#electronic dog collars

[thebutchersdog]

For whatever idiotic and deluded reason, the people of UK have voted to ban the use of remote training collars. Despite there being proof that these tools can save the lives of dogs who chase livestock, it has been decided that responsible dog owners cannot allow their dogs off leash freedom while being trained and secure.

I can imagine a lot more dogs are going to be shot by farmers and horse owners.

This blog is a prong/e collar/training tool positive blog and I’m unashamed to say I use both on my dog. If it ever came to be in Canada that they restricted or banned the use of these tools, I would not stop using them.

Not one person can look me dead in the eyes and claim my dog is unhappy, abused, or shut down.

Stand up for your rights as dog handlers, trainers, and owners, and fight these idiotic and ableist laws when they crop up.

[queenie-the-court-jester]

that isn't very holy of you :/

Yandere church boy x gn!reader

It came out shittier than I hoped for. Not proofread 🌺 I'll fix this when I have the time

Tw: religious themes, noncon mention, minor cult mention

✝️ you had just arrived in the small town of morning star. Having been needing a break from the city life, you rented a one bedroom cabin close by. Planning on staying here for a month, you quickly headed towards your new home, very eager to start exploring the area

✝️ wandering around the town square, it seemed everyone knew eachother. A family like community perhaps? Maybe that's why they all kept staring at you as passed through, must not be use to new faces

✝️that was until a group of children approached, asking you to come play ball with them. You couldn't say no to their puppy dog eyes, and the adult's judgemental stares so you agreed. And it was fun surprisingly! You noticed none of the children had any phones.. or the grown up's for that matter

✝️your first week there you were unsettled, but you just pushed it off as the townsfolks strange behavior, Focusing on unpacking and enjoying your stsy. Until one of the school teachers, a kindergarten one, knocked on your door on a sunday

"hi there honey! On behalf of the people I'd like to sincerely apologize for the cold welcome. It's just been a hard year for all of us! So to make it up you, won't you come to church with us on this fine morning?"

✝️ whether or not you're religious yourself, she managed to convince you to come along. Chatting the whole walk there. Talking about her husband, her children. She mentioned something about having a son your age but you weren't really paying attention

✝️ walking through the grand double doors of the church house, she sat you on the front row with the pastors family, next to a young man. You were startled as she sat on the other side of you, leaning in to whisper In Your ear as she pointed at the pastor preaching

"that's my hubby right there. He's a handsome fella ain't he?"

✝️david looked at his mother in disbelief, he told her a few a times he found you attractive and now look at her! He could practically see the gears turning in her head. thankfully you seemed preoccupied thinking, so he did his best to seem normal while his poor heart beated 300 mph

✝️after the sermon, david turned to you and have you a sheepish smile

"hi.. my name's David, but you can call me dave.. its.. nice to meet you"

✝️you and David hit it off, unlike all the other people. He didn't constantly talk about praising god and forcing his religion down your throat. He was kind, understanding. Laughing at your jokes and nodding along to your words. He never met someone so.. ethereal

✝️growing up, he had a hard time believing in his small towns "god". Watching them cut up and sacrifice newcomers to their false idols, he felt sick to the pit of his stomach heading their screams. But he could definitely devote his cause to you...

✝️he trapped you in this shitty town when he asked you out on a little date a few days later. Unaware he drugged your food and dragging you into his home, waking up chained to a bed. You couldn't tell how long you've been there, but every time you'd try to escape he'd punish you in bed. Not letting you cum or overstimulating you to the point of tears. Why would you want to leave something that can make you feel so good?

✝️he grew up desensitized to blood and gore, so he's confused when you're screaming and crying. Why are you doing that? Don't you know that this is what happens to bad spouses? What do you mean you're not married either? ofcourse you are. Stop being so difficult...

✝️nobody blinks an eye when he strides into town with you on a collar and leash. And that's when you realized, you should have left earlier. Because the whole town was sick in the head. It wasn't like you could call for help because he fucking destroyed your electronics and the people don't even have phones. Something about wifi signals can brainwash you

✝️ he's whipped for you, that much you can obviously tell. but he's smarter than he looks. Eating dinner with his family is just painful,since all they talk about is God god god. It hurts your ears with how often they just Randomly start singing praises. It's bad enough they force you to watch their cult church activities...

✝️if you give in to his demands, he'll let you off the leash but you have to stay close by at all times. If you don't, he'll have to make his punishments a little more extreme. There's also a possibility he'll force you to help around the town. whether that be looking after the children or just running around doing errands. The shock bracelet on your ankle stops you from running into the woods..

✝️if you don't, well.. you wouldn't mind if you became permanently handicapped right?

"don't be so difficult sweetie.. just stay still and it'll cut right through okay?'

[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

Three for One 3

Warnings: this fic will include dark content such as dubcon/noncon, cheating, customer service abuse, and other possible triggers. My warnings are not exhaustive, enter at your own risk.

This is a dark!fic and explicit. 18+ only. Your media consumption is your own responsibility. Warnings have been given. DO NOT PROCEED if these matters upset you.

Summary: As a customer service associate, you’re used to work with a wide variety of characters. Your efforts to go above and beyond draw the attention of a certain set of customers who want more than what’s on the shelf.

Character: Andy Barber, Lloyd Hansen, Ransom Drysdale

Note: Let's go!

As per usual, I humbly request your thoughts! Reblogs are always appreciated and welcomed, not only do I see them easier but it lets other people see my work. I will do my best to answer all I can. I’m trying to get better at keeping up so thanks everyone for staying with me <3

Your feedback will help in this and future works (and WiPs, I haven’t forgotten those!)

Love you all. Take care. 💖

Two days before Christmas. The store is left in tatters. Shelves strewn with sparse lefftovers and aisles hastily paced by those who left their shopping a bit too late. The frantic shoppers searching for a diamond among the sand grains of untouched product.

You work at arranging the remnants of the season’s beauty advent calendars on a table draped in a bright red cloth. There’s a large tag in a metal stand that marks them as ten percent off. On the other side of the holidays, they will drop to a full eighty percent off. You always believed giftcards were a better prize, not that you got many gifts.

That year, Luanne gave you a new journal and a specialty hot chocolate bomb in the department’s secret santa. You go Michelle and gifted her a copy of your favourite novel and some nail polishes. That is the extent of your shopping and gift exchanges. Except for your puppy, Ernie, who will get a bone and one of those special gourmet dog meals.

You finish your arrangement and step back, admiring your work. It’s close to close and so close to the end of the race that the shop isn’t as busy as usual. The only customers you do see are in a rush and horribly disappointed when that very specific thing isn’t in stock.

“Excuse me,” you’re drawn around the deep voice. A man strolls up the center aisle of the beauty section, the tails of his coat flicking behind him, “hi,” he uses your name as he approaches, “I’m so sorry to bother you again but can you point me to, erm,” he looks down at his phone, “a ring light?”

You hesitate. He seems to know you and you admit, he looks familiar. You’re at that point where the faces all blur together. Your one innate flaw is that you really don’t have a good memory for that, bt you definitely recognise his voice.

“Hello, sir,” you fall short of his name. You want to say Alan but you also don’t want to be wrong. “The ring lights are actually with the cellphone.” You gesture back at electronics, “I know it makes more sense to put them with cameras.”

“Ah, oh, thanks,” he nods but doesn’t move to find his quarry, he lowers his phone, “how’s your holiday going? Thing’s slowing down,” he looks around and you can’t help but do the same.

“Uh, yeah, yeah, most people are all done,” you shrug.

“Ha, wish I could say the same,” he sighs, “I thought we were done but the wife just sent me on a wild goose chase.”

“Hm, oh, well, I’m not very busy, did you need help finding anything else?”

“Really?”

“Yeah, my manager’s done for the day so doesn’t really matter if I leave my zone,” you say, “kinda boring around here.”

“You’re too sweet,” he smiles, his blue eyes deep and swirling, “and that sweater is adorable.”

You look down at your dark blue sweater with the white crochet peter pan collar. You wiggle your shoulders and grin back at him, thanking him. You know he bought some perfume for his wife but you’re still blanking on his name.

“Here’s my list,” he tilts his phone towards you and looks down, shifting closer to you as he shows you a text bubble.

“Oh my, right. I’m not sure we’ll have everything,” you teethe your lip as you go through the items, “but we’ll see.”

A message pops up over the top and you try not to read, putting your head up as you try to act like you didn’t see it. It’s not that you meant to decipher the words but your brain quickly skimmed that ‘tomorrow night?’ Not much but just feels a bit personal.

“Alright, we’ll go to electronics first, then work our way forward,” you suggest.

“Good idea,” he agrees.

You set off and he follows at just a step. You have to remember to slow down as often you’re so determined you find yourself leaving your customers far behind you. You bring him to the mobile accessories and point to the ring lights.

He considers them and rubs his chin. He points between two; “what’s the difference?”

“Oh, this one comes with a tripod extension and this one is a full kit with a mic,” you point from one to the other.

“What do you think is better for, uh, streaming?” He sounds unsure of that last word.

“I think that kit would have more to it, especially if whoever it’s for is just starting out. But I’m don’t know too much about these things.”

“I’ll take the kit,” he scoops it off the shelf, “the kid can never have enough.”

“Oh? You have kids?”

“One,” he sounds less than excited, “teenager now so he really can’t stand me.”

“I’m sorry, sir, I didn’t mean to…”

“No, no, it’s not your fault,” he forces away the shadow across his features, “you know how they can be. What about you? You going to see your parents? Spending the day with someone special?”

“Um, just Ernie,” you answer, “my puppy.”

“Cute,” he remarks, “are you guys open tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow, yeah, ‘til five,” you try to remember the next thing on his list. 

He seems less concerned with the items than before, instead turn to examine a pop socket, “you have to work on Christmas Eve?”

“Yeah, closing, but I don’t mind.”

“What’s this?” He holds up a pop socket.

“It goes on your phone,” you pull out your phone and show him your daisy one, “see?” You hook your fingers around it, “it’s a grip to help you hold on.”

“Ah, makes sense,” he turns the thin package over, “kid’s always breaking his screen…”

You wait patiently as he makes up the mind to add the grip to his haul.

“What’s next?” You prompt as gently as you can.

“Oh, uh,” he looks at his phone, “video games…” he squints, “V-bucks?”

“Ah, yes, that would be a gift card,” you say, “I can show you the rack.”

He lets you lead him to the large rack of subscription cards. You point out the various currency amounts available and he rubs his brow. His forehead lines as you see the stress needling in his cheek. He’s struck with the late shopper syndrome. He’s start to feel the crush of time.

“So, just your dog?” He wonders as he picks up a $75 card.

“Yeah,” you answer softly.

“No boyfriend? Siblings?”

“Just me,” you assure him, “I don’t mind. I get to choose the dessert!”

He chuckles, “that’s a good way to look at it. Did you buy yourself something special?”

“Not really, I’ve been saving for a vacation so I put most of my overtime into that,” you explain. “You having a big dinner?”

“Last minute change, wife’s parents want to host. Had to figure out travel plans.” He looks at the giftcards again and your eyes fall to the large back curled up in his arm and the card and phone grip balanced between his fingers. He slides free a Netflix card and reads the fine print.

“Do you want a basket, sir?” You offer.

“Oh, well, sure,” he accepts as he looks down, “that’s very considerate.”

“Don’t want you to drop anything,” you smile and turn on your heel.

You go to the stack of rolling baskets beside the electronics desk. Tyler doesn’t acknowledge you as he sorts through game shells to put back on the shelf. You pull the basket behind you, rattling on its wheels as you approach the shopper by the gift cards.

“Here,” you veer it around towards him.

He bends to lower the ringlight inside and drops the smaller items into next to it; he adds the Netflix subscription along with it and holds onto the Kindle card in his hand.

“You got any of these around?” He holds up the card, “the reader?”

“Hmm, we should,” you rub your neck, “I suppose if we didn’t, you can get a tablet and download the app.”

“I guess,” he nods, “can you check?”

“Of course, sir.”

You turn away and call over your headset. Regan tells you there’s a kindle up in return they can sell. You ask them to put it aside.

“There’s one left at checkout. They’re going to have it waiting for you,” you announce proudly.

“That’s great. You like to read?” He asks.

“Oh, sure, my one vice is my book addiction,” you giggle, “how about you?”

“Well, I don’t get much of a chance with work. I’m usually burnt out from all the legal documents,” he drones grimly, “then the kid has extracurriculars or there’s a PTA meeting or the wife needs something done.”

“Sounds busy,” you say empathetically, “I hope you get some time to relax this holiday.”

“Me too,” he agrees. “I almost envy you. I’m sure your dog’s good company.”

“He’s so sweet,” you can’t help but beam at the mention of your boy.

“Big cuddler?” He asks.

“Uh, yeah,” the question is a bit unexpected, “you like dogs?”

“Never really had one. Don’t need the extra work,” he says, “but I don’t mind them.”

“That’s fair. He can be a bit needy.”

He flinches and looks down at his hand. His screen flashes and he gives an apologetic look as he raises his palm, “I’m so sorry. I need to take this.”

“Take your time, sir, I’ll wander,” you point over your shoulder with your thumb.

He mouths a thanks before he answers, “Barber.”

You back up and turn to distract yourself with the shelf of controllers and switch cases. His deep voice carries but you focus on the Sinatra carol playing overhead to drown him out. Still you can’t help but catch a few words.

“Five, yeah…no, she won’t…it’s fine…” He’s quiet for a moment before he raises his voice, “figure it out.”

His stern tone sends a chill through you. It’s a sharp contrast to his previously friendly demeanour. Well, he mentioned he’s a lawyer, you assume he has a lawyer voice, akin to your customer service one.

“Sorry,” he comes back to you, “my wife…” he takes a breath, “you don’t happen to sell wine here?”

You smile. The way he answered, it didn’t sound very affectionate but maybe he hadn’t expected his wife.

“No, sorry, sir.”

“Kidding,” he chuckles, “well, I guess I should get my butt in gear,” he flicks through his phone, “um, I assume toiletries? Face masks?”

“Oh, that’s near me,” you point back towards beauty, “there’s a special for the sheet masks.”

“Great,” he grabs the extended handle of the basket, “thanks so much for this. I’m so lost.”

“That’s fine,” you go ahead of him, “it’s the job.”

🎀

You groan as you put the last empty bin in the stack. You stand and rub your shoulders, traps sore from all the lifting and moving. The night crew will set up for the day after Christmas but in the last hour of work, you and the few others in the store scrambled to get the old displays torn down.

Luanne walks with you to the employee break room. She’s in more of a hurry as she has her three children waiting for her at their grandparents. She goes ahead of you and punches out as you wait and stretch out your arms.

“Have a good Christmas,” she says breathily as she opens her locker and pulls out her purse and jacket, folding the latter over her arm, “I’ll see you after. You’re opening, right?”

“Sure thing,” you say as you punch in your employee number. “Merry Christmas.”

“Give Ernie some pets for me,” she trills as she goes to the door. “Thanks again. You saved my ass today.”

“No problem, “ you shake your head, “Christmas Eve brings out the best.”

“Does it ever. Bye, sweetie,” she waves over her shoulder as he sweeps through the door.

You go to your locket and take out your fluffy pink sherpa coat and purse. You loop your scarf around your neck and slip your earmuffs around your head. You sit to pull on your boots and stand with an ache in your calves. You feel the fatigue finally setting in. It’s not over yet; one day off and you’re right back to the furor.

You yawn as you leave the breakroom and drag your feet across the store. You take out your phone as you pop your earbuds in and choose your holiday mix. You wave goodbye to a few other stragglers and go out the front door, Spencer locking it behind you.

It’s bitterly cold out. You’re surprised by the fresh fall of snow swirling in the air. It gives an extra sparkle to the time of year.

You scroll through your phone. The buses are on holiday hours already. The next one is in an hour. Great. You can just walk, at least until you get to the next stop. More buses stop there and you can get at least ten minutes within your building.

You trod along, kicking through the powder of snow as headlights gleam ahead of you. You walk along the narrow walk beside the hotel on the other side of the intersection and a pair of flashing tail lights blink ahead of you. A dark figure stands beside the white SUV but you can’t make out much more than their silhouette.

You keep going, peeking up curiously as you near. The boot of the car pops up and the stranded driver searches. As you pass, you trip over an unseen shape, the metal clank painfully against your toe. You look down at the small foot jack.

“Oh, shoot, sorry,” the man stands straight and turns to you, “I didn’t see you coming. I was just grabbing the iron–”

“That’s okay,” you pick out your earbuds, “I wasn’t looking.”

“Wait,” he stops short and points a gloved finger in your direction, “it’s you. You work at the store just down the way, right?”

You know the man. He’s the one who was in the store just yesterday. There’s a flutter in your chest at the coincidence of your encounter. It happens, especially in the shopping district. Half the city at least passes through her during the holidays.

“Yeah, uh, that’s me. You finish your shopping?”

“Just about,” he tuts and shakes his head, “blew a tire. So, happy holidays to me.”

“I’m so sorry,” you look down at the snowy walk.

“Mhmm,” he grumbles, “all this snow, I can’t get the jack to work either.”

“Dang, unfortunately, I’m not help. I don’t know much about cars.”

“That’s fine, I called roadside assistance but they’re taking their damn time,” he checks his watch.

“Oh…” you utter.

“Don’t let me rain on your holiday, honey,” he says, “your toe okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, it’s fine,” you look down.

“Wait, are you walking home?” He asks.

You nod.

“Wish I could offer you a ride. This weather’s only getting worse,” he bemoans. He slips his hand into his jacket and pulls out his phone, “they should be here shortly so if–”

A set of headlights pull onto the apron and roll towards you. You look over as the man beside you does the same. You stand, somewhat dumbfounded at the unexpected run-in. 

“That’s them,” he declares, “hey, guys.”

He waves as the white van pulls up. You were expecting a tow truck. Oh, well. Not your problem.

“Great, I guess I should get going,” you excuse yourself, “have a happy holi–”

As you step back, your heel catches on something. You don’t realise until your plummeting onto your ass that the man stuck his leg out behind you. You hit the ground with an oomph, barely missing the metal jack half-buried in the snow.

You hear the van door sliding open and a clatter of heavy treads. You can barely catch your breath as the world moves fast around you. The man bends over you as another rushes over, grabbing you off the ground as the two vehicles block out the street from view.

“Be nice,” the first man warns as your arms are seized. “Don’t hurt her.”

You suck in a deep breath. What is happening? You go to let out the shriek as you’re struck by the situation. This can’t be real but you’re being half-carried towards an open vehicle. A hand comes up and stifles your scream, smothering you as you’re yanked harshly forward.

“Careful,” the man girds again.

“Shut the fuck up,” the other grits and pulls you away from the other, spinning you around as he hooks an arm around your neck and covers your mouth, forcing you towards the van. He bends backwards, lifting your feet as you kick and squirm.

