Summery: After EXO are separated and chased down, they find themselves in a nightmare. Reality and dream intermingle as they become the center of experimentation under the Red Force.
First, Prev, Finale, AO3
Chapter 7: Falling Deeper
“Teleportation test using subject Teleporter and Teleporter clone #87. Objective: successfully send subject Time Manipulator through dimensional portal.”
Tao blinked his eyes open, the mechanical voice piercing his ears. Everything felt numb except for his knees which were screaming in pain from how he knelt on the metal grid-like flooring. As he tried to readjust, he found that he was being held in place, and his still foggy mind tried to figure out why.
“Tao!”
The voice was raspy but familiar and he turned his head quickly in search of his brother. Kai was to his left, hooked up to a large machine, his eyes frantic as he tried to tug free from the metal cuffs restraining him.
Tao tried to move again to get to him, but he was held firmly.
“Be still,” a voice spoke sharply by his ear and he looked up at the two women restraining him, the same emotionless expression on their faces that he had come to know the few times he had been conscious.
There was the familiar mechanical swishing of a door opening behind him, immediately followed by loud protests and shuffling. He couldn’t turn enough, but watched as Kai went pale, eyes blown wide. The sounds began to round him on the right and Tao turned to see what had caused his brother to react in such a way. Two more women were pulling in someone else who was weak and stumbling, but fighting regardless.
“Let go of me!”
The voice made Tao’s heart stop and recheck that Kai was indeed secured next to him before seeking out the other man. They were hoisting him into a machine that was a duplicate of Kai’s, giving Tao a clear view of his face. His blood ran cold as a memory raced across the back of his mind of his own doppelganger and everything that had transpired in that brief interaction. Kai looked taken aback, meaning this was possibly his first interaction with a clone.
What had the voice said earlier? Number 87? Was that the tally of clones total? Or just Kai’s?
“Beginning connection.” One of the mechanical female voices said, regaining Tao’s attention as she began to hook up wires and pads to the now restrained clone who was still fighting.
When they moved away from him, his eyes followed them, then met Tao’s gaze, making him go completely still. The clone tilted his head in confusion and Tao had to look away from the startling marine eyes that were completely different from the warm dark brown of his brother’s who he sought out for comfort. But Kai’s eyes were on the clone, his brows pinched in equal confusion and concern.
“What…?” Kai asked just above a whisper and the clone’s eyes darted to him. He repeated the observation process that he had done with Tao, head tilting slowly one way, then the other.
Their eyes didn’t separate as the women moved away, but as they began to busy themselves with a panel, Kai dragged his gaze away from the clone and back to Tao.
“Are you okay?” he asked, then, after a beat, he swallowed harshly. “You’re— you are you, right?”
Tao nodded quickly. “I am. It’s me.”
Before any more could be said, one of the women spoke up. “Ready to initiate teleportation test.”
“Exo-subject: Time Manipulator, ready,” one of the women holding him said.
“Exo-subject: Teleporter, ready,” another said.
“Teleporter clone #87, ready,” the first said. “Initiating test.” She pushed several buttons on the panel and the equipment that Kai and the clone were hooked up to lit up.
“Wait, teleportation test?” Kai asked. “Tao.” Their eyes met for a frantic second before Kai turned to the woman at the panel as she started to turn a dial on the machine. “Stop! Where are you sending him? You ca—” He broke off in a scream as electricity traveled through the wires connected to him, his clone screaming as well as electricity traveled to him.
“S-stop,” Tao stuttered as his eyes began to burn and anger rushed through him. “Stop it!” He began to struggle against the hold on him. A small gray circle began to form in between the clones and he gasped then doubled his efforts to escape as it grew with their screams. Once it was the size of a person, he was drug forward. No amount of fight he gave loosened their vice grip on his arms or slowed them down. Nor did they slow as the machinery began to spark uncontrollably and the gray portal in front of him shifted.
“Stop!” Kai yelled suddenly between screams. “It— ah— It’s not stable. You can’t—” He cut off in a groan, trying to hold another scream in. “Tao! I’m sorry, I ca— I can’t stop it. I can’t—”
With another scream, Tao sought him out again as he was pulled closer to the portal, tears now streaming down his face, fear replacing his anger. Sweat was rolling down Kai’s face which was strained from the pain, his muscles taught as he tried to fight the machine.
Tao could undo this. If he could use his powers, he would be able to go back far enough and break away before the clone was hooked up. Save both of them from the torture.
Alarms started to blare and one of the mechanical voices said something about the test failing.
Reaching deep inside himself for his powers he looked at his brother as a headache began. “Kai!” he shouted, but the next moment he was shoved and lost his footing, his vision turning gray as the room vanished, quickly replaced by bright lights and colors erupting in front of him. Pain stabbed his brain as pressure built in his chest, his powers bursting forth as he lost consciousness.
Tao’s story continues in “Time’s Castaway”
Taglist: @chaysingthesun
First, Prev, Finale, AO3
The final chapter is up! Just wanted to leave a note for future readers, Tumblr marked it as mature. No idea why, because it's not. The link above works fine, but it won't show up on your page or the blog if you have filters on. I've asked for a review of it, so hopefully it gets fixed. But I just wanted to let everyone know in case you clicked the link and got confused about the warning.
