~The Next Day || 13:16~

Chaeyoung takes a deep breath, stepping out onto the stage and smiling. People are already yelling, demanding answers to their questions. Some are cheering, some are booing. It doesn't bother her. There's a million flashes going off in her face that will be the cover of a bunch of online articles. She can't wait to read the slander that will be put against her. She's always looking for someone to sue. No one messes with her; she needs to keep that title up and strong.

She steps up to the podium, the crowd dialing down as she places both her hands on the sides of it. The mic isn't too far away, on and ready for her to speak. So, she does. "Good afternoon, everyone. Today I have a few things to update you on. I was given this honor to lead us in this time of need, and I promised I would lead us strongly and with dignity. A part of that dignity is being completely transparent about the events happening since this impacts everyone's lives."

Chae takes a moment to glance over the crowd of journalists and civilians. "Jose Belcourt attempted to assassinate me in my office two days ago. Out of self defense, I shot him. However, this experience has left me shaken. I believe he might have been a Martian spy." There's several gasps in the audience. "This is not a claim I make lightly. Mars has been getting dangerously close to our borders and has ignored our comm requests for months. If Mars does not step forward and speak to me directly, I will publicly declare war on Mars. After speaking with my Commission and Council, we believe this to be the best step. Mars, I'll speak right to you now."

As the crowd lets out cries and pleas, Chaeyoung turns to the nearest camera livestreaming the conference. "You have until the end of this week to reach out to me. You have three days. If I hear nothing in three days, we're retaliating with full force." She glares at the camera for a few more seconds before turning back to the press in front of her. "At this time, I will be taking questions. You in the front."

She points to the first hand she sees, and he stands. "Is the crew of the Moonchild going to help us in any way?"

Of course he's worried about them. The public seems to care more about them than themselves. "Captain Park Jimin and I are in close contact. He has already signed his crew to the Earth military and has promised to be part of it until Mars backs off. So yes, the crew of the Moonchild will be frontrunners. Next." Multiple hands shoot up, so Chaeyoung mentally sighs. "You."

A girl stands, eyeing Chaeyoung. "What makes you believe Jose Belcourt was a Martian spy?" Alright, she'll give credit where credit is due. That's a good question.

"Good question. Jose Belcourt came out of no where to meet me. The only reason why we had a meeting was because he was a higher up for a business financially supporting our weapons department. Upon having my team dig into him, there's not much on his past we can find. In this age, everyone has a pretty public past. If I can't find anything, then what does that say? He came out of no where and somehow he hid a pistol from the pat down given at the front. I'm not taking any chances here. From now on, I will have guards in my office for all meetings. Next."

Questions and questions and questions. There's too many to count at this rate. Chaeyoung answers a good ten generic questions before finally having enough. "Unfortunately that's all the time I have for today. Thank you everyone for coming out, and I hope I answered your questions well. As soon as I get word from Mars, I'll make a statement. For now, just stay home and stay safe. Lock your doors and remember to keep to yourselves until tensions dial down. Thank you."

She ignores the reporters shouting out her name. Instead, she turns on her heel and struts down the stage. "That was great, Miss Park!" her assistant calls as soon as Chae steps into the backstage area.

"Thank you, is my two o'clock still on for today?"

"Yes ma'am. However there's a slight issue."

"A slight... issue?" Chae asks.

"Yes ma'am. You see, Kim Seokjin is in your office right now." Chaeyoung freezes, shifting on her heel and tilting her head at her assistant.

"Who the fuck is Kim Seokjin?"

~13:35~

Jin sits there, glaring at her desk as the door closes. She must be back from her press conference. Took her long enough. Turns out pretending you work in the building by going through the back gives him a lot of perks. With the help of Yoongi, he snuck through the back and blended in with the workers. He managed to slip inside Chae's office after getting directions from Yoons, and he's been waiting ever since. He got confronted by a worker, but as soon as he explained who he wa,s they let him go. He just pretended to be her two o'clock meeting there early.

"Kim Seokjin. I forgot you were apart of the crew," Chaeyoung says.

