project: 4419
Page One: The Glitch in the Matrix
warning: foul language ahead. spelling and grammatical errors ahead.
words: 2.2k words
"Sir, there seems to be a glitch in the matrix"
"What? What are you even talking about? I have perfectly scanned through this over and over again, leaving no single information untouch. That's impossible."
"Sir, Project 4419 is acting a little bit strange. It's- It's as if…it's waking up"
"Huh?? That's ridiculous. Move." the scientist shrugged his assistant away as he looked over through the computer. "No way, that's impossible. She was suppose to wake up next week."
"Sir, we need to get out now. Project 4419 will self-destruct and blow the building up. It will collapse, sir. If we don't move now, we'll get caught up with the blast and…die."
"Jisung, Changbin. I want you to get out of the building right now."
"But sir-"
"I don't wanna hear another word from your mouth Jisung. MOVE! GET OUT. NOW!!"
"L-let's go, Jisung."
"But Changbin-"
"Let's just go." he pulled his friend away and run towards the exit, leaving their boss inside the wrecking building. He scanned through all the files in the computer system, he was so focus that he didn't care about the cracking sounds in the wall. There was only one thing in his mind. One thing that made him concentrate like that. One thing that cannot sway him away from the huge computer infront of him. One thing that he is willing to sacrifice himself.
"I need to fix this. I need to fix you…my precious little sister."
A year after.
The sun was up, the bird were chirping happily outside. A normal day. It is, once again, another normal day for the people leaving in the small town of Don Quixote.
In the left side of town, just a few blocks away from the City Hall, stands a building quite known as a home for childrens who doesn't have a home, a family or a parents; the Eunseoki Orphanage. It was established in the year 4200 and has been standing strong for the last 50 years. It has been a home for many different childrens who are now either living a succesful life or living in another lifetime.
"Like I told you, I got one more year before I can get out of this shithole." a young boy with a freckles, and with a messy blonde hair, stood tall behind the door as he listened to the conversation that his brother was having. It was not his biological brother or stepbrother or anything that is related to him but it was his most closest friend. The person who helped him throughout the years, through ups and downs.
"Screw you, dude. I can get out, I'll show you. Later tonight, 10:00 pm met me at Hellevator Street." the call ended in a stern matter. The boy let out a deep sigh and opened the door, and to his surprise, his little brother was there, leaning on the wall with a down expression.
"Oh, Felix. You're there." he said, acting as normal as he could. He looked at his brother and tried to reach to his shoulder to pat it but before he could do that, Felix shrugged him off and looked him straight in the eyes.
"Are you planning on leaving, hyung? Leaving us here, huh?!!" he strated to blurt out of anger. The expression in his eyes are burning as both of his hands were shaking.
"N-no. Why would I do that?" with a trembling and shaky voice, he manage to utter those words.
"I heard you, hyung. I heard it loud and clear. " Felix said without breaking any eye contact. Determined to get answer from the person whom he have looked up to as his own brother.
"Look, Felix. What you heard, it was for something else-"
"Hyung, take us with you." Felix cut the words of his brother. With a fierce look, his brothe gave up the idea of making lame excuses and just let out a heavy, deep sigh.
"Lix…I want to. But I can't do it just yet. Not now. But I promise you, I will get all of you out of here."
The Eunseoki Orphanage, a home for children who doesn't have a home, a family or a parents. It has displayed such great image to the public for the last 50 years, having exemplary childrens with great minds and skills. The children in Eunseoki Orphanage are no ordinary children. They impose exceptional and extraordinary intellect, surpassing many great scientist and philosophers. But little do everyone know, the Eunseoki Orphanage is no ordinary orphanage. It has been, and was always been, supported by an underground laboratory, which is not run by any government officials, where they conducted experiments towards childrens. The children will later on follow the steps of the past scientist and perform experiments towards the next generation of orphans.
"I will get you out of here my ass." laying down in his back on a bunk bed, staring at the ceiling above him, Felix let out a deep sigh as his mind played the scene that happened just a few hours ago.
"Penny for your thoughts?" a high pitched voice suddenly came out of nowhere. Felix turned to his side and saw his sister smiling at him. Everyone living in this building treat each other as family despite not being blood related.
Felix stood up, facing the girl that was standing in the corner of the bed. "Nothing much. I was just wondering what it would feel like to be..adopted and have a family." Lies. For the first time, Felix just straight up lied infront of anyone. He never lied before. He was always honest, making everyone loved him and sometimes hated him.
"Aww, Felix. We're all family in here." just as Felix thought, she bought it. She went closer to him and hugged him, hoping that it would somewhat ease his brother up. "Don't worry about anything, Lix." seconds after, she let go from the hug and flashed him a big smil, making Felix smile as well.
"Anyway, you should get down and join us for dinner. Everyone is starving." she said as she make her way down the bunk bed. "By the way, have you seen Minho?"
A scene from this morning flashes back to Felix' mind. "Screw you, dude. I can get out, I'll show you. Later tonight, 10:00 pm met me at Hellevator Street."
"Ah. No. Haven't seen him since this morning. Why?"
