"Adrantine is an alloy made of several technological and synthetically-enhanced biological components. It's called a miracle metal. Scientists like me have been developing it for two decades. I went to uni, studied my ass off for years, ranked second in Oracle's recruitment program just so I could work on it with them.

"For the longest time, the Adrantine test trials failed. We didn't understand it fully — we didn't know it needed a stabilizing agent. Three years ago, we designed a variant polycarbonate — er, plastic — manipulated on an atomic level to respond not only to the Adrantine, but to neural output from the human mind.

"Originally, the compound was hypothesized for the purpose of prosthetic implants — arms, legs, bones, even organs, that could function as if a natural part of the body. But once it was finalized, the government suddenly saw the value in it and questioned whether it would be best utilized in the medical field.

"It turned into a fight between the scientists that created it, the military, KARI, the navy — everyone, really — that lasted months. It was heartbreaking to see what we created fought over in court rooms like a fucking custody battle. We kind of knew from the beginning how it would end.

"The military acquired the rights to pursue a project called the Bionic Warfare Initiative. They said they would rescue fallen soldiers from the frontlines and reanimate them in Adrantine bodies, leaving the brain as the only human element left, allowing for the kind of intelligence and decision-making that androids aren't capable of, as well as a human appearance from the chest up.

"We were essentially forced to conduct the test trials. The first three rounds... didn't work out. Our calculations hadn't accounted for the weaponization of the Adrantine or the mechanical-to-biological ratio, or that the vertebral column had to be intact and... we were ignorant. People died because of us.

"A lot of us resigned from the lab, from robotics entirely. The guilt was heavy on everyone. I suppose I was... stubborn, so were a lot of my colleagues. We had worked so hard on this fucking miracle, dedicated our lives to it. It was so beautiful to finally see it in real life. Even if it was perverted, a weapon when it should have been a helping hand — seeing it successfully fuse to the vertebral column, responding to the host's brain... it was like magic."

I'm staring down at my hands while Jisung speaks. It's unreal, too real, to hear the mechanics behind the body I'm living in. I still haven't grasped that the happy person in the photographs used to be me, and the guy across from me was my partner, someone I so obviously loved.

I look up at him. He's running his hand through his hair, only tangling it more. The shadows beneath his eyes make him look like he hasn't slept in ages.

"That isn't the whole story," I say.

"No. I just... this is the part I don't know how to say."

He goes mum again, still messing with his hair. I'm not sure what to do. He looks like he needs reassurance.

"You can say it," I murmur. "I won't, like, freak out and flip the table."

"It's not you who I'm worried about."

"Oh."

He shakes his head softly. He leans back in his chair and closes his eyes.

"We met five years ago. It was by chance, we did our laundry at the same laundromat. You were going to school for performing arts. It was lightyears away from what I was used to — you were too. Like an alien, weird and... awesome."

He's smiling now, eyes still closed.

"We started dating. We did all the crazy fun shit I wouldn't have done on my own. Got matching tattoos. Stayed up all night, smoking and watching movies. Random road trips out of the city. You were the only person who could pull me out of work. I couldn't believe I found you. You, someone so cool and kind, someone with so much love to give. I loved you more than anything in the world."

His eyes flit to me. He clears his throat.

"Anyway. I'd always known you were a... spirited person, especially when it came to politics. You were part of this organization called Peace Universal. You liked to march and rally and vigil. At the time, the war between the east and the west was in the news every day. You and your friends were outspoken about it.

"And then there was me, spending my days programming a war machine and coming home to you after-hours. All you knew was that I worked at Oracle Labs, I never told you I was one of the scientists on the BWI — I couldn't tell you, the whole project was classified.

"Even if I could've told you... I don't think I would have. I didn't want you to be disappointed in me. I didn't want to think about how disappointed I was in myself.

"Then you came to me and said... you said 'I know your secret.' You told me you had an informant on the inside at Oracle Labs — Haruko Taro, she... was my friend. I couldn't believe she betrayed the lab. She had given you a list of scientists who were assigned to the BWI. You logged on to my computer and read all of my notes, seeing I'd been on the project for years. Of course I was angry — you were livid. I'd never yelled so loud in my life.

"You said you were going to sabotage the project. I said I wouldn't let it happen. You said I didn't have the balls to stop you. You... you were wrong about that.

"I went to my superiors the next day, ratted everybody out — you, Haruko, the whole organization. I truly didn't want to. I just wanted... needed to see the project through. I needed to know my life wasn't for nothing. But I didn't..."

He tugs his glasses off and rubs his eyes. His voice is swelling, broken.

"I didn't k-know what they would do to you. I thought they'd g-give you a fine, sue you, stop you from ruining everything — I didn't know they'd have you killed."

My breath stops.

"I-I-I was coming to check in on you at your apartment — you had been texting me random jumbles of letters and numbers and it was freaking me out. It was the middle of the night and I got there a-and you were on the floor, you were on the floor and you w-were bleeding. They shot you so many times, your heart was barely beating.

"I dragged your body out of the building, into my car and took you to the lab. I put you in the reanimation pod and switched you out with one of the subjects, Park Ujin. I merged your identities so no one would notice the difference between you. Everything was so fucked, I can't believe nothing went wrong.

"That was months ago. Once the Adrantine bodies were fully stabilized, I restored your consciousness. I wanted it to look like an error, I wanted you to break out and run and keep running until you made it out of the city. There was no way you would be safe if you stayed in the lab. Eventually someone would realize that you weren't who you were supposed to be. They could at any time — you are not safe yet."

He leans forward over the table, looking into my eyes with regret and fear.

"Minho, you have to get out of the city. Please, promise me, don't look back. Just run."