Lucid

Chapter 6

A/N-
Normal text is Korean
Italics is actual Korean words
Bold is English

POV: none
Fixer left the dorm, headed to the street in front and waited a moment as his car arrived. It pulled in in front of him, and he walked around and sat down in the driver's seat. Deactivating autopilot, he pulled back into traffic and begin to drive, heading back to central Seoul while thinking deeply.
"What's happening? Am I going soft?" He said with a grin on his face. "I mean, after all this time working contracts, I don't need the money. Why not a change of pace?" He frowns, dissatisfied by that answer. "But that's not what it is. So what is it?" He throttles up, speeding faster as he drives deeper into Seoul.  Before crossing the river, he goes east, getting on the highway and opening up his speed. "Just need to clear my head a bit." He says, as he races past Seoul's late evening traffic at 120mph  . Swerving, cutting, and sliding through traffic, he feels relieved, back to somewhere he knows everything about what he's doing. Soon, he pulls off again, parking his car in a local apartment building lot. Looking up, he sees his destination- the famous Lotte World tower, one of the tallest buildings in the world. He strolls through the entrance, without even a glance from the employees working there as he slides through the employee gates. They were computer gates, after all, and he knows- (A/N yes, he knows how to use computers, we get the point. Stop saying it.) ok, fine. Could have been A bit nicer about it. Anyways.

He took the elevator to the top possible floor, before stepping out and heading to the stairs. Entering a maintenance zone, he climbed the staircase before finally exiting the door onto the roof. He stepped out, as the wind flew through his hair and the city stretches out beneath him. He walked to an open area, before lying down on the ground.
"Hey Dad. How are things?" He said, looking up at what little he can see of the stars. "How's home? I miss seeing you, and the family." He waited a moment, as if hoping for a reply he knows will never come. "I'm doing alright here. Been busy, using my skills. It's not too different, but I have to do it all myself. Fun, in a way." Another pause, then he continued to talk. "Met some new people recently. Maybe I'll even call them friend one day. Wouldn't that be funny." He smiles, then looks down a moment. "I miss Mom a lot, too. I know we all do. I can't fix that. When I was a kid, you always said I could fix anything I put my mind to. But no matter how hard I tied, I can't undo what I failed to do back then." He stood up, dusting himself off. "I should go. Thanks for the conversation." Looking up at the sky one more time, he said, "Glad to know someone out there still trusts me." He begins to move, first walking, then running, then full sprinting towards the edge. Jumping atop a venting panel, he then jumps to the wall of the rooftop and finally, leaps off the side. The glass outer wall of Lotte World tower seems to fall away breath him, as he throws himself out into empty space. He grins as he freefalls towards the pavement below, relishing the weightlessness with endless consequences. But those would come another time, as he snaps his legs together and his arms to his sides, deploying his wingsuit. Pushing his arms out to his sides, he leans himself back, soaring over the Lotte World dome and apartment complexes alike. He turns, slowly gliding lower as he spins back, eventually deploying his parachute and landing next to his car. Recalling his chute, he places his jump pack in the car, then sits down. "Back to work."

Time skip- 3 days later

POV: none
Location- Starship Entertainment Legal Offices

Do Soo-Hyuk sat at his desk. He had just come back from a rather tiresome lunch with his friend Tae-Sung, and was preparing to go back to work when his. work phone rang. Picking up the phone, he answered with, "Hello, Starship Entertainment legal." A wavering voice comes over the line,
"Hello, this is Ministry of Justice, Korean Immigration Services. We're calling to inform you that Miss Naoi Rei has been granted an E-6-1 Visa as well as two years extensions." There's a few loud noises in the background, but Soo Hyuk can't tell what's happening, nor can he see a point in asking.
"Alright. So, how long until we'll need to renew?" He loud slamming noise next to the phone on the other side, and the person yelps.
"You- you have three years now. It'll be about two and a half years before you need to send in any more paperwork." This is certainly the strangest call Soo Hyuk has ever had with a government official, but it's going well so far.
"Excellent, thank you. Is there anything else?" The other side instantly responds,
"No, that's everything. Thank you! Have a nice day!" I put down the phone, but cant help but look at it, confused. Perhaps that's why they needed the extra papers, for the extension? But why didn't they mention it beforehand? Odd.

