Jesper literally fabricated a drill out of a single diamond and some winch from a gate, despite having limited experience with his Grisha power, I DON'T want to hear a word about him being unintelligent or incompetent, SHUT UP.
Summary: What hurts more? To realise that their 'perfection' is purposefully written or how easily it is to be discarded by the one they were written for? They'll find out when you make your final decision.
Pairings: LADS Love Interests x Non/MC
Warnings: Angst with the ending decided. Caleb is turning up the gaslight-o-tron, so just be prepared, but hey, you tell him to KYS, so, uh, just be prepared for that too. But that's just a split second tho. Oh yeah, there's also an attempted murder near the end.
A/N: Yo. This chapter is not edited, btw. I just wanna get it out for those who've been patiently waiting. Once again, thank you for all the support. Seriously. Love y'all. Also, I reccomend listen to that flowers on tomb thing song while reading this. I've been listening it on loop while writing this piece before bed, lol.
Additional note to keep in mind:
MC = She/Her
Non!MC = You
(Part 1), (Part 2), (Part 3), (Part 4), Part 5
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In aviation, there are 3 golden principles every pilot must swear by during emergencies:
Aviate: Maintain control of the aircraft. If the aircraft isn't flying, nothing else matters.
Navigate: Know where you are and where you are going. Ensure you are on a safe course and avoiding obstacles or terrain.
Communicate: Talk to the ATC about your situation or seek support.
For Caleb, these 3 became more than just flying. They’re instinctual. Something he lives by. Something he uses to take control in every situation.
Control means security. Control means safety. Something that Caleb refuses to compromise by any means necessary.
So when the Onychinus Leader hacked into his phone to propose a deal regarding his Pipsqueak and you (after respectfully paying him back by infecting his system with a virus), he readily kicked off their plan, which raised the other man's eyebrow.
Aviate.
Because if there's one thing Caleb hates more than EVER, it's unknown variables that he can’t predict.
Qin's subsequent failure is a predictable variable, something that Caleb prepared for the moment he heard that song on the radio. He went in with music to soothe the beast, plying sweet words in order to tame you. Of course, he was set to fail.
What you need is a leather crop, some good rope, and a firm hand.
"Stop trying to mog me before I throw slurs at you. Ok. Well. Maybe not the N-word because my lines are still there, even if they're strings at this point, but, I'm definitely thinking of a hard R. What are you gonna do? Cancel me? Doxx me? Hah!"
...Maybe a gag too.
Somehow, without his men knowing or Caleb's, for that matter, you suddenly appear in the Fleet's newly fortified base right after a particular report about Linkon University and a damaged faculty wing was submitted to his table. You're seething, as he predicted, behind a thinly veneer of nonchalance that they're all accustomed to now. At least from a distance.
But he still remembers how you could summon wave after waves of Wanderers with human-capable intelligence without a Metaflux.
You're the unknown variable that Caleb made the mistake of underestimating, and now, the sheer magnitude of his colossal fucked up is in front of him. Which is why, if he needs to get you to listen, he has to do it as carefully as walking through a minefield.
Navigate.
"I take it that Sylus told you about our deal?" Caleb begins smoothly. He does everything by the book to de-escalate the situation. He's still sitting at his desk, both hands on the table so you can see them. His guns were on the counter somewhere, with some measurable distance between them, so you'll know he's unarmed. The large window behind displays the open sky and drifting clouds, hoping they could lighten your heart. He also spared the courtesy of offering you refreshment because most likely, you'll throw it at his head.
"None of you were ever going to help me go home!" You scream, and all pretense of nonchalance disappears. Hurt and so, so much anger practically drips from your tongue. There's something primal about it, the urge to tear him and probably the others, too, in pieces is clear in your own eyes, and yet, Caleb faces you head-on. "Y'all had me 1-on-1 just so you can figure out how I tick! What part of I don't wanna be here anymore none of you get? I know every single one of you fuckers doesn't give a shit about me, so stop pretending that you do, but Infold writers would've never written any of you to treat a woman so cruelly just to make MC look good, so why are you doing this to me!? The GAME is broken to the point that all of you are semi-aware enough, right? Right!? So all of this is on you, not the GAME!"
The silence that descends feels like a familiar hammer, only this time, Caleb is alone.
Slowly, he pushes himself up and does something that had you utterly flabbergasted and beyond anything you could’ve imagined.
Colonel Caleb Xia, one of the most, if not the most, powerful public figureheads in the world, bows with arms firm at his side in a sincere form of military apology.
"I am sorry. I... from the bottom of my heart, I offer you my sincerest apologies for treating you like a criminal." Caleb's voice is rough. You hate how he actually sounds like he means it. "All I ever wanted was to protect her, and in doing so, I treated you despicably. You deserve the truth, and that is... I was, no, am still afraid." His fingers curl into fists, as if he's mustering the courage to push the words out. "One day you appeared out of nowhere. A woman who shouldn't exist. Someone so impossible who knew things she wasn't supposed to know. Someone who could change things simply by being here." He then slowly lifts his head to stare at you again. "And from the moment you came here, all you did was try to survive. I can barely imagine how that feels like; to wake up in a world you recognise but didn't belong to. Every face was familiar and yet completely different. You must've been terrified." The realisation seems to hurt Caleb and against your wishes... it does something in you. You hate that you can see the man before the explosion changed him. Oh, you know Caleb was always a possessive freak when it comes to MC, but he was vulnerable behind the walls he built to protect himself, and by right, he only showed that side of himself to her. So you have no idea how to react now.
