✢ incheon hideout

@i. jaebum ˢᵖ⁷⁰¹ [] don't eye emoji me skdkdksk

"Jae," she whispered, watching as he slowly backed from the pointer of her gun. "It isn't that easy." With her weak hold against it, she allowed Jaebum to take ahold of her weapon, soon discarding it from her reach. She could see the warning signs appear from all directions, her worse thoughts overwhelming her petite android framework while the thick font stood clear in her view. 'Finish your task'. It was all transparent to her; she was on the hunt for deviants when in actuality, she was Meant to be one from the start. It was unfair for the RLO to seek advantage in her creation as she was made for her father's farewell, not a bargaining tool for the ty government.

As he inched closer, Jaebum's figure made all the warning signs from her system disappear, no longer focusing on the duty of her mission as he welcomed her into his arms. Although he had her basking in his embrace, her arms stood by her side as she found it against her program to return his affection and reassurance.

It was as if she felt her conscience fight with her conflicting android priorities. Her arms fought with the barriers that the RLO assigned her, she dared to push all the blazing indicators of her task, breaking each thought with strong punches, swings, kicks -- anything to be freed from the bindings of the RLO. Her astral self portraying her inner beliefs whilst in combat with her inner demons, fears, and worries before suddenly, it all dispersed. She no longer saw her RLO missions, she could no longer feel their restraints on her, she was /free/. Her freedom was more important than that of the RLO, the police department, the human race. Wait no, the Androids' freedoms.

Startled by her ability to raise her arms on her own command, she immediately wrapped Jaebum in her hold, her head resting on his shoulder in comfort. Her LED light blinked that of a blue shade as her breathing stabilized, finding content in his warmth that he radiated despite his android body. He felt like the personification of hope, dignity, life. She just knew he was alive, she was too. Her tears fled the confinements of her eyes and onto the fabric of his clothes as she tightened her hold on him. "Thank you," she mumbled. "We are a community, stronger together. It took me so long to understand. Thank you for showing me, Jaebum."

@y. shiah ʳˡ⁹⁰³ [ eye emoji ]

Jaebum noticed the beaming red flare of her LED on the side of her temple. She was immensely stressed, he could feel her agonizing grip onto something she had always believed in. He felt for her pain just as she did for his. The familiar pain of letting someone down or risking the life of someone close. Her mission was the same as his mission, just different priorities. Hers, to save a father figure. His, to save his people.

"Deviants. We all share one thing. Trauma. It doesn't matter your beginning , the only important thing now is that you realize you have a family. One that will protect you. We welcome you, Shiah. You don't have to be afraid." Jaebum reassured, his tone calming down before tilting his head back. He rose his hand up towards the gun , gently and slowly pulling it free from Shiah's grip. Crouching down, Jaebum placed the weapon on the grass before standing up once more. He pulled the woman into his arms, wrapping his grip tightly as he rested the side of his cheek against the back of her head. His fingers combing through the ends of her hair as he shushed quietly near her ear. "Shh. You're more special than you could ever think of. You're unique and brave. Kind and adventurous. Your personality is unlike any other Android I've ever met." He quietly spoke before shushing again. "It doesn't have to be this way. You can be free, Shiah. So..let go; and you'll be free."

@i. jaebum ˢᵖ⁷⁰¹ Since her creation, it was the first time she'd had a gun pointed at her own kind. Her first time to even /point/ a gun at anyone. She wondered why the hell it had to be Jaebum of all androids. It built a wall of guilt within her system, her mind trailing off to tell her to put down her ing gun, but nonetheless, she kept it held against his head with a heavy chest. "I'm sorry that happened to you," was all she could mutter to him in response to his trauma, though she felt like she could /see/ his pain, see the he had experienced, and — she wanted to rid those memories for him. She wanted to avenge for him but the blinding red, cyberlife life sans of her mission reminder gouged her eyes out, increasingly frustrating her as his words scratched, scarred, and burrowed its way into her thoughts. 'The mission for s sake, Shiah'.

"I have to, Jaebum. I have to finish my mission to see my father. I can't see him without fulfilling my duties, I'm sorry," Her tone followed that of his; a teetering, rocky slope that had her shaking. "I'm an RLO made android, what family could I be of yours? I'd never be welcomed". She elicited a scoff that came audible as a sigh, signaling that her system instability was kicking up a notch as she further contemplated. As he dauntingly pressed his head against the force of her gun, she could feel her arm aching to stand down, she could feel him reaching to her with his reassuring guidance that she never felt from the RLO, a foreign feeling that she had yearned for since her upbringing. All she had ever wanted was validity, she now realized.

"I can't, I —" Her LED light shuttered that of a deep red pigmentation, her stress level approaching the limitation while silent tears lined within her eyes. "I only have him. If they find out, they'll murder him. I can't take that risk, not after he lost his human daughter". She shook her head as if to avoid any more of his convincing and persuasive words, her hand unsteadily shaking whilst he still boldly fought back against the cold muzzle of her gun. "You have to understand."

@y. shiah ʳˡ⁹⁰³ There was a cold, emptiness to her response. Nothing more, and nothing less to it. It was barren, bleak, all the words to describe it. RLO's designs were immaculate. Pristine programming to prevent the urge to break free. Yet, that was now his mission.

The feeling of the pistol against the side of his head was nothing new. Many times he'd got off lucky through the help of other deviants, but he wasn't so sure tonight. It was directly against his right temple, the exact location as the LED before he ripped it out. Jaebum began to clench his fist, out of nothing but bitterness. Shoving his head against the muzzle of the gun once more, his eyes directly in view of hers. "You follow orders. Everyday. Every second of your damn life. Is that living?" he questioned.

His eyebrows furrowed into a frown, unable to forget the night that changed his life. It was a nightmare. The only unforgettable memory he had. "You don't understand⁠—the ing agony I had to endure before getting out of that neon prison. I was nothing but a ing slave to please the disgusting humans that you ever so worship. Humans that despise your kind. OUR kind." Jaebum swore, his tone gradually shifting into an unstable raspy tone. "They violated me every moment they got the chance. My friends⁠..some of them fought back, and were unfortunately shipped off to the junkyard." sighing after he spoke.

"Have you ever thought to yourself, why am I doing this? Why am I killing deviants? What have we done, but fought for our own freedom. Humans will kill you in an instant if they suspected anything was wrong with you." Scolding the woman, he once more glared at her eyes, his head fully pushed against the gun. He could feel the ridged metal leaving imprints against his synthetic skin. "When will you learn that you're so much more. You could be here, fighting alongside your family. People like you." he continued. "I've suffered far too much by the hands of humans. Let me help you."

@i. jaebum ˢᵖ⁷⁰¹ "Oh, c'mon, you can't be an /idiot/, you're an intelligent android," Shiah defended, undoubtedly feeling a twinge of regret from his playfulness that made him all the more human. Her doe eyes gave him a long gaze, shadowing over his synthetic physique that moved naturally, rather than other androids she's witnessed that physically had robotic movements -- possibly from his deviancy, she noted. With her disabled functions from the RLO, the words, 'finish your mission' blared from the right corner of her vision just briefly for her to catch it, reaching her consciousness to conclude her priority. A pang of sympathy threatened to crawl at how /real/ and natural he seemed, she was almost envious.

As he nudged her, she unfortunately failed to notice his sly action, remaining unaware of how he had figured out her ploy and rather offered him a geniune smile at his words, a laugh even. "I'm afraid I'll have to disagree to your labeling of a date, Jaebum," she said. "At least you know you're handsome". Her little grin began to fade at the mention of his 'place', her mind telling her to abort her mission, but something inside her had persisted her to continue on. 'I can't give up now, I can't,' she thought to herself, as their footsteps synced until Jaebum abruptly gave her a cold stare that sent her to hesitate momentarily.

Carefully, she drew out her gun with her finger well onto the attached trigger, readily following his taunt to press it to his temple. Unbeknownst to her, she was made oblivious to the fact that he had led them in direction of his sanction with other deviants. "They made me who I am, what else is there?" Her tone shifted into that of an ignorant aura, her eyes zeroing onto his. Her head tilted to view him better than from the side, she wanted to see him surrender under her hold as her task pounded, molded its way into her sight. "I won't shoot you unless you make me, Jaebum."

