word coming out of your mouth.

"are you okay?" his touch gently caresses your back as you continue to stare back at him. his tousled blond bangs resting above his forehead that you want to ruffle away before you stare around him to see his friends all looking at you in concern. then, you twist your head, still finding the sheen of green and blue and a couple of boxes of information attached to every moving person. but when you turned back towards the group in front of you, there was nothing.

the dim spotlight coming from above them still is able to shine the group perfectly—like the only light coming from the end of a tunnel—as you can see the little shine of blue highlights on their avatars. but that is it. no birth years. no locations. no real names.

weird…

your eyes squinted as you regained your posture. wolfe's hands still holding onto your figure as he looked down with a light pout on his face. the contrast of the white and blue from the booth to the black and green of the crowd is clearer as you stand in between them. shaking your head, you scramble every inch of your brain to find the correct response.

"yeah, i think i might have hit a few people than i intended. didn't realise it actually hurts." the words flow out of you naturally, like you've been here numerous times and have been in the rowdy crowd and danced before approaching their table. then, kai's words come back to you: espionage.

you are here for a reason. the being that you met last time seems to give you something. something that could help with the whole espionage task, as if she knows you need one. the names of the people here and their birth year will all be able to be extracted if you then know how to export the dataset. to match it with the current database you have. yet, wolfe and his friends don't seem to be penetrable with the shine of white and blue that sticks onto their bodies.

suspicion running across your mind as you watched how everyone sees you as you also see them, wolfe bringing you to their table as he settles down beside you. your eyes continue to blink as you hoped the boxes of information would come to you—making your job easier. roe's hair looks much more red than the previous while katt's silver highlights are much more prominent. yet, no pop-up of information comes from any of them.

your head brushes against wolfe's shoulder as the rest of the group asks about your condition. lin is already ordering a cocktail for you to "freshen up from the pain" as you felt his hand resting your head fully against him.

"how long have you been here?" he speaks to you as your eyes skim over blu and frost, who are looking at you both intently.

"an hour, i guess. i've got to let out this pent-up stress that i've been holding and dancing is my outlet."

dancing is definitely not your outlet for relieving stress. you can't bear to even go to the club in neo seoul—only there standing by the bar as you people watch while being in a hidden mission of sending messages and communicating with fellow rebels in a crowded area. the only intimate human touch you remember feeling is your uncles and yourself with your left hand. people would actually recognise how your right arm will be colder if they even brush against you on the dance floor—because androids aren't allowed to have fun at a nightclub or any other nightlife establishment other than them working there.

you stare upwards as you see wolfe's eyes flickering to his friends, your hand reaches out for the free cocktail that will definitely help with your throbbing headache. a small frown forming on his face as you gazed back at the faces of the group who now openly stare at both of you—genuinely feeling the chemistry you and he exude from being together. lin and katt gave you a look of worry combined with a genuine "go for it" attitude, and the boys were even more vulgar, especially towards wolfe.

as you felt the cold drink slip down your oesophagus, movement came beside you as you felt the breath in your ear once again. and he says, "when you finish the cocktail, let's get out of here."

your observation already deduces the implication that they give off to both of you, confirming what they experienced the last time, including a huge sign that says, "why aren't you both all over each other already?" but your mission is different. what wolfe said to you the last time all came true. it also includes why his box of information doesn't show up along with his friends. like they are much more encrypted than other people here. like they are hiding something. and if you define your existence while in cyberspace now as espionage, you have to dig deeper as to why only they seemed to be treated like this—like they are important people.

you never drank down an alcoholic drink so fast as you thank the cocktail for being a sweet one. his hands interlocked with yours as you both said farewell to his friends, ticking off every step you did last time as well as you both climbed down the stairs of the club. you can see his outfit clearly now, just a white loose silk shirt with black dress pants that complement his ruffled blond hair.

"oh shit- your jacket. how do i open my-"

"press on the menu tab on your wrist and go to inventory and pick the clothing tab," wolfe says like it is an everyday occurrence for him as you follow his instruction. the screen changes as it shows up in front of you and him when you press on the picture of the jacket as it spawns in your arms. wolfe looks down at his jacket as you push it to him.