“Honey, calm down,” the friendly customer coaxes, “it’s okay.”

You don’t understand. Why are they doing this? Why you?

The man’s hand slips as you grab at his arms and your teeth come over the vee between thumb and index. You bite down and he yowls. Even through his leather glove, you give him a viscous pinch.

“Fuck!” He tosses you forward so your knees hit the side of the van and fall half-inside.

“Hurry the fuck up,” another voice calls from inside the van.

“Trying,” the second man snarls as you stand and let out a shrill note, only for a second before you’re caught from behind and muted again. This time the leather glove seals over your nose. “Fucking bitch.” 

You’re lifted into the van, writhing and kicking as the door slides shut from the outside. You’re pinned on the floor in the seatless rear of the vehicle. You whimper as your eyes glisten with a sudden spring of tears. 

That question rings in your head again; why you? You have no one to look for you, no one to care. It’s only you against them.

[emeraldwit]

Headcanon idea - Cujos Collar

This is pretty choppy and I wanted to keep it short. Enjoy the running Brain dialog as I hurl this here

So Cujos collar in the show has his name on the back. The front has the Acxiom Labs logo. Which is the typical depiction of an nucleus with electrons in rotation.

Since he was a puppy when he was "fired". Cujo has spent more of his existence dead, than alive. As a puppy who destroyed the lab that once employed him for his toy. So he could be the puppy he was/is. Existing longer 'outside' than his exposure to Acxiom Labs

Since cujo is his own dog, he enjoys his freedom and choices.

Sometimes a dog ghost is just wants to be a dog . and the dog wants a ghost boy. A ghost dog and his ghost boy.

So over time and visits Cujos makes to see danny, the name tag shifts and morphs and twists and squishes over time, into something new.

The front picture changed into a twisting Galaxy. For cujo gets to play, get pets and be a dog. And a dog is honest.

Make sense that cujo shows where his love lies.

[thedegu]

Tag yourself, what you bring when you go out:

Bard: Alongside the necessities, you always bring either a musical instrument and/or a full makeup set. You never know when a party might start! Your bag is either $2 or $200. You make it work either way. Essentials? eh, if they're in there, they're in there.

Barbarian: phone wallet keys. Pants have pockets for a reason. If you're feeling spicy, you'll have a multi tool on your Keychain

Cleric: At LEAST one first aid kit, two lip balms snacks and drinks, bug spray and sunscreen for you freinds who forgot to put it on. Your purse weighs as much as a neutron star, but at least it's cute!

Druid: same as cleric, but you, instead of a purse, use one of those huge reusable grocery bags. More emphasis on snacks than the first aid kit (someone else will probably have that coveted, right?) But you might also have some loose dog treats in the bottom of your bag, so pay attention when snacking.

Fighter: You carry a backpack or over-the-shoulder duffel, but your phone wallet and other essentials are kept in your pockets because it's easier to access. What do you keep in your bag? Well, at least one knife and assorted tools and emergency supplies. You keep on forgetting to put in that first aid kit, but then you'd probably need to take out that 75 piece screwdriver kit, which, tbh is more useful in more situations.

Rainger: Look, you HAVE a bag, or... had one... you just leave it at home more often than you remember it. Look, you don't really need your phone when you're on a hike, right? And the trail mix in your pocket should be enough, too. Or you have a fanny pack that is more akin to a benign tumor. There is no in between.

Rogue: Just.... so many pockets. Like, sewing extra pockets into the inside of your jacket. Like "How did you fit that sub sandwich inside of there" pockets. Like you somehow have all of the tools you need for any reason on your person at any time without a bag amount of pocket. When you're fully suited up, your clothes work as a weighted blanket. It's honestly impressive and slightly terrifying.

Paladin: Like.... a bag?? Over the shoulder with RFID protection. Nothing too fancy either, phone, wallet, keys. Snacks and a small tube of sunscreen and maybe a hand warmer in the winter. Just get the job done, if you need something more you'll take it when you need it.

Wizard: You got the backpack on sale. That's what matters to you. Never mind how it makes your back hurt or that it's falling to pieces. It holds your books and laptop and.... ah, hm, everything else you need. Oh! It does have a cool wallet compartment... just let me... oh, it's so hard to get to give me one second... really, I do have the cash for this coffee. I swear one... oh, there goes my thesaurus.

Warlock: bags are meant as a fashion statement over their utility. Yeah, I can only fit my phone or my wallet in it, but I look good doing it, so what does it matter. Black is always in season, and so are chunky boots and spiked collars. Well it's not like you'll be going out without your freinds, you might as well have them hold your things, they honestly shouldn't trust you with your own credit cards anyway so it's a win-win

Sorcerer: You have one of those electronic bags that fallows you, and you've never looked back. Yes, it might be risky. Yes, taking a full luggage bag everywhere is a bit excessive. But if it does get stolen, the glitter bomb inside will make everything worth it. Hm? Where do you keep essentials? Oh, front pants pocket and brest pocket nbd.

[mymoodwriting]

21.5k, Maestro AU, dystopia, advanced technology, robots, kidnapping, manipulation, mind control, hypnosis, assault, physical assault, violence, hacking, supernatural elements, restraints, collars, mental abuse, electrocution, hallucinations, reader is a minor character, I don't know who the main character is either

“Do you hear the piano?”

“Huh?”

“The piano. It’s playing in the distance.”

“I don’t hear anything, y/n.”

“It sounds so pretty.”

“And you know music isn’t really a good thing around here.”

“Yeah…”

You could definitely hear a piano, even if it was quite faint, but there was no way you were gonna be able to find the source. Mingyu was right though, music wasn’t much of a thing around here. The world itself was quite depressing, and everyone worked to stay alive, even if the job was shit. You were lucky to work as a delivery person, one of the simpler jobs, but it had its cons too. You’d drive all over the city, even to the more dangerous parts. So far nothing bad had happened to you, but there was no guarantee that would always be the case. Still, you made money, and you could pay your part of the bills.

You lived in an apartment with three other guys, who were all like brothers to you. It was a decent size place, and you all had your own space too. Most of the apartment was littered with electronic parts as Vernon was a technician that worked from home. He was a freelancer, fixing things in what he considered his work space, which was everywhere that wasn’t a bedroom. Wonwoo worked construction, getting up early and coming back late, but he always said he had enough down time to rest and recover. Mingyu worked as a mechanic at an auto shop not so far from the apartment.

Between the four of you there was a car, but on most days Wonwoo would take it. You had your work van, so if Vernon ever needed to get somewhere, or some items needed to be picked up, that job usually fell on you. At least your office was nearby so it wasn’t a hassle to get to and from work without a vehicle. Today though was a rare treat as you were all off and could do somethings together. You had all gone out to get some groceries, as well as other necessities for the apartment. As you were loading up the trunk that’s when you began to hear the piano, instantly entranced by the melody. In this world music was scarce and unfortunately not encouraged. If anything it was frowned upon.

The peacekeepers maintained order, and many times you had seen them beat those for causing a ruckus or playing music. You weren’t entirely sure why such a thing seemed to be a problem, but it made you appreciate whenever you heard a nice tune. Besides the peacekeepers there were robots around the city. Some worked alongside humans in certain labor-intensive fields, others had simpler tasks, and some freely walked around available to help anyone who needed assistance with anything. Then there were the roaming CCTV robots, the robo-dogs as people called them. They were all over the place,watching everything. Of course there were still normal CCTV cameras around too, so safety and peace were maintained well on multiple levels.

“Let’s go.”

Mingyu shut the trunk and you followed him to the front. You got into the passenger seat, Mingyu hopping behind the wheel. You glanced in the rearview mirror, seeing Vernon on his tablet, headphones on, clearly engrossed in work. Whereas Wonwoo had his head back against the headrest, eyes closed, using this time to wind down. You couldn’t help the small smile on your face. They were all great company. When you got to the apartment everyone helped bring things up, allowing it to be done in one trip. You put things away and then collapsed on the couch, turning on the TV and half listening to the news.

“Y’all better not stay up late.” Vernon commented. “You guys have work in the morning.”

“And you?” Wonwoo mumbled. “All you do is stay home.”

“I pay my bills.”

“Uh huh.”

“I’m a technician, or did you forget where you got such a dope phone?”

“Well you better not stay up late making a bunch of noise!”

“I won’t.”

“You say that a lot.” You added. “You should soundproof your room.”

“I don’t wanna work in my room.”

“Obviously.” Mingyu mentioned. “Your shit is everywhere in this apartment.”

“You’re just jealous I get to work from home.”

“Only sometimes.” Wonwoo added. “Or so you say.”

“Whatever.”

Most days were the same, but you each kept each other entertained, making every sundown and sunrise worth seeing. On slow days when you’d get home first you tended to sit out on the balcony, enjoying the cool breeze of the night air. While sitting out there one day you began to hear the sounds of a piano. Just like before, it was a beautiful melody, and you could hear it better this time. You closed your eyes and let the music take over, softly nodding your head along to the beat, tuning out the rest of the world.

As Wonwoo walked in he was careful not to make too much noise. It was pretty late and he was certain everyone else was already sleeping. He was sneaking back to his room when he heard a soft hum, suddenly realizing how cold the living room was. He looked around, realizing the balcony door was slightly open. Wonwoo made his way over, realizing the humming was getting louder. He slowly slid the door open, seeing you hugging your knees to your chest, eyes closed and rocking to the sides as you hummed. You seemed rather content but he was concerned by all of this.

“Y/n?”

“Hm?”

You opened your eyes, smiling when you saw Wonwoo, although he seemed very worried. Which you didn’t understand.

“You’re home.”

“How long have you been out here? It’s really late, you know.”

“Is it? I didn’t realize…”

“What were you doing?”

“Just listening to the piano, can’t you hear it?”

“Y/n, I don’t think anyone is playing a piano at these hours.” 

“I heard it. I swear. It was coming from over there.”

You didn’t have an exact location, but you had a good idea which direction the sound had been coming from. You got up, although now that the music was gone the exhaustion was starting to hit you. A yawn escaped your lips and you pointed off into the distance mindlessly, leaning against Wonwoo. He wrapped his arms around you, feeling how cold you were. Before he could comment his gaze followed your gesture, and his concern for you only got worse. You were pointing towards the Metronome Theater. 

“Let’s get you inside. You need to get some sleep.”

Wonwoo led a sleepy you down the hall and towards your bedroom, helping you get under the covers and tucking you in. He made sure your alarm was set so you wouldn’t be late for work. He quietly stepped out and shut the door behind him. He stood outside your room for a moment, his thoughts lingering on what had just happened. It wasn’t necessarily something to worry about, but it still bothered him. He barely managed to sleep that night, and next thing he knew it was time to get up again. As he was about to head out he stopped himself, going over to Vernon’s room and knocking on the door before opening it. Unsurprisingly the boy was awake.

“Are you working outside the apartment today?”

“No. Why?”

“Could you do me a favor and look after y/n today.”

“Is something wrong?”

“I don’t know but could you just tag along with her today and keep her out of trouble.”

“Sure. No problem.”

“Thanks.”

Despite the unspoken outlaw of music, the Metronome Theater still stood. It looked exactly like the name described, a giant metronome amongst the buildings that made up the city. Most of the time the pendulum remained still, glowing an ominous red, but on occasion it would glow blue and move from side to side, creating a low ticking in the air. No one really understood the purpose of that structure, and for fear of getting into trouble many avoided the area. Regardless of what went on everyone understood one thing, the Metronome Theater was a dangerous place. Wonwoo stared at it before getting into the car. He never paid the theater any attention, but he might have to going forward.

♩. ♩. ♩. ♩. ♩ ♪ ♩ ♪ 𝅗𝅥.

You woke to the beeps of your alarm, groaning and rolling over in bed. You hadn’t slept much last night, but you weren’t all that tired. After a moment you got up and began to get ready for the day. Once you were dressed you got yourself a quick breakfast, ready to head out.

“Morning, y/n.” Vernon greeted you. “How you feeling?”

“Good. Just getting ready for work.”

“Cool. Mind if I come along with you today?”

“Why? Do you need me to drop you off somewhere?”

“No, no, just wanna get out of the apartment, if you don’t mind.”

“Of course not. I could use the company.”

“Awesome.”

Vernon walked with you to the office, letting you go off on your own to clock in and then come around for him in the delivery van. He happily hopped into the passenger seat.

“Lunch is on me.”

“Obviously.”

“What?”

“You think you just get to ride around for free?”

“But you enjoy my company.”

“And free food.”

“Fine. Whatever you want.”

“Excellent.”

Of course Vernon was just coming along for fun, not actually helping you with the job cause he didn’t want to do anything wrong and get you in trouble. He tried that once before and it did not go well. So it’s more accurate to say he doesn’t help so you don’t wind up in trouble again because of him. When he went with you nowadays he was more like your guardian angel, and today was no different for him. He stayed in the van, saving you the trouble of rushing and hoping it wasn’t stolen while you did your deliveries. 

“Oh, why hello there.”

The robo-dogs could be found anywhere in the city, both high and low, and in very unlikely places. You were used to seeing them in the buildings you delivered to, and it was great their programming had them act very friendly, like real dogs.

“I’m just doing some deliveries, little guy.”

You held up your badge, showing proof you could be there. You didn’t have to, but you liked to do so whenever you ran into these guys. That way if anything ever happened in the building you’d be recognized as a delivery employee who’s just passing through. It was your own insurance, and there was no real reason to hide your purpose here. You gave the little robot a pat, and it seemed to enjoy that. Soon enough you started to hear a soft melody. You thought you were imagining things, but the sound slowly got louder and then you realized it was coming from the robot.

“You got a song for me, little guy?”

You didn’t know the robo-dogs had speakers in them, let alone that they would play music. It was a nice treat, and you couldn’t help but follow the little guy when he started walking off. You could use a break anyway.

♩. ♩. ♩. ♩. ♩ ♪ ♩ ♪ 𝅗𝅥.

While waiting Vernon would be on his phone, going over his list of things to do and figuring out how to prioritize. Although at a particular stop he felt like you were taking too long, especially since you had walked in with like two boxes. He was about to go check on you when he saw you walk out, immediately feeling relief. Then again he noticed you weren’t walking towards the van, and instead seemed to be following one of the robo-dogs. It was very strange, and he wasn’t just gonna watch. He got out of the van and called out to you, but you didn’t respond. When he caught up to you he grabbed your arm and turned you around, seeing a dazed look on your face before you seemed to come back to your senses.

“Vernon?”

“Are you okay?”

“Huh? Yeah, yeah, I’m fine.”

“What were you doing?”

“What do you mean?”

“Just now.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“I don’t know. You were like sleep walking or something.”

“Oh, I guess maybe I’m just tired.”

“Did you sleep enough last night?”

“I think so. I’m alright though, I promise.”

“Okay, but you let me know if anything’s wrong.”

“I will. Let’s go now.”

Vernon wasn’t entirely convinced, but he wasn’t going to push it right now. Instead he was starting to get an idea as to why Wonwoo wanted him to go out with you today. Something certainly felt wrong here, but he wasn’t entirely sure what. At one point his eyes landed on the Metronome Theater, staring at it as you drove along. That whole place was just an eyesore, and it always gave him the creeps.

“Okay. This might take a few since I gotta deliver on multiple floors.”

“Alright, just be safe and come back.”

“That’s a given.”

You grabbed what you needed from the back, making your way into the building. You started from the top and made your way down. For the most part you just left packages at doors, but on occasion you’d knock to get a signature. You were a bit tired when you dropped off the last one, but at least you were done here.

“Do you require assistance?”

You jumped when you heard a robot, looking back to see it on the steps leading to the basement floor. In a bigger building like this it was more common for there to be robots to help tenants when needed.

“I’m alright, thank you. I’m just doing deliveries.”

You showed your badge once more, definitely needing to identify yourself as these robots tended to have records of who lived here and would call the authorities on any unauthorized visitors. You waited for the robot to accept your reason for being there, but it was eerily quiet.

“Uh… I’m going to be taking my leave now.”

As you stepped away the robot suddenly grabbed your arm. Then the blank face plate began to glow red, swallowing you up and cutting your world to black.

♩. ♩. ♩. ♩. ♩ ♪ ♩ ♪ 𝅗𝅥.

Vernon stepped out of the van, stretching his limbs. He stared at the building you had gone into, getting this uneasy feeling. He checked the time, seeing that you had been gone for about twenty minutes now. That wasn’t too long, but something just didn’t feel right. It probably wasn’t best to just dwell on it, so he locked the van and took the keys, heading into the building. The place seemed quiet, so he went around calling your name, getting no response. Every second that went by was making him nervous. As he was about to head out a gleam of light caught his attention. He walked over to the source and picked up your badge off the floor. Now he was very concerned.

“Shit…”

He called out your name again, stepping down towards the basement. It seemed very dark down here, but that was the least of his worries. He called out to you again and again but there was no response. Then he wound up bumping into something and falling to the ground. He looked up to see a robot standing in his way. Before saying something he noticed some light down the hall, realizing there was a door that led out, another exit. Vernon quickly scrambled to his feet, but the robot moved to stand in his way.

“Do you require assistance?”

“No, no, I-”

“Do you require assistance?”

“No! I’m a delivery person.” 

Vernon held up your badge, covering your face and name, hoping the robot would accept that and leave him alone. It didn’t work, and the machine still stood in his way. Vernon tried to get past once more, yet he was blocked. He intended to push his way through only to be grabbed and shoved to the floor. He groaned as he hit the ground, partially out of breath. He looked back up to see a red glow emanating from the robot’s faceplate, telling him that something was very wrong here.

“You… you intentionally stopped me… you hurt me… you hurt a human…” Vernon got up, making note of the number on the robot’s chestplate. “Robot model S-009588, you are to answer all my questions going forward, what is your directive?”

“Protect the target.”

“What target?”

“A young female identified as a delivery worker. Last spotted at this location.”

“What? Where is she!?”

“Unknown.”

“What do you mean? How do you not know where she is! You took her in the first place!”

“Incorrect. My objective is to protect the target.”

“From-”

The robot suddenly seemed to glitch and shut down, completely powering off right in front of Vernon. He cautiously took a step back and then it seemed to reboot itself.

“Do you require assistance?”

“Uh… no…”

Vernon took a small step forward and the robot stepped to the side. It was certainly acting how it was supposed to now. He still had many questions, and needed to further look into this, but for now he needed to go. He ran towards the back door, stepping out into the streets once again. Despite the minutes that had passed he still looked around, hoping by some miracle to see you, but of course you were nowhere to be found.

“Fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!”

Vernon went back inside, intending to find the robot and interrogating it, but just like you, it was gone. He kicked the nearest item and swore again, storming back to the van. He slammed his hands against the wheel, screaming. The whole point of him being out with you today was to prevent something like this, and he had royally fucked it up. Now he had to make things worse with a phone call.

“What’s up?”

“Wonwoo…”

“Hm?”