But much to your chagrin, Caleb wasn’t done yet. Oh, God.
"And instead of helping you, I kidnapped and tried to interrogate you. You didn't deserve that. I'm sorry. I know what you've lost."
"No, you don't." You interject waspishly, refusing to give him an inch. "What do you know of a healthy family? Josephine was a shitty excuse. I don't even wanna touch your whole deal with MC with a 10-foot poll."
Caleb's jaw ticked, and you would've grinned if you weren't so emotionally exhausted with everything.
"I know enough. You're far away from home and loved ones. Whatever future you've planned for yourself." He swallows. "And I'm sorry for every moment I made that burden heavier. I can't speak for the others but I'm sorry for the pain I've caused you."
"As if the others gave a shit! Pretending to actually—"
"Pretending? I've seen how Xavier's eyes find you even in a room full of people. He mentioned how you light up whenever there's a red bean bun. He loves that about you, the little things about you that he hoard like speckle of stars."
You turn away from him.
"Zayne keeps asking if you've been sleeping. He worries about your health more than his own. Did you know he's been researching patients with immunocompromised? He can't wait to share his progress with you. And Rafayel... he wants another chance. He thinks if he says the right words this time, you'll stop looking at him like he's already lost you."
That got your nose scrunched up and arms folded.
"And Sylus? We all can see how you have him in the palm of your hand. He's utterly fascinated. He sees a woman who keeps fighting, going so far as to defy our world. He admires that about you. And me?"
Caleb exhales once. Deep and heavy. "I envy you."
Your attention immediately snaps back at him. Say what!?
At your shock, a hollow smile adorned his handsome face.
"It infuriates me that... that you don't know how free you are. You move wherever you want. Say whatever you want. You're like a bird." Here, something wistful enters his expression. "You soar through the sky without asking for anyone's permission. You have to know that I've spent my entire life following orders. And somehow you became important to all of us." He then presses a hand on his chest, where the necklace you know is hidden. "You matter to her so naturally... you matter to us too."
The Colonel's office becomes so suffocatingly awkward that you just—
Then you started to laugh, a truly broken sound.
Caleb freezes.
"What does that matter? The GAME can erase me at any point now! I can die in a split second because I'm not supposed to be here, and all of you are too busy trying to play mind games on me, all because of your precious MC! So what exactly is all this love worth, hmm?" You sneer with shaking hands. "And by the way? Apology not accepted. Go kill yourself."
You could tell that your words hit him because Caleb had to stop himself from recoiling. For a moment, genuine pain flashes across his face.
Then something changes.
Something subtle.
Dangerous.
When he opens his eyes again, they are calm. Far too calm for your liking.
"You still don't get it."
"...Get what?"
"None of us chose this world. But you did. You downloaded the App."
A chill crawls up your spine. You... you didn't like the sudden shift of his tone.
With his gaze on you never wavering, you felt like a pinned butterfly underneath a microscope... or a magnifying glass on a hot day. "You chose to enter our lives. That's something none of us can do. Your existence isn't part of the GAME, which in theory, the rules don't own you because you're not MC or any of the side characters. You're a PLAYER... and your choice itself is power. If you stay—"
"Shut the fuck up."
"—you can become real here. You can become one of us."
"I don't want to fucking hear it!"
"If you choose to stay, we'll love you." His voice softens. "The GAME won't be able to delete you. We'll give you a home, a family and you'll never be alone again. All you have to do is choose."
"I don't want that! I want the life that I had! None of you could ever be my family! I want my parents, my siblings, and the friends I made from around the world. Even if my life isn't perfect and I hate my job, at least they belong to me! So no, Caleb. I won't ever choose this world because I will never want to. All of you need to accept that and let me go."
After your tirade and for the first time ever, Caleb looks tired. His shoulders sink with unseen weights.
Then he sighs. A sound heavy with regret. "I was hoping it wouldn't come to this."
Communicate.
Alarm bells started screaming at you.
"Sylus and I made an agreement: He was supposed to convince you with music and the promise of a new family. It's kind of funny, but he was supposed to play the part of the good cop due to his sins against you is lighter than mine." Caleb's expression then hardens. "But you're still not listening."
Your eyes warily follow him as he walks toward a nearby table and reaches for a plain black case. An easy thing to overlook, so don't be too harsh on yourself. The heavy-duty locks on it click open.
"Understand that I never want to do this. If you would just give us a chance, then none of this would've been necessary. Once you've calmed down enough, I'll remove it. I promise."
Terror, unlike anything you've ever experienced, tears through your body as panic begins to make you short of breath because...
Because Caleb is holding up a chip.
You don't remember moving. The next thing you knew was that you snatched one of his guns faster than he could react or use his Evol on you before aiming at his head and pulling the trigger.
We knew how crazy of a guy Cale, when still Kim Rok Soo, was during his apocalyptic employee and team leader days. But as the story keeps moving forward, it is getting out of hand. This is totally insane.
Like what do you mean that when you were a newbie in the company, during the post-apocalypse, you chased after a very strong criminal-organisation all alone, getting stabbed in process, jumping out of a building from two floors above, and then running away by riding a bicycle when you are still wounded.
AND it is just newbie days of his.
Well atleast in the dream he got to beat those sht heads up.
......
Tsk tsk, I am now in a constant habit of clicking my tongue and cursing in my head all because of Cale and Eruhaben-nim.