"no, no, wear it. it's nearly two, so it's going to be so cold."

"like you aren't going to be cold as well only wearing your outfit," you reacted as wolfe chuckles, helping put your arms through the jacket's sleeves before pulling down the folded sleeves of his shirt, covering his veiny forearms.

"i'm fine with this. do you want to eat? i'm just thinking you're going to be hungry for even dancing in that crowd."

you nodded as you led the way towards the food stalls you went by. turning your head, you face wolfe once again as your eyes capture the data sets you found while the green codes flow around you. yet, wolfe's figure still has the sheen of white and blue on him. like a protective shield only for him. his eyes are already on yours as if he can't wait to meet your eyes as you both walk around like nothing happened in that club. but the tension of his sudden departure last time is like an elephant in the room you both have to talk about.

"i'm sorry for leaving you suddenly the last time." and you are glad that he noticed it too and reacted to it first.

turning your body as you walk backwards whilst facing him, you replied, "it's okay. though i was struggling to log off cyberspace with you gone."

wolfe brushes his hand on his nape and hisses, figuring out his mistake as he plays with his bottom lip. "genuinely sorry for that."

you turn your figure once again and join in whilst walking beside him, your fingertips touching like he hadn't done more with the make-out session you did the last time. yet, the crackling electricity feels for you both as you try your best to find a good topic to discuss and fill out the awkwardness. then, you seem to find it as you tilt your head towards him.

"i was remembering what you told me last time. about cyberspace…" he hums as his ears are focusing on your words. yet his eyes are still facing forward.

"the part when you mentioned all people who are using cyberspace are asleep. it is true because i found it out myself." you give a look at wolfe as you both continue walking, trying to see his reaction because that is the last thing that he said to you before he logged off and left you behind. because there must be a reason why he seemed to regret telling you that.

"there's a lot of people that i see on the metro that aren't just sleeping because of exhaustion, but because they are in cyberspace. i didn't actually notice that before you told me, like that white chrome is meant to blend into the skin when someone wears it." you iterate your thoughts as the walk continues for both of you. yet he doesn't seem to have any comment on what you said. so you press even further: to the part where he backs out from talking.

"how do you know all of these things anyway? it's, like, you've been an early adapter for cyberspace even at its launch for you to be so knowledgeable." the hook has been cast from your words as you fully turn your head to him and pausing your step, making him have to stop in as well while his eyes are flickering once again. but when the one at the club had some hidden smirk on his face, this one is plain for a few more seconds before it cuts to his smile in amusement at you.

"i'm... i actually worked in shim laboratories. that's how i know."

your eyebrows are lifted as he peers at you, his expression seems to lean into pride with the way he smiles at your surprised reaction. that is before you nudge his hand.

"that's why? wow, okay," you say exasperatedly, masking the suspicion and happiness with genuine surprise of a reaction. you knew that you had to take the espionage aspect seriously, but part of you is still interested in wolfe as wolfe, not just a now-known employee of shim laboratories. with how young he looked, you assumed he must be an intern or some junior-level worker, maybe in engineering of cyberspace or if he is also involved in project android as well.

yet, there is still a nagging feeling you get. that wolfe may be someone more than just an intern at the corporation you see as your enemy.

after a quiet walk with lingering questions, you both settle down at the table near the han river, steaming ramyeon noodles in front of you as you actually giggle to read the name of the makeshift company that is based on real culinary corpos that are out there in united korea. your fingers hold onto the chopsticks as you take a bite from the hot noodle, sensing the way your mouth chews on the artificial food along with the warm feeling as it travels inside—like you seem to actually eat in real life when you don't.

"since you opened up to me about where you worked," you started as wolfe gazes at you, chewing on the noodles with a look of satisfaction as if it has been a long time since he had one, "can i ask you some questions about, i don't know, mostly cyberspace but also on the androids?"

wolfe's eyes return to you as you see his bopping adam's apple from swallowing the noodle, "shoot, what do you wanna ask?" he reacted.

