Yongsan Electronics Market.
"Turn it up," Ha-eun ordered.
She stood on top of a stack of CRT monitors in the center of the main plaza. Around her, hundreds of civilians and trainees were frantically plugging in cables.
Every speaker in the market was wired together. Massive PA systems, cheap Bluetooth speakers, high-end home theater subwoofers. It was a Frankenstein's monster of audio equipment.
"Power at 98%!" a trainee shouted, holding two sparking wires together.
Ha-eun looked down the street.
A sea of yellow jackets was marching toward them. The Sleeper Army. They moved in perfect, terrifying silence, drawn by the biological heat signatures of the crowd.
"They're here," a civilian whimpered, gripping a baseball bat.
"Let them come," Ha-eun grabbed her mic.
She didn't sing. She hit play on the laptop connected to the master rig.
BOOOOM.
The sound was physical. It blew out the windows of the nearest shop.
It wasn't a song. It was the "Wake Up" track, looped, distorted, and amplified to a level that made teeth ache.
The front row of Sleepers stumbled. The sonic wall hit them like a riot hose. They clawed at their ears, their synchronization breaking.
"Keep them busy!" Ha-eun screamed over the noise. "Don't let a single one look up at the mountain!"
The market exploded into chaotic light and sound. It was the loudest concert in history, and the audience was trying to kill them.
Namsan Cable Car Station. The Base.
High above the chaos, the cable car swung gently in the wind.
It was an old metal box, suspended on a thick steel wire that vanished into the fog up the mountain.
"The motor is dead," Eden said, gripping the manual maintenance crank inside the cabin. "I must operate the pulley system manually."
"Can you pull us up a mountain?" Kai asked, eyeing the steep angle.
"I am rated for five tons of torque," Eden's eyes glowed blue. "However, my battery is at 14%."
"Just get us halfway," Yoo-jin said. "We'll crawl the rest if we have to."
The team piled into the car. It swayed sickeningly.
Yoo-jin looked out the scratched plexiglass. Below, Yongsan glowed like a bonfire. He could hear the faint thump of Ha-eun's distraction.
"They bought us time," Yoo-jin said. "Don't waste it."
Eden grabbed the crank. His servos whined.
Click-clack. Click-clack.
The car jerked upward.
They rose slowly, leaving the city behind. The lights of Seoul turned into a galaxy of stars below their feet.
Inside the car, it was dark. Ji-soo sat on the floor, hugging her knees. She was trembling.
"Cold?" Yoo-jin asked.
"Scared," she whispered. "He's up there. I can feel him."
"Apex?"
"He's in my head, Hyung. The signal... it's like a drill."
She tapped her temple.
"He knows we're coming. He's waiting."
"Let him wait," Yoo-jin checked the pistol he had taken from the unconscious soldier at the Dome. One magazine. "He thinks he's a god in a tower. But gods bleed."
"He doesn't bleed," Sae-ri murmured, looking at the looming Namsan Tower. "That's the problem."
The tower pierced the clouds. The spire pulsed with a rhythmic, violet light. It looked like a heartbeat. A toxic, electric heartbeat infecting the sky.
Suddenly, the car stopped.
They swung violently.
"Eden?" Yoo-jin barked.
"Obstruction," Eden strained against the crank. Sparks flew from his shoulder joint. "The counter-weight car is coming down."
Yoo-jin looked up the wire.
In a cable car system, when one car goes up, the other comes down. They pass each other in the middle.
Through the fog, the other car emerged. It was descending fast.
It wasn't empty.
The windows were smashed out. Standing on the roof of the descending car were four figures.
They wore white suits.
"The Aegis Clones," Kai hissed. "The spider-boys from the Dome."
"They're going to ram us!" Min-ji yelled.
"Eden! Brace for impact!"
Eden locked the crank. He threw his body against the door.
The descending car didn't slow down. The Clones on the roof leaped.
They didn't aim for the door. They aimed for the roof of Yoo-jin's car.
THUD. THUD. THUD.
The metal ceiling dented inward. The whole car dropped five feet, bouncing on the wire.
Sae-ri screamed as the floor tilted. David grabbed the railing, his laptop sliding toward the open window.
"Roof breach!" Eden shouted.
A white-gloved hand punched through the metal ceiling like it was paper. Then another. They were peeling the car open like a sardine can.
"Min-ji! Kai! Roof duty!" Yoo-jin ordered.
"Are you insane?" Kai yelled. "It's a thousand-foot drop!"
"Then don't fall!"
Yoo-jin kicked the emergency hatch open.
Min-ji didn't hesitate. She climbed up, her bat clamped in her teeth. Kai followed, pulling a knife he'd swiped from the kitchen.
The Roof of the Cable Car.
The wind was a hurricane.