“She… y/n… she’s gone…”

“What the fuck do you mean she’s gone!? I asked you to look after her!”

“I know but… I’m not sure what happened. I was attacked by a robot and-”

“Have you told Mingyu?”

“What the hell am I supposed to say? That y/n just walked into a building and never came out? You’re the one who was worried about her and didn’t really say anything!”

“Look, just call Mingyu and get back to the apartment, I’ll head over too, got it?”

“Yeah, yeah, I know.”

Vernon drove over to the auto shop Mingyu worked at. He was familiar with the other mechanics, and just waltzed in, finding Mingyu under a car. He kicked at his leg to coax the boy out. His smiling face changed to concern when he saw Vernon.

“What are you doing here? I thought you went out with y/n?”

“We need to talk. Wonwoo will meet us at the apartment.”

“What happened?”

“It’s complicated.”

“And y/n?”

“…”

“Fuck. Vernon, what did you do?”

“Let’s just go.”

The two walked back to the apartment in silence. Vernon couldn’t imagine what was running through Mingyu’s head, but he had questions of his own. A while after they arrived Wonwoo entered the apartment.

“What the fuck is going on?” Mingyu questioned. “What did you guys do?”

“It’s not something we did.” Wonwoo explained. “But something that happened.”

“Which is?”

“I don’t really know how to explain it.”

“One of you better start talking.”

“Y/n’s been kidnapped.” Vernon stated. “That’s what’s going on.”

“What do you mean!? What did you do!?”

“Why do you think we did something? How do I know this isn’t your fault?”

“You’re the one who messes around with the law, Vernon! And Wonwoo works with all kinds of people. How do I know either of you didn’t piss off the wrong person?”

“We didn’t do anything.” Wonwoo interrupted. “I think something else is going on.”

“Like what?”

“When I got home last night I found y/n out on the balcony. She had been out there for a while, saying she had been listening to some piano.”

“A piano?” Mingyu wondered. “Did you hear it?”

“No. It stopped playing by the time I stepped out. Why?”

“Y/n… she mentioned hearing a piano when we had gone out the other day, but I didn’t hear anything.”

“Why is a piano our concern here?” Vernon questioned. “What does that mean?”

“She said the music was coming from the Metronome Theater.” Wonwoo admitted.

“Oh… wait, so you think someone from the theater kidnapped her? That doesn’t make any sense.”

“You know that place is weird.” Mingyu said. “The people who go in don’t tend to come out, and if they do, they’re not quite the same.”

“Okay, but why would they kidnap her? In fact, how do you know it was them? I was attacked by a robot! Someone clearly hacked into that thing.”

“You were attacked by a robot? Like an actual one or the robo-dogs?”

“Now that you mention it… after a certain stop I saw y/n sleep walking behind a robo-dog, like it was leading her somewhere.”

“Oh so you knew something was up and you still left her alone!” Wonwoo accused. “Are you serious!”

“You could have told me what you were actually worried about here! I thought maybe she was sick or something.”

“I shouldn’t have let her go out in the first place.”

“We don’t know who took her.” Mingyu reminded. “Not for sure. So let’s focus on that first.”

“How?”

“Easy enough. Vernon, you can hack into CCTV right?”

“Obviously. Even the robots, so clearly whoever took her knows a thing or two about tech.”

“Right. So let’s go back to where she was taken and see if the CCTV can lead us to her.”

Everyone was pretty tense over the situation, but they were trying not to let panic take hold. This could all just be some big misunderstanding and you’d call them soon enough, asking where they were. For the sake of not sticking out they decided to take your work van, returning to the last place you had been seen. In a matter of minutes Vernon gained access to the CCTV cameras around, sifting through the footage to find you. He showed the others the moment you went inside, and then skipped ahead, switching to the back door cameras. They were all concerned and surprised when they saw you walk out, following a robot as if you were being escorted somewhere. From there they followed your path, Mingyu driving. Although they soon lost track of you.

“What happened? Where did she go?”

“I’m not sure, the CCTV cameras in the next area are down.”

“What?”

“Let me try finding a different angle.”

Vernon kept working to find a camera, although it seemed that one after the other just weren’t operational. Wonwoo was looking over his shoulder, realizing they had lost track of you. He swore under his breath, although he soon realized something.

“Vernon.”

“Hm?”

“Do any of the cameras work around the Metronome Theater?”

“Uh… no… actually… none of the cameras within a quarter mile radius of the theater work.”

“So that whole area is a blind spot, and she walked into it.”

“Yeah.”

“So the theater it is.” Mingyu commented, staring at it from the car window. “Let’s go.”

The area around the theater was mostly abandoned, and now knowing none of the CCTV around worked made the place all the creepier. Mingyu parked the van across the street from the theater, all three staring out at it. 

“Are we sure she’s in there?” Vernon asked. “She went into a dark zone, someone could have taken her from here and there would be no record of it.”

“Perhaps.” Wonwoo said. “But something tells me she’s in there.”

“Okay, but how are we getting in? That place is usually closed, and it only opens sporadically. We don’t even know if it opened today.”

Just as Vernon said that the pendulum of the theater started moving, and the shutters over the doors went up.

“Huh, guess they’re open now.”

Wonwoo was the first out of the car, crossing the street, the other two soon following. What was strange were the other people that seemed to appear from nowhere also making their way to the theater. Despite what one might think, the inside of the theater was lavish and luxurious, not something you’d expect to see in this part of the city. None of them knew where to go, but the others that entered did. It was weird to see how everyone else walked in silently and went up the stairs, acting like robots themselves. The trio followed, keeping quiet as well and just going with the flow.

They went up two flights of stairs to the third floor, making it to the entrance of the actual theater. Rows and rows of empty seats surrounded the stage, people just taking a seat wherever. The curtains were down, and the lights were slowly fading and growing bright, signaling the show would begin soon. The boys took a seat towards the back, looking around to see if perhaps you were around, but they had no luck. A while later the doors closed and the lights went out, leaving them in darkness before the stage was illuminated. The curtains were drawn, revealing a whole orchestra on stage, two gentlemen standing front and center. 

“Welcome to the Metronome Theater.” The one with a beret spoke. “I’m the director, Seungkwan, and this is Joshua, the conductor for the night. Do enjoy the show.”

Seungkwan made his way off stage, disappearing into the darkness. Joshua on the other hand took his place before the orchestra, and soon the show began. The music was quite nice, not something any of them were used to hearing. There was no piano present, but they didn’t care much for the show itself. They took in their surroundings, but there didn’t seem to be anyone else. All the other guests were engrossed in the performance. For a moment Wonwoo zoned out while watching the conductor lead, something about him just seemed odd. He snapped out of it when Mingyu lightly shoved him, giving him a questioning look. They had other things to focus on right now.

When the show ended everyone got up to applaud, all seeming to move together. Joshua took a bow before the orchestra did the same and then cleared the stage. The doors had opened and a few robots were coming in, greeting some of the guests and then leading them towards the nearest exit. The trio immediately thought to follow, stepping out into the aisle and walking towards the stage. Although they didn’t get far before a spotlight was suddenly aimed at them, stopping them in their tracks.

“You three aren’t meant to be here.”

Once they had adjusted to the light they saw Joshua looking up from his bow, slowly standing, arms crossed over his chest, lightly tapping his wand to his shoulder. A smirk appeared on his face, looking them up and down.

“I advise you to leave before the Maestro gets upset.”

“We have no intention of leaving.” Mingyu stated. “We’re looking for someone, and perhaps your Maestro knows something.”

“Is that so?”

“If we can just talk to them and clear things up, then we’ll be on our way.”

“That’s not going to happen.”

“How come?”

“You were advised to leave.”

Joshua lifted up his wand, flicking it in the air as if he was still performing. They were all confused until they realized the other guests were moving in on them. Before they knew it they were surrounded and grabbed. The people around them had blank stares in their eyes, but they were doing well to restrain them.

“Thank you for coming.” Joshua stated. “Don’t return.”

The people began to drag them towards the exit, forcing them to fight back. They didn’t want to hurt anyone, but the situation was getting out of hand. These people didn’t want them here, so it was all the more reason to stay and investigate. Especially as Joshua was walking away. Wonwoo managed to break free from the crowd, running up towards the stage and tackling the conductor to the ground. The two tussled for a moment, and Wonwoo knew he had to get the wand out of Joshua’s hand. It wasn’t just some stick, but as soon as he ripped it away from Joshua he froze. His gaze slowly turned to the item in his hand. He couldn’t describe the feeling well, but there was some sort of power radiating from it, and now that he held it this energy seemed to be coursing into his veins.

“You have potential.” Joshua commented. “Perhaps the Maestro will see you.”

Before Wonwoo could really register what had been said, or what was happening, Mingyu had come to his side. He had escaped the crowd and took the wand from Wonwoo, snapping it in half without hesitation. Once he did so Joshua screamed, grabbing his head and thrashing on the ground. Both boys took a step back, unsure of what was going on. Even the rest of the guests seemed to collapse, leaving Vernon just as confused as his brothers. A moment later the lights went out again, and Joshua’s screams seemed to die down. When the light returned there was someone else present on the stage. A boy with white hair knelt down before Joshua, hands on his head, seeming to sooth the distressed boy. Soon enough the gaze of the stranger looked to them, a fire in his eyes.

“Get out!”

The lights flickered, and next thing the boys knew robots were rushing into the theater. They grabbed each of the boys, two or three per person, effortlessly dragging them out. Their strength was no match for the machines as they were thrown out onto the streets. Mingyu was the first to scramble to his feet, but as he reached the doors of the theater the shutters slammed down, locking him out.

“NO!”

Mingyu slammed his fist against the shutters over and over, as if that would change anything. The other two eventually came to his side.

“This doesn’t mean anything.” Vernon said. “This could just be some territorial shit, and this Maestro guy doesn’t like outsiders. Y/n might not be here.”

“And yet she could be.” Wonwoo remarked. “You saw how some people were taken elsewhere, not to mention the others… it’s like the music put them under a spell and they did whatever the conductor wanted. Y/n kept hearing a piano, and didn’t you say you caught her sleepwalking?”

“I… yes, but we don’t have solid proof.”

“Then find some.” Mingyu hissed. “There’s gotta be a robot around here that saw something.”

“Yeah, yeah I can look for that.”

Vernon made his way back to the van, the other two soon following. Although Wonwoo stopped and stared back at the theater. His mind went back to the moment he had held the conductor’s wand. The way he felt then still lingered, and he wanted to know what that was.

“Wonwoo!”

Upon hearing his name Wonwoo made his way back, the three in the van, Vernon getting his laptop out and getting to work on searching for some video footage.

“How are we gonna find proof?” Wonwoo asked. “The CCTV doesn’t work around here.”

“But there are other cameras.” Vernon remarked. “The robo-dogs are also CCTV. Even though they are everywhere, they each stick to a certain area. If we can find one around the theater I could get into its system and look at the recorded footage.”

“Alright. I’ll drive, you two keep a lookout.” Mingyu said. “Let me know when to stop.”

As planned they drove around the area, looking for a robo-dog. The issue with those was that they were free roam cameras, so it wasn’t entirely common to see them on the streets.

“What about taking down a robot?” Mingyu suggested. “We’ve seen a few of those.”

“It wouldn’t work.” Vernon mentioned. “The robots have their programs and internal systems, but they don’t actually record anything. We have CCTV and the robo-dogs so it would be overkill.”

“I guess.” 

“Oh, there’s one, Mingyu, pull over.”

The van came to a stop and Wonwoo stepped out, walking up to the little thing as it stepped out of an alleyway. They were very friendly robots, so the thing walked up to Wonwoo all on its own. Vernon had opened the side door, laptop in hand.

“What do I do?”

“Just grab it and bring it here. I’ll erase the footage of us grabbing it when we’re done.”

Wonwoo picked up the little guy, bringing it over the van and setting it down inside next to Vernon. It tried to get out, but Wonwoo prevented it from doing so. After a moment it sat down, the little red light going out.

“Alright, I’m in.”

“Are you sure it saw something?” Mingyu asked. “Or do we need to look for another one?”

“No. One should give me access to a few more in this area, one of them surely saw some… hold on.”

“What?”

“…”

“Vernon.”

“Hold on!”

“Aish, could you tell me-”

“Got it.”

“What?”

“The robo-dogs here are on two grids. The city and something else, I managed to dig deeper into the system just now, but I’m gonna need another minute to access this other grid.”

“I’m not understanding you.” Wonwoo said. “What do you mean another grid?”

“Another power grid, another system. Someone else besides the city is connected to these robo-dogs and thus has access to their recordings.”

“That’s not concerning at all.”

“I know so just- oh… this isn’t good… the CCTV around the theater isn’t broken, it’s on another grid.”

“Wait so you mean all the cameras around here work?”

“How come the city isn’t aware of this?” Mingyu questioned. “This whole area is thought to be a dark zone.”

“The city doesn’t care about the cameras being down cause the rodo-dogs in this area still work, and they’re more valuable.” Vernon explained. “That’s why they’re still online and connected to both grids. I doubt the city knows that someone else has easy access to the robo-dogs around here.”

“So who’s running this other grid?”

“Who do you think? Who’s at the center of this whole thing?”

“The Metronome Theater.”

“They’re the biggest power source in this area, so logically they’re the only ones who could run all this.”

“What about y/n though?” Wonwoo reminded. “Is she really in the theater?”

“Well, let’s check. Once I get access to the cameras we can see where she really went.”

A few minutes later Vernon did as he said, pulling up camera footage and going to the moment they had originally lost you. They could see you were still following a robot, and a moment later two more appeared. They continued to follow you through the cameras, and just as they suspected you made your way to the Metronome Theater, heading inside.

“Okay. So she’s in there somewhere.” Mingyu confirmed. “How do we get back in?”

“We can’t just walk in again.” Wonwoo added. “I’m sure they’ll be looking out for us.”

“Then we go in from below.” Vernon suggested. “The robo-dogs go underground to recharge and there has to be some sort of maintenance facility in this area. My guess is the theater. Someone in there must be a technician that fixes up all the robots around here. Which means there should be a way in the theater through underground maintenance tunnels that the robo-dogs would use.”

“Okay, but those things are small, do you think we’d fit?”

“The maintenance tunnels are designed to be big enough for a person to crouch through in case a robo-dog loses power down there and needs to be retrieved.”

“So all we gotta do now is find those tunnels and get inside.”

“What do we do once we’re in?” Wonwoo asked. “That place is huge and we have no idea where y/n would be.”

“If we’re going in then we’re not looking for y/n, but the Maestro. Whoever that is, they’ll surely know where she is.”

♩. ♩. ♩. ♩. ♩ ♪ ♩ ♪ 𝅗𝅥.

You felt as if you were waking from a dream, unsure as to when you fell asleep. Wherever you were, it was dark, but the light in front of you drew your attention. As you regained your senses you began to perceive your surroundings. You seemed to be in some sort of theater, watching a show. There was an orchestra on stage, along with the conductor leading the show. You noticed a few other people around you, but that all seemed to become pointless as you began to listen to the music. You hadn’t heard such a melody, becoming entranced by. After a moment you closed your eyes to give all your focus to the music, feeling so calm and relaxed.

“Good girl.”

The voice made you open your eyes, finding a gentleman with white hair standing before you with a big smile on his face. Before you could really process anything he lifted his glowing wand, gently tapping your head and causing your world to fade to black.

♩. ♩. ♩. ♩. ♩ ♪ ♩ ♪ 𝅗𝅥.

“Let’s go over the plan once more.”

With access to the robo-dogs it wasn’t hard for Vernon to map out their travel patterns and find multiple entrances to the maintenance tunnels. From there he could figure out where they needed to go and how to get inside the theater.

“Okay. I’ve found our entrance point into the maintenance tunnels, the closest one to the theater.” Vernon explained. “When we get to the theater itself I can mimic a robo-dogs signal to open the entrance and get us in. Although from there I’m gonna need to find an access port in order to gain access to the systems in the theater. There are no schematics or blueprints for that place, so right now I have no idea how the interior looks besides what we’ve seen, and that wasn’t much.”

“From there the goal is to go up.” Mingyu added. “Surely the Maestro would be at the highest point in the building. We just need to find the fastest route, and avoid as much resistance as possible.”

“The building will most likely be littered with robots, but once I have system access I can make sure they don’t hurt us.”

“What about the conductor?” Wonwoo asked. “Or that other guy? They seemed to have a lot of power in that place.”

“We already broke the conductor’s little stick, so they shouldn’t be a problem. As long as we move fast and don’t attract attention we should be fine.”

“Then what do we do if we find the Maestro?”

“When we find them we’re gonna demand answers. If things have to get rough then so be it. We know y/n’s in there. Let’s gather what we need and be ready to move in ten.”

Honestly the only person who needed things was Vernon, the other two were ready to go whenever. They all needed to travel light as there wasn’t much room in those tunnels to begin with. Since they knew the cameras around the theater worked they needed to avoid them. The best way to do that was to enter the sewers outside that area and travel through there to the maintenance tunnel that would lead them into the theater. It wasn’t pleasant, but it did well to give them the advantage they needed in order for this to work. None of them liked walking through the sewers, and the maintenance tunnels wouldn’t be any better. It would be short but uncomfortable nonetheless.

“Give me a second while I get the hatch open.”

Vernon got out his phone, doing a little something before the hatch opened. He was the first one through, glad to be able to stretch out, the other two soon getting out as well. They seemed to be in the middle of some hallway, and to their benefit it seemed empty.

“I need to look for some electrical currents so I can find an access point.” Vernon stated. “Give me a second.”

“Why do the walls say S3?” Wonwoo questioned.

“Shit.” Vernon mumbled. “I wasn’t entirely sure how low we went, but I think we’re in sub-level three.” 

“How big is this building…”

“No idea.”

Vernon followed the device in his hand, leading the others down the hall and towards an elevator. Which was the perfect thing to find. He pulled out some other tools, connecting to the wires behind the call button hacking in, ultimately gaining access to the entire system.

“Got it. Looks like this building has seventeen floors, and three sub-floors. So you definitely know where we are.”

“Great, we’re as far from the top as possible.” Mingyu said. “Just our luck. What’s the fastest way up?”

“Uh… there seems to be some kind of elevator that goes up to the seventeenth floor that we can access from the theater room.”

“So we need to go to the third floor?”

“No, there seems to be another theater on the thirteenth floor.”

“Of course. Is that the only way to access the top floor?”

“It seems to be the only direct connection closest to our current location. There are a few other elevators in this building, but only the one on the thirteenth floor will get us to seventeenth the fastest.”

“How are we supposed to get to the thirteenth floor undetected?”

“I’m looking into that. A place like this surely has blind spots, and if not, it shouldn’t be that hard to access their security system and hide us. I’m trying to map out our fastest route and looking into what type of security they have here. I just need a few minutes.”

“Well hurry up, we can’t push our luck.”

“I know.”

Vernon managed to find schematics of the building, taking a look at where they’d need to go in order to make it to their destination.