"firstly, what makes cyberspace so addicting, other than it replacing social media?" you continue to eat as your eyes gaze at wolfe, reading his expression, his non-verbal gestures, and the way he takes in the question like he has heard this many times. like he had rehearsed how to answer it.

"well, from my understanding, cyberspace is addicting like the way social media is addicting back then. dopamine levels from exploring around cyber seoul and connecting with other people. but i also think that people want escapism from their real lives, and cyberspace gives that to them. maybe they want to make new friends because they feel isolated or want to fulfil their childhood dream of becoming their favourite profession, cyberspace allows that for them."

"safe to say it's like those old simulation games, but on steroids because you are actually 'living' it?" you said as you relate it to something you actually have done. you had played those games before on your analogue computer, from the likes of civilization VII to the sims series. but even the thought of cyberspace seems much more than that. it feels like it is made not to be a complement to real life, but a replacement. and those who develop it know it as well with the realistic city they has made.

you just couldn't comprehend that these corpos could be this vile with humans that are going to buy and consume this, especially with the dystopian situation people don't seem to notice they are in in the middle of the 21st century.

"next question," you drink up the broth as the spiciness tastes just right on your taste buds, "shim laboratories have been making androids for around 10 years now, do you think they will actually 'replace' humans or just as helpers?"

the question is something that has been in your mind since you learned the differences. that you and kai are different beings, one mostly biological and the other fully mechanical. but you really want to hear from someone who actually has ties to it. maybe just personal preference if he actually doesn't work with androids. but wolfe's face suddenly became fierce, like it was a sore topic you chose to ask as you could feel the seriousness appearing on his now tired face.

"androids won't replace humans. they are made to be helpers that humans could control. shim laboratories wants androids to work in hard labour sectors that humans don't really deem necessary, like hospitality and military."

yet, people are struggling to even get a job when such jobs like hospitality are being replaced by androids and the rising prices that they couldn't fight against, you want to argue back because you see it yourself. people older than you in the brink of bankruptcy because all the "easier, hard labour jobs" are being replaced by androids, in the expanse of cutting costs for the business because they don't need to give androids monthly salaries and only repair them when necessary.

hearing wolfe said makes your heart ache, yet, your preconception changes a bit more with that straightforward answer. that he is actually also involved in the business aspect of the company for such an answer, like he does understand the business side of shim laboratories than your average engineer. and that's the thing that returns your suspicion scale on wolfe back towards the middle.

maybe, you could actually convince him that replacing androids for every human job will actually create a collapse of the human population. rising prices, harder jobs, industrial freaking revolution that just doesn't make humans able to live the "human experience". it is one of the reasons why you hated the corpos and their conglomerates so much: their out-of-touch mindset on wanting effectiveness instead of actually uplifting fellow people shows how selfish they are. you want to shake wolfe, to actually make him snap out of that doctrine his company has pushed into him. but you settle down, trying to take in every information even if they aren't exactly in line with yours. because wolfe is first and foremost also a human like you with many nuances. maybe, when you both talked again, you could actually tell him your side of the story and world.

"interesting," you finally commented after you took time to think while finishing your ramyeon, letting the taste burst in your buds and mind genuinely explode once again with how the technology goes on. wolfe's giggle as you reacted with playful hums when pointing to the cup.

"that is actually genuinely delicious."

"i know, right?" wolfe retorts as he still takes in the many reactions of cyberspace he loves seeing on people.

"just, what is the limit of these senses of touch and taste, specifically? does it only stop in holding onto like this generated table and generated ramyeon or something more?" you questioned—genuinely from the heart—as wolfe puts down his empty cup of ramyeon in front of yours. his eyes went back to gaze on yours as you watched how the wind swept his bangs, making them flutter across his forehead.

