"How many people have signed the petition now?" Taehyung asks, sprawled out on Jimin's couch.

"I haven't checked since this morning. I'll check now," Jimin says, getting up from the couch to fetch his phone. He starts to scroll through his notifications and gawks at what he sees. "Tae..."

"What is it?" Taehyung asks, sitting up straight.

"You won't believe it," Jimin warns with a smile.

"Just tell me," Taehyung whines but gets no reply from Jimin. He decides to snatch the phone from Jimin and read the news himself. "No way..."

"Do you think it will change their minds?" Jimin asks.

"The numbers don't lie. They care too much about their public image," Taehyung says, rolling his eyes.

The petition put forth by ACE SPACE Magazine had gone viral and has surpassed over 100-thousand signatures in only two days.

"This insane. I can't believe I am a part of something grand like this," Jimin gushes.

The revelation of Taehyung's journal to the world spread like wildfire. It seems JK97 has resonated with the general public, and Taehyung is over the moon (or should he say mars?) about it. They can't celebrate yet, though.

"Now we have to wait for a statement from the space program," Taehyung says, giving the phone back to Jimin.

Jimin starts to scroll through his phone again. "Oh my god..."

"What?"

"The video of JK97 dancing around to Ariana Grande has over 1 million views," Jimin answers, showing the phone to Taehyung.

Taehyung smiles goofily, watching Jungkook sing and dance. God, how he misses him. He needs to see his face again.

"Speak of the devil, the space program just posted a statement," Jimin says. He starts to read, "by popular demand, we are looking into the situation with care. We would first of all like to thank all of you for showing interest in JK97. We hear you, and we want to confirm that JK97 is doing fine."

"Is that all?" Taehyung asks, to which Jimin replies with a nod.

"Bastards," Taehyung curses. "I doubt they are even checking up with him."

Jimin's laptop starts to chime from across the room.

"Who's calling you on Zoom?" Taehyung asks, standing up to go retrieve the laptop. "Oh, it's Yoongi."

"What does he want?" Jimin curiously asks.

"It's a conference call," Taehyung replies, walking over to sit down with Jimin again. The two sit close to each other and accept the Zoom conference call.

"Hey," Jimin and Taehyung greet in unison.

"Is everyone here? Can you all hear me?" Yoongi asks.

"I can hear you," Hoseok says, his camera being displayed in big on the screen.

"Oh, everyone is here." Jimin points out.

"Taehyung isn't picking up—" Yoongi starts. "Oh! You are with Jimin."

Taehyung gives an acknowledgement wave.

"Yuchan! My man," Hoseok greets, seeing the boy enter the group call.

"Good afternoon!" Yuchan says, waving into the camera.

"Channie! You're here too?" Jimin claps his cheeks with his hands.

Taehyung tilts his head, a little confused about what this conference call is for.

"Everyone, quieten down, please. I have an announcement," Yoongi says. "I have been informed by the head of the space program that we will be continuing our work starting from next Monday," he announces.

Taehyung's eyes widen in shock as everyone starts to cheer and celebrate the news.

"I'd like to thank you, Yuchan, for helping us with the petition and the publication of Taehyung's journal. We would like to have you work closely with us in the future," Yoongi says.

"Oh my— I'm honoured!" Yuchan says, blushing hard.

"Good work team, I'll be seeing you all on Monday," Yoongi says before leaving the call.

Taehyung laughs at Yoongi's antics. Did he really make a conference call just to announce that and ditch?

"I guess I'll leave then?" Hoseok says, amused. "Nice seeing all your faces! Bye."

Taehyung sighs happily, leaning back on the couch while Jimin and Yuchan talk. "I'm coming for you, Jungkook," he mutters.

🤖

Monday came faster than Taehyung anticipated. He walks into the lab, scanning the room in disbelief. So many memories have been made in this room. The sudden hit of nostalgia makes Taehyung tear up. He could cry right now, but he doesn't want to do it in front of the team.

"Let's get everything up and running again," Hoseok says, sensing how emotional Taehyung is getting. He pats Taehyung's back, soothing the boy. "JK97 will be so excited to see your face again.

Taehyung nods. "It's been way too long. I feel bad for leaving him like this."

"It was out of our control. I'm sure JK97 will understand," Hoseok says.

As Taehyung boots up the program, he notices a change in the layout. "What is this?"

Jimin peaks over and furrows his brows. "Why does it look different?"

Further investigation led to Taehyung bursting into a fit of anger. "Everything is gone! The data has been tinkered with, and I can't connect to JK97!"

Hoseok rushes over to see the commotion. "You're kidding?"

Taehyung shakes his head, frustrated. "Look, it won't connect." He frantically starts clicking his mouse.

"Calm down, Taehyung. Maybe it's just loading," Jimin says.

"It's not working!" Taehyung raises his voice.

"Taehyung! What is with the yelling? I can hear you from outside," Yoongi scowls, walking into the lab.

"We have bad news..." Hoseok says, turning to Yoongi.

"No..."

🤖

"Murderer!" Taehyung shouts from across the desk. Taehyung had personally made his way to the head office to speak with the guy who makes all the executive decisions.

"Kim Taehyung, I did not grant you a hearing for you to shout absurd claims at me," the company's head says.

"Nothing is working, Kim Namjoon. I know you guys messed with the program. For all I know, he could be dead right now!"

"JK97 is not a living being; It can't be dead," Namjoon replies. "We've left it untouched since the day you guys left. If you can't work out your own program, we will have no choice but to cancel the project."

Taehyung frowns, bitterly laughing under his breath. "You guys planned this all along. You only accepted the petition because you knew nothing could be done. Why are you guys so insistent on keeping the robot silenced? What are you afraid of?"

"You're a smart guy, Taehyung, but I have to stop you there. You are dismissed," Namjoon says, signalling his assistant to escort him out of the office.

"You won't get away with this," Taehyung says. "You'll see."

"Okay, Taehyung," Namjoon says, chuckling.

Taehyung walks out of the office in disgust. He can't believe this is happening. All that work they did, campaigning to get the program running again has gone to waste. Kim Namjoon is truly an evil man.

🤖

A.N: Don't hate me~