"Leader of Earth is forgetful. Got it," Jin replies. He's sitting in a seat in front of her desk, refusing to look back at her. He can practically feel the glare the two guards in the corner of the room are giving him, but he doesn't care. Jin has his eyes on one target: Chaeyoung. He isn't here to fight, or argue. He's here to talk. That's it, believe it or not.

She strolls forward, her heels clinking against the ground as she approaches her desk and goes around it. Soon enough, she's sitting across from him, raising a single brow. "I have a two o'clock meeting, so please do make this quick so I can set up for it. Is there something I can do for you?" she asks.

"Yes actually, there is."

"Alright, please elaborate. And if you're here to talk about your dear Captain, I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave-"

"Sorry to interrupt, but that's not what I'm here to talk about. I don't care about that."

Chaeyoung only seems more confused. "You don't?"

"Do you believe in the phrase 'whatever can happen will happen'?"

"Murphy's law. Of course I do," she says. Jin expected her to be smart enough to know Murphy's law. Good. Progress.

"That's how I feel right now. It happened, and if it's meant to work itself out, it works itself out. I can't do anything about it, so what would change by sitting here and berating you?"

She leans back in her chair. "You're bluffing, aren't you?" Hell yes he is, but he's not going to let that show.

"No. Whether or not you believe me is up to you, but I have no reason to bluff. I didn't come here to talk about that anyway, I came to ask for a job," Jin replies.

"A job? Didn't your friend Kang Seulgi just ask me for a job yesterday?"

"That's different, she was blending in to catch a spy. I'm the only one on the crew who doesn't have an assignment. Watching my friends rush around while there's nothing I can do to help bothers me. Earth is my home now too."

She slowly nods in understanding. "I appreciate you coming to me. Isn't your pilot back? Byun Baekhyun?"

"Yes, he is. I'm sure he'd like an assignment as well."

After a few beats of silence, Chaeyoung sighs. "Alright, how about this. I have a team going up in a patrol ship near Mars tonight. We don't have much to spare, so any extra help we can get is appreciated. They only have one engineer, a second one wouldn't be a bad idea."

"I'm in," Jin says.

"Good. It departs from the main docks tonight at seven."

"I'll be there at six."

She smiles. "Excellent. You'll be working under Captain Gorly. He'll give me a report, but come back to me once you're done. I'll give you another assignment, plus, you can give me a more detailed report, don't you think?" she asks, but it sounds more like a statement.

"Yes ma'am."

"Alright, then you're dismissed." Jin politely nods, standing and starting to trot away. As soon as he reaches the door, she calls out to him. So, he turns his head. "I know you're lying about Jimin. I can see it in your eyes how much you care about him and his safety, but I appreciate you containing it nonetheless. Your crew has somehow managed to solve every issue the solar system has. If I can get that luck on my side, the people of Earth will be saved."

Jin raises a brow. "You actually care about Earth?"

She frowns at that. "I lead it."

"Well sure, but..."

She sighs. "I get what you mean, but what I did to Jimin was because of Y/N. I didn't do it because I wanted to control the crew. Granted, that's a nice benefit, but I did it to punish Y/N," she says.

"Are you satisfied?"

She seems taken aback by the question. "Wha... what?" she whispers, gazing at him with confusion.

"With Jimin. With Y/N. Did she suffer enough?" he asks, but there's no hostility in his tone. It's a genuine question. Chaeyoung purses her lips in thought, likely not wanting to answer. "Well?" Jin adds, somehow managing to stay calm.

After a few moments, she lets out a breath. "She did."

"And will you continue to make her suffer?" That's the question that makes Chae go completely still. When she doesn't answer, Jin frowns. "What was your plan, anyway? Get Jimin, make her suffer, and then what? What happens after you're satisfied? Do you let Jimin go? Do you keep him and punish the entire crew, not just Y/N? What was your master plan?"

She swallows, keeping her eyes on her desk. "You can go now."

"I'm trying to discuss this calmly, but if you want me to start being dramatic, I'm very, very good at that, so-"

"You can go now," she repeats, refusing to meet his eyes.