“Alright, from what I can tell the security here is pretty lax except for a few floors which we can avoid. There are some robots roaming around the building but they won’t be an issue either. We can take this elevator up to the first floor, and not so far from there we can get on another up to the seventh floor. From there we can reach the thirteenth. I’ve mapped out our path and have the cameras along the way looping. I’ve sent you both a copy of the route just in case, but we should get up to the seventeenth floor in about ten minutes.”

“Cool. Let’s move.”

It was a little strange being back in the lobby, considering they had been thrown out not so long ago. Vernon led the way over to the next elevator they needed to catch. Since the building didn’t see a lot of traffic they didn’t wait long. The highest this elevator went was the seventh floor, which was their next stop. It was strange that no single elevator connected all seventeen floors, but Wonwoo mentioned it was probably a safety thing. They thought things would be easy for them, but the elevator suddenly came to a stop on the fifth floor. For a moment they all got tense, Wonwoo and Mingyu ready to fight while Vernon was trying to cover them. Although when the doors opened there was no one. Mingyu carefully peeked his head out, but the halls were empty. Vernon tried closing the doors, but the elevator wouldn’t budge.

“I think it’s stuck.” Vernon commented. “This thing does seem old.”

“Then we should probably get off.” Wonwoo mentioned. “I guess we should take the stairs.”

“Not necessarily. Another elevator on this floor could take us up to the tenth floor, but that place seems to use a lot of power, which means heavy security.”

“Then why would we go there?”

“We could access the elevator that goes up to fourteen, and from there get up to seventeen. It’s our new fastest route from here.”

“As long as we’re still undetected it should work.” Mingyu said. “Lead the way, Vernon.”

No one else seemed to be on this floor either, the place being eerily quiet. There were a lot of doors with numbers, but no windows to see inside. It gave them all this uneasy feeling, but they kept going nonetheless. That is until they rounded a corner and Vernon stopped, stepping back and shoving the other two back, putting a finger to his lip and explaining himself in a whisper.

“Peacekeeper.”

“What!? Why is there one here?”

“I guess everyone comes to this theater.” Wonwoo commented. “You guys stay back, I got this.”

Wonwoo stood right against the corner, listening for footsteps. Once the peacekeeper was close enough he attacked. Lucky for him the only weapon his opponent had was a baton, and he had taken worse hits. It was easy for him to take down the peacekeeper, and the other two came to his side when he had won.

“I expected robots, not this.” Vernon mentioned. “Luckily the cameras here are looping so none of this was seen.”

“Then we can use this to our advantage.” Mingyu said, taking the mask from the peacekeeper. “I can dress like one of them so if another person sees us, I can act like I’m escorting you both.”

“But what do we do about the body? If another peacekeeper walks by and sees it they’re gonna sound the alarm.”

“It might be too late for that.” Wonwoo said. “Far too late.”

Vernon and Mingyu looked over to see what Wonwoo meant. At the end of the hall a crowd of peacekeepers were gathered. It seemed they no longer had the advantage.

“Go.” Wonwoo stated. “I’ll keep them busy and catch up with you later.”

“Wonwoo-”

“Now!”

Mingyu was already pulling Vernon down a different hall, but the boy was fumbling with his phone. Before Wonwoo was completely out of view Vernon activated the sprinkler system on the floor. It would help Wonwoo out since the peacekeepers wore goggles and the water would mess with their vision. Hopefully they’d meet up later.

Vernon found an alternative route to the elevator they needed to use, although it appeared their luck had really run out. A group of robots was marching down the hall towards them, someone else at the front of the group leading the way.

“I suggest you surrender now.” The other spoke. “But I’d prefer it if you don’t.”

“Run.” Vernon mumbled, looking down at his phone. “Go, now!”

“What? Vernon-”

“I’ll be right behind you, I just needed a second to hack into the robots.”

“I won’t leave you then.”

“Go get on that fucken elevator before they cut us off completely. You’ll be closer to the top on the tenth floor than the fifth!”

“Fuck.”

Mingyu knew Vernon had a point, so he bolted, feeling awful for leaving the other behind, for leaving them both. When he made it to the elevator he frantically hit the button, looking back, hoping Vernon managed to get him enough time. He pulled out his phone, opening up the link Vernon had sent so he could follow the route they had planned. Once the elevator arrived he got in and hit the button for the tenth floor, knowing he couldn’t wait around for the others. He let out a sigh of relief when the doors shut and he was moving. Things went south fast, but as long as he made it to his destination he trusted everything would work out.

♩. ♩. ♩. ♩. ♩ ♪ ♩ ♪ 𝅗𝅥.

“Get fucked!”

The robots were advancing on Vernon, but he tried not to let the panic overwhelm him. When he managed to hack them he laughed, making them stop in their tracks. He looked up at the other with a gleeful grin, having the robots turn around to make his point. The other seemed shocked by the sudden change.

“Thanks for the robots. Now I suggest you surrender and answer a few questions for me.”

“Impressive, but that’s not going to happen.”

“Wanna bet?” 

“Do your worst.”

Vernon smirked and ordered the robots to attack, knowing he could get this guy pinned in second. He sent two at him first, walking over himself since he knew this would be over soon. Although he wasn’t prepared for the punch the other guy threw, which actually knocked the robot back.

“Holy shit!”

Vernon stepped back and had all the robots attack, watching from a safe distance. It didn’t do him any good as the robots were beaten down and torn apart right before his eyes. The robots only managed to hit their target a few times, and it did nothing to slow them down. Vernon was frozen in shock as the other stalked up to him, a silver liquid dripping from his lip. He seemed to notice what Vernon was staring at, wiping his lips and laughing when he saw his fingers stained silver.

“I guess I need to go up to maintenance too. Don’t worry, I’ll take you with.”

One punch knocked Vernon out, and his unconscious body slid to the floor. The other stared down at him, finally relaxing after the whole ordeal. He knew back up was on the way, not that he’d need it. He looked around at all the robots, before sliding down a wall and sitting down to wait.

“Seungcheol’s gonna kill me.”

♩. ♩. ♩. ♩. ♩ ♪ ♩ ♪ 𝅗𝅥.

After dealing with the last one Wonwoo continued where he left off. At this point he was certain Vernon and Mingyu were no longer on this floor. It shouldn’t take too long to catch up. He pulled out his phone, following the path Vernon had laid out. Although upon rounding a corner he noticed the torso of a robot leaning against the wall, sparks flying from the damage. He proceeded cautiously, ready for another fight even if he was spent.

“I can hear you, so there’s no point creeping.”

The new voice caused Wonwoo to come to a halt. He knew whoever had spoken was just around the corner, although he wasn’t gonna lower his guard. He took a quick step into the next hall, seeing a bunch of robots torn to pieces, and Vernon passed out at the other end. Although his focus quickly shifted to the gentleman standing up, wincing in the process. Silver tainted his lips and nose, clearly exhausted, but Wonwoo was starting to put two and two together.

“Did you-”

“The robots? Yes, as for your friend, they’re just unconscious.”

“Who are you?”

“You ask as if I’m the trespasser here.” The gentleman chuckled. “The name’s Jun, and you’re Wonwoo, correct?”

“How do you know my name?”

“We’ve taken an interest in you, so it’s only proper we do our research. You’re strong, which explains how you handled the peacekeepers with ease. Very good.”

“What do you want from me?”

“That is something for you to discuss with another.”

“You mean the Maestro?”

“They’ve taken a special interest in you, yes.”

“Well I don’t care for that. I’m here for my friend.”

“You mean the girl? I assure you, she’s in good hands.”

“I doubt that if you went through the trouble of kidnapping her.”

“She came here on her own, just as everyone does.”

“Bullshit. Now tell me where she is.”

“Why don’t you tell me what happened when you held Joshua’s wand? How did you feel?”

“…”

Jun scoffed. “You only got a taste before you were so rudely interrupted. Would you like to experience that again? To know what’s going on here. The answers might just lead you to your friend.”

As Wonwoo contemplated everything a handful of peacekeepers and robots surrounded him. Jun ordered everyone to stay away from Wonwoo, having the robots take Vernon away.

“The boy will be fine.” Jun assured. “What’s your choice then? Shall you come willingly or do you have to be restrained?”

“Who will I be meeting?”

“Escort our new friend Wonwoo here to the fifteenth floor. Oh, and Wonwoo, I recommend you don’t try anything funny.”

Wonwoo allowed the peacekeepers and robots to lead the way, having them before and behind him. Jun watched him go, struggling to keep his own composure. He stumbled when he took a step back, nearly falling to the ground only to be caught by a friend.

“Seokmin.” Jun smiled. “Hi.”

“Funny, just wait until Seungcheol sees you.”

“Don’t get me started. Just take me to his shop.”

♩. ♩. ♩. ♩. ♩ ♪ ♩ ♪ 𝅗𝅥.

By the time the doors opened Mingyu had put on the mask, dressed as a peacekeeper to hopefully help him hide. Yet he was met with emptiness. He stared down a gray hallway, dim lights illuminating his path. From what Vernon had said this place held a lot of power, yet he saw none of it. Perhaps it was some diversion so people avoided the floor. He checked his phone, and it told him to proceed, so he did. At the end of the hall he was met with a door. It seemed to be locked, but Vernon had already accounted for that, so when he held his phone near the door it unlocked. He slowly opened it and stepped through. Now he understood the major power report.

The silence of the empty hall was suddenly filled with the hums of machines. Rows upon rows of servers were at either side, but before him stood the real source. A set up with multiple monitors showed him live camera footage from multiple floors. Moreso a bunch of offline robots stood around the monitor set up, creating a daunting warning. Still, Mingyu ignored it all, taking off the mask and approaching the computer. He should be going off to the next elevator, but if he could find you on the cameras then he’d really know where to go and not need to chase after a ghost. He sifted through the cameras, but there was no sign of you, and none seemed to be the seventeenth floor.

“You were never in control, you know.”

Mingyu turned around to discover he was no longer alone. A familiar face stood before him, the director from the show, Seungkwan.

“You’ve come quite far. I doubt I can convince you to stop here.”

“Where is she?”

“In good hands.”

“I doubt that. Just give her back, and I’ll be on my way.”

“That’s not gonna happen. In fact, I’m still very upset about what you did to Joshua.”

“I’m not.”

“Good. I won’t feel bad watching you suffer.”

Seungkwan snapped his fingers, the robots around starting to come to life. Mingyu knew his only option now was to run, so he did just that. He followed the guide, moving as fast as he could to the elevator. He hurriedly pressed the call button until the doors opened. Once inside he repeatedly pressed the button for fourteen, but the doors didn’t close. Something was probably wrong with this elevator too, so he pressed the button for thirteen and he watched the doors close as the robots charged at him. Once again he let out a breath in relief. At least now he was following the original plan, and knew he was one step closer to the Maestro, and you.

It was quiet and empty again when the doors opened, and Mingyu didn’t hesitate to step out. From what he could see the last elevator was behind the theater itself. So he made his way down the aisle towards the stage, not caring to try and hide his face with a mask. There seemed to be no one else around, yet as he stepped up to the stage he heard the sound of a spotlight turning on, except it wasn’t at him. He stopped, feeling the eerie sense that he was no longer alone. When Mingyu turned around he saw the light pointed at another in the aisle, closer to the door. A moment ago he had been alone, but now he wasn’t. Although what drew his attention the most was the wand in the other’s hand.

“You’re not supposed to be here.”

♩. ♩. ♩. ♩. ♩ ♪ ♩ ♪ 𝅗𝅥.

Vernon groaned as he regained consciousness, feeling the ache from that sucker punch. He was quick to realize he was tied up, hands behind his back and legs stuck together. He was propped up against a wall, but nothing around him seemed familiar. At least this wasn’t a place he had been to before, but all the cables and random tech pieces scattered around was certainly unexpected. A robo-dog suddenly came up to him, getting real close and staring at him, sending a chill down his spine.

“You know they’re harmless.”

Vernon’s gaze snapped away from the robot, looking for the source of the voice. His eyes soon landed on this guy walking towards the computer set up and taking a seat.

“You have potential, I’ll admit that. Figured out a way in here. It was fun to watch.”

“Wait, you knew we were here?”

“From the beginning. Don’t be so surprised though, I keep watch over this whole territory with my dogs. Although Seungkwan is internal security.”

“So you’re the one running the grid here? You reprogrammed the dogs to work for you?”

“Bingo. So tell me, you really broke into this place for some girl?”

“Where is she?”

“She’s fine, and well taken care of, I promise.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“You don’t have to, but it’s true. The name’s Dino by the way.”

“I don’t care.”

“Yet I do. Vernon, a freelance technician, making money doing all kinds of legal and illegal things. Would be a shame if someone reported you.”

“Is that a threat?”

“You’d think, but not really. Why do you even do what you do, hm? Just to make some money and pay the bills? You could do so much better with your talents.”

“Why do you care?”

“You hacked into Jun’s little escort pretty fast and bypassed safety parameters so they’d attack a person. Then again those safety parameters were already diminished.”

“Let me guess, your doing?”

“No, no, my dogs and I run surveillance. The big clunky robots are Seungcheol’s department. He’s looking forward to meeting you, but he needs to attend to Jun first.”

“That guy does need a doctor.”

“Seungcheol works with robots, not people.”

“Wait, you mean-”

“Gotcha, didn’t I?” Dino giggled. “Jun’s a cyborg. He’s got a few mechanical parts here and there. You might have realized it if you kept snooping around, but you didn’t. It wouldn’t be easy to hack into his mechanical parts anyway. So just relax, the hyungs want to talk to you.”

“Talk to me about what?”

“An opportunity. You’re good, but you could be better.”

“I don’t want to join your little gang here.”

“You say that now, but you don’t know anything.”

“I know you kidnapped my friend, and are doing who knows what to the people you lure here.”

“Yeah, you don’t know anything. It’s always difficult to make people understand when they can’t hear the music. Maybe that’ll change soon.” Dino sighed. “Let’s go see the hyungs.”

Dino got up and grabbed something from a drawer just out of view. Vernon tried to see what he was doing, but he didn’t need to wait long.

“Behave.”

Dino walked back to Vernon with a metal collar, and leash in hand, a big grin on his face. Vernon tried to move away, but his restraints limited his motion. He wound up falling onto his side, getting a laugh out of Dino. The boy merely knelt down and grabbed a fistful of Vernon’s hair, pulling his head up to expose his neck so the collar could snap into place. He loosened the rope around his legs a bit so he could walk, and then attached the leash to the collar and helped Vernon to his feet.

“This is gonna be fun.”

Vernon followed alongside Dino, the boy holding the leash very close so he basically had to walk while hunched over. They went to a nearby elevator, and once inside Vernon noted they were on the eighth floor, and that this elevator apparently went all the way to the top.

“I know what you’re thinking. You never really hacked into our systems, we just let you see what we wanted. Besides, it was fun watching you all run around. Don’t worry we’re just going up one floor.”

With his hands behind his back any sort of action was limited, and he couldn’t even run in this state. When the doors opened Dino led him out, going down a plain hall. The floor seemed rather empty until they went through some double doors, revealing a whole workshop. Robots were all over the place, some just standing guard and others working on things. A few spare parts were lying around as well, but his focus was soon pulled to a table. The boy from before, who he now knew to be Jun, was sitting on it, a bunch of wires sticking out of his arm. There was another person next to him, looking at some monitors. Jun’s eyes were glowing blue, fading and growing bright, when he saw Vernon he smirked.

“Guess you’re not dead.”

“You weren’t trying to kill him, were you?” Dino questioned.

“Maybe. Although I bet Seungcheol wants to kill him.”

“Do not start, Junhui!” 

One of the others in the room snapped at Jun, which he presumed to be Seungcheol. The boy was pointing and yelling about Jun’s careless behavior. Jun seemed to be amused, although Vernon noticed the rest of the robots around were mimicking Seungcheol. It was strange and concerning, but he didn’t know what was happening.

“Do you have any idea how long it’s gonna take to repair those robots?” Seungcheol mentioned. “Days, Jun, days!”

“Don’t forget some were Seokmin’s designs.” Dino added. “So you’re not the only one who got screwed over.”

“You’re not helping!” Jun hissed. 

“Just saying. Also, hyung, you might wanna take a moment.”

Seungcheol looked over at Dino with a questioning look and the boy just gestured to their surroundings. That’s when Seungcheol noticed all the robots around moving as he did. He sighed and took a breath, and then the robots returned to their original task. Vernon still had no idea what had just happened.

“Why’d you bring that dog up here anyway?” The other in the room asked. “Do I get to hit him this time?”

“That’s enough, Seokmin.” Seungcheol cut in. “Just focus on Jun.”

“I know, I know.”

“You. Vernon, isn’t it? What are you doing here?”

“Don’t you know?”

“I have an idea, but I don’t know if that’s the truth. Answer me honestly and I’ll get the maknae to give you back your dignity and get that collar off.”

“What have you done with her?”

“That’s not the answer I was looking for.”

Seungcheol came over and grabbed the leash, pulling on it and making Vernon fall to his knees. After a moment Seungcheol knelt down and grabbed the boy’s chin, forcing their eyes to meet. It was quiet for a moment, and Vernon could feel his resolve melting.

“You’re being a waste of talent. I admire you care so much for this girl, but have you stopped to realize that you’re probably not leaving this building ever again.”

“You gonna lock me up?”

“You wouldn’t be the first, but the circumstances would be different. Wanna try again to answer my question?”

“I’m here for my friend, is that good enough for you?”

“I suppose.”

Seungcheol got the collar off, returning it and the leash to Dino. He then helped Vernon get up, but the ropes would remain. He returned to Jun’s side, looking over the readings as Seokmin continued to examine the boy. The silence was awkward, but Vernon wasn’t done with the conversation.

“How… how is it that you run the CCTV here, that you have access to the robo-dogs and some robots as well. Your whole operation should have been shut down ages ago, yet here you are. I guess the better question is why.”

“Do you really wanna know?”

“Are you gonna answer me?”

Seokmin chuckled. “We’re gonna change the world.”

“What?”

“Those in power won’t ever do anything that goes against the status quo. So we must do it ourselves.”

“Are you insane!? What reason-”

“Reason?” Seunghceol questioned. “Look at the world around you, do you think it’s fair as it is now? That it doesn’t require change?”

“So you’re gonna start a revolution by hacking into robots and killing anyone who gets in your way? Is that your great plan?”

“You’re not thinking big enough. Robots aren’t completely reliable, but human connection is.  All we have to do is reach those in power, and we’ll make them understand.”

“Ah, you mean the music, don’t you?”

“I see you’re not just savvy with technology. You were present for a show earlier today, so I suppose you do understand what we’re doing here.”

“You mean brainwashing people? Like you said, I was at your show, and I’m not under your control, am I? Your music is shitty.”