"it's…" he started with a sigh, "it's my favourite aspect of cyberspace, actually, that you can touch and taste exactly as you touch and taste in real life. i was part of the testing for this aspect because i had only been involved with the company for a couple of years, but it simulates how you feel these things, not just on what the server's system generates, but also on other users as well."

you watch as he glances down at your hand on the table—your chairs made to sit near each other, to actually overlook the han river's view of human activity even at 2 am. but, you then felt a warm touch on your right hand and trailed it back to the owner. you expect him to jump from the coldness of the parts, yet he doesn't. he holds your wrist and places your palm on his chest when you feel something thumping under your touch. wolfe pushes your hand down more, making you actually feel what you are feeling; leaving your mouth agape.

a beating heart. his beating heart.

"the cyberspace system simulates your brain so much that it essentially copies your being into here, from the way your heart beats, your muscles move, and how you taste and touch. the server holds many copies of users that they can customise. but once you log in, there is a 'you' here and it works in tandem with the you who wears the disc in real life. cyberspace is ever learning and it learns many of a human's perceptions when they wear the disc. even to…"

wolfe reaches for your hand again as he brings it down against his body. underneath your touch, you felt the muscles on his torso as you looked down, seeing a hard bulge against his pants. returning to your hand that is above his navel, he actually notices how your gaze landed on his nether region. his hand moves from holding your wrist to interlocking it with his own fingers.

"i fumbled it last time. my friends have also complained about it. so i don't want to fumble it this time," he said with such an intimate tone that is designated to you. "you could feel the electricity, right? even if we are just a bunch of codes beside each other."

"yeah, i can feel it." your fingers curl up with his hand as you stare back at his face, seeing how his pupils start to dilate as he picks up your intertwined hands and kisses them.

"do you want to test the limits?" he questioned, and you replied with a couple of eager nods.

tilting your head back, you gazed at the luxury apartment tower that towers more like a skyscraper—a very signature look of south seoul you see from your unit's window. the sound of the car door closing in behind you as you felt the wind blowing against your hair. the familiar sense of warm hands encircled your wrist as you tilted down to see wolfe shrugging towards the entrance and you nodding in reply.

stepping inside, you can already sense that you are so out of place. the sheen of what looks to be golden alloys creates more of the image of the hallways you see in the expensive club you met him in, telling you that the people respawning here are genuinely people with lots of bits in cyberspace or lots of money in real life. you both bypass another wall of barrier perfectly fine—something you slowly start to see patterns of with expensive establishments in cyber seoul.

the elevator door opens as you both step inside and he turns your body to face him. wolfe's hand instantly grabs onto your face he meets his lips with yours. the ding signals the door to close as it moves, while your kiss continues to get even more passionate than the last time. your hand moves to curl on his back as he moves you around when you brace against the railing of the elevator's wall, eyes open as you stare at the buildings getting smaller and smaller. wolfe's sizzling kiss on your neck continues on as you rub your behind against his crotch—watching how the streets are getting tiny as you climb up the floors. you gaze at north seoul across from the river, the gleaming namsan tower with its white spotlight becoming a beacon on the north side that cannot compare with the many skyscrapers on the south. your hand reaches for wolfe's head, bringing his lips to yours even with just a few parts of his lips kissing yours as you stare at your real home across the river. a melancholic sense flowing over you before the ding comes again as he brought you out with an arm around your waist.

his touch doesn't let go of your body as he opens the door to the apartment unit before dragging you in. a fine yet minimalist penthouse that has floor lights when he pulls you along with him towards his bedroom. inside the room as the door slides close with a locked padlock hologram at the front, the view of the window catches your attention as you return back to that state you felt in the elevator, watching the gleaming lights down below and across the river—even if not as colorful at the one neo seoul has—blinks against the raven sky. wolfe's hand lets go of your wrist before wrapping up around you from behind once again. both of you are looking at the view together.

"it's beautiful, isn't it?" he whispers before kissing your temple, making you nod your head as you gaze at the view before you.

"i never got tired of it. seeing it here and also in real life…" wolfe mumbles before resting his chin on your shoulder, "i just want us to take this slow. i want you to experience what cyberspace can do, especially in this kind of human activity."

your hand reaches for his that is resting on your stomach, pressing down against it with your own as his touch felt heavier—like he is holding you in real life.