He waits a few more moments before shaking his head. "Okay." Jin opens the door, glancing out at the hallway waiting for him. He can't resist: he turns his head to peek at her over his shoulder. "Chaeyoung?" She doesn't reply or look up. "I know pain does a lot to you. I know sometimes you lash out and do things you may regret, but it's not too late to turn back." She finally looks up, but she still doesn't speak. "You can still make this right."

Without waiting for her response, he leaves.

~16:00~

"What the hell are you doing here?"

"Um, checking on my crew?" Jimin says in a questioning tone. Yoongi blinks. That was not the answer he was expecting. "Can I come in?" Despite how much Yoongi wants to say no, what kind of crewmate would deny their Captain? So, Yoongi sighs and steps aside. Jimin strolls in, eyeing the place with curiosity as Yoongi closes the door and leans against it.

"What brings you here?"

"As I said, I'm checking on my crew."

"No, why are you really here? To taunt us?" Yoongi asks.

Jimin looks back at him in shock. "Taunt you?" he asks in confusion.

Yoongi slightly softens, but only slightly. "Fine. What do you want to know?"

"For starters where is everyone?"

"Y/N, Baekhyun, and Taehyung are at the hospital with Jungkook. Seulgi is out following a lead on a spy, Hoseok is here doing more research, and Jin is pacing back and forth in the kitchen." Jimin raises a brow. "I don't know, something about an assignment from Chaeyoung he has to do at seven. Don't ask me."

Jimin shrugs it off and walks deeper inside the mansion. "Can I see Hoseok?"

"He's in his room," Yoongi replies. Jimin seems suspicious of Yoongi's behavior but doesn't press. Yoongi watches as Jimin goes up the grand staircase, tracing his fingers up the railing as he takes the steps. Yoongi almost wants to scowl at the Captain's mannerisms. This isn't Jimin. This isn't his true Captain. Why is he following his orders? Oh yeah, because last time he tried to fight it, he ended up with a bruised face. Those bruises aren't fading anytime soon. Ironic, isn't it? Almost like the bruises are a reminder not to disobey her. If Yoongi can't even beat her in a fight...

Yoongi goes into the kitchen, ignoring Jimin to instead look for Jin. He never thought he'd be looking for Jin in his life, but here he is. The man is pacing still, mumbling to himself. However, he stops once he notices Yoongi's presence. He blinks, waiting for Yoongi to talk.

"Jimin's here," Yoongi says.

Jin groans. "Really?"

"Really. I guess today is going to be more eventful than we thought."

"It was already pretty eventful," Jin says, kicking at the floor. Yoongi can't help but agree. He steps forward, leaning against the edge of the kitchen table and watching Jin. The Engineer turns towards Yoongi, raising a single brow. "What should we do?"

"I have no idea. I didn't tell him what you were doing yet. Do you think he'll care?"

"I doubt it. If anything, it might damage his relationship with Chaeyoung."

"Why would it damage it?" Yoongi asks.

"Well I mean, he's an engineer. Why wouldn't she just send him?"

"He's the Captain," Yoongi says.

"Fair, but it's not like we're doing anything yet."

Yoongi shrugs. "I guess that's true. The war hasn't officially started... yet."

"Do you think it will?"

"After what she said during her press conference? Definitely. If Mars hasn't replied, it's because they want war. They just don't want to declare it for some reason," Yoongi says.

"Maybe so they can blame Earth?" Jin asks.

"That's possible, but I don't know. That doesn't seem very smart if you ask me."

"You are the one with intelligence enhancements," Jin replies with a sigh.

After a few seconds of silence, footsteps sound off from not too far away. Jin and Yoongi turn back in time to see Hoseok and Jimin heading into the kitchen. Hoseok is in front of the Captain, moving fast as if trying to avoid the man behind him. Yoongi can't blame him. No one really wants to talk to Jimin right now, and for good reason. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like anyone's getting out of talking to Jimin today.

"Make sure to stay on your toes, we don't have much time until the war starts," Jimin says, not caring that Hoseok is trying to ignore him. The three men stare at Jimin, not speaking but nodding. Silence washes over the small group. No one's sure what to say exactly. Yoongi wants to ask Hoseok how his research is coming along, but he doesn't want to ask that in front of Jimin. Is that weird? He can't tell if that's weird or not.