“Don’t insult the Maestro. The fact their music can enthrall people is reason enough for you to worry, isn’t it? There are already people out there who understand us, just like the peacekeepers we have here. After all, how do you think your friend came to our theater?”

“Leave her out of your plans!”

“She’s here of her own will, and she’s helping us. Soon enough our music will reach more people, especially the difficult ones such as yourself.”

“I guess you can’t hear how crazy you sound since you’re brainwashed yourself!”

“Unfortunately those of us here can’t truly understand the Maestro’s work. The melody is beautiful but I can’t truly feel its power. Only the Maestro and the conductors can, and our guests at the theater. One day though, we’ll all be on the same page.”

“You’re all crazy.”

“I think you’d be a great addition to our team, truly. Although the choice is ultimately yours. We can always place you in a cell on the fifth floor until the time comes. I’m certain your other friend, Wonwoo, will join us though.”

“The fuck are you talking about?”

“That depends, do you care to know more? Or can Jun knock you out again?”

♩. ♩. ♩. ♩. ♩ ♪ ♩ ♪ 𝅗𝅥.

The elevator ride was crowded for Wonwoo, completely surrounded on all sides. He wasn’t going to try anything, and even if he did he’d surely get pinned. Vernon said only certain elevators went to certain floors, yet the one he was taken to had access to all floors, even the sub-levels. Something else was definitely going on here. When the doors opened there was an empty hallway before him. Those in front of him stepped out and then he did so. Although once out the others returned to the elevator and left, leaving him alone.

For a moment he thought to press the elevator button again, getting himself up to the seventeenth floor, but his own curiosity was winning out. At the end of the hall there was a door, and he could feel something on the other side calling to him. Without realizing he was walking down the hall, reaching for the doorknob and opening it. A blinding white light overtook his vision, his senses needing a moment to adjust. He stepped through, surrounded by technology and machines he didn’t quite understand. It seemed he was alone, until a familiar voice broke through the silence.

“I’m glad to see you came back.”

“You… I… are you alright…? Before when we-”

“I’m fine.” Joshua assured. “What happened back then wasn’t your fault. Honestly, it was surprising for us too.”

“What… what did happen? You were screaming and-”

“It’s complicated. I’m sure you have many questions, and I will do my best to answer them.”

“… where’s y/n?”

“Ah, the girl. She’s alright.”

“Why… why did you bring her here?”

“She came on her own, as do all the guests at our theater.”

“I know that’s a lie. I saw robots escorting her here. The music you play has a certain effect on people. You turned the other guests against us at the show before. That’s what you did to her to lure her in, isn’t it?”

“You really want to talk about her?”

“She’s the real reason I’m here.”

“Then why didn’t you go up to the seventeenth floor? Not that you could, but you didn’t even try. You can ask anything and you want to ask about her?”

“Why are you so reluctant to tell me? Why not just take me to her and let me ask her if everything you’ve said is true.”

“She’s unavailable at the moment, but if you want to talk about her, then there are other things that need to be discussed first.”

“Which are?”

“You, for starters. Tell me, when you grabbed my wand.” Joshua pulled his wand out of his sleeve. “How did you feel?”

Wonwoo couldn’t help but stare. The feeling from before was starting to creep back up. He had no idea what it was, let alone explain it.

“… energy… whatever it was… it was alive… it was coming to me… and it didn’t hurt… it was… intoxicating… it was power…”

“It was music, the power of music, specifically the Maestro’s music. The conductors perform it and the effects remain. I’m sure you felt it.”

“The music is dangerous. What you did to those people, to y/n-”

“Creating connection and understanding. Those who truly listen to the music find happiness and purpose. You could feel it, couldn’t you? A sense of peace.”

“More like a high. All those people were at your mercy.”

“We have no ill intentions here. We’re just trying to change the world for the better. You’ve seen some of our recruits, I was quite impressed to see you take on that many peacekeepers all alone.”

“So that’s why they were here. How many people have you… recruited?”

“Many, hard to keep track of. The Maestro’s music is unique in its abilities, but it cannot reach everyone, not yet that is.”

“So what do I have to do with this? What of y/n?”

“You could understand the music, feel its power, like myself. It means you’re special. Only the Maestro’s conductors can listen to the music and perform it. The Maestro themself is focusing on creating new compositions to bring more people in, so we conductors lead the show. You have the potential to be one, a conductor that is.”

“Me?”

“Only a conductor feels the power of the music. The wand is a means of commanding that power, and you felt that when you held mine. You could have your own. A few upgrades and some practice and you could do your own show.”

“Why would I join you?”

“The question is why wouldn’t you? Like you said, that power was intoxicating. You’ll never get another taste otherwise. Besides, your friend is with us now. You can speak with her yourself later, but right now I need your answer.” Joshua held out his wand. “Will you be joining us?”

“What if I say no?”

“I doubt that’d be your answer, but if you truly refuse, you’ll be locked up. We can’t have you causing trouble and getting in our way. So, what will it be?”

“What happens after… if I say yes?”

“There’s only one way to find out, isn’t there?”

“… show me.”

♩. ♩. ♩. ♩. ♩ ♪ ♩ ♪ 𝅗𝅥.

���The name’s Minghao, shall we play?”

A moment ago Mingyu was staring down at someone who seemed to be a conductor, yet they weren’t on stage nor did they have an audience. It seemed like it would be a quick and easy fight, but as Mingyu took a step down everything seemed to change. The lights went out, covering him in darkness. A moment later red lights began to shine, and a light from below illuminated the conductor. Instead of a wand he had a violin, and the red lights were emanating from it as he played. Although there wasn’t any sound, at least not at first. Minghao smiled and continued his song, then a moment later Mingyu heard an ear-piercing screech.

He yelled and covered his ears, falling to his knees. He took in a deep breath, trying to adjust to the sound, but that wasn’t his only problem. Out of the corner of his eye he could see robots entering the theater, and he knew what the outcome would be if he got caught. He needed to think fast, and figure out a way out of this. His eyes landed on the mask he had dropped, the peacekeeper one. Perhaps that could help him. He reached for it and slipped it on, trying to figure it out while the screeching continued. The system wasn’t too complicated and he managed to adjust the hearing and block out the Minghao’s song. He could only rest for a moment as the robots were closing in.

Mingyu jumped into the nearest row to avoid getting grabbed. He would have bolted straight to Minghao, but a few robots would stop him. He needed to figure something else out, although he stumbled in his steps when Minghao changed his tune and he heard the screeching again. He had to fumbled around with the mask controls again so he wouldn’t be incapacitated.  Once he was good he looked over to see Minghao wasn’t even watching him, but more focused on the music, clearly not affected by the melody the same way he was. He continued to move around and avoid the robots, trying to think of a plan. He looked at the settings on the mask to see if anything was helpful.

Besides the night vision there didn’t seem to be anything else the mask could do. Although he soon discovered he could control something else with the mask. All peacekeepers kept a baton with them, something he had taken as well. One would think it was normal, but from what Mingyu was seeing it had a stun option. He put the electricity to the highest voltage it could go and then activated. Surely with a weapon like this he could deal with the robots and get to the conductor. He didn’t approach any of the robots, wanting them to come to him so he could strike the best he could.

He was nervous with the first robot, knowing very well if this failed he was screwed. The first swing made contact with the robot’s head, causing an explosion of sparks, and the robot was knocked down. It seized and certain parts were shooting out sparks, but it seemed to be down for the count. Mingyu was satisfied with his new weapon, not afraid to take on the rest of the robots around him. He didn’t want to get cornered so he continued to move around, trying to get closer to Minghao while taking down robots and making sure the music didn’t throw him off. At one point he came face to face with two of the machines and stung at the closest one. Although his baton went right through it and the robot itself disappeared.

The moment of confusion cause him to let his guard down and the other robot, which was real, managed to grab him. He struggled in their grasp, managing to press the baton against its torso and get free. Now he had a new problem, not all the robots around him were real, and he had no way to tell them apart. His eyes focused on Minghao, starting to realize the music wasn’t just to mess with him and control the robots, but possibly causing these hallucinations as well. The only way to end all this was to take him down. Mingyu took in his surroundings, planning out the best route and executing it. 

He dodged as many robots as he could, and took down those in his way, reaching Minghao and tackling him to the ground. The other had realized too late that Mingyu had gotten close, getting pinned to the ground. The moment the music stopped everything changed. The theater was no longer pitch black, and there was no violin. Minghao was holding his wand and glaring up at Mingyu while he tried to free himself. Although Mingyu had a goal in mind, keeping Minghao pinned as he snatched the wand out of the other’s hand, taking off his mask.

“Let’s see if the same trick works twice.”

Mingyu snapped the wand in half, causing Minghao to scream in agony. Mingyu had no idea why that was the reaction, but he didn’t care for it. He threw the pieces to the side and made his way back to the stage. The lights suddenly went out again and he stopped, Minghao’s screams fading away. He looked back to see something glowing in the darkness, but the sound of the stage lights turning on caught his attention. He went up to the stage, seeing it was illuminated, and that someone was present. This new conductor took a bow, and then he found himself yanked up into the air by some unseen force.

“Welcome to the stage.”

♩. ♩. ♩. ♩. ♩ ♪ ♩ ♪ 𝅗𝅥.

“… where am I…?”

As you regained your senses once more you realized your environment had changed again. You were no longer in the theater, but a much brighter place. Different types of machines surrounded you, and you were sitting on some sort of examination table. You carefully got off, needing a moment for your legs to adjust. You tried to remember how you got here, but it was all a blur and thinking about it gave you a headache. Regardless of what you remembered, you knew that you needed to leave. You began walking around, looking for an exit. You thought you were alone until a rather familiar voice startled you.

“Welcome.”

You jumped and looked back at the source, seeing a boy with white hair, the one from the theater. They offered you a smile and bow, the same glowing wand in hand. You swear a moment ago there had been no one else present, and yet suddenly he was here.

“… hello…”

“Apologies for skipping parts, but I’ll introduce myself now. My name is Hoshi, welcome to the Metronome Theater.”

“… how did I even get to the theater? I was working and then…”

“We had some of our robots escort you here. The Maestro is eager to meet you.”

“The Maestro? Who’s that? Why… why me…?”

“You’ve heard them play the piano before, haven’t you?”

“… piano… you mean that was coming from here?”

“Yes. Not many can hear the Maestro play the piano, which is why they brought you here.”

“I don’t understand…”

“I assure you there’s nothing to be afraid of. Come, they’re waiting for you.”

Hoshi gestured for you to follow them, and you hesitantly took a step forward. You should have asked to leave, yet those words never came from your mouth. You were more curious about this Maestro and the piano you had heard. Many times when you told the others they had no idea what you were talking about, and this was proof you weren’t hearing things. So you followed Hoshi, wanting to know more. You came over to an elevator, stepping inside and seeing the button for seventeen light up. Hoshi merely smiled at you.

“You… you said not many can hear the piano… who else can hear it?”

“As far as we know, it’s just you and me.”

“You hear the piano too?”

“I’ve been the only one for a long time. It’s why the Maestro was so eager to meet you.”

“But how did you find me?”

“We have eyes and ears everywhere.”

“But down in the theater… what happened?”

“I assure you the Maestro will explain this all to you.”

When the elevator doors opened Hoshi gestured for you to step out, and then led you down another hall. You came to some double doors and then they opened on their own inviting you in. The room was grand, and quite empty, with no real furniture around, but what stood out was the piano. A gentleman was playing, the melody instantly captivating you. Your feet moved on their own, walking closer and closer to the piano, only stopping when the music did too. The gentleman stood up, greeting you with a smile.

“Hello, I’m the Maestro of the theater, but you may call me Woozi.”

“It’s… it’s a pleasure to meet you…”

“Likewise. I’ve been looking for someone like you for a long time.”

“Like me?”

“You’re very special my dear, come, would you like me to play for you?”

Woozi came over to you and took your hand, leading you over to the piano. He had you sit, taking a seat next to you. He let you run your fingers along the keys before he started playing. There was something incredible about hearing the music so up close and personal. Your body swayed from side to side a bit, watching his fingers work. Occasionally Woozi would glance your way, able to play without fully seeing the keys. You didn’t know how much time passed as you listened to the beautiful melody, but it was suddenly rudely interrupted.

A screeching, feedback loop, type sound snapped you out of your daze, causing you to place your hands over your ears. You screamed, doubling over and falling to the ground. Despite the pain you became aware of something else, feeling this small metal disc against your head, and ripping it off. The pain immediately began to subside, allowing you to breathe. Although you couldn’t say the same for the other. Woozi was still in pain, stumbling around but ultimately falling to his knees.

“Hoshi! Find Joshua, now!”

A moment later Woozi seemed to calm down, getting back on his feet. You on the other hand remained where you were, unsure of what had just happened. When Woozi noticed you he put on a smile and made his way over, although you crawled back and he stopped.

“You have nothing to be afraid of. Are you alright?”

“What just happened… who are you… what’s going on…?”

“Take it easy. I can explain everything.”

Woozi reached out his hand to help you up, but you were reluctant to take it. He seemed to understand and knelt down, grabbing the little disc off the floor. He examined it before reaching over to put it back on your head but you swatted his hand away.

“What are you doing?”

“Truth is, I need your help, y/n.”

“Me? For what?”

“To change the world, to save it.”

“What?”

“There’s no music out there, no passion, no joy… I want to change that.”

“How?”

“Maestro.”

Hoshi interrupted, seeming to have appeared from nowhere. Woozi gave you a smile and went over to the other.

“What happened?”

“Some intruders in the theater rushed the stage and broke Joshua’s wand. He’s stable now and is being taken to the medical floor. As for the intruders, they’ve been thrown out, and the theater is currently locked down.”

“Good. Keep an eye on the situation.”

Woozi dismissed Hoshi and turned his attention back towards you. Before you could say or do anything you heard the sounds of a piano, a recording that is. You began to feel at ease, the melody washing away your tension and worries. Woozi came to your side, placing the disc back on your head and you felt a little spark of electricity coarse through you. Then he helped you to your feet and brought you back over to the piano.

“As I was saying before, my music is special, able to reach a person in a way nothing else can.” The music stopped, giving you a moment to regain your senses. “But it can’t reach everyone, not yet that is.”

“What did you do to me…”

“It’s rather difficult to explain, but my musical composition is able to lull people into a sort of trance, like putting them under a spell. Although it doesn’t work on everyone.”

“I… I still don’t understand what this has to do with me…”

“The piano is one of my greatest instruments. Yet for the longest of time it seemed that no one could truly hear the melody besides Hoshi, then you came along. I need your help in understanding what it is that draws you in. Specifically your brain waves, and how they react to my music.”

“Then… the device on my head…” You slowly reached up to it. “It’s monitoring my brain waves?”

“Recording them, yes, with your help I’ll be able to share my music with the world.”

“But if you’re… putting people… under your control then-”

“I don’t have any ill intentions. I just want to bring music back to the world, to bring peace.”

“… what if I refuse to help…”

“I’ll be honest, you don’t have a choice. You won’t find a way out of this theater, and as you know my music can start playing at any moment. Many of the robots and robo-dogs have been modified with speakers. You can’t escape.”

“… oh…”

“I want your help willingly, but I won’t let you leave either.”

“I understand…”

“You don’t have to be mentally present if you don’t want to.”

“I’m sure things will be better if I am. I also want to know what’s truly going on.”

“Thank you.” Woozi took your hand and kissed it. “I’ll continue playing now.”

There was still a lot on your mind. You were worried about your friends, but Woozi made it very clear you were stuck here, at least for the time being. Of course all your concerns were washed away when the music started playing. You were helpless to resist, finding yourself on cloud nine while you listened, the time passing by without meaning. When you finally had a chance to regain your senses you found yourself alone at the piano. You could vaguely make out voices around you, but you were focusing on getting your head on straight.

“Dino is monitoring the situation.”

“Thank you, Hoshi.”

Once your head wasn’t spinning you got up, looking over to see Woozi by himself. You swore you heard Hoshi before, but it was just the two of you in the room.

“You back with us?” Woozi questioned. “How about a tour? The others would like to meet you.”

“Others?”

“I don’t do this alone.”

Woozi hooked his arm around yours and led you back the way you came, or at least that’s what you thought, there was no way to tell. You came to an elevator, Woozi hitting the button for the eighth floor. It was a quick trip and once you arrived Woozi led you down a hall. You came to a huge room full of monitors, seeing the outside world, some still images and others in motion. There was a gentleman at a desk, browsing through some of the screens, but upon hearing you two he stood up to greet you.

“Maestro, what brings you down here? I see you have a friend.”

“This is the girl I was telling you all about. Y/n this is Dino, our eyes and ears.”

“Ah, nice to meet you.”

“The pleasure is all mine.”

“So you… like, run security here?”

“No, that would be Seungkwan. I keep an eye on things outside the theater. I was the one who found you, fascinated by a piano that no one else could hear. I’m quite jealous, I’ve always wanted to hear the Maestro’s music.”

“It doesn’t affect you?”

“Unfortunately not, but you’ll be able to change that.”

“You really think so?”

“I believe so.”

“Hoshi told me what you were up to earlier.” Woozi mentioned. “Is everything alright?”

“Yes, although we might have some guests soon.”

“Prepare for them.”

“Will do.”

“Let’s go meet some of the others.” Woozi said. “Come now.”

You merely went up one more floor, to the ninth, coming to a much different area. There were parts and machinery all around, kinda like some workshop. Many robots were around as well, seeming to be working on different things. You were quite fascinated as this reminded you of home, and the mess of electronics Vernon always left lying around. There were two gentlemen in the room talking, but their conversation ceased when you two entered, both greeting Woozi.

“It’s nice to see you as well. This is y/n, our special guest, y/n, this is Seungcheol and Seungkwan.”

“Hello…”

“Seungcheol works with the robots we have here, and with Seungkwan, who is in charge of security here.”

“I… I think I saw Seungkwan earlier… at the theater.”

“Yes. I’m also the director. I hope you enjoyed the show.”

“I did. May I ask what goes on here? This is a shop, isn’t it?”

“It’s my shop.” Seungcheol explained. “I work on some robots, a bit of cosmetic work but mostly programming. I have an implant that connects me to the robots in our network which makes it easier to do my job.”

“So you build robots here? I thought only the government did that.”

“I don’t make them, just some modifications, but Seokmin does create some pretty unique robots. You’ll like his workshop.”

“Speaking of.” Woozi interrupted. “Why don’t we go see him.”

Another elevator trip, this time going up to the twelfth floor. Just as Seungcheol said, this place was another workshop, although there were far more robot pieces lying around. You thought maybe other robots would be around, but there were only a few. If you didn’t know any better you’d think the floor was abandoned, but Woozi led you through everything with purpose, knowing exactly where to go. It wasn’t long before you came across another person, another two. One was lying on a table, and the other at the side looking at a computer screen. Without saying anything the one at the computer stopped and looked back, smiling at Woozi.

“Maestro, what brings you here?”

