Chapter Text
Jungkook didn't really know what he had been expecting when he said yes. Maybe some cleaning job or linework in a factory- though then again, it had been specified to be social, so maybe some kind of care? The elderly, or maybe children- not that Jungkook had really met a child since he was one himself, but he could learn quickly. He didn’t think he would do a bad job if he got a little training.
It could of course be some kind of research into his life on Earth. He didn't have an education or really any experience outside of carbon dioxide processing, and that wasn't really a field of work on Jorda, since they never ended up in the fossil energy trap. But they had said they wanted him- enough to give him the full ride at that- and they did have an interest in Earth, if purely archeologically.
But when he laid there- finally on Jorda- in this wonderful and terrifying thing they called a nest, staring up at this wonderful and terrifying stranger, he began to wonder if maybe this was something entirely different. Something that didn’t exist on Earth- something that might not be employment. Something dangerously close to resembling an adoption.
Jungkook had been living life like he always had- going to work, keeping the motors running until his entire body ached from heavy lifting and adjustments, and then going home to eat a nutrition bar and sleep for seven and a half hours before doing it all again. It was normal. For a fourth classer on Earth, it was rather privileged actually.
The ambassador had come to Jungkook’s door in the morning, right before he went out for the day. It was a man, tall and looking kind of middle-aged, though his straight back and healthily colored lips made it obvious he wasn’t Earthan, so it was hard to guess exactly. Most planets had much longer average lifespans. He could be hundreds of years old for all Jungkook knew.
"I'm sorry, sir, but I'm going to work right now," Jungkook had tried, lifting his workbag and squeezing his way past the bigger man- already a little late from his shower malfunctioning and leaving him soaped in and cold for almost ten minutes while it was being fixed on the communal level- but the man hadn't let him.
"I’ve talked to your boss, she has accepted your delay. We have some important things to talk about." He was so self-assured. Assertive. Jungkook couldn't say no. He didn't really know how to. No one talked like that on Earth. At least not in Jungkook’s world.
So they had sat down on Jungkook’s couch, which was a little uncomfortable because it didn't really fit more than one person. The man took out his laptop and introduced himself as "Kim Jihoon. Beta." and from there Jungkook didn’t know much of anything.
It had been a long, uncomfortable conversation, with words Jungkook had never heard and didn’t ask about, as well as comments about the “inhumanities” of earth and the “maltreatment of omegas”. And just as Jungkook was about to give up, kick this guy out no matter the consequences, he got an offer he never thought he would. An offer no one ever got.
They wanted him to move.
They wanted to fly him- for free- to their Jorda, an ancient Earthan colony with far superior technology and life quality. They wanted to house him publicly and support him even past retirement in an extended life.
"Why in the world would you do that? I'm barely employable?" Jungkook tried to stand up- he needed to pace- but Jihoon put a hand on his shoulder, holding him still on the couch- and Jungkook had always been a bit below average in physical strength, but Jihoon clearly had some kind of extra help- probably from his Jordan biology.
"Your genetic file," He pointed to something on the screen, a graph, probably of Jungkook’s DNA, but completely unreadable in all other aspects. "You are more than seventy percent Jordan, and- most importantly," He turned back to Jungkook, looking at him... softly?
"You are a very important... eh, protected class-" He looked away. "One our planet is in great need of."
Jungkook nodded slowly. He didn't know much of his heritage- like most fourth classers- but though people moving to Earth was rather unusual, many people believed it to be spiritually superior to the colonies. They came to “grow as people” and tended to... have fun with humans they met in the slums- and then, when their vacation finished, they left behind whatever offspring was created.
Earthan governments didn't mind, so never did anything to stop it. They needed the workforce desperately and the mixed offspring often had practical mutations that were hard to cultivate with low funds.
So... Jungkook had one of those mutations. One Earth didn't need but that Jorda wanted. It wasn’t too implausible.