"Everyone okay?" Jimin asks, glancing around with furrowed brows.

"Yeah, we're just... here. Not much to talk about I guess," Yoongi quietly answers for the others. They nod in agreement. Jimin backs off despite being suspicious.

"Okay. Comm me if you need anything. Hoseok, I want any leads you have sent to me so I can make Chaeyoung aware."

"This is my operation," Hoseok suddenly says.

The others go quiet in shock, staring at the man. "Excuse me?" Jimin asks.

"She gave this assignment to me. No offense, Jimin, but anything I find goes right to her. I'm not wasting my time giving it to you so you can play messenger and give it to her. You said it yourself: we don't have much time until the war starts. Let me do my job, and I'll let you do yours."

Jimin looks mildly impressed. "Fair enough, but I still want updates. I want as many updates as possible."

"Oh this is bullshit," Yoongi says in a hiss, shaking his head in disbelief.

"What is?" Jimin asks.

"Is anyone going to address this? This whole thing?"

"What whole thing?"

"Oh don't play dumb, Jimin!" Yoongi says, staring right at the man. "The fact that our Captain has a chip in his brain and we're being forced to do things for a leader who is causing us this much pain. My best friend is in there somewhere, probably suffering because Chaeyoung needed to 'punish' Y/N for something that anyone would have done in her shoes! This is complete bullshit!" Yoongi kicks the closest kitchen chair, his body overcome with anger. His veins nearly pop out of his neck.

"You know what else is bullshit? You trying to attack Chaeyoung! Yoongi what were you thinking? Fighting the leader of Earth? I thought you had intelligence enhancements!" Jimin shouts back.

"And I thought she had respect! I thought she had the common sense not to stick a chip in someone's head and make them act this way!" Yoongi yells, banging his fist on the table.

Jin and Hoseok jump, scared by Yoongi's anger. "You've never had emotion, stop pretending you care now," Jimin says, shaking his head in disgust.

"I care more about this crew than I care about myself! Because of people like the real Jimin, I do know what emotion is. I do. I've learned. I'm not going to sit here and pretend that I'm okay with this. I'm going to fight until my last breath to get Jimin back. To get my best friend back!"

Jimin rolls his eyes. "Such a stupid crew. So optimistic for no reason. What don't you get? Your Jimin is gone, I'm the only Jimin you'll ever get!"

"Bullshit!" Hoseok says. He stares down Jimin, who stares back. "We're not losing our Captain to some butthurt girl who can't handle that her sister was a psychopath!"

"Don't say that about her!"

"Jimin, you're delusional!" Jin says. "We know it's not you, and real Jimin, if you're in there, this isn't meant towards you. But fuck, what the hell is going on anymore?" he adds. Yoongi and Hoseok nod in agreement.

"I don't know what you want me to say. There's nothing more I can say that hasn't already been said," Jimin says. The three stare at their 'Captain' with hate in their eyes.

"As soon as you're free, I'm killing her," Yoongi says. Hoseok and Jin glance at Yoongi for a moment, then nod, once again agreeing.

"You're not Jimin. I'll never accept you as him. You're just someone wearing his face. You're an impostor. A fake," Hoseok says before storming out of the room.

Jimin watches him go, unbothered by the man's words. "I can't believe this," Jin grumbles. He motions to Yoongi. "Let's go. I don't want to deal with this anymore." Yoongi nods, following Jin out of the kitchen. Jimin stands there, no emotion in his eyes as the last two depart the area. What the fuck is going on anymore? Arguing isn't even worth it since they can't change a machine. They can't bring back their Jimin.

They can't.

~19:00~

Jin straps himself in, doing one last check on the systems before mentally deciding that's enough for now. Captain Gorly is onboard and already told Jin what to do. He's pretty much just an engineer. The usual. It's a small ship, nothing too fancy. Hell, Jin isn't even sure what class it is, all he knows is that it's small. Very, very small. There's a crew size of twenty, and most of them are in the cockpit right now, all strapped in and ready to take off.

"Rookie, you need anything?" a man asks Jin, who shakes his head in response.

"I'm okay, I'm used to liftoffs by now. The pilot I work with is so rough I'm surprised my back isn't fucked. Can't be any worse than him, right?" Poor Baekhyun is getting bullied even though he isn't here.

The man chuckles. "Fair enough, I'll tell our pilot to take it easy on your old bones."

"I'm not that old!" Jin says in a dramatic whine.

He turns his attention back to the window, staying still even as the engines rumble to life. Normally this would be a familiar feeling, but he hasn't been on the Moon in a long time. The movement shocks him, but he manages to control himself and adjust easily enough.

Space. What a wonderful, terrifying thing. They're going near Mars to patrol. It'll take a bit to get there, but with their new boosters, what would be several days of a trip is now only several minutes. The more advanced they get, the more space travel is cut down. Earth to Mars is one of the easiest trips nowadays.

Soon enough, the ship (that Jin doesn't know the name of) is taking off, the sky and all its colors bursting into Jin's vision. The beautiful blue and the milky clouds all explode inside Jin's brain as his eyes process every single sight. Granted, they're not in Earth's atmosphere that long, but it's long enough that Jin gets the chance to let out a 'wow' or two at the beauty passing by his equally beautiful face.

Within what feels like seconds, the sky fades into a cooler color. It progressively gets darker and darker until they're in space. Jin lets out a small breath as the engines cut for a moment, readjusting their course before starting up again. Jin's body hits the back of the seat as he winces. The speed is something he hates, but oh well. There's not much he can do there. All he can do is hope they slow down soon.

Sometimes there would even be drugs given to the crew (and attached to the seats) if the ship's speed got too fast for a human to handle. Luckily they're not at such speeds yet, but Jin could sure go for some painkillers right about now. Or some alcohol. Or both: he's not picky. All he wants is something to take the edge off. Despite being an engineer born on Sturgeon, he hates space travel. He always has. That's why he enjoys Earth so much. Well, that and because he has a crew by his side. A family by his side.

Jin closes his eyes and decides against looking, letting the minutes tick by. One minute, then two, then three. He counts sheep in his head, thinking of what they'll find at Mars that could potentially help them. If anything can help them, that is. Jin doesn't have much hope. What is he gonna do? Whine about it? Actually, yeah. Yeah, he can. That's totally a Jin thing to do.

After about twenty minutes, the red lights flick on and the speed slows. Jin lets out a sigh of relief, smiling as his body starts to like him again. He doesn't feel like jello. There's a first for everything.

The man next to Jin wakes him up, which he's grateful for. The first thing Jin sees when he opens his eyes is the Red Planet. Jin's eyes widen as he takes in the sight. Wow, it's beautiful. Not as beautiful as Jin, but beautiful.

One thing Jin will say is that space is gorgeous. The planets, the moons, the space stations; it's all so vast. So amazing. How does something so astonishing other than Jin himself exist?

Mars. Mars is right in front of him, not too far away. They're just outside of the red zone (haha red). They're not trying to get blown up, but they're also trying to get close enough to run some scans on the surface.

"Do you think they'll blow up a probe if we send it?" Captain Gorly asks with a snort. Jin chooses not to judge and instead decides to peer out the window again.

A probe. Would that work? Would it be able to get close enough to get good, informative pictures and recordings? Would it be able to get close enough without causing an early war? Jin hopes and prays that Mars talks to Park Chaeyoung instead of this whole silence game. It's getting frustrating.

Jin is so mad at Chaeyoung. Well, all of the crew is, but he hasn't shown it much. He might not show it, but Jin's pissed. Beyond pissed, actually. Jimin was a great guy, a great friend. Their Captain. Chaeyoung was so calm and dismissive of it. What kind of person can pretend they didn't do one of the worst things ever? That's worse than murder. She's torturing him to death. What if they remove the chip and there's brain damage (even more so than he probably already has from the coma)? What if they can't remove the chip at all? What if he comes back different? Oh gosh, what if even without the chip he acts the same way? Jin didn't even think of that, but anything's possible. He said it himself: Murphy's law. Whatever can happen will happen.

"Alright, get the scanners ready. Where's our rookie? Engineer?"