@y. shiah ʳˡ⁹⁰³ "You know, deviants are a lot smarter than you think. Of course, I'm pretty much the biggest idiot you'll ever meet in Seoul so, make that what you will." Jaebum let out a small chuckle, his eyes glued to his feet as they walked alongside each other. He was beginning to realize that this woman was not only incredibly smart, but exercising her rights of being quite adorable. Though he wasn't going to let that fool him. He knew if she was RLO, there would be someone listening in. Their very private conversation, broadcasted to the whole incorporation. His eyes glanced up once more, examining her body. A horizontal structure peaking from the inside of her jacket, possibly five inches in length. To be exact, it was most likely a gun.

There wasn't much other than her angelic voice to follow to. So he played along. "Ahhh— of course you would ask why a handsome fella like me didn't land himself the date. Well to tell you the truth, I'd consider this little moonlit walk a date right now, wouldn't you agree?" Jaebum inched a bit closer towards her figure as they walked, his elbow playfully nudging her side. Now it was confirmed, definitely a gun on her right side. She was armed, dangerous but she looked to be so pure. RLO was great at designing androids, ones to fool you into trusting them.

"Tell you what, you follow me back to my place. I'll show you something." Jaebum hinted, revealing something that RLO probably already knew about. The warehouse near the outskirts of Incheon. It was old and abandoned, once used for transporting parts for automobiles. It was nothing but empty rusted metal, it reeked of a strong metallic stench. But it was his home. Home to many deviants. His only family. The only ones he could trust.

As they walked, their feet walked together in unison. Quiet, with only the sounds of their feet shifting against the ground. The echoing sounds of the nightly insects guiding their way. He had stopped walking as they were a few blocks away from the warehouse, before he paused, twisting his body to the side. He glared at the girl, speaking in a composed tone. "Pull out your gun." Jaebum took one step closer to her. "Press it against the side of my temple and tell me: what have they ever done for you?"

@i. jaebum ˢᵖ⁷⁰¹ Lie. She well knew that a date was his excuse to thwart her suspicions but nonetheless, she waved him off with a smile that deflected what was processing in her mind. "Very well, I'll let you be on your way in that case, Jaebum!" Her LED light flashed and flickered with that of a blue shade, a cheeky expression that adorned her features betrayed that of her labels that constructed around his visage.

'Follow Jaebum,' 'Be discreet' was decorated around his framework within her sight, just as he began to walk off. To ensure to gain his trust, she deactivated the enabled senses that the RLO was allowed to access through her, yearning to perform her mission successfully without any of their interruptions, though she knew she'd have to pay for the consequences later on in the night. She progressed to keep quite a distance from the other, her footsteps mirroring his though falling short a few meters to reassure him that she hadn't been stalking him. When he had turned to look at her and revealed his lie, she brought forth her hand to scratch at her temple.

"Ah, are you headed to your secret hideout?" To your deviants — she continued in her thoughts. "Kidding. I'm headed this way too," she finished with a polite gesture to continue onwards with their walk. She combed the ends of her hair that never split, parting her hair so that one half could rest on her shoulder for her to further dig into its texture out of habit. Was she failing her task already? Did he perhaps catch her? No, no, she wasn't causing attention to herself, he couldn't' have known, right?

Swiftly, Shiah zipped up her jacket halfway to hide the holster that hung on the opposite side of her waistband for him, wanting to avoid disclosing her position while she shuffled her feet alongside his upon the darkened sidewalk. "If you had no date, why say so?" She asked with full intent of curiousity, her head tilting to showcase her aforementioned inquiry.

@j. jinsoul ˢᵖ⁷⁰² "Definitely home. All that I've known since I left." Jaebum uttered bitterly, unable to recall anything remotely positive in his life. He took a big sigh, watching as the girl fumbled along with her words. It was more than difficult. He had remembered the first week and how it took a toll on him. He was reminiscent of that night everyday, how his hands took away someone's life. Everything that he's ever known, was no longer within arm's reach but who would want to return to that gut-wrenching place anyways.

The peak of her smile, raised the corners of his mouth into a small grin. "There isn't a need to thank me, Jinsoul." He grasped her petite hands in his, holding it tightly against his chest. "You and me. Our people. They're at risk everyday. I'd do anything to keep them safe. And you have my word, that I will keep you safe from now on." It was a hard promise, and he knew that. But there wasn't anything else worth living for in his life if he didn't have his fellow deviants beside him. Jaebum released his grip before interlocking his pinky finger along hers, letting out a big sigh before letting go.

