Road to Utopia - NCT

28 - Past Experiences

"Jaemin, what the hell do you mean?" The leader asked.

"I know Jisung from before we met in NCT, and I knew Mark."

"What?!"

"I couldn't really remember him before now but I've been having weird dreams for the past two weeks about a lab. And I've only just realised that it was my past memories coming back to me."

"But how did you forget them? Did you get into an accident?" Yuta asked.

"I still haven't figured that out, but I'm guessing the government has something to do with it."

"Wait a minute," Marks said as he rummaged through the heavy pile of paper on the front desk. He revealed the orange pill pack. "Do you know about these too?"

Jaemin came closer to see them and gasped. "Yeah, I think I've taken them before. They were horrible."

"...JM138?"

He shuddered. "I hated that name, why couldn't they just use our actual names?"

"OK, sit down and shut up, what the hell is going on?" The leader questioned, confusedly looking at the two Dreamies.

"It's a long story, and I didn't want to share any of this because I was scared you would kick me out or kill me," Mark started, "but I used to work in one of their labs."

"You what?!"

"Used to. I didn't really know what I was doing until about a month in and then I quit, well, more like ran away."

"And what were you doing?" Kun asked, folding his arms.

"At first, they made me standardise the drugs, so they all contained the same amount of 'nutrients'. Then, they made me hand it to some of the people testing the drugs until I got to witness their effects." He looked over to Taeyong. "I swear, I stopped after they killed someone, after the orange pill was made."

"Mark...if you had told me this when you first started, we could have made so many new discoveries. Whatever, I believe you. So, where does Jaemin fit into this?"

"I think I was one of the testers." He tilted his head in thought. "I'm not sure if they made me take it or if I voluntarily took it though."

"How did you escape?" Haechan asked.

"I'm not sure, I don't even properly remember the lab. I think...they let us go?"

"That would be impossible." Mark countered. "Test subjects usually died in the lab at one point, so unless there was a giant explosion that helped you get out, you can't have just left voluntarily."

"Wait!" Jaehyun suddenly shouted. "Replay the third audiotape!"

"What? Why?" Jungwoo asked.

"Just do it!" The younger scrambled to reach the laptop and play the audio file.

"He almost had a seizure today?"

"Who, JS502?"

"That's definitely an identification number. Does anyone know Jisung's birthday?" Mark said after a few seconds.

"5th February, why?" Chenle said instantly.

"Well, if I remember correctly, they use your first two initials and your birthday. So Jaemin's was JM138 to mean Jaemin, 13th August, so-"

"Jisung's the person they've been talking about!" Taeil realised.

"Alright, shut the door now. And maybe lock it. I don't want any more interruptions during this meeting. We'll let the others know tomorrow." Taeyong explained. "Jaemin, you said you know where they may be holding Jisung?"

He nodded. "There's a large, heavily guarded building about 40 minutes away from here and only 10 minutes away from his therapist's office." They looked at him in confusion. "What? You're not the most secretive group, not when Haechan leaves all 30 tabs open in the computer room."

"Damn it, I knew I forgot something!"

"So, you suspect he's there?"

"I mean, I was also doing drug trials there, so yes? It's their usual place to test them, far enough from civilians and big enough to build such a place."

"Wait, why couldn't Mark just say where he was if he worked with them?" Sungchan asked from the back of the room.

He shrugged. "I always got picked up and blindfolded to go to and from the work. And I swear there were multiple locations I worked at. I only remember Jaemin because he smiled at me every day when I passed him."

"OK, new plan. Let's stick to our rescue mission, please." Taeyong interrupted the other members. "First, we let everyone know about Jisung's status. Then, we get the hackers to do their thing, find floorplans, entrances and exits, the usual whilst we'll have the snipers one a building opposite."

"Shooters and our undercover agents will scout the ground for how the guards are stationed, what times they switch shifts, etc.," Kun added.

"And we have me and Taeil driving, with 2 doctors in the van and everyone else on standby at the base, OK?" Mark finished. "That's a good plan, right?"

The leader nodded. "Yes, but since they may know Jungwoo's and Jaehyun's faces, they may recognise them, so Jungwoo stays at the base and Jaehyun can be in the van."

The two agreed with that situation.

"Remember, when we get him back, he may be bugged, so no one says anything until we scan and search him, OK? And we do it away from the base."

The others nodded. "How about the empty field about five minutes away?" Chenle suggested.

"No, too close. I was thinking about the one about an hour and a half away from here."

"I don't even know where that is," Kun said.

"Well, I do, so I'll guide us there. It was close to our first-ever base. We'll have our MRI scanner in the car. Everyone OK with that?" (A/N - in the future, they're a lot smaller)

A chorus of agreements filled the room.

"Good, now let's get Jisung back."

END

A little short but whatever