"i can actually feel my body temperature rising." you tilt your head back before turning around, "but i do want to say that, it is beautiful. the view and also what we have here." your eyelashes flutter as you peer back at him, reaching to take off his jacket from your upper body as the slide of the fabric even makes your skin shivering. more of that comes as he brushes his hand against your now exposed arms, slowing the pace to make you feel every touch he gives.

you reached for the zipper behind the dress—still glad to know that the outfit has one when cyberspace allows you to put and remove outfits with one press of a button. the dress slides down as the unzipped zipper loosens it alongside the straps that fall down your arms as you grab wolfe's hands to rest on each of them. you try to keep your breath steady as he peels away your dress. your pair of breasts shines with the city's skylines as wolfe brought his plump lips back to your lips before trailing down, across your jaw, your neck, a few sucks on your collarbone before trailing down to where your beating heart is. his tongue rolls out as he laps on the skin before moving downwards to meet your erect nipples. his warm breath mixes with the coldness of his saliva adding to the sensation as he gives it suck before adding more and more.

your hands reach for his hair and back. he moves his other hand to your other breast to not leave it behind. you trail them down to his front as you help unbutton his shirt, letting you feel his pectorals against your palm. when he moves to suck and lick your right nipple, you let out a staggered moan with your head tilting back. you can't help but compare it to those sex androids you have done it with. how they are programmed to maximum effort adjusting to your preferences yet it still lacks warmth in them as they only fuck you for your pleasure and not theirs.

you will remember every one of wolfe's sighs and groans after this even if what you felt is just some virtual reality. but this is, and will be, the closest thing to a human touch you will experience intimately. and even if that thought dreads you, you already accept it deep down in your heart.

wolfe continues to trail downwards as he peels away your dress. his kisses around your belly button make you giggle as you curl your fingers in his blond locks, earning more groans from him as his face lands on your underwear that seems to come along with your dress. a black lace underwear that complements the dress well as he makes you step out from the dress and also your platform heels. looking down, you could see how wolfe is leaning closer to your nether region before you felt a teasing lick on your clitoris, making you gasp as he holds onto your buttcheeks so you don't move away.

"you smell so good," he mumbles beneath you, eyes expansive as he gazes upwards at your face with a look of intoxication. however, you pull him back up on his feet as you give him a hard kiss with your hands unbuttoning the rest of his top.

"gotta have to peel your clothes off too," you commented as wolfe chuckles against your lips, sliding down your hand from his sternum to his v-bone before unbuttoning his button and zipper of his dress pants. his hard cock already pushing against the fabric of his underwear as you brush your hand against it with his lips nibbling on your bottom lip.

both of your tongues lick against each other as he brings you to his bed, making you sit down when he pulls away to get rid of his shirt and pants, letting you see the clear lines on his abdominal muscles as he kneels down before you. kisses littering across your inner thighs.

"can i?" wolfe asked as if you hadn't fully given yourself for him to experiment with cyberspace's limits on you.

"you can," you answered as he brought his palm to tug on the waistband and pulled it down. the air grazes against your clitoris like the many times you have masturbated for yourself. the familiar sensation feels weird when you realise that this is simulated in a simulation. but when you felt wolfe's hand holding tight on your thighs as he lifted them up so the heels could press down on the mattress, your body jumped when you felt his wet tongue meeting your wet lower lips.

"fuck…" you say so in a whisper only for him, arms holding your upper body upright to look down at how he is tasting you. the warmth of his tongue wins in comparison to the android that gives you the same thing even when you paid for it. you brush the hair that covers his forehead as he peeks up to gaze at you, eyes watching how you roll yours back. his tongue pokes into your hole as he presses more to your hips. his nose actually nudging and caressing your clitoris as you move instinctually—chasing after him with your might as you tremble more and more towards your peak.