Then the person lying on the table sat up, startling you a bit, but they quickly apologized. You assured them you were fine, and apologized yourself as you didn’t mean to intrude on whatever they were doing.

“So this must be the girl you mentioned before.”

“It is. Y/n, meet Seokmin, and Jun.”

“Hello…”

“You’re very pretty.” One commented. “I’m Seokmin, and this is my shop.”

“Yes, Seungcheol mentioned it to me, he said you build robots.”

“I do. The Maestro is kind enough to let my imagination run wild.”

“What do you make robots for?”

“No real reason at all, it’s just fun. Besides, my skill set is very helpful for Jun.”

“Jun? Why?”

“I have a few robotic parts myself.” Jun explained. “So that leaves Seokmin, and Seungcheol, as my doctors.”

“Oh, that’s interesting.”

“Just doing some routine maintenance now.”

“I never would have thought you were a cyborg.”

“My handsome face hides it well, right?”

“I worked on that face so I can take partial credit.” Seokmin joked. “I used myself as inspiration.”

“Oh shut up.”

“Since you two are busy, we’ll leave you then.” Woozi said. “Shall we.”

Everyone you had met so far was interesting, and it made you wonder how they all wound up here. Although now you were very curious about one in particular. So you decided to ask as you made your way to the next floor.

“May I ask something?”

“Hm?”

“What happened to Jun?”

“Peacekeepers. He stole something and they hunted him down, beat him to a pulp and left him for dead. It happened in my area, and I wasn’t just going to watch the boy die. My people brought him here and fixed him up. He had some severe wounds which required different treatment, with his consent of course.”

“So… those that are here… they know what you’re doing, right?”

“Of course.”

“And they’re okay with it? They’re on board?”

“Yes. They understand what I’m trying to do here and believe in my cause. They’re here to help me, and I appreciate them.”

“They’re here because they want to be, yet I can’t leave.”

Woozi chuckled. “You’re a special case.”

The doors opened and you arrived to the fifteenth floor, where you had originally woken up. It made you a bit nervous to be back here, but Woozi seemed calm as usual. Last time you were here it was quiet and felt abandoned, but now you could hear machines operating, and a few muffled voices here and there. It seemed that you were heading towards those voices as they got louder and louder. You came over to a group of people, seeing a gentleman lying in bed, two others at his side and Hoshi looking at the monitor.

“Maestro, you’re here.”

“How is he?”

“Stable and recovering.”

“And the rest of you?”

“Fine. Although we should be asking you. The sudden disruption-”

“I’m alright.”

“And her?”

All eyes suddenly turned to you, making you nervous. Although now that you had their attention you realized the gentleman dressed in black seemed familiar.

“I’m okay… but what… what are you talking about…?”

“I haven’t explained all that yet.” Woozi admitted. “We can do so now while you get examined.”

“Me?”

“Yes. You can have a seat over here.”

You were led over to one of the beds nearby, taking a seat and having Woozi remove that little chip on your head. While that happened the gentleman in black asked a question.

“Did you enjoy the show?”

“Ah, yes, it was lovely… uh… I hate to ask… but have we met before?”

“I would say so. I’m Jeonghan, I was the conductor for your show. This is Minghao, and our friend who is recovering is Joshua. You’ve met Hoshi, right?”

“I have. Then, are you all conductors?”

“We are.”

“So what happened to Joshua?”

“You felt it earlier.” Minghao commented. “That shrieking. Some bastard broke Joshua’s wand.”

“The conductor wand?”

“Yes. They’re much more than they seem.”

“But why would breaking that hurt him?”

“We’re all connected here.” Hoshi mentioned. “Through this neural network and the Maestro’s music. The conductor’s wand serves as a way to keep them connected, while also allowing them to access the true power of the music.”

“It’s more like it flows through us.” Jeonghan explained. “And we can manipulate it from there.”

“You mean control people.”

“One can do much more with lots of practice and patience.”

“Like what?”

“You’ll see.”

From what you could tell Woozi was downloading the contents from the chip, your brainwave readings. Your eyes lingered on Joshua as he laid in bed. You remembered the headache from before, so you couldn’t imagine what he had felt if he wound up unconscious. Although a moment later the boy jumped up from the bed, clearly panicked. The others held him down, hoping to keep him from hurting himself. Hoshi gently placed his hand behind Joshua’s head and the boy seemed to calm down.

“You’re alright.” Jeonghan assured. “The others are fixing your wand and Hoshi is keeping the connection stable.”

“Where are they…”

“Gone. So don’t worry about them.”

“They were looking for-”

“We know. You can say hello.”

“Huh?”

Jeonghan gestured over to you, and Joshua’s eyes followed, seeming to be surprised. He offered you a weak smile, trying to figure out some words.

“Hello… you doing okay?”

“Uh, yeah. Are you?”

“I’m fine. How do you feel though? How was the music?”

“Beautiful. It lingers in the back of my mind.”

“You should let me perform for you sometime.”

“I’ll look forward to it.”

“I’ll give you a show as well.” Minghao added. “So look forward to that too.”

“Alright. I will.”

“The data looks promising.” Woozi stated. “Shall we move on to the next phase?”

“Next phase? What’s that?”

“It will be much easier to monitor you when you’re directly connected to our network.”

“Wait, you want to put something in my head? Like an-”

“It won’t hurt at all. Honestly you’ll be-”

“No, no I said I’d help you with this but-”

“This is part of it.”

“But… I…”

Minghao came over to your side and held out his wand. You stared at it confused, not sure what he was implying.

“Since you’re the Maestro’s special girl, you’ll be able to feel the power before you’re fully connected. Go on, grab it, tell me how you feel.”

You hesitantly grabbed the wand, not feeling anything at first and then it slowly began to hit. You felt this warmth starting to grow inside you, to spread and open up your senses. The melody in the back of your mind was starting to become clearer and you could remember its beauty. Perhaps this feeling was like getting high, and you couldn’t help but giggle. Although the feeling didn’t last long as Minghao took the wand back, quickly leaving you feeling cold.

“Wait-”

“Sorry, but since you’re not in our network it’s dangerous for you to hold a wand for too long. But I’ll tell you this, that feeling will only be better once you join us.”

“This is all really starting to sound like a cult…”

Minghao chuckled. “If you want to see it that way, but the Maestro is right, we need you.”

“And I can’t refuse…”

“Do you want to? Leave that is. Do you think you could walk away now? You’d probably still hear the Maestro’s music playing out in the streets. Could you resist the urge to come back?”

“I… I don’t know…”

“I do.” Jeonghan admitted. “I tried walking away, but you can see how that turned out.”

“What… what’s gonna happen to me?”

“Right now I need to administer a sedative.” Woozi explained. “You need to be in a relaxed state both physically and mentally before we can begin the procedure. Then you’ll just sleep. When you wake, well, I can’t really describe the sensation since it’s always been with me. Although I’m sure one of my conductors can.”

“It feels like truly waking up.” Joshua recounted. “You realize that you were never actually awake until that moment. Your senses are heightened, and you can feel this energy in the air. The feeling only grows stronger when there’s music and it creates this harmony within you. It might not be easy to understand the Maestro’s music or intentions, but once you reach this deeper level of connection it all makes sense. You feel bits of it now, and that’s what draws people to the theater. It’s what ultimately brought you here.”

“Oh…”

“May we begin?” Woozi asked. “Or do you need a moment?”

“No… you can start.”

Woozi gave you a smile and stepped over to a table near the bed. He grabbed a needle and vial, filling the needle. You watched intently, starting to feel a bit nervous. He asked for your arm, which you gave, watching as he stuck the needle in you and emptied out its contents. Afterwards he had you lay down, telling you that you’d feel the effects soon.

“I’ll go get Seokmin, I’ll return shortly.”

Minghao offered to go with Woozi, needing to talk to him about something. Jeonghan took over from there, attaching some patches and wires to you. Hoshi came to the other side, looking over the monitor. All this was making you more uneasy.

“Wait… wait-”

You reached over to grab Hoshi’s arm, only for your hand to go right through him like he was some sort of ghost. You looked up at him with wide eyes, glancing at your hand as if something would change.

“… you… you’re not real…”

“I am.” Hoshi assured with a smile. “I’m just not physically here.”

“… what… what happened?” You asked. “I… I’ve been curious about you… with everything Woozi said…”

“Hm. Shall I tell you a story while you drift off?”

“Okay…”

Hoshi glanced back at the monitors, making sure everything was alright. Then you noticed a chair roll over to your bedside, Hoshi taking a seat. You knew he wasn’t physically present but he was trying to seem as normal as possible.

“I’ve known the Maestro since we were kids, we grew up together. He always had an affinity for music, and we’d do our best to scavenge for instruments or parts to make our own. Neither of us realized at first, but when he played, he drew me in. This energy surrounded him, making it seem like the world wasn’t such a bad place. Eventually the Maestro became aware of how I’d get when he played, he was worried but I assured him I was fine and wanted to hear more. That’s when he started performing for others. Many who heard his music had a smile on their face, and the world seemed like a better place. I believe he would have been content just playing on the streets for random strangers, but you know the city. One day peacekeepers came, and I couldn’t let the Maestro get hurt. I told him to run and I took the fall.”

“I was hurt badly and left for dead. When the Maestro found me again he feared he would lose me. Everything was hazy, but somehow the Maestro got help, and that’s how he met Seokmin. They stabilized me, but I wasn’t exactly conscious. I wasn’t very responsive, but apparently I still reacted to the Maestro’s music. It gave him hope, and so they tried something else to help me. The Maestro met Seokmin’s friends, Seungcheol and Dino, and they put something in my head, letting me project my consciousness outside my body. The guys did a bit of adjustments and here I am.”

Despite everything you had been told you couldn’t help but reach up, wanting to touch Hoshi’s face, but once again your hand just went through him. Hoshi chuckled, giving you an amused look.

“Sorry.”

“… where… where is your body?”

“Somewhere in this building.”

“… are you okay?”

“Yeah. It’s been a while but I’m making progress. I’ll be up on my feet soon.”

“Woozi really cares about you…”

“He does.”

“Because… your situation… is that why he needs me?”

“Yes. Although I know you would have come here eventually. The music is so beautiful, isn’t it?”

“Yeah…”

“You should close your eyes and sleep. I’ll have a surprise for you when you wake up.”

A small smile appeared on your lips, and you gave a little nod. It was already a bit of a struggle to stay awake, so you closed your eyes and let yourself sink into the darkness. You were still nervous, not knowing what would happen, but by now it was far too late to object.

♩. ♩. ♩. ♩. ♩ ♪ ♩ ♪ 𝅗𝅥.

“If I agree… do I get to see y/n?”

“That could be arranged.”

“Fine. I’ll see what’s going on with your cult.”

“Not a cult but-”

Seungcheol groaned and grabbed his head, falling to his knees. Jun also screamed and fell back on the table, thrashing around a bit. Even the other two seemed to be suffering from some sudden headache. Vernon was left unaffected, and he had seen this scene before, back at the theater. Although he had no idea what was going on. He thought to use this chance to get out of his restraints and try to escape, but Dino wasn’t affected as badly, so he knocked Vernon down to the ground. A moment later it seemed the headaches had passed, and they were all recovering.

“I should probably go check on our guest after this.” Seokmin commented. “Take care of Jun.”

“Yeah. We’ll follow shortly.” Seungcheol assured.

“Wait, guest?” Vernon questioned. “You mean y/n?”

“Maybe.”

Seungcheol checked in on Jun, seeing the boy was just catching his breath. He looked over his vitals again, assuring the boy he was fine. They all were.

“What happened to you all just now?”

“It’s complicated, but we’re fine.”

“Are you? I saw this before with Joshua, the conductor, when his wand broke. Why the hell does that hurt, why does it hurt all of you?”

“We’re connected.” Seungcheol admitted. “And you’ve been interfering with it, but if you’re truly on our side, you won’t be a problem anymore. I can’t say the same for your friend.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“We’ll see.”

Vernon was still uncertain about everything, but he knew he had to go along with this to see you. By now his own personal curiosity had also taken hold and he wanted to know what was really going on in this theater.

“Our presence is requested at the theater. Let’s go.”

♩. ♩. ♩. ♩. ♩ ♪ ♩ ♪ 𝅗𝅥.

Wonwoo felt the pull of the wand, but despite Joshua holding it out for him, he was not allowed to touch it. There was some disappointment, but he wasn’t going to voice that. He had made his choice, and he wanted to see what came of it. Joshua smiled, glad by his decision and then led the way further into the lab. Wonwoo followed, not sure if he should speak, although he soon rushed past his guide. He came to another room lined with beds and noticed one was occupied, seeing you. He ran over to the bedside, taking your hand and calling your name, but there was no response.

“What did you do to her!”

“She’s fine. She’s merely resting after the procedure.”

“What procedure? What are you talking about?”

“She chose to join us, and thus became part of our connection. It’s a painless procedure. One you’d surely participate in if you’re serious about your choice.”

“When will she wake?”

“Soon. Hoshi should be by momentarily to check on her.”

“Who?”

“You’ve seen him before.”

Wonwoo still didn’t really understand, but you were the bigger concern. He was mostly glad to have found you again, although this wasn’t the state he was hoping to see you in. A moment later he saw someone else approach the bed. He looked up to see another boy at your side, white hair, looking at the screens, and very familiar to Wonwoo.

“It’s you…”

“Hello. You won’t attack Joshua again, will you?”

“No… no… but you… how… how is she?”

“Stable. She took everything well, and should wake soon.”

“Are… are you the Maestro?”

“No, but I’m flattered. My name is Hoshi, and I’m the internal conductor.”

“Internal conductor?”

“The Maestro has a multitude of conductors to spread their music, but I do not leave the theater, and I keep everyone connected. I’m actually very glad to properly meet you. I have a proposal for you.”

“For me?”

“Yes. You have a strong connection to the Maestro’s music. You felt it during the show, moreso when you held Joshua’s wand. You have the potential to be a conductor, and your ideal physical state would make you a great one.”

“You want me to be a conductor?”

“You’ll come to truly understand what we do here, and wield power unlike anything you could imagine.”

“And why would I accept? You kidnapped my friend, and hurt the others.”

“I saw your little trio trespassing into the theater. We could have thrown you out, but we didn’t. In fact you would have come back on your own, the pull of the Maestro’s music is very strong. You came all the way here. Do you really think you can walk away now?”

“You-”

Wonwoo’s words were cut short as he heard a groan, looking over to see you moving and whimpering. He was excited to see you waking up, holding your hand tightly.

“Y/n, it’s me, can you hear me?”

It took a moment for your eyes to adjust to the light, but you thought you were dreaming when you saw Wonwoo. His familiar smile made you feel warm, and then you felt his hand, realizing this wasn’t a dream.

“Wonwoo… how…?”

“Hey, how are you feeling? Are you alright?”

“I… I’m fine… but… when did you… get here?”

“Your friends came looking for you.” Hoshi stated. “And I wanted to speak with Wonwoo.”

“Oh… is everything okay?”

“You tell me. How do you really feel?”

“I…”

Your senses were starting to come back to you, but it was certainly different this time. You could feel this energy in the air, but more importantly you could sense others. Joshua had this glow around him, as did Hoshi, but Wonwoo didn’t. You could sense the presence of the two, and then had a feeling in the back of your head of others close by. As you were lost in thought you saw Hoshi reach over to caress your cheek, and to your surprise you felt the warmth of his touch. You looked at him with wide eyes, reaching over to take his hand in yours. It didn’t feel like Wonwoo’s hand, but different. Almost like a ghost, just on the edge of physicality, like the flow of water or a cool breeze.

“How…?”

“You’re part of our network now, you’re connected to the rest of us so my essence is that much stronger for you to pick up on. Strong enough to be physical, even if just a bit.”

“It’s incredible.”

Wonwoo had been quietly watching the whole time, not really liking the situation. He reached over to move Hoshi’s hand, but he couldn’t touch the boy. His hand passed right through the other, confusing him as you appeared to be able to make contact.

“What is this…”

“Power.” You mumbled. “It’s in the air and everywhere. Only when you’re connected does it manifest into something more. Like the music. When you really listen to it, you open your eyes to a whole other world.”

“Very poetic.” Hoshi chuckled. “You’re very good with words.”

“I guess… but what did you want to talk to Wonwoo about?”

“The Maestro would like for him to be a conductor.”

“Really?”

“He has great potential.”

“That’s incredible Wonwoo.”

“I don’t know what any of this means, y/n.” Wonwoo reminded. “I only came here looking for you.”

“I’m sorry… I really wouldn’t have wanted to worry you, but things were out of my hands.”

“I’m sure they were, but we should get out of here.”

“I’m not leaving Wonwoo, I can’t.”

“What do you mean? What did they say to you?”

“They just told me about the Maestro, and what he’s doing. I want to help him.”

“You don’t know him.”

“Not truly, not yet, but I’ve seen enough to know that I want to help. There’s this energy, this warmth inside of me because of the Maestro and I know the world would be a better place if everyone could experience this. They’re not evil, Wonwoo. You should stay too actually. The things we could do.”

“I’m not so sure I understand what they’re talking about.”

“All the more reason to stay and find out. Together we-”

Your words were cut off as a searing pain overtook you. Wonwoo could only watch as you suddenly began to scream and thrash. He tried holding you down, hearing similar cries of anguish from Joshua. The boy had collapsed to the ground. Hoshi wasn’t as affected, seeming more irritated than anything else.

“What’s happening!?” Wonwoo yelled. “What did you do!?”

“It’s your friend who did this!”

Hoshi seemed to glitch out of existence, leaving Wonwoo alone to worry about you. He didn’t know what to do in order to help you, but the pain didn’t last too long. After a moment you seemed to calm down, although you were whimpering and seemed very out of it. Joshua stumbled to his feet, not in a good condition himself, but he was worried about you. He looked over at the machines, making sure all the readings were well.

“What happened?” Wonwoo asked again. “What was that?”

“Your friend broke another wand.”

“I don’t understand, will y/n be okay?”

“Yes. I’m sure Seokmin and Hoshi will be here any moment now.”

“Why are you on your feet?!”

Another boy suddenly came rushing into the room. He grabbed Joshua and sat him down on the nearest bed, getting him to lie down.

“I’m fine, Seokmin.”

“Sure you are. Not like you’re still recovering from the last incident.”

“I was checking on y/n.”

“I’ll do that, you just relax.”

Seokmin went over to the monitors, completely ignoring the other. A while later another rather familiar face showed up. The director, Seungkwan, came up, and Seokmin told him to look over Joshua. Wonwoo stayed quiet and watched Seokmin like a hawk, remaining silent until a needle was pulled out.

“What’s that for?”

“A minor sedative. She’s gonna need it in order to stabilize.”

“Where’s Hoshi?”

“Dealing with Minghao. I’m sure he’ll be back momentarily.”

“Are you sure she’ll be okay?”

“Have a little faith.”

