NCT : The Dream Lab

XXXVI : The 7th Sense (final)

Stage 4 : Empathy Phase

Location : City 127.

It was the first night after the Neos opened their eyes and broke free from the temple. Everyone including Mark despite his reluctance to dream was eager to have fun in the Neozone again. Chittaphon left early to go on a pilgrimage in the mountains with his servant Il. Taeyong was a bit disappointed that the Siamese male wasn't staying for a few more nights, yet he understood that the latter needed solitude after the hurtful truths that had been disclosed in the cages. He and the Neos had abandoned Ten for weeks and then just announced that he was dead for over a century in their reality, that was a lot to take. Before he left, Taeyong gave him a few tools to map the new territories Chittaphon would discover and a phone that was directly connected to the lab's replica's computers. The monk was absolutely captivated by this technology, so Taeyong promised to show him many more things when he'd be back.

After that, the young man went back to the lab where he found Mark, Jaehyun and Doyoung chatting happily in the living room, several bottles of soju already piling up on the table. The atmosphere was pretty joyful and Jaehyun had visibly made up with everyone.

Taeyong felt his chest warm up. He had fallen asleep in tears and overwhelmed by solitude only to feel great brotherhood around him in the Neozone. A strange wholeness surged in his heart and he was suddenly overwhelmed by pride and fondness for his team. As groundless tears threatened to spill again, a knock was heard. With a simple glance at the CCTV footage, Taeyong recognized three secondary humans coming for a visit. He furrowed his eyebrows, worried that something bad was about to happen again.

He carefully opened the door, with Jaehyun several steps behind while Doyoung and Mark kept on partying, oblivious of the strange occurrence.

The secondary humans bowed in front of them and mechanically delivered their message with their emotionless, ominous voice.

-Our site manager sent us to announce that the railway line we have been working on is ready. The inauguration will take place whenever you'll be ready.

Taeyong was honestly impressed that the railways had been built so quickly. He drew the plans barely three months ago according to what he knew about the surroundings and he was very well aware that the project was huge.

A spark of impatience lit up in his chest and he called his friends to leave the lab immediately to immediately proceed to the inauguration.

Two 4x4 were parked for them outside (the young man didn't even remember creating these models) and the secondary humans drove them to the site. The ride took a whole hour, which allowed the men to realize how much the Neozone had grown during their absence.

Secondary humans inhabited the territory like true humans would. There were shops, bars, theaters... and each of them looked incredibly prosperous.

A huge glass tower caught Taeyong's attention from afar : he was pretty sure that this place was where he met Winwin that afternoon. A warm buzz traveled through his muscles as he recalled the excitement of dancing.

On the site that was located only a few meters from the tower, the joyful group was welcomed by Woman Il, the chief architect who discussed the construction and its diverse aspects. Taeyong seemed very absorbed in this conversation but the others quickly grew bored and wandered around for a bit, impatient to finally have a ride on the first ever train of the Neozone.

It shined under the glowing sun, all white, clean and futuristic, straight from a movie. It wasn't the first time I saw it, however : Jaehyun was certain that the vision he had recently had found place in this train especially.