"fuck wolfe!" you moaned out as he groaned while tasting your cum. your chest heaving as he pulls away before wiping away his saliva around your labia, before he wakes you up with a craving kiss. your hand reaches for his now bulging underwear as you push him to stand and land on his rugged floor, even with your still trembling legs. pulling down the last piece of clothing on him, wolfe's cock springs out as it softly touches the bridge of your nose. wiping your lower regions before spitting on your palm, you caress his still-growing shaft as he tilt his head back.

eyes darting at his face before his member, the inexperience comes back to you as you remember you haven't even tried blowing someone. all the sexual interaction you've gotten from those androids is for you and not you for them. but with the smut books you've read and some pornos you found across the old and abandoned internet, you assume you are doing something correct when you feel wolfe's hand holding a strong grip on your forearm.

his head nudges against your agape lips as you push forward, letting it rested on your tongue as you pucker your lips and give a suck. slow and steady as you taste the weirdly sweet taste.

"just like that," he groaned while a hand moved to brush away your hair out of your face. you pull yourself back until only the tip of him is inside before you push down more until you feel his tip is nearing the back of your mouth. your wet hand stroking the rest of his shaft as your other hand plays with his balls before you move back once again until he is fully out, covering more of his from the pooling saliva on his cock.

wolfe looks down at you as he brushes against your lips, "so good for me, swan," he comments as you give a nod before putting him back inside your cavern. pushing a bit more each time as your eyes interchanged from looking at his dick in front of you to his scrunching pleasure-fulled face as his eyes focusing on you, specifically your eyes that are watering from every push when you actually gag before pulling yourself off. and he can't seem to hold back when he pulls you up by your arms before he climbs on the bed and tucks a pillow underneath his head.

"let me taste you again as you suck my dick, swan." his hands holding onto you as you crawl towards him, saliva staining around your lips as you carefully straddle him—feeling his sturdy body laid beneath you like he is really there. you leaned your body down as you lay face to face with his cock beside you. his warm tongue already protruding back into your pussy like a routine. your moans tremble as your eyes tilt back inside your skull once again, stroking onto his shaft before licking the tip and pushing yourself down. the position you find yourself helps in pushing him deeper, sensing not just the outside touch against your skin, but also how the system also wired to let you feel the things inside you, like your food and now this. holding your breath as you push yourself to breathe with your nose, wolfe's groans come from behind you as you push him deeper, contracting the muscles by swallowing as he could feel the sensation.

you wonder if this actually affects your body in real life. that you would wake up with a sore throat and bruised hips. the implication of what wolfe says—the cyberspace system copies your real body inside like a doll in a simulation game—makes it so that it seems tethered to the person who is experiencing it with the disc of their temple. if the connection is severed, does that mean that the cyberspace version of someone can live by themself?

moans came out of you as you could feel your body trembling under wolfe's touch. his nose rubbing on your clit adding to the sensation as you actually had to pull him out of your mouth, "i'm gonna cum-" you warned him as you felt a strong sensation on your lower body; a sensation you never felt before.

his cock in your mouth covers your scream as you felt yourself squirting on him. wolfe's loud "fuck, swan!" exclaimed makes you push yourself to make him cum—make him release in your mouth so you could savor his taste like he does yours. he still licks the outer lips as his muffled groan edges you to keep going until you feel his warm release spurt into your mouth—gathering them into your mouth as you swallow it down. both of your breaths are loud as you pull back from him and feel how your legs are so weak before he pulls you down to lie beside him.

both of you stare at the dark ceiling, bodies splayed beside each other as you could feel the bubbling giggles coming out of you with him following. realising just how real this virtual sex is. how the warmth of even a virtual being wins in comparison to the coldness of a controlled machine you wish will be liberated. but you also feel your heart blooming in the warmth. you felt wolfe's lips against your skin before he gave one last searing kiss on your shoulder, your fingers brushing against his as you pivoted your head to look at him.

"i had a great time, swan," he starts as you nod.

"me too. i'm actually genuinely impressed at how cyberspace simulates all of this."

"it feels real," wolfe says something that is nagging your mind as it is scrambling to hold on to your truth. that everything in this layer of life is artificial. but what you experienced is more alive than what you assumed. like it is real. like the electricity you felt with him is not just a flash of codes that trembles when you stand next to each other.