It was good to see you at ease with the sedative. You weren’t unconscious, but you certainly weren’t all there. Wonwoo was glad to keep you company, listening to you tell him about the theater and the Maestro. He wasn’t sure if any of it was real, or just propaganda you had been fed. Still, he just wanted to make sure you were alright. Although you were asking him to stay, to take on the roll he had been offered, but it wasn’t that simple.

“You know Vernon and Mingyu are here too. We got separated and-”

“Vernon is with the others down on the ninth floor.” Seokmin interrupted. “As for Mingyu, who do you think is causing all this?”

“Oh…”

“He’s made it far enough.” Seungkwan added. “Jeonghan will deal with him.”

“Jeonghan?” You questioned. “What is he gonna do?”

“Nothing bad, I promise.”

“Let me talk to him. I can reason with Mingyu. He’s only here and causing trouble because he’s looking for me. Please.”

“Y/n.”

“I don’t want to be the reason something bad happens to anyone.”

“Let her.” Joshua cut in. “It would benefit all of us.”

“Fine. I’ll have the others gather around as well.”

“Where are you going?” Wonwoo asked. “Because I’m going with you.”

“To the grand theater on the thirteenth floor.”

♩. ♩. ♩. ♩. ♩ ♪ ♩ ♪ 𝅗𝅥.

“Put me down!” Mingyu screamed. “Now!”

“Why would I do that? You’ve been nothing but trouble.”

“You must be the Maestro then.”

“I’m honored, but no. My name is Jeonghan, the lead conductor. You should have stayed out, but you don’t seem all that bright. Since you didn’t learn from your past mistakes, I suppose it’s only fair to teach you properly.” 

Jeonghan got into place, as if he was performing, but there was no audience, and no orchestra. He didn’t need that.

“I’ve always wanted to perform this piece. I hope you like it.”

Jeonghan took a breath and closed his eyes, beginning his performance. It seemed rather funny at first, to see him leading the air, but then Mingyu began to hear it. A slow and steady rhythm slowly becoming audible. Mingyu had an idea as to where this was going, but before he could get the mask back on it was ripped from his hands and fell off stage into darkness. In a matter of seconds the music was loud and clear, but it wasn’t this shrieking sound. Instead it felt like this pressure in his head. Mingyu screamed, there was nothing he could do to make this pain go away. The pressure was gradually increasing so it was only a matter of time before he passed out. He had to do something.

With the bits of conscious thought he had left he tried to come up with a plan. Jeonghan was engrossed in his performance, eyes closed and moving with such fluidity. The only thing Mingyu had was the stun baton. He had one shot to use it, and if he failed it’d be all over. He focused on his plan, getting the baton and figuring out how to throw it before electrifying it. The task was complicated, but he didn’t have much time, so he took his shot. He aimed for the chest and electrified the baton, throwing it with all the strength he had. The pain grew worse so he couldn’t see the outcome, but hearing a scream and falling to the floor was answer enough.

Mingyu groaned from the impact, but he forced himself up. He stumbled as his body was aching and he had yet to properly regain his senses. Still he managed to get to Jeonghan, ripping the wand from his hand. Although before he could do anything Jeonghan had gotten the stun baton and hit Mingyu with it. Now the two were down and recovering from being electrocuted. The wand fell from Mingyu’s hand and rolled away, at least it couldn’t be used against him for the moment. Since Jeonghan had been hit first, he recovered before Mingyu, managing to get back on his feet. He held his hand out and Mingyu watched as the wand returned to him.

“Clever. Maybe you’re not all that dumb, but your game ends here.”

Jeonghan walked over to Mingyu, staring down at him before placing a foot on his chest. He put pressure and watched as Mingyu squirmed, attempting to get him off. When he managed to get some movement he used it to get out from under Jeonghan, rolling away and getting onto one knee. Before he did anything else he heard another voice and looked over to see that at the other end of the stage there was a boy with white hair, and a glowing wand in his hand. The same boy he had seen before.

“Enough.”

“I had this under control.” Jeonghan stated. “I didn’t require assistance.”

“That’s not why I’m here.”

“You must be the Maestro.” Mingyu breathed out. “What took you so long?”

“I’m not the Maestro, but I was sent here on their behalf. You’re not worth their time, but we’ve all had enough of you hurting us. Jeonghan.”

“I know.”

Before Mingyu realized it he was back in the air again, although not so high off the ground this time. The white haired boy walked over to him, glaring.

“Hoshi, stop!”

Despite your state you rushed onto the stage and grabbed Hoshi. Your hand slipped through him a bit, but he still moved because of your touch. His gaze shifted to you and softened. He wouldn’t act for now, you trusted that. Wonwoo stayed behind with Seungkwan, watching.

“Y/n, are you okay!?” Mingyu asked. “Did they hurt you!?”

“I’m fine. Can you put him down?” You asked Jeonghan. “Please.”

“I don’t believe that’s a good idea.”

“Jeonghan.”

“Do it.” Hoshi said. “We outnumber him anyway.”

Mingyu was gently let down, and as soon as his feet hit the ground he stepped towards you and pulled you into a hug. You were a bit amused by his actions, but didn’t mind. You hugged him back, assuring him you were alright.

“Everything’s okay. I’m sorry I made you worry.”

“I know it’s not your fault. I’m just glad you’re okay. Let’s go now.”

Mingyu took your hand and started pulling you along to step off the stage but Jeonghan got in his way.

“You’re not leaving.”

“Get out of my way.”

“Mingyu, please don’t fight. Look, I don’t want to leave this place, I’m not going to leave.”

“What?”

“I know things didn’t go so well at first, but they’re not bad people.”

“They kidnapped you.”

“Not really. I came here because of the piano, because of the Maestro, and-”

“I know what their music does to people, and it’s clear you’ve been affected.”

“It’s more complicated than that.” Wonwoo cut in. “She’s made it very clear she’s not gonna leave.”

“So then you’re gonna stay with her? We were attacked by peacekeepers and robots, not to mention Vernon is still missing.”

“Not anymore.”

Wonwoo gestured out to the crowd as he saw the doors open. Vernon and a few others entered the theater. As soon as Vernon saw you he ran up to the stage, no longer restrained in any way. He came to you and embraced you in a hug. The trio that escorted him up remained out in the aisles, watching.

“They didn’t hurt you or anything, right?”

“No, not at all.”

“Good. So we can leave now?”

“Apparently not.” Mingyu stated. “She doesn’t want to leave. The music has gotten to her head.”

“Y/n, this place-”

“I’m not brainwashed or anything! Woozi told me what he’s doing here, and what I can do to help. So I’m not leaving. I’ve already explained some things to Wonwoo. You don’t have to leave either, you guys can help too.”

“I’ve already heard the story.” Vernon mentioned. “I’m not sure I’m on board. Being involved with a revolution, we’re practically signing our death certificates.”

“A revolution?” Mingyu questioned. “Is that what these nutjobs think they’re doing?”

“They’re not crazy.” You countered. “I know what they’re doing, and I know it’s gonna work. Woozi just needs my help so his music can reach everyone, including you guys.”

“I’m not gonna leave you here to be a pawn in their game. If they want to start a revolution, they can try, but none of us are taking part in it. Wonwoo, tell her this is crazy.”

“I don’t know…”

“So they got to you too. Vernon?”

“They’re kinda scary with the tech they got here…”

Mingyu scoffed. “I cannot believe you two. Are you seriously considering this?”

“I’m not so sure we have much of a choice anymore…”

“Then I’ll leave on my own.”

It really felt like this whole thing was all for nothing, but Mingyu wasn’t going to stay where he wasn’t wanted. Although Jeonghan stayed where he was.

“Move.”

“I’m afraid I can’t do that.”

“Jeonghan, just let him go.” You said. “I’m not gonna make anyone stay.”

“That’s not your decision to make.”

“What?”

“The Maestro has no intention of letting any of you leave.”

Mingyu was suddenly up in the air again, Vernon as well. You glared at Jeonghan but he merely shook his head at you. This wasn’t his doing, but the Maestro’s.

“This is not what the theater is for.”

You looked back to see Woozi walking towards center stage, Minghao, Joshua, and Seungkwan at his side. Everyone was present now.

“Minghao, are you alright?” You asked. “A moment ago-”

“After the earlier incident we’ve created contingencies.” Minghao explained. “Much faster recovery time. Are you alright though?”

“Better now.”

“You should be resting.” Woozi stated. “Not down here.”

“I wanted to talk to my friends. Make them see reason.”

“You don’t need to do that.”

“So it’s you then.” Mingyu cut in. “You’re the Maestro.”

“Yes, I’m the Maestro, and you’ve been trespassing.”

“I’m more than happy to leave now.”

“I’m sure you are, but that is no longer an option. You forfeit that when you set foot in my theater.”

“Look, I want nothing to do with your little revolution thing, so I’ll keep my mouth shut. You don’t have to worry.”

“But I do.”

Woozi brought Mingyu closer to him, bringing the peacekeeper mask to his hands as well. He examined it with an amused grin and then looked up at Mingyu.

“You went through a lot of trouble just to see me and now you want to leave. Kinda disappointing. If you want to play dress up though, how about I make it real. Why don’t you become one of my peacekeepers.”

“What?”

“I’m always in need of more peacekeepers. My music can only reach so many at the moment, but someone like you could lead them. You could actually embody the name they carry.”

Mingyu scoffed. “Are you seriously offering me a position when I already said I want nothing to do with you?”

“Your words are surely disappointing y/n, but I’m not asking. I know you’ll truly come around eventually. Same for Vernon.”

“What the hell are you talking about!?”

“Y/n cares about you. The last thing I want is for her to be upset.”

“Wait, Woozi, I don’t-”

“Hoshi.”

“Yes, Maestro.”

Hoshi came up behind you, placing a hand against your face. Your eyes went wide and your vision went dark. You felt this sudden warmth spread through you, calming your nerves and pulling your consciousness under into tranquility. Your eyes glazed over, starting to glow just as a few glowing veins spread around from where Hoshi’s hand made contact with you. His own eyes were glowing, completely engulfed in white.

“What the hell are you doing!?”

“Silence.”

One moment everything was normal, and then Woozi’s eyes were glowing, and the same had happened to the others. The conductors moved to the edges of the stage, silent and without emotion. Then they began moving in unison, performing a silent melody. Wonwoo felt a change in the air, something moving through the empty space, partially making him dizzy. He stumbled and took a step back, shaking his head to stay awake. Although he soon noticed Mingyu and Vernon were passed out, and dropped on the floor. The others had come to the stage, grabbing the two and removing them.

Wonwoo took a step forward, wanting to stop them, but that seemed difficult at the moment. He couldn’t reach either of his friends, and you were clearly unavailable as well. All he could do was watch, not understanding what was happening, but still being hit with this energy and staying put. Then Woozi glanced over at him, a smirk appearing on his face and walking over to the boy.

“That leaves you.”

Now Wonwoo knew he was stuck in place, those glowing eyes sending a chill down his spine. Everything in this theater had been strange from the beginning, but this was starting to let him know just how dangerous it was to be here. 

“You can’t fully hear my lullaby, but you can feel it, can’t you? Only those outside my network will be affected, but you are dancing the line.” Everyone spoke as one, following the Maestro’s lead. “You don’t have to worry about y/n. I don’t want her to remember any of this and I have the means to guarantee that. So it’s just you and me now.”

Just as Woozi said that he snapped his fingers, everyone else disappearing. Now it really was just the two of them but Wonwoo could still feel the energy in the air, feel this melody in the back of his head. The others weren’t really gone, just invisible to him now. He knew that for sure as Woozi’s voice continued to boom with the echo of everyone else speaking with him.

“… what… what do you want…”

“The answer is very simple.”

Woozi held his hand out, a wand manifesting out of nowhere, glowing brightly. It was just like the one Hoshi had. Woozi seemed to examine it for a moment before holding it out to Wonwoo.

“I could use a conductor such as yourself. Someone who will be much better at guiding y/n due to a personal connection. You are free to refuse, but not many can, not an offer like this.”

“Why ask if you seem to know the answer… did I ever really have a choice? Did anyone here?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Woozi chuckled, his laughter echoing in the theater. “Does it?”

“… no…”

Wonwoo reached out to grab the wand. It wasn’t like before, this energy felt stronger, and it hit him like a crashing wave. Everything around him seemed to stabilize, and those that had disappeared were back in view. The glow of the wand traveled down to his arm like veins, and he could feel them digging deep and planting roots within him. This sensation was only growing stronger, and he knew at that moment he’d never let it go.

“What do I do now?”

“Follow the Maestro’s lead.”

[moralesmilesanhour]

RODEO

genre: fluff, first meeting

format: bullet points/flash fiction(?)

pairing: miles (1610) x reader

summary: you encounter miles for the first time after a rodeo.

Sweat collects around your hairline underneath your wide-brimmed hat as you watch horses and bulls alike kick up dust around them.

Your voice risks going hoarse on account of all the cheering you and a friend do for your cousin once it's their turn to give chase.

After the rodeo, you spot your aunt having a lively chat with a tall, sturdy man that you later learn is Jefferson Davis Morales: a police officer from Brooklyn visiting family for the summer.

You groan the moment the woman makes eye contact with you, knowing she's about to wave you over.

The conversation is cordial; you shake hands and tell Mr. Morales a few white lies about how your academic life is going, and he goes on about how he has a son your age that they "had to practically drag down here" to attend.

"Miles–where'd that boy scurry off to? Miles!"

"I'm right here, dad."

A lanky boy with a deep russet-brown complexion materializes beside his father. He looks about as enthusiastic to be a part of this conversation as you are, shifting uncomfortably in leather boots that look new.

"Since we're in the area for a couple weeks, you might as well make a new friend, don't you think?"

Miles' eyes settle on you, wide and shiny like a deer in headlights. Each time your eyes meet, his gaze flickers down to his boots or some other part of your face. You would later find out that his hundred-yard stare just came with the territory and that he wasn't actually terrified of you.

"Oh, Y/N, Jeff was just tellin' me about how Miles is the artsy type like you are. Why don't y'all run along and get to know each other?"

Miles give you a tight, apologetic smile, and you give him a shrug.

"Wanna grab a bite to eat?" He asks. "Sure, if you want."

The two of you enter an awkward conversation over hot dogs, slowly realizing that your DIY projects and paintings were definitely not the same 'artsy' as his quick sketches and graffiti.

"So, like, what are you planning on majoring in?"

"Physics, probably. You?"

"Nursing. What's drawing you to physics? I don't hear that one a lot."

Miles' face lights up as he explains the ins and outs of Princeton's "cutting-edge" science program, and something about electrons that you won't even attempt to understand. He stops himself when he notices the smile playing on your face.

"...Sorry. You probably don't wanna hear all of that," he laughs nervously, tugging at the collar of his tassled shirt. You chuckle.

"I won't lie, none of that was really comprehensible to me, but you looked cute explainin' it."

Miles looks a little like his father when he smiles. Part of you wants to poke the dimples that appear in his cheeks.

The day ends with you exchanging phone numbers. Apprehension settles on Miles' features as he returns your phone to you.

"We'll only be here for like, two weeks, though."

"You'd better make sure to call me, then," you say with a wink.

[toyarchive]

Furreal Friends - Cookie my playful pup

Features: Is an electronic interactive plush dog. Originally comes with a collar and toy.

Size: 30cm tall (large plush)

Date: 2010

[lammy-art]

Lately I haven't posted much my kindergarten OC so I decided to post some sketch from my old sketchbook from 2 years ago :D

Amity

Amity's design at that time still did not change much

Hmmm I'm not really good at taking care of this sketchbook ._.’

The cat that Amity is holding is named Samako and he is acting as hall monitor. He is a Tuxedo cat and he wears a special collar that allows him to communicate with the people in the kindergarten ( This collar was made for him by Principal ). He is 4 years old ( 32 years old in human years ). This is just the first hall monitor, the second hall monitor is a rather large Samoyed dog named Yuki. I just added her recently so she is not fully drawn yet ( I have not written information for these two characters yet )

Friendly girl 😊😄

Well…She doesn't really like her cousin 😓 (Monty)

Oh Her mission…Do you guys wanna guess? :)

John

My baby boy 😭😭😭

His hair looks different from the hair I'm drawing him with now ( If you've been following me for a while you might have noticed that ). But after I looked at this old drawing I wanted to draw him with that old hair again…Maybe I will hehe >:)

He has quite a few disadvantages compared to other kids…Poor John 😞

He is very easy to bully 😢

Don't worry…He actually has good friends😊

Aether

Aether's hair design has also been changed… This time I'm really changing it and not using this old one

( New edit June 22 I decided to change his name to Ethan )

He is a child model and he is a richer person compared to other children. Even though he is rich, he is rarely brag ( He is a humble person…except that he is bad at controlling his anger and he also often appears unapproachable to others )

Aether doesn't really like Ivy…but she's the only one and can talk comfortably ( It sounds extremely absurd🤔…Even I don't even understand why I wrote him like that 😅 )

( New edit June 22 I decided to change his name to Ethan )

This is one of the many reasons why he doesn't like Ivy ( Here they are in martial arts class )

This is Emily, Aether's younger sister. He loves his sister very much and will gets mad when someone bullies her ( I haven't written much information about this character yet )

( New edit June 22 I decided to change his name to Ethan )

Ivy

And the last character is Ivy ( I draw her quite a lot and she is also my favorite character 😊 ). Her design is also kept the same, except for the two strings on her hoodie ( I removed it ❌)

More art about her

She is a hacker and also the smartest kid. This also proves that there are quite a lot of electronic devices in this kindergarten. For example ( Cameras with listening devices are installed everywhere in the kindergarten ) and many other devices that I will mention other time ( There are quite lot and I don't think I'll be able to list them all here, sorry about that ). You see a talking cat in the kindergarten, that is enough to understand, right?

Oh, I drew her wearing a dress

More...

Yeah, more dress...( She doesn't really like wearing dresses )

Two kid in two separate situations

Trapped in a time loop but still capable of interacting with time ( Restart )

Trapped in a time loop and unable to interact with time, but still very aware of the loop

Well, she doesn't really like Nugget

...oh...

( This is a doodle that was never finished )

( More doodle )

Hmmm, there's one more character that I didn't post…Because I deleted her ( Actually, I didn't exactly delete her, I just moved her to another place 😐 )

Yeah that's all, but that's only half of it. What else is there besides the kids in the kindergarten… Teachers of course

I also have them in my old sketchbook. I'll post it if this post gets a lot of support...idk...

If not, I might post it someday soon ( Actually, it's a long time coming because I procrastinate a lot )

See yaa ;3

[j-a-nuary]

Thoughts on perv BFF Kim Seungmin

Warnings: suggestive/not explicit but lots of implications, an inclination towards pet-play, collars, voyeuristic tendencies, general creep-itude (obviously, that's why it says "perv" in the title)

◇─◇─💙💛💙─◇─◇

Makes fun of you for liking lattes, but make you them anyway. Always adds way more whipped cream than necessary and calls it your “pup cup” when he brings it to you. Watches a little too closely to the way you lap up the topping with your tongue. He's honestly just torturing himself because now he's stuck in his seat until he can calm down again.

