The screen flared white—sterile laboratory lighting that made the audience flinch.
Nine figures stood frozen beneath it, arranged in rigid rows like specimens awaiting examination. White lab coats hung loose over black combat gear. Metallic face paint caught the harsh overhead beams, transforming each trainee into something uncanny.
Doyun stood center stage, head bowed, fists clenched at his sides.
The synth pulse dropped into heavy sub-bass.
"System wake— initiate."
His voice cut through the stillness—robotic, processed through filters that stripped away warmth.
"Sequence: beauty, control, create."
The other eight trainees moved in unison, heads snapping up simultaneously. LED screens descended from the ceiling, projecting blueprint schematics—body measurements, genetic markers, skeletal structures outlined in clinical blue light.
Beside me, Hyunki leaned forward slightly.
The first verse began.
"Plastic veins, designed to please,
Skin of glass and perfect ease.