Min-ji stood up on the swaying metal box. Three Clones stared at her. Their eyes were red LEDs in the dark.
"Dance battle?" Min-ji grinned, spitting out the bat handle.
The lead Clone lunged.
He was fast, but Min-ji was angry. She side-stepped, swinging the bat low.
CRACK.
She took his knee out.
The Clone stumbled, but didn't scream. He grabbed the bat.
"Inefficient weapon," the Clone droned.
"It's not a weapon," Min-ji let go of the bat. "It's a distraction."
She tackled him.
She slammed her shoulder into his chest, using his own momentum.
The Clone tipped over the edge.
He fell silently into the black void of Namsan Park below.
"One down!" Min-ji yelled.
Behind her, Kai was fighting two at once. He moved like water, dodging punches that would have taken his head off.
"Help!" Kai shouted, ducking a spin kick. "I'm a vocalist, not a ninja!"
Inside the car, the ceiling groaned. A fourth Clone dropped through the hole, landing directly in front of Yoo-jin.
The space was tiny. Claustrophobic.
The Clone grabbed Yoo-jin by the throat and slammed him against the plexiglass.
CRACK.
The window spiderwebbed behind Yoo-jin's head.
"Subject 734," the Clone tightened his grip. "Your heartbeat is irregular. Fear detected."
Yoo-jin couldn't breathe. He clawed at the Clone's plastic-perfect face.
"Not... fear," Yoo-jin choked out.
He reached into his pocket. He pulled out the flare he had saved from the tunnel.
He jammed it into the Clone's open mouth.
"Heartburn."
Yoo-jin yanked the ignition cord.
FWOOSH.
Red fire exploded inside the car. The Clone thrashed, letting go of Yoo-jin. Smoke filled the cabin.
"Eden! Open the door!"
Eden kicked the sliding door open.
Yoo-jin drop-kicked the burning Clone.
The flaming figure tumbled out into the night, a falling star screaming in binary.
"Clear!" Yoo-jin gasped, coughing smoke.
On the roof, Min-ji and Kai slid back down through the hatch, bruised and bleeding.
"All clear upstairs," Kai panted, clutching his ribs. "But the wire is fraying. We need to move."
"Eden," Yoo-jin pointed at the crank. "Double time."
"Overriding safety limits," Eden said. "My joints may fuse."
"Fuse them. Just get us to the dock."
Eden roared—a mechanical sound of stressing metal. He cranked the handle so fast it blurred.
The car shot upward.
The Summit.
The car didn't stop at the station. It slammed into the docking bay.
CRASH.
Glass shattered. The car swung wildly, burying itself in the concrete buffer.
"Out! Out! Out!"
They scrambled onto the platform.
The air up here was different. It crackled with static electricity. The hair on Yoo-jin's arms stood up.
Namsan Tower loomed above them.
It wasn't just a tower anymore. It was a beacon. The violet light was so intense it hurt to look at.
And standing at the base of the tower, blocking the entrance to the elevator, was a figure.
He didn't wear a white suit. He wore a black hanbok, stylized with gold circuitry patterns.
He held a long, silver microphone stand like a staff.
It wasn't a Clone. It was the Original Copy.
Apex.
He looked up from his tablet. He looked tired.
"You are noisy," Apex said. His voice was amplified by the tower speakers, booming over the mountain.
"We brought the party," Yoo-jin stepped forward, flanked by his battered team.
"The party is over," Apex tapped his staff on the ground.
Behind him, the tower pulsed.
A wave of sound hit them. It wasn't loud. It was silent pressure.
Ji-soo fell to her knees, screaming silently.
"He's transmitting!" David yelled, clutching his head. "He's broadcasting the Omega Signal directly from his brain!"
"I am the signal," Apex smiled. It was a sad, terrible smile. "And you are just interference."
He pointed the staff at Yoo-jin.
"Delete them."
From the shadows of the park, fifty more figures emerged.
Not Clones.
Civilians. Sleeper Agents.
Tourists who had been caught on the mountain. Lovers who came for the view.
Their eyes were glowing violet. They held rocks, sticks, and knives.
Apex had enslaved the bystanders.
"You won't hurt them," Apex said softly. "You are the 'Good Guys'. You save the fans."
He gestured to the mindless mob.
"So let them kill you."
The mob charged.
Yoo-jin looked at the innocent people rushing to tear them apart.
He looked at Apex, standing smugly at the gate of his electric castle.
"Sae-ri," Yoo-jin said.
"Yeah?" She raised her bat, hands shaking.
"Don't hit the head."
Yoo-jin raised his empty hands.
"Starforce!" he yelled. "Defensive formation! Push through!"
They ran toward the mob.
Not to fight. To survive.
The climb was over. The siege had begun.