◇─◇─💙💛💙─◇─◇

He always jokes around by calling you his puppy. “What a messy puppy,” he murmurs while pointing out you have whipped cream on your cheek. “What a good puppy,” he smiles when you get a good performance review. “Come on, puppy! Come here, girl!” He laughs, urging you to hurry up when he picks you up from work.

Switches to calling you a dog when he's annoyed. “You're like a dog in heat,” he scoffs when you tell him about your preparations for an upcoming date. “You're drooling like a dog,” when you mention an actor you think is handsome.

Mysteriously disappears into the nearest bathroom for fifteen minutes when you play into the nickname. He starts blushing and rushes away when you come up to him and say “I'm on my good girl shit! The puppy got a raise!” He excuses it by saying you were being embarrassing.

◇─◇─💙💛💙─◇─◇

Buys you a beautiful choker with the cutest locket on it for your birthday. You think it's cute and immediately spin, facing away from him and urging him to put it on you. Thank god. He can feel himself sweating as he does so.

Jeongin calls him out later on.

“That's a goddamn day collar!”

Seungmin shrugs, stepping on Jeongin’s foot to make him shut up before you're back in earshot.

“You don't know shit. How do you know what that is?”

Jeongin pipes down because he does not want to explain how he knows.

◇─◇─💙💛💙─◇─◇

Becomes the world's clumsiest cooking companion around you. Constantly dropping things and asking you to pick them up, claiming he's too sore from practice. Will accidentally kick whatever it is under the edges of furniture, so you have to get on your hands and knees. Uses the opportunity to stare at your ass and steal peeks down your shirt, mentally storing the images away for later that night.

◇─◇─💙💛💙─◇─◇

Buys an additional smartphone while abroad so he can take photos without the shutter sound. Sure, he might have been able to jailbreak his Korean phone, but he just happened to be with Hyunjin while he was looking at electronics on tour, and the phone was just… there.

Starts carefully: blurry photos that are half covered by the fabric of his sweater sleeves or pants pocket. He can sort of discern how your chest looks in a sailor collared shirt. There's a suggestion of thighs in a pair of shorts.

Slowly gets bolder. The photos get clearer. He sneaks a photo almost every time he has the opportunity. Obvious shots down your shirt, mostly taken when he's standing behind you when you sit down. A hundred different shots angled sort of between your legs, all taken under tables when he sits across from you. Just a few scant photos lit only by flash where he carefully tugs a bit of your pajamas out of the way during pre- and post-tour sleepovers.

◇─◇─💙💛💙─◇─◇

He even tries reading fanfiction and using find+replace to put your name in (an idea he gets from Han, of course). It sort of works. For a little while. He bookmarks a few favorites for when he's truly desperate.

◇─◇─💙💛💙─◇─◇

Stray Kids Masterlist

[stevebattle]

Gronk by Keith Paul and John Hughes, Ontario, Canada (1978). "Robbie the robot, who weighed some 50 pounds and stood over 5 feet tall, caused the uneasy feeling that if it dropped a wheel off the edge of a walkway, it would topple over, crushing a small dog, child or Volkswagen. This led to the development of Gronk, the second robot, smaller and less threatening. … Physically short and squatty, about 40" high and 22" in diameter, is more robotish in the popular sense. … Practically speaking it resembles a large domed can of spray deodorant. Actually the outer skin is a 40 gallon (Imperial) hot water tank cover chopped down to 26". The machine is cylindrical, and weighs 50-60 pounds. The metal skin is covered with a felt material, which gives it a warmer appearance plus color. This skin is removable for gaining access to the drive motors and electronic controls. … At present Gronk has the following features: 1) Moves forward, reverse, left, right, counter clock-wise and clockwise about its vertical axis. 2) Flashing collar lights (marquee style). 3) Modulated voice light (color organ principle). 4) Smoking ears." – Robbie and Gronk, by Keith Paul, Interface Age, April 1978.

[trans-cuchulainn]

it's funny when you email someone perfectly innocently and they reply and you see your email below theirs and it's got these massive banners on it like WARNING. YOU DON'T OFTEN GET EMAILS FROM NÉIDE SENEOLAS. THIS COULD BE A CYBER ATTACK. DON'T GIVE THEM ANY INFORMATION and they take up half the screen and then there's my message at the bottom like "hello may i have an information about this academic conference please :)"

like you suddenly get an insight into whatever unhinged cybersecurity protocols their institution has got going on and feel relieved that your message survived being torn to shreds by the electronic equivalent of rabid dogs in spiked collars or whatever

[justinspoliticalcorner]

David Moye at HuffPost:

Conventional wisdom suggests it’s not politically smart to brag about killing puppies, but South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem is challenging that theory. In a new book, “No Going Back: The Truth on What’s Wrong with Politics and How We Move America Forward,” Noem reveals that she once killed a 14-month-old wirehaired pointer because she was “less than worthless” as a hunting dog. Even stranger: She suggests her willingness to kill the animal is a political selling point since it shows she will do anything that needs to be done, no matter how “difficult, messy and ugly” it may be. And it was definitely all three of those things based on an advance copy obtained by the Guardian. Noem writes the dog, Cricket, had an “aggressive personality” and needed training before she could be used to hunt pheasant, per the Guardian’s review. Although Noem thought taking Cricket hunting with older dogs would calm her down, she kept ruining things by “chasing all those birds and having the time of her life.” An electronic collar also failed to bring Cricket under control — a fact that she said became woefully apparent after the hunt when Noem stopped to talk with a local family. Cricket managed to escape the truck and attack the family’s chickens, “crunching [each chicken] to death with one bite, then dropping it to attack another.”

In her No Going Back book, GOP South Dakota Governor and potential Donald Trump VP choice Kristi Noem revealed that she heartlessly killed her dog Cricket.

This puppy killer is unfit to be a Vice President.

[marblecarved]

your muse’s aesthetics.

bold what applies to your muse and italicize what sometimes applies to them. please repost, don’t reblog !

colour: red. brown. orange. yellow. green. blue. purple. pink. black. white. teal. silver. gold. grey. lilac. metallic. matte. royal blue. strawberry red. charcoal grey. forest green. apple red. navy blue. crimson. cream. mint green. magenta. pastels. bubblegum pink. blood red. ivory.

elements: fire. ice. water. air. earth. rain. snow. wind. moon. stars. sun. heat. cold. steam. frost. lightning. thunder. sunlight. moonlight. dawn. dusk. twilight. midnight. sunrise. sunset. dewdrops. clouds. light. dark. shadow.

body: claws. long fingers. fangs. teeth. wings. tails. lips. bare feet. freckles. bruises. canine. scars. scratches. ears. wounds. burns. spikes. feathers. webs. eyes. hands. sweat. tears. feline. chubby. curvy. short. tall. normal height. muscular. slender. trained. piercings. tattoos. strong. shape shifting. svelte. long hair. short hair. dark circles. big. small. prosthetic. experimented. cyborg. halos. horns. wolfish.

weaponry: fists. sword. dagger. spear. scythe. bow and arrow. hammer. shield. poison. guns. axes. throwing axes. whips. knives. throwing knives. pepper sprays. tasers. machine guns. slingshots. katanas. maces. staffs. wands. powers. magical items. magic. rocks. power loader. flamethrower. metal rod. shotguns. needles.

material: bronze. gold. silver. platinum. titanium. diamonds. pearls. rubies. sapphires. emeralds. amethyst. metal. iron. rust. steel. wood. porcelain. paper. wool. fur. lace. leather. copper. silk. velvet. denim. linen. cotton. charcoal. clay. stone. asphalt. brick. marble. dust. glitter. blood. dirt. mud. smoke. ash. shadow. carbonate. rubber. synthetics. yarn. slime. ivory.

nature: grass. leaves. trees. bark. roses. daisies. tulips. holly. lavender. lilies. petals. thorns. sunflowers. seeds. hay. sand. rocks. snow. ice. roots. flowers. ocean. river. lake. meadow. forest. desert. tundra. savanna. rain forest. swamp. caves. underwater. coral reef. beach. waves. space. stars. clouds. mountains. fungi. cliffs. sunlight.

animals: lions. wolves. black panther. eagles. owls. falcons. hawks. swans. snakes. turtles. ducks. bugs. roaches. spiders. birds. whales. dolphins. fish. sharks. horses. cats. dogs. bunnies. praying mantis. crows. ravens. misc. lizards. frogs. bears. werewolves. unicorns. pegasus. dinosaurs. dragons. felines. foxes. centaurs.

foods and drinks: sugar. salt. water. candy. bubblegum. wine. champagne. hard liquor. beer. coffee. tea. spices. herbs. apple. orange. lemon. cherry. strawberry. watermelon. vegetables. fruits. meat. fish. pies. desserts. chocolate. cream. caramel. berries. nuts. cinnamon. burgers. burritos. pizza. vanilla. cookies.

hobbies: music. art. piercing. watercolours. gardening. knitting. smithing. sculpting. painting. sketching. fighting. fencing. riding. writing. composing. cooking. sewing. training. dancing. acting. singing. martial arts. self - defense. electronics. technology. cameras. video cameras. video games. computer. phone. movies. theater. libraries. books. magazines. poetry. philosophy. cds. records. vinyls. cassettes. piano. violin. cello. guitar. electronic guitar. bass guitar. harmonica. synthesizers. harp. woodwinds. brass. trumpet. flute. drums. bells. playing cards. poker chips. chess. dice. motorcycle riding. eating. climbing. tree climbing. running. vivisection.

style: lingerie. armor. cape. dress. robes. suit. tunic. vest. shirt. boots. heels. legging. trousers. jeans. skirt. shorts. jewelry. earrings. necklace. bracelet. ring. pendants. hat. goggles. crown. circlet. helmet. scarf. neck tie. brocade. cloaks. corsets. doublet. chest plate. gorget. bracers. belt. pauldrons. sash. coat. jacket. hood. gloves. socks. masks. cowls. braces. watches. glasses. sunglasses. visor. eye contacts. makeup. pantyhose. stockings. thigh highs. eye patch. collar.

misc. balloons. bubbles. cityscape. light. dark. candles. war. peace. money. power. percussion. clocks. photos. mirrors. pets. diary. fairy lights. madness. sanity. sadness. happiness. optimism. pessimism. realism. loneliness. anger. family. friends. assistants. co-workers. enemies. lovers. loyalty. smoking. alcohol. drugs. kindness. love. hugs.

tagging: you ! if you see this on your dash and you would like to do it for your muse, feel free to steal this !

[dogandponygal]

Institutions for Failed Persons Part 6

After all that anxiety over a misunderstanding, you could finally start to feel yourself relax a bit. Dr. Veronika almost seemed too good to be true. You couldn't wait to see her again.

How silly you were to think she would take out your teeth, she seems to genuinely like you. Of course she was talking about that hateful dickhead down the hallway and not you. You began to wonder what happened to him. Hopefully they took the good doctor's recommendation.

As if doting over you wasn't good enough, she wants to have the teeth ripped out of some transphobic asshole's head. Could you have possibly gotten a better doctor? It did occur to you that you shouldn't get on her bad side, but why would you ever want to do that.

As if being under the care of the good Dr. Veronika Blackwell wasn't wonderful enough, she finally had you transferred to the introductory training ward of the facility. 

It was so much nicer than the acute care ward. Was this optimism you were beginning to feel?

It was a such a long time since you felt like this. Dr. Veronika was right, all you needed all this time was to have someone else in control of your life. 

A drone woke you up as usual for breakfast. When you heard its electronic chirps you sprung up and began to shake your hips

You didn't have a tail to wag yet, but it felt so natural. 

After finishing up your breakfast, and getting some delightful scritches from the drone, you curled back up in your cage. The drone left without closing your cage. This new ward certainly was much more relaxed.

Instead of a layer of urine soaked newspaper lining your cage, you had a comfy dog bed and a soft blanket to sleep on. 

You were too excited to go back to sleep, and decided that you might as well give chewing on the teddy bear Veronika gave you when you arrived on the new ward a try.

To your surprise, it was strangely fun. Why didn't you come here sooner? 

Just as you were getting bored of your chew toy a nurse entered your room. You approached her on all fours with your toy still held in your mouth.

She gave you a few pets before pulling out a syringe.

The syringe didn't have a needle on it which surprised you. However, before you had time to think too much about it, she gently pushed your head down to the floor, leaving your ass sticking up in the air. 

She gently glided the lubricated syringe into your rectum.

It wasn't uncomfortable, but it certainly was surprising. You felt a small bit of liquid trickle out of you as she withdrew it, and then immediately became overwhelmed with a sense of empty headed euphoria. A feeling that you were barely connected to your body overcame you.

"See who says ketamine is just for horses?" The nurse said with a chuckle.

"You stay right there, a drone will be with you in a moment" You felt too wonderful to even pay attention to what she was saying. Chewing on your toy somehow felt even better now. Everything felt better now.

Just as the nurse said, a drone came in carrying a bag at its side. It took out two knee pads, and lifted one leg after another to strap them on to you. You didn't need any instructions, and just let the drone move you around however it wanted to.

Next the drone produced what looked like two leather mittens. They had rubber pads on one side that looked identical to the paws of a dog. 

At this point you had rolled onto your back as you blissfully chewed on your teddy bear. The drone let out a delighted electronic chirp.

It strapped them to each hand, and locked the leather straps around your wrists with tiny silver padlocks. 

You felt its smooth latex hands scratching your tummy. You couldn't think of a word to describe the ecstasy you felt, but who needs words, those are for people.

It attached a leash to your collar and gave you a gentle tug. Much to your chagrin it took the soft teddy bear out of your mouth. A little whine escaped your mouth, but the drone kept it to its side and began to walk out. As high as you were, you knew you were to follow it.

You emerged into the hallway to see about a dozen other drones leading pups on leashes. As excited as you were to see other pups, you only had the cognitive abilities to focus on the drone leading you. 

The drone led you to a big open room along with all the other pups.

A person in a white lab coat sat on top of a table at the front of the room with a tablet cradled in their lap. Your drone gently pushed down on your lower back, and you found yourself sitting like the good dog you were quickly becoming.

"Well isn't this just the most adorable group of puppies I've ever seen!" The doctor at the front of the room had a warm southern accent that delighted you. 

"Welcome to puppy class! I see some new happy faces today!" You felt yourself shaking your hips again in excitement.

[brokenmusicboxwolfe]

Gotta “love” my run in with the guy that actually owns the dog that nearly bit me.

He is actually the son of my neighbor, apparently adrift and living in the next county. I say living, but he told me he can’t actually got here or he will be arrested.

He told me the dog never barks at anyone. This is rich, since that dog barks at EVERYONE that comes into sight. I’ve told people walking by that it’s not personal, since he always barks at me.

When I insisted he barks at me plenty he said it was odd because he only barks at people on the autism spectrum. He explained it’s because their body language is “wrong”. He didn’t seem to find this disturbing.

Then he added that he also barks at people people that are nervous. The fact that this is even worse it even more disturbing.

Honestly, it irked me. I was never nervous around the dog until it tried to bite me, despite the fact he’s as big as a pony. And I never approached him, but let him approach me. And as for body language, how much “wrong” body language is involved in sitting on Mom’s porch reading?

I told him that the dog growled at me at my mail box. He said it never growled at people.

I told him the dog seemed nervous and high strung, so I had always stayed still and quiet. He said his dog is never nervous.

I said it barks at me when I am just sitting on the porch, and comes on the porch to do it. He said I must have done something “wrong”.

Well, I guess existing within sight of the dog is “wrong”

Talking about the electronic fence that doesn’t bother the dogs despite the beeping collars, he said that’s his mother’s fault. She is awful at training dogs and their dog is awful.

The parents’ dog is a sweetheart that loves playing, and I once spent half an hour playing fetch with this “awful” dog he hates. Go figure.

He said his dog is led astray by his parent’s horrible dog, that she leads him out and into trouble. Which is funny since I have always seen her following him everywhere. Literally always following.

I told him I’d worried for the dog. Being a big great dane wandering lose in the neighborhood he might scare people, and people in town have killed dogs that scare them even when they were harmless. He responded that no one in town is scared of the dog. He said he had taken the dog and introduced him to everyone, and not one single person didn’t like him. Which is funny since I’m the one next door and he never introduced me to the dog…

Or himself, for that matter. He never did tell me his name, and with his big black dark glasses and scraggly huge beard**to hell if I know what he actually looks like.

When he insisted no one has any problems with the dog, I mentioned having heard one of the neighbors shouting and cursing about him after he had been pestering their dogs, grumbling that they just let him run loose. He said this was not true, that the lady in question had been over to their house and said her dogs bark all the time.

During all this the dog showed up, and he started shouting at it. The dog rushed to me, wanting petting and leaning full against me, looking up into my face….a dog that has barked at me if I so much as shifted me weight and had made to bite me was acting like he was MY puppy. He didn’t even look to his owner until he shouted a command to it.

The man was furious with the dog, and annoyed with the dog going to me to avoid his rage. The man took pride in the dog responding to his hand gestured. He is a strong believer in discipline and obedience and anger, it seems. He seemed to show more pride in the the dog than actual love.

Now I get why the dog runs free every chance he gets, and why he is so high strung and nervous when he does.

He yelled at the dog as he had it follow him away. I didn’t see him pet it.

Odd how I am so annoyed with the human, but so completely forgiving of a dog that nearly bit me.

Or not odd. The dog nearly biting me was honest. The human trying to tell me what I have witnessed and experienced isn’t true*** or was my fault is anything but honest.

I am eager to see how the dog acts around me next time. With the man not around will the dog go back to barking or remember me as a friend??

Oh, and just a heads up to other pet owners: Don’t say “my pet would never….” because pets are like people, with moods and individualized reactions to circumstances. Ryoga, my pig, is a total sweetheart to me and delicately takes fruit from my fingers…but I would NEVER let someone else try. I know him, he knows me, but he doesn’t know you and I can’t know how he would react to you. To act certain is foolish. Anyone that tells me their pet would never bite me, I know to watch my fingers then!

**Look, dudes in my family have beards. My father had a beard. But this beard looked like something a character might glue on their face as a disguise.

***I have REAL issues with not being believed, and quite simply it enrages me. In fact, if in a movie/show a character tells the truth and no one believes them I get more upset than any amount of gory horror can evoke. I used to cover my ears and humm, saying “Tell me when it’s over!!” And that was just the comedies!

To this day I am still upset about the Snuffy situation on Sesame Street. The fact that those just slightly younger never had to deal with everyone telling Big Bird his best friend wasn’t real doesn’t undo preschool me’s rage. It still sits in a corner of my brain all these decades later.

I swear to god, someone gaslighting me would likely just make me homicidal!