"it feels real," you echoed as his smile finally showed you teeth, his eyes also smiling as you follow suit. not remembering when you smiled that wide in your life before.

"you can respawn here. don't forget to set the bed to this. i have something to do in the morning, but i would love to communicate with you more." his hand that is holding onto your wrist presses down on the specific main button as your avatar's control centre makes a pop-up show on your display of wolfe wanting to invite you to communicate. you look down at the yes button as it clicks and you see his name on your contact.

"and maybe continue what we have…" he presses another kiss to your nose as you move forward to follow him.

"i would love to."

he blinks away as he punches the button to open his interface as you recognise the flipped "log off" button that he needs to press to come back to real life.

"well, good night, swan."

"good night, wolfe." you finally able to say after you couldn't the last time and his avatar dissipates as you eyed the bed with the bed sign showing up, making you press it as the notifications tell that this is your spawn point now. but now with wolfe gone, you could feel a little ripple of energy back.

pushing yourself up and landing your weight against the fluffy floor, you stand and stay in balance as you walk towards the wide window once again. comparing the view of your little apartment to the one this room gives. the lights of the city brushing against your naked body as you gaze upon the land on the other side of the river. your eyes follow the aerial view of your supposed neighbourhood, eyeing where your apartment should be in north seoul. now, you can figure out the location of this apartment building when you look out of your own window.

lifting your eyes up, you stare at the faded nude reflection of yourself. the seams around your shoulder and pelvis are gone as cyberspace doesn't recognise your cybernetic limbs, but also how your eyes remain only in one set of colour instead of the heterochromia you have. you looked blended in, not like yourself that is a mish-mash of a lot of things. but with you being high up in this apartment by yourself, you could actually push further into the power you gain again as you see the sheen of green codes painting the otherwise dark room. that is when you see a lone strand of green that combines with blue trails towards the path behind you.

your figure turns around as you follow the trail when it highlights a desk. pushing yourself to walk forward as you felt the pain pouring in around your pelvis, you find yourself in front of a pristine desk with books that look more like clutter items to fill up the space. the white power button suddenly highlights green as you press it, feeling locks clicking further in your auditory space as a hologram screen opens up. and notifications of messages showing up.

pressing it, you skim-read the message before highlighting the names. suddenly, you could feel how your stomach churns, not only in excitement but also in dread.

02.35. sunghoon (frost): did you finally do it? 02.35. sunghoon (frost): i swear if you fumbled it again, i will post a smear campaign of you in cyberspace 02.36. jake (wolfe): fuck yes i did! 02.36. jake (wolfe): she was wonderful, but we decided to take it slow 02.36. sunghoon (frost): so you can actually talk more with her? 02.36. jake (wolfe): yeah!

those names. those fuck-ass yuppie names that haunt you in your dreams and reality. finally, all of it clicks for you: how the power your coded self seems to bestow you can't really penetrate them. like cyberspace is protecting them for something. the talk about cyberspace that feels more thorough but also delves deep, like it is a sentence uttered by recognising keywords in a document. that out-of-touch comments he said and the sudden pull out he did when you first met him, like he is has nearly messed shit up. how he has this pride talking about cyberspace like he is personally involved with it outside of his career. how he mentioned that he works at shim laboratories but also has a sophisticated sense of business for more than just for a mere employee. like he is trained to do so because he will manage it one day.

02.37. jake (wolfe): hopefully we can do more because i can actually talk to her 02.37. jake (wolfe): i have her contact now on cyberspace 02.37. jake (wolfe): i like her sense of curiosity, and even only in cyberspace, i can't wait to experience more adventures with her

wolfe is jake shim, the successor of shim laboratories.

want to immerse yourself by knowing more about the world of terra incognita or even ask the characters themselves about their opinions? send a message to cyberspace interactive !

act 2

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#k-labels #svnet #enhypen imagines #enhypen smut #enhypen x reader #enhypen scenarios #enhypen angst #enhypen fanfiction #jake x reader #rsc: t.i.#cr: jake #cs: enhypen #sc: regina

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