Thunder! Bang!
A door formed out of the storm, catching everyone's attention.
Gasp.
"What is that?!" a voice rang through the chaos.
"Is that a radiation storm?" Choon-hee pointed toward the sky in the direction they had been heading.
Before anyone could answer, the ground vanished beneath them.
"Holy shit!!" Faces twisted in panic, arms flailing as the sensation of falling ripped through their stomachs.
"Woah!"
"Where's the floor?!"
They weren't standing anymore. They were weightless, floating in a horizon that stretched into nothing.
Then everything disappeared—along with the junk, the scrap, and the mutated corpses that had surrounded them.
Is it another Comostia attack?!
The thought that didn't belong to her clawed through Iseul's mind, driving her almost insane.
{Where are the high-ups and monitor drones?!} another unknown voice appeared in her mind.
Screams bled into her ears.
"Ah—what the—!" A shout ripped through the air, panic following.
What was that?! An unfamiliar voice whispered inside her skull.
Iseul jerked, looking left toward the sound.
There are people nearby?! Her panic surged. She pushed against the air as though it could lift her.
What happened here?! another stranger's thought cut in, though no one stood near her.
"Ahhhhhh!" Someone screamed.
We were just on the ground—how are we floating?!
Did I imagine that?!
"Who's talking?!" Iseul's voice shook as she turned frantically in place.
What terrifying power…
Will she hurt us?!
What kind of devil in human skin was that?!
Her chest tightened.
Am I hearing their thoughts? The sheer noise battered her skull, threatening to split it open.
This is my gift… absorbing radiation as fuel, converting it to infinita force to stabilize Hae-won, she realized, her mind racing. Too much at once will overload me… I have to hold it together.
Above them, the floating door shimmered—then collapsed into a delicate silver chime. Only Iseul noticed it. It rang once, cold and bright, like glass struck by ice.
The sound spread. A child's wrench slipped from their hand and clattered against nothing before they slumped sideways into sleep. One by one, every person nearby crumpled where they floated, snoring softly.
When they opened their eyes again, they would not remember.
But when they blinked awake, their shock would only grow—for the scrapyard had been wiped clean.
No twisted metal. No garbage heaps. No corpses.
One moment they had been falling in endless sky; the next, they stood in a barren lot.
"What the hell?!" Chul-jun's face paled. He stumbled back in fear.
In the middle of it all lay Iseul and Hae-won.
"Iseul-ya!" Joon-seok's voice cracked, raw and desperate.
Choon-hee shouted too, trembling with worry.
"Huh?" Iseul lifted her head slowly, dazed, fighting hard to stay awake. Her blurry eyes made out only vague outlines. Hyung… unnie? She thought she saw Joon-seok and Choon-hee.
Another figure darted behind them, but her focus slipped as the world spun.
Oh yeah… I'm at the scrapyard.
Her thoughts were hazy, black spots crowding her vision.
Her friends' faces came into focus—faces she could recognize anywhere.
Did they see?
Her stomach sank.
Tsk. Of course they saw. Such a loud commotion—who wouldn't have? Fear coiled around her chest like barbed wire.
The crowd's thoughts pressed in again: obsessive, fearful, cutting.
Monster.
Danger.
Devil in disguise.
Their voices were knives digging into her skull.
She wanted to scream. To defend herself.
But then her gaze shifted to Hae-won's still body. Panic twisted into guilt.
'If only I had gotten help like she asked.'
If only I had sent Loadon to find someone.
Iseul looked up at the sky fist and teeth clenched and her head thrown back.
If only I had acted differently.
'Maybe none of this would have happened. Maybe Hae-won wouldn't have been put in danger.'
Iseul's fists clenched until her nails cut skin.
This is my fault. All of it.
She didn't see that nothing she had done would have changed the outcome.
All she saw was her own failure.
Am I a monster?
Her heart ached. She didn't want her friends to think of her that way. She didn't want her brothers to live under that shadow.
Will I ever learn to control this overwhelming gift?
I'm converting all the radiation I've absorbed into infinita force, she realized, stabilizing Hae-won. But every second, it pushes my limits—too much and I'll suffer backlash.
The silver chime pulsed once, then landed gently in her lap.
Her trembling hands curled around it as exhaustion dragged her down. Her intent flared in one last desperate command: Make them forget.
Her gift obeyed.
The people nearby slumped deeper into sleep. When they woke, they would remember only the stampede of mutants and the chaos that followed—not Iseul's impossible power.
Her dreamscape domain cracked again, spiderwebbing across the endless sky. A tall, glowing door appeared, pulling everything into itself: radiation, twisted metal, corpses of mutants—all swallowed by its endless maw.