"That's strange. He's not in his room either. I wonder where that bastard went. It's almost curfew. Anyways, you should really get down before the young ones throw some tantrums." she said before closing the door behind her and walk away. Felix just nodded his head and look outside the window. It was pitch black and the only light that could be seen is a flickering one from the streetlight that was meter away.
-----
"Ahhh, Unnie. Can we eat now? My stomach is getting angry. I can't take it anymore." said the little girl who has been holding herself back from eating the delicious food set infront of her. Seconds later, it was followed by the other young ones with a growling stomach.
"Lia, did you went upstair and called Felix?" the older girl whispered to Lia's ears. She nooded as a respond. "Then where the hell is he? It's been 7 minutes since you went down."
"I- I don't know."
"Ryujin. Go upstair and call him." the older ordered Ryujin and she followed it with no complains. They all know how she looks when she's mad and nobody wants that. "You!!" she turned towards the young ones who was startled by her voice and are now tense up, as they averted their attention to her. "You can all start eating now." She said as she sit herself in the chair behind her, rubbing her side temple, relieving herself from the stress that the younger children is bringing her.
They followed her words and started filling up their empty stomachs. She look at them eat and smile at them as they fight for the food as if it they're at war. Hwang Yeji, the oldest among the girls, has been giving the responsibility to look after the others. Although she don't really know how to look after another living being, she tried her best to look after them.
A heavy stomping sound filled the place as Ryujin make her way downstair, picking up her pace.
"Y-Yeji!! Felix is…Felix is not in his room." she yelled the moment she arrived at the kitchen. Everyone stopped what they were doing and froze in spot, eyes glued to the out of breathe Ryujin.
"What?" Yeji shouted back, shocked by the news. She turned to Lia who was just as surprise as they all are. "Lia, you said he was in the room?" Yeji asked her.
"H-he was. I swear. We were just talking minutes ago."
"What are we going to do? Mrs. Kang will come here to inspect in the next 5 minutes..5 MINUTES?!" Yeji's eyes grew wider as she looked at the clocked above the door. The clock was pointing at 9:55, 5 minutes before Mrs. Kang arrive.
Mrs. Kang, the person who's incharge of the orphanage and is giving the children lots of impossible task. Every 10 pm, she wanders around the whole building, searching far and wide for any escape attempts made by the childrens. If she caught one person missing, she go berserk and give them shots, painful shots.
"W-what are we going to do? Minho is not here, and so is Felix." Ryujin panicked. Her voice were shaky and so does her whole body. Everyone was left terrified by the thoughts that is now flooding their mind, unabling them to think straight. Lia, on the other hand, tried to remain calm.
They all gathered around the living room, waiting for the terror Mrs. Kang to arrive.
'Felix, where are you?'
-----
In the very corner of Don Quixote stood the alleyway where most crimes happened, the Hellevator Street. Nobody dares to walk around or near the street especially at the haunting hours of the night.
The blowing winds were cold, cold enough to pierce the skin of any person who decides to get out. Well, there's no surprise to that, giving that the cold, winter season is just right at the corner.
Felix, wearing his thick jacket, made his way through the Miroh Boulevard, just a few meters away from the taunting street of Hellevator Streets. He could feel is hands freezing at this moment and he know well that everyone is worried about him back at the orphanage but he has no choice. He have to follow Minho and bring him back. Even if he has to use force and drag him back home.
While he was on his way through Hellevator, he stumbled upon a hooded person. He hides behind a wall, making sure that the person wouldn't notice him. '10 pm, nobody is allowed to walked around the city and advise everyone to stay inside their homes. That was the Mayors word. And to anyone who is caught wandering past this time, will suffer consequences. So why the heck is that person still out?' Felix thought. He was not in the position to speak as well.
He observe the person's action as he look left to right repeatedly. Minutes after, he fled the area, leaving a black plastic bag behind. Felix waited for a minute before he proceeds to walk towards his destination. He decided to ignore the plastic bag laying just a few meters away from him and continued to walk. But to his luck, his curiosity gets the best of him and dragged his feet towards it.
He took the bag and ran towards the area where he was hiding before. The bag was heavier than he thought. He opened it up, hoping that the inside is not some human body that has been decapitated cause if that's the case, police might frame him of murdering someone now that his fingerprint is all over the plastic bag.
He shut his eyes close and opened the bag quickly. There was no sign of bloody smell but instead, it was more of a burnt metal and gasoline. He peek at the inside and saw a bunch of heavy metals. It was not just an ordinary metals, but instead, it was parts of an A.I robot that has been blown up. The parts has been molded to look like human skin.
Felix look further inside the bag and hit a big fish, the A.I's head. He took it out from the bag and scanned its face. The half upper part of the skin that was covering the rusting metal of the A.I head was burned, leaving only the face part. He left eyes was also missing, while the right eye was shut closed.
"Is anyone there?" an unfamiliar voice asked making Felix flinched and immediately put the head back to the bag and fled the area, taking it along with him.
----
"Have you succesfully dispose it?"
"..Yeah."
"Good. Now let's get out of this place before anyone sees us. Get inside the van."