Chapter Text
Baek Saehoon woke up but instead of wheezing out breaths and sweat clamming in his back, there was the buzz of electronics and whirring of engines beside him. His gaze turned towards the bright neon plastic puffy coat on him, with multiple blue holograms floating around him.
Then he registered the rain lightly pouring onto him with the quiet pitter patters. Narrowing his eye, he saw the bleak horizons he was on. Tall gargantuan grey skyscrapers that made Seoul pale in comparison, stood all around, large Neon advertisements that ranged from Smile Stickers :) and some food named Blue Soda Churros blared across on any sort of surface. The bright neon lights and bright roads below being the only source of light in the cover of the night.
Seemed like a world where a person was less than a gear, corporates ruled—Ah he should stop there it was starting to sound like Korea. He’d at least try to see the silver lining in his own job.
Shaking his damp and wet hair he turned around to face his coworkers. All.. with interesting additions to their now modified bodies.
Chief Lizard woke up first, noticing his mechanical body, blocky mechanical parts protruding out around, still angular almost like a futuristic white knight. He had an ivory white jaw guard connected to a helmet and moveable visor. It was almost like those robot mecha toys he’d see at shopping malls.
While Park Minseong seemed to have chosen a completely different genre with a sleek black body suit with red lines travelling across even onto his face into segments, also wearing a similar visor but he looked more like a biker and character from that one sci-fi movie, though it did get a terrible nostalgia bait sequel recently didn’t it?
And Eun Haje also decided another genre with a similar black outfit and pants but without the overhanging coat on her shoulders and the minimal blue highlight on her now white hair in addition to a black blindfold—He would not have guessed it was her.
“Well this is a bit better than expected considering the entity was nice enough to let us all meet in one spot.” Baek Saheon commented.
“Another world it is..” Park sighed, perhaps similar thoughts running in his head.
Chief Lizard only nodded curtly.
‘This guy was always a man of minimal words unless elaboration was needed..’ Baek Saheon shuddered at the memory of a contaminated Chief Lizard. Now that really competed with a glowing white door appearing while on the toilet.
“-What other worlds? Such theories have been debunked already. Has your info disk not been updated?” Eun Haje’s abnormally blunt voice cut through them.
Baek Saheon paused.
“Whoever took off the veil would be contaminated next.”
“..Shit.” Baek Saheon gritted his teeth.
“Right..” Park Minseong turned away.
”The info disk clearly stated we were to break into and reach the top story of this building.”
Now that Eun Haje had brought it up, Baek Saheon did notice that rather than their current position being considered a roof, it was closer to being a balcony, with the top of the skyscraper much higher–obviously marked with a circling red halo at the very top.
“..So it’s a break in?” Park Minseong inquired.
”No we are to steal the contents at the very top.
“Steal what?”
”A Veil.”
“No–Wait hold on, we’re on the same page?” Park Minseong paused in surprise.
‘Wow.. this contamination surely became convenient fast. I suppose that's the nature of believing yourself to be an android.’ Baek Saheon inwardly commented.
“...This should be able to be completed much faster than expected.” Chief Lizard interjected.
“..? Eh?”
Baek Saheon blinked in confusion.
“..We just have to break into it, no?” Chief Lizard flexed his mechanical body with a deadpan expression.
“Wait wait–” Baek Saheon pointed to one of the holograms around him, detailing the numbers of guards they’d have to plow through before reaching the very top. Thanks to the wondrous magic of the cyber science setting—There were some really absurd security measures ranging from a death trap laser room that could slice you into cubes to 0 kelvin temperature rooms where nothing could move inside.
At least the first two were still in the realm of humans.. You know like rofan or a poorly speedrun version of the polar express. (Though the idea of being on a train with that psycho did bring some awful memories back for him.)
Park Minseong seemed to agree with the absurd difficulty of the floors like the setup of a munchkin tower genre with systems and regressions to go around–Hell maybe even transmigration…Baek Saheon should read some when he got back, after all isn’t this first hand experience?
“So the goal is still breaking in regardless.”
“Yeah well but sure we can’t really die in this Darkness, but–”
BANG!
Chief Lizard had flown in a flash of glowing white and shattered the metal door into pieces.
Interrupting the bustling night, it was now dyed red in alarm and blaring sirens. Turning from a corporate skyscraper to the mood of a demon king.
As Chief Lizard was about to punch inside again, a cybernetic snake jumped out, electricity coated its false scales, shimmering not with natural iridescent but the color change of LEDS and computers.
Anddd Chief Lizard punched into nothing but pitiful computer parts and exposed wire, crackling pitiful under the rain.
Baek Saheon blinked in awe, confusion, and all of the above feelings.
“...So I think we should just punch it right?” Park Minseong concluded.
”Negative, there has been a plan given here–”
Park Minseong had lifted Eun Haje and carried her on his back like a really big luggage.
“Don’t worry, we’ll follow and catch up with the Chief.” Park Minseong chuckled, the facial segments on his face reacting to it with a small vibration. Which Baek Saheon found terrifying–He dashed forward in a flash of red, leaving behind an afterglow.
“These god damned psychos…” Baek Saheon groaned, before running after them.. At a slower pace.. Okay it wasn’t his choice that all he had were partial upgrades and not a full robotic body!
Earlier he compared it to the raid of a demonic tower yet with the current scene right now, it was more like they were the demons–Demons of white and red plowing through with an unfortunate passenger rambling on some sort of plan.. Like that.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
And another floor was blown into smithereens.