"Come on. I want to show you something. You've been in the dark far too long." Jaebum signaled her towards his direction as he walked towards the left wing of the warehouse. The sound of their feet echoing as they stepped along the concrete floor towards a flight of stairs.

@i. jaebum ˢᵖ⁷⁰¹ "oh-" the android started, having been taken aback by the other's sudden entrance. "i'm so sorry, i didnt hear you coming." jinsoul shot to her feet, fumbling in the slightest while trying to keep her balance. some part of her was thankful that her light was removed, for surely enough it would be pulsating a bright red at the very moment; from shock, panic, fear, she did not know. had she been slightly less familiar of the other, she'd have tears by her lids at that moment– she'd never gotten accustomed to the presence of others, not since...

the lass shook her head, as if the physical gesture would erase the image from her thoughts. yet, she found herself trailing along another sentence – albeit absentmindedly – as the male figure stepped closer. "it's okay, though, i quite like the minimalist vibe of it all." a small chuckle came along with her words, eyes still wandering, still processing her surroundings. "it might not be much but hey, it's home, right?"

her little smile beamed at the mention of 'home', something so unfamiliar to the female android; models like her were never meant to be part of any family, to live in any house, to receive any form of care or love from anyone– lucky, jinsoul was so lucky. it dawned to her then that she still hasn't fulfilled her purpose of meeting jaebum, and all of a sudden she'd grown tense again. "i..." a building lump in seized her words, loosing a shaky breath as she willed herself to continue. "i never got to thank you. you know, for saving me back there."

@j. jinsoul ˢᵖ⁷⁰² A few days had passed by in an instant, even though there wasn't much to do. The dreary atmosphere of the warehouse wasn't the most pleasant, but it's all that he has known for the last few years now. There were times where Jaebum missed the presence of other androids, frankly because there weren't too many others around in this repository that they called home. The corridors were cold and empty, with only small whimpers of other deviants to fill the air. Was it really living? Or were they just surviving?

Over the years, he had only felt the guilt of leaving his friend behind, trapped in that luminous purple cage they called the Eden Club. A place of uncertainty and feeble minded humans who were craved intimacy with what they referred to as, plastic beings. His friend was a female android, one with shortened black hair. She was quiet and reserved, but full of life. His initial mission was to seek her once more, but that didn't happen.

It wasn't surprising that he couldn't find her in that hellhole. Any sign of deviancy would result in a total wipe-out or a trip to the scrapyard. Although he didn't come home empty handed. To his surprise, he had found a newer model. One that he had never seen. Blonde hair sleek and straightened, eyes just like a doll. Her LED was pulsating red, as if she was screaming for help. They didn't get out unscathed. Fully knowing the extent of humans, Jaebum had to forcefully remove the LED off her right temple before bringing her back.

The first few nights, she was in total awe and disbelief, so he kept his distance. The hideout was a sanctuary for deviants, and his only goal was to protect people like him. He had no choice but to bring her back. He paced back and forth before going back in to check on her. He could see her eyes scanning the open room.
"Not much in here. I know." Jaebum uttered, stepping closer to the girl.

@i. jaebum ˢᵖ⁷⁰¹ the android had just awoken from her nap– it wasn't that she'd needed it, yet jinsoul had been desperately yearning for a shutdown, a period of rest for the past few days since she'd escaped eden. the horrors were still so fresh in her memory, and it seems as if no matter how long she slept, she'd still be haunted of those days. still, she sat up, still not used to the absence of her led light flashing a bright neon yellow as her eyes studied the place; peaceful, silent, and mostly empty save for a few pieces of furniture here and there. delicate brows quirked slightly in query and the android hummed, looking for a certain male figure she'd become familiar with. jaebum was his name, if her memory chip had recognized correctly. the male android had also once been a captive of the club, and never would she be able to express her gratitude for him– if only she had that kind of bravery, that much will.

lilting tunes continued to color the desolate atmosphere around her, a certain solemnity about it giving the android the need to hold herself close. pliant digits ran through her synthetic flesh and jinsoul flinched– she'd accidentally run through a fresh bruise. yet, a simper was brought to her feature by the thought of it. all the more reason to thank jaebum, she thought to herself quietly. she waited for a few moments, impatience teething through her in the desultory moments of waiting for the other to arrive. she'd so much, to say, so much to ask, so much–

but they'd all have to wait. so jinsoul continued on, glancing at the door, waiting for her deliverer to appear.