June 22, 2032 - 14:02.

  77 Hanju-ro, Pyeongtaek Warehouse.

  It was a rundown warehouse that was fully empty as they saw two figures hidden in the shadows.

  “Is this them?” A weird accented man came out with Stretch.

  “Yep.”

  “Stretch?” Hwayeon looked at her before looking at the grey-haired old man. He was buff for his age, and gave the worst first impression.

  “What? Ne’er seen these guns before?” He huffed as he emphasised his muscle and then patted his gun on his side.

  Stretch sighed, “Furies, this is Old Man Junkie. Junkie for short. He is an awakener presumed to be dead. He is alive since I and one other helped save him.”

  Junkie cackled, “What the… these are the new kids? They look pretty spoiled… we suffered through mayhem. Kekeke.”

  The Furies frowned, it was as if he just disregarded their attempts at escaping a high-security experiment laboratory.

  “Enough. Junkie will help you escape to America.” Stretch sighed.

  “America? Why?” Taeseok raised his brows.

  “June, ya sure these kids are competent? They’re a bit slow if ya ask me.” Junkie chuckled, “They’re on the run and yet they still have time to ask questions.”

  Stretch sighed, “He’s right, you guys should go.”

  “Not ‘we should go’? You’re not coming with us, Stretch?” Yerin asked, wary of the uncouth behaviour of Junkie.

  Stretch smiled warmly, “No. I have something to do today.”

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  “Will we see you again?” Minggu looked weary from the 2 hour walk.

  “…” Stretch didn’t answer as she smiled, “Junkie, if you will.”

  “Alright. Come in my boat, ya babies.” Junkie grunted, starting the boat engine.

  The Furies went up as Hwayeon yelled, “Thank you for everything!”

  Stretch waved at them as she began to work. The first thing she did was remove their traces to throw off the trackers. Then she ran back to the LAB.

  I need to destroy it.

  ***

  In the boat, a few hours later.

  Seohwa groaned as she stirred awake.

  “Seohwa!” Jiho went up to her worriedly, “You ok?”

  “Nope.” Seohwa slowly got up as she noticed that they were in a boat, “What happened?”

  “Is sleeping beauty awake?” Junkie chuckled as he stirred the boat.

  “…Who’s this?” Seohwa tilted her head.

  “The name’s Junkie.”

  “…I’m Seo—!”

  “Code name.” Junkie interjected, “Junkie is my code name, ya should only tell me your code name.”

  “… Viper.” Seohwa smiled weakly, knowing they were in good hands.

  “Since we here and the journey’s long, tell me something ‘bout yaselves, won’t ya?” Junkie smirked.

  ***

  After telling him everything, Junkie stayed quiet as he huffed, “Ya still babies. Yet ya went through something like that…” His tone was devoid of any arrogance unlike when they first met.

  “Ya got my apologies for underestimating ya.”

  “Apology accepted.” Taeseok munched on some chips he kept in his snack jacket.

  Junkie was baffled, “Where in the world did ya get that?”

  “Please excuse, Tae—Bear.” Hwayeon sighed, “He is a glutton.”

  “I can tell that much. I may be half-blind, but I ain’t fully blind yet.”

  Seohwa then asked, “What do you do, sir?”

  “Sir?” Junkie cackled, “Call me Junkie, lass.”

  “Sorry, si—I mean, Junkie.” Seohwa sighed.

  “Hm, first things first when we get there, y’all have to remove yar military training… I ain’t gonna go easy on ya just because ya have my sympathies… I’mma train y’all to be hardcore mercenaries…”

  “What?!” They all yelled.

  “Jeez, no need to blow me ears off.” Junkie scratched his ear with his pinky, “June... Ah, ya call her Stretch right? She told me to be yar guardian ‘til ya become adults… whatever you define raising, that is.”

  The Furies all glanced at each other worriedly as they looked at the somewhat goofy new adult guardian around them.

  There must be a reason Stretch chose him right?

  “What do you gain from this?” Yerin calmly asked.

  “I owe Jun—Stretch my life. And I’m gettin’ old so I need some mates to help me ‘round my base.” Junkie cackled.

  Ah so we’re slaves then…

  Jiho then asked curiously, noticing all the guns on his boat, “Stretch said you were an awakener. What gen are you?”

  “Me?” Junkie raised his brows as he took off his cap. He then bent his arms as he showed off his thick arm muscles, “Ya see these guns?”

  The Furies raised their brows at him.

  He proudly smirked, “Ya can call me Gen Zero, lad. I didn’t awaken with the help of some shady formula like ya lot.”