Jin perks up. "Here sir." Truthfully, Jin doesn't like receiving orders from other people. And by other people he means people who aren't Jimin and Jungkook. Or Seulgi. Pretty much the entire crew, but mostly Jimin. As far as Jin is concerned, Jimin is his commanding officer. Whatever Jimin says goes. However, obviously he has to adjust every once in a while. So, he sighs and pays attention to what this 'Captain Gorly' has to say.

"Our scanners have been wonky lately," Captain Gorly says, causing Jin to raise a brow. Wonky? Really? There's no better word to use? Gosh, Jin hasn't heard that word in ages. He thought it died out back in the 2070s. Then again, who is he to judge? Actually, dumb question. He's Kim motherfucking Seokjin. He's better than everyone on this ship. Better in all senses. Looks, skills, experience, everything. He can judge if he wants to.

"Please keep an eye on them, this is an important mission. I don't want them dying on us in the middle of our scan," Captain Gorly says. Jin can't help but mentally scoff. Important mission but they didn't think to fix their scanners before they took off? Or better yet, they didn't think to double check them before they took off? He understands keeping an eye on them if there's been problems in the past, but if this is an 'important mission' as he claims, shouldn't he be on top of those types of things? Get a new ship for such an 'important' mission. Choose a new ship. Ugh, the lack of logic is making Jin roll his pretty eyes.

Externally, he nods. "On it," Jin replies, eyeing the crappy scanners. How foolish of them to think these old machines would get the job done. So the ship is almost as old as Jin. Great. Yawn, how long is this mission again? Can they get it over with already? Jin keeps mentally whining, but eventually he's brought back into reality when the ship shakes.

"Shit. What was that, pilot?" Captain Gorly asks.

Jin glances over, noticing the pilot working with the radars. "I... I don't know."

The Captain shakes his head. "Engineer, keep an eye on that scanner. We're doing this as fast as possible. In and out, boys and girls. In and out." For once, Jin agrees. In and out is the best way to go about this. If there's information they're able to (somehow) find from up here, they need to be able to get it back in one piece. Getting blown up isn't something Jin wants right now. He has a girlfriend who's coming back to him soon. Jin can't die yet.

Jin narrows his eyes as the scanner starts taking pictures of the surface of Mars. One thing's for sure: they have strong lenses to be able to pick up the surface from here. The scanner doesn't show any signs of glitching, so Jin relaxes, watching as the images load in. "How many pictures do we have?" the Captain asks.

"See for yourself, they're processing now," Jin says. The Captain unbuckles, heading over to Jin and peeking over his shoulder.

The images pop up on his hologram, loading and showing details of the surface from a satellite view. Everything seems normal. Except for one thing. There's a giant mass of metal on the outside of one of their domes. "Are they expanding their domes?" the Captain whisper-asks. He's the Captain, shouldn't he know that, not Jin? Regardless, Jin swallows his arrogance and inspects the pictures.

When it comes to structures, he likes to think he's pretty educated. He is an engineer, after all. This kind of stuff is his specialty. Jin zooms in, checking out the dimensions before letting his eyes widen. "That's... that's not," Jin whispers, trying to form a proper sentence. That isn't extra space to expand the domes. No, that's not extra space at all.

"What? What is it?" the Captain asks, panic in his tone.

"They're barracks," Jin replies, keeping his eyes on the screen.

"How do you know?"

"Look at the outside, there's shields set up and anti-aircraft guns. What other one-story buildings have that?"

The Captain knits his brows together. "They know we can see that kind of stuff from here. Why wouldn't they hide something like that?"

"Well, Captain, with all due respect, I think you're missing the obvious point." The Captain tilts his head. "They want us to see. They want us to run back to Chaeyoung and tell her the news. They want a war."

The Captain and Jin share a long look, unsure of what to say for a few moments. "You know what this means?" the Captain asks.

Jin instantly nods. "Mars isn't going to reply to her. They're going to let her declare war."

"Yeah. Yeah, we're going to war." The realization makes Jin shiver, his entire body going cold. How the hell is he supposed to react to that? War kills people. He's going to die, the crew is going to die. Jin's skin forms goosebumps as his throat goes dry.

Anya is going to die.