Bridging Destinies

Chapter 43: Building of Momentum

Two men surrounded a workbench in a basement lit with only a few lights. One sat firmly on a stool that wobbled faintly at his movements, while the other stood half behind and beside him, looking over the edge of his shoulder. In the background from where they sat and stood, another man sat reading through a magazine, looking bored. He wore surgical gloves as he thumbed through the pages, a bare light swinging lightly from the movement of people walking on the floor above them. The two men at the workbench spoke with each other quietly, focused on the work in front of them, while the man on the couch rolled his eyes and turned to another page. He spoke into the pages, but loud enough for the two at the bench to hear him, "Ya. Il-Seong said you had to finish with the device tonight." He closed the magazine and tossed it to the couch beside him as he stood, "What is taking you so long?" He walked up beside them and watched as they worked.

The man on the stool moved a wire, connecting it to another, and placed the soldering iron on it, using the melting metals to fasten the wires together. His tech knowledge was extensive and he was confident in his work. The other man did not faze him as he continued to work. He spoke softly, as he concentrated, "This stuff takes time, Young-Soo. I've said that more than once." He looked up at the other man with a leveled expression, "You just need to be patient."

He gazed from his position at Young-Soo, who regarded him with a faint scowl. The other man turned away with a small huff and almost stomped towards the stairs leading up from the basement as he mumbled, "I hate waiting." He began to climb the stairs, speaking more loudly, "Just have it ready by tonight, Beom-Seok. You don't want to disappoint Il-Seong." He told the man. He disappeared up into the level above, as both men sat in silence while they worked.

After several moments had passed, the man still standing at the workbench spoke, "Young-Soo is such an asshole sometimes and weird, too. His germ phobia is annoying. Why can't he see that you are just as dedicated to this work as he thinks he is?"

The other man shrugged as he moved another wire and began to solder it, "It's just his way, maybe, but I think he's also ignorant. He wouldn't know a gadget from a carrot if he pulled it out of his ass."

Beom-Seok's companion snorted with laughter as he picked up a wire cutter, handing it to the other man, "I think you have him pegged." He said as he continued to laugh, "He's kind of dense."

Grinning at his colleague's observation, Beom-Seok focused deeply on the work as he hunched over it further, saying nothing, but agreeing, regardless. He cut a wire and attached it to the switch that would allow the device to work, leaving the two men in deep silence for many minutes.

The man, who appeared to be Beom-Seok's assistant, took the wire cutter from him and laid it to the side, grabbing small pliers when he gestured to the tool. As he handed the pliers to the man working on the delicate instrument, he spoke, asking, "How does this thing work again?"

Beom-Seok finished soldering the last wires and looked over his work, before both answering and then closing a cover over it, sealing the components inside. Buttons on the outside of the device showed their purpose, but would not be obvious to someone who was unaware of its use. Quietly, Beom-Seok pointed to the mechanism, explaining, "This here, turns it on." He picked the device up as he turned it on, demonstrating the use of the button, and brought it over to a door that had an electronic lock on it. The lock was state of the art, and opened with a fingerprint. The door was set in a frame that did not open to a room, but was used for testing, as a prop.

"This," He said, pausing as he pressed another button, "Will allow us to bypass the alarm that goes to the alarm company, or police, so that we can break the lock without anyone knowing."

"And this," He finished as he pressed a set of keys on the gadget, "Will allow us to bypass the lock itself without a fingerprint." He grinned widely as the lock popped, as if from within, with a quiet sound, smoking from wires burning inside the lock, and then went still. The door clicked open, by mere centimeters, and Beom-Seok pulled at the door with a faint grinding sound as he looked at his companion, "See?" He said, "Works great!"

His friend laughed and patted Beom-Seok's back in congratulations, "As always, I am impressed with you." He paused briefly before announcing, "I will let Young-Soo know it's ready." He said as he started to walk towards the stairs to go up to the second level.

Turning to him quickly, Beom-Seok smirked, "Actually, just wait. Let him sweat it out until the last minute."

The other man's expression dropped a little and he let out a heavy sigh, shaking his head, "You are diabolical, Beom-Seok-ssi. I swear."

The other man set the device on the workbench, laughing, "I know, but it will be good for him to learn patience."

"Or maybe just experience a kind of torture." Said the other man as he returned to the workbench and picked up the device, gesturing with it towards the crafty technician. "Show me how to work this again? I want no problems when I am picking the lock." He stated.

Beom-Seok moved closer to the other man and began to go over the mechanics of the device again, ensuring that he understood how to make it work as his hands moved over the instrument, murmuring quietly in his explanations.

~~~

Young-Soo walked into the kitchen from the basement door and over to the men leaning over the table, going over plans for their next mission. He stopped beside Il-Seong, the leader of their group, listening to them discussing the plans once again. Only two others stood with their leader. The driver, two men who would be both defensive and offensive players on the team, Il-Seong who would navigate from a place in the van they would drive, himself, who would act as point guard, or a glorified lookout, and the man, Felix, a man of Korean descent, but raised in America, who would break the lock, allowing them access. Their mission was highly technical and well funded, but Young-Soo wasn't a main player and he knew it.

He knew the others thought of him as loyal, but lacking in refined intelligence and this sometimes made him sloppy. His impatience did get the best of him, sometimes. He was aware of this, but it was not something fully heeded within his mind. It was a peripheral knowledge, at best. Despite these qualities, he was often eager to prove himself. He did not like the 'filthy' fairies as he liked to call them. They were inhuman and he did not understand them. And in the past, hadn't they been enemies to humans? He had heard stories about the threat they presented and he hated them with a slow burn. He never stopped to wonder if the stories were true, or if there was a reason behind the enmity. He only knew they were different and the stories spurred on his hate. He would prefer to see them removed from the face of the earth.

A faint vibration tone came from Il-Seong's pocket and he moved from the group centered around the table to respond to the call, speaking in English. Young-Soo recognized whom he was talking to from the tone of his voice and the fact that the other man spoke in barely accented English, as he moved from the kitchen to another room, away from them.

Young-Soo didn't know much about the people that Il-Seong reported to, only that South Korea was one location of many in the organization he was a part of. As far as he was aware, there were probably also many factions all over the planet, as he had heard talk from others in the organization that had been a part of it longer than him and knew it better. Each faction called themselves the finger of 'The Red Hand', a name derived from ancient times somewhere in Europe. Where in Europe this was, he didn't know. He had been with them for only a few years and gaining access to deeper knowledge was always hard won in their organization. More so if they did not show their value. Young-Soo knew this. His desire to show he could be more within the organization ate at him. He wanted to rise further.