The healing box dissolved, golden threads unwinding, and Hae-won's body was set softly onto the floor.
Kim Joon-seok blurred forward, his wind gift carrying him across the distance.
Choon-hee and Ouyang Ji-ho weren't far behind. Ji-ho's face was pale, his eyes locked on Hae-won with the emotion he had tried and failed to hide for years.
Blood soaked Hae-won's shredded clothes.
Iseul's suit was ripped and leaking—her blood, Hae-won's blood, the beasts' blood.
Though Hae-won was fully healed, only Loadon and Iseul knew that. To everyone else, the scene looked catastrophic.
Iseul collapsed as soon as she saw them. Her panic-stricken eyes closed, her body giving in.
Loadon's processors nearly spiked in alarm until his scan confirmed: her vitals were stable. She had only exhausted her gift. Her body simply needed time to digest the radiation she had absorbed and convert it safely into infinita force.
Joon-seok skidded to Hae-won's side, checking her over. His hands trembled when he found no scratches, no bruises, nothing at all.
Relief surged, but confusion trailed after.
If she wasn't injured, then whose blood stained everything?
His jaw tightened. Relieved, but unsettled.
Still, he knew they couldn't stay. The scrapyard bosses and their backers would arrive soon. If they saw this scene, Iseul's life would be over.
"We have to go." His voice was firm, urgent. "If you trust us, Loadon, then follow. We want to protect her. She's our sibling too. Her five brothers are waiting. She can't be dragged into this with no backer."
Loadon turned his red gaze toward him, silent.
Then he nodded. "I will follow Creator's beloved companions."
They split into groups, rushing toward separate exits.
Drones and mechs swept the scrapyard sky, searchlights slashing through the ruins. Reports blared of suspects fleeing.
Their main target: a girl with a droid-like mech.
Panic rippled through the group—except Loadon.
He transformed into his full eight-foot form, cradling Iseul in one arm and Hae-won in the other. His heavy steps thundered across the pavement.
When drones swarmed, his eyes burned red.
An antenna clicked from his head. A single blue pulse shot into the sky.
Machines froze midair, then dropped like stones.
"Tsk. Staticbrains. Malfunctioning rust buckets." His tone was sharp, but his mind churned with worry for his Creator.
Chul-jun and Chang-min exchanged uneasy glances, their skin prickling. This machine… it acted too human.
"What are you?" Chul-jun asked, voice trembling.
Loadon looked down at him, eyes glowing. "Loadon. My Creator's loading mech. I carry what my Creator cannot."
The words made their hearts race.
They glanced at Iseul's unconscious body, held in his arms with such careful protection.
Chang-min leaned toward the others, whispering, "What should we do a—"
"Ow!" He yelped as both elbows jabbed into his ribs.
"Shh. Too many ears and eyes," Choon-hee hissed.
"Tsk." Chang-min rubbed his side, muttering as frost shimmered across his palm. "Violent woman."
Her glare shut him up.
For now, they could only wait until Iseul and Hae-won woke. Questions would come later.
Joon-seok gave Loadon his villa's coordinates.
They arrived soon after—a sturdy B-class alloy house, clean and quiet, a stark contrast to Iseul's patched-together apartments.
She had never visited their home in all the years she had known them.
The house screamed comfort, but Loadon did not relax. He carried his Creator still, refusing to let anyone touch her. His glowing eyes shifted orange, blue, purple.
Chul-jun and Chang-min bristled, their gifts flaring at their fingertips.
"Give her to us!" Chang-min snapped, reaching out—only to grasp empty air.
"Not permitted," Loadon said flatly, lifting Iseul higher.
"You're just welded junk—you don't know how to care for her!" Chul-jun lunged.
Loadon twisted aside. "Access rejected. Not permitted."
"Knock it off!"
Choon-hee stomped forward, shoving the two boys back. "Fighting won't solve anything!"
Then she turned to the mech, her tone softening. "Please, Loadon. Show us what happened. I promise—we won't hurt her. She's our little sister too. Let us help heal her."
Loadon hesitated. He glanced at Iseul, then at them.
"Mechs, droids, and drones record logs. They can display holograms." Ji-ho voice was low, unreadable.
Then joon-soek sighed walking over.
"Remember, you trusted us enough to follow us—for her friends," Joon-seok said, taking his sister hae-won gently into his arms.
His jaw clenched, his eyes heavy with sorrow.
Loadon's gaze shifted blue as he looked down at his Creator, soft and fragile in his hold.
"Affirmative. Loadon is willing to share memory logs… and hand over my Creator for healing."