POV: Fixer
"Well, that was a mess." I say aloud. A number of police cars rush past me, sirens blaring. A few fire trucks went past as well, probably to put out the offices in that building that happened to catch fire after I left. A few people also happened to be handcuffed in the lobby, and they happen to all be very enthused to admit to their corruption and extortion. Perhaps because they happen to think that they'll just happen to have a terrible accident befall them if they don't. But enough happenings. I climb into my truck, and begin heading home once again.

I hadn't taken any new jobs since CEO Lee's. Something about those girls bugged me, it was definitely different but I don't know anything that truly makes them stand out. Sure, they're pretty. And they sing well. And they're attractive. And some of them can rap quite well. And they look nice. And their dancing is pretty decent.  And they're beautiful. I laugh aloud a moment. "What, you're falling for her beauty? How imaginative. And you can't even decide which one." I laugh again, at myself mostly. For all my capabilities, my reputation, and my skills, here I am wrapped around their fingers. That's not really true, of course. I can leave any time. But I don't need to.

Returning home again, I put my things away then head to the armory. I grab a Scathelocke and start taking it apart to polish and clean. "House, play music by IVE." Eleven starts playing. It's decent. "They make good music." I say, as I reassemble the gun. "Perhaps I really should go to a concert." I consider aloud, while checking the scope alignment on an Albruna-D. "Would I need a ticket? I can watch from the rafters, but would it really count as going?" I ponder, still talking to myself while replacing a cracked firing pin on an Alternator SMG. "I mean, if they invited me it would be rude not to buy a ticket." I'm still trying to decide while cleaning the breech of a Longbow DMR. "But  isn't it also rude of them to invite me but still expect me to pay for a ticket?" I put down my BXR-55, confused. "Aigoo. This isn't helping anything, I feel less certain than I did before."
I put away my equipment, and head across to the simulator room. "Alright, randomize enemies, randomize terrain, randomize conditions." I announce while walking into the screen-covered room. "Give me one of my pre-built loadouts, and put it to max difficulty. Begin sim!" This ought to take my mind off things.

Time skip- next day

POV: Liz
We were just returning to the company from filming an episode of Running Man, when a number of fire trucks and ambulances went by.
"Where are they going?" Asks Hyunseo.
"That's a lot. I'm not sure. Maybe check the news?" Offers the manager, and Gaeul pulls out her phone.
"Omo! It says here, that an abandoned building collapsed in Gwangjin!"
"Really? When?" Asks Wonyoung, leaving over.
"Just now! There's a live stream!" She holds her phone higher, so the others can see it, and it shows a video of a large pile of rubble with people stumbling or running around.
"That looks terrible. Do you think people are ok?" I ask, nervous. That could have hurt or killed a lot of people.
"I don't think so, given the ambulances, Unnie." Responds Hyunseo. I knew that, but I guess it's not obvious.
"Wait, look! Over to the right!" Rei shouts suddenly, pointing at the screen.
"What? What is it?" Asks Gaeul, sounding concerned.
"I think that's Fixer! It looked like him. Back up!" Gaeul rolls her eyes, but scrolls the livestream back a moment, and takes a look.
"Maybe, yeah." Glancing closer, she cuts everyone else's view off. "The clothes are about right, but he has a mask on, and a hat. But it's the right height."
"Do you think it's him, Rei?" Wonyoung asks, interested.
"Maybe. I don't know why he'd be there but it seems like something he could be doing." Gaeul moves back to the live video, and keeps watching as the camera examines the rubble of the building that fell and the building it fell onto. Then, a loud cracking US heard, followed by rumbling as everything seems to shift. A few moments later, a rush of dust flies out of a gap in the concrete wreckage, and a person climbs out.
"That's definitely him." I say. It's something about the over-confident attitude in the way he stands, makes me certain.
"If you say so. But I wonder why he's helping people out of a broken building." Ponders Gaeul.
"Maybe he knocked the building down, Unnie." Says Hyunseo, laughing slightly. I poke her arm, and shake my head no. It's not a good time to be laughing if people are hurt. She stops laughing, at least audibly. He's probably being paid to do it. But maybe he just wanted to help. That would be a nice thing for a person to do.