After what seemed to be 10 floors or so, static started covering the walls and ceilings, similarly the previous robotic enemies seemed to be fading in and out of opacity and shuddering as if malfunctioning.
“..It seems this is being considered as a sufficient story by the entity.” Park Minseong muttered as they slowly nearly made it to the top.
Ah, you guys are destroying the setting I thought of. Tragic.
But seeing you guys running it through is quite fun because isn’t this the third world?
The number three holds a lot of good meanings, yet four also holds the same if not more weight with being the aftermath of such a perfect number no?
Once you or I were an office worker, a bureau, a creature–Ah no.
I was always a creature.
Baek Saheon groaned, clutching his ears at the ringing of Ireum’s words, whatever cryptic jackshit they were spouting was interrupted by another one of Chief Lizard’s earth rending punches.
This punch seemed to hold extra meaning as they were on the 99th floor where one more shatter and the very fabric of reality had shattered. Cracks sprouted across like one misstep upon a frozen lake.
And when that frozen lake broke, a dark void and abyss laid beneath it.
Ring.
—
They were back at the church altar.
Now.. holding a weird white candle that rather than sacred, felt blasphemous.
Baek Saheon gave a sigh of relief noticing there weren’t weird cultist followers surrounding them. Eun Haje looked back in similar thoughts while Chief Lizard was way in front already.
Upon the altar, Ireum still had a veil and was dressed in pristine untainted robes. After all, what would be more pure than a creator of worlds–?
“Ah, you guys nearly got the last veil but the story collapsed on itself, unable to sustain the casualty.” Ireum pouted, “Well, that was indeed fun. All those alternate worlds you guys temporarily inhabited for but a brief time—A glimpse into mirroring realities if you will.”
Alternate universes.. Mirroring realities..?
Park Minseong’s face also started to fill with dread as Ireum continued.
“These worlds made from nothing but letters and text in my eyes and imaginations of the masses create such realities. Isn’t that interesting?” Ireum paused, tilting his head. “Ah, don’t worry about contamination, you guys will not remember anything—at best a vague collection.”
“..How can we trust you?” Eun Haje muttered.
Y̸o̶u̴ ̷a̶r̴e̵n̴'̵t̸ ̵i̸n̸ ̸a̶n̶y̴ ̵p̵o̵s̵i̸t̶i̷o̶n̸ ̷t̴o̷ ̸b̶a̷r̴g̴a̵i̷n̶ ̷w̵i̴t̴h̷ ̴y̷o̶u̵r̵ ̶c̷r̸e̵a̵t̵o̴r̵
Eun Haje gritted her teeth.
Baek Saheon’s mind only paled at the implications of everything–everything was a worldview shattering revelation and yet there was comfort in knowing nothing would be remembered. That maybe even remembering a psycho like him was a curse, and salvation was the loss of memory and the void Ireum would leave in them.
“Here is another question–possibly final.” Ireum ‘smiled’ “Do you think I am ▇▇?”
“..Yes.”
Park Minseong looked conflicted but there was a certain belief that was carried.
“Yes.”
Chief Lizard nodded resolutely.
“..Probably–No, absolutely yes.”
Eun Haje answered after some contemplation.
“..Yeah I guess.”
Baek clicked his tongue.
It wasn’t that hard to think so when you knew he was a psycho from the start!
”Perhaps that is true, or not. The definition of the person you knew and what is true or false is something else.”
“Whatever form that Roe, Grapes, Kim Soleum or 130666 and in whatever form, though lonely, won’t be alone in the fact you are his colleagues.”
Something felt stirred within Baek Saheon. A mix of disgust, clear kindness and disbelief. Kim Soleum was most definitely a co-worker, a roommate, a hotel owner, a kindergarten teacher, a supermarket employee, and so many more. He wasn’t what he said, but he was someone who held to his words and was honest–Baek’s hand slightly covered his eyepatch.
“The people he will be believed in by, a reminder of a clear silver bell and good friends.”
“In the darkness that was created by humanities' darkest imaginations, you will struggle under the weight of such narratives and evolve to something beyond that. Terrifying creatures that masquerade human identity will flourish.”
“But the difference isn’t what you were made from or what memories you hold but the present in your eyes that you face, and the want for connection will forever be a right.”
“No matter what form, what veil he will wear…”
“You guys will unveil him—wake him up.”
Ring
—
Baek Saheon gasped out, finally fresh air without the unnerving pressure of the Darkness freed from his lungs. God, he missed the fresh air.
It was finally time for them to have left that… What was he doing?
For some reason all he could think of was veils, really opaque white ones.
It’s not like he was getting married anytime soon??
Baek Saheon groaned, realising he had somehow ended up in his kitchen somehow even though he had just been in the toilet.
“..Man, I really forgot something–Whatever.”
“Really interesting pants you got there…”
Baek turned around, meeting face to face with Section Chief Lee Jaheon (What could he possibly need in this apartment that he already can afford), Park Minseong (What was he doing here instead of being with J3???) and Eun Haje–(Don’t you have an assignment with Director Ho either???)
All 3 of them stood awkwardly in the apartment meant for one person.
Before Baek Saheon could kick them outside of his own damn room, his own apartment’s door was blasted open.
“Heard you guys all suddenly disappeared—”J3 had forced open the door in a hurry, forgetting to take off his shoe and stepping inside before his gaze landed on Baek Saheon as well.
“Wow, Nice pants you got there.”
End of Chapter.