"What would..." Jungkook swallowed leaned back. "What kind of duties would I have?"
Jihoon nodded, relieved almost. "Only some social expectations in regard to holidays and festivals, for everything else you will be granted wardens to take care of everyday life and assimilating into society."
That was good. Jungkook didn't particularly want to adjust to a whole new planet with probably minimum payments from the government and no knowledge- even if the air was breathable and the weather stable. A warden was good. Helpful.
And like that, Jungkook had kind of just... agreed. He didn't have much to lose, no family, no friends, and no real accomplishments. Just a robot that needed him to push its arms to function and an apartment that smelled a bit like mold.
And when he arrived at Jorda, still groggy and a bit out of it from his almost two month long sleep, tucked away in a tiny container and stacked into a ship with about seven hundred other travelers, looking out at the Incredibly large station, he couldn’t make himself regret it.
He clutched the backpack close to his stomach, took a deep breath and a look around, and then he followed the crowd down the long glass corridors looking over Jorda. This part was industrial, with only glimpses of green in the distance and heavy vehicles speeding by underneath.
They didn't have to go too far though, only a few minutes into the walk, a checking station appeared.
It was three desks on a line, staffed with people to check stay-certificates and identities. Two of them were branded with simple, but unknown symbols- probably ancient Greek or bloomage English- and the last one was simply branded with "foreigners". Jungkook figured that even if he was genetically Jordan, he wasn't a citizen or even slightly knowledgeable, so he stepped into the foreigners-line, ending up somewhere towards the back.
It took a while, the workers were slow and thorough, but none of the others seemed to mind, so Jungkook didn't bother worrying about it. This was probably normal. Getting on-planet could be a days long process for all Jungkook knew. Hopefully there would be food at some point.
What was probably less normal was when the security came. Many of them. At least thirty. They were talking to each other rapidly and looking over the three lines, just loud enough for Jungkook to be confused- something about "was let out with the rest", which was worrisome, and a few additions of "gotten lost", which made it seem more like they were talking about a child than a prisoner, which was relieving.
Soon enough, when everyone in the room were proper uncomfortable, they descended on the three lines. It was structured. Exits were covered and lines were checked systematically from front to back. They got out documents from foreigners, reading them over and questioning quietly, while scanning the wrists of the other two lines with small gun-like machines. Fast, but not aggressive. The guards were almost too careful- and it could of course be cultural differences- but they checked each passenger as if they were talking to scared strays, not as if they were looking for someone out of place.
Jungkook tried to look friendly, or somewhere in that range of emotion, but he couldn’t help the uncomfortable little lump in his stomach. There were more guards working with the foreigner-line and they were coming quickly. They were strange. Unknown. Jungkook was on a new planet and he didn’t know what was going on. He was… scared.
Many guards aside, it was time consuming, and it took a little while until someone reached Jungkook. He was close to the back and smaller than most of the others, so kind of disappeared in the crowd.
The guard who finally came to him though, one of the higher-ups, judging by how the other guards were dodging her, was a woman. Pretty- maybe in her early thirties (in Earthan standards at least) and mostly kind looking, even if she was more authoritative than Jungkook was used to.
"Are you to any degree genetically Jordan?"
Her voice was soft- comforting, but strict. Jungkook didn't dare disobey. He nodded. "Seventy percent."
Her eyes widened. Shit. Was that wrong? Had he missed something? Maybe blood mixing was illegal. No one had told him he was supposed to lie.
Jungkook opened his mouth to clarify, maybe apologize, but she didn't let him. "Let me see your papers, darling."
She reached up, opening Jungkook’s backpack right in front of him as if that was a normal way to act- and maybe it was, but none of the other guards had done it- and found his registration papers where he had laid them on top for easy access. As soon as she saw it, only glancing at the top of the paper, she shouted out to the other guards with audible relief.
"Found him!"
Immediately, all activity ceased. All eyes fell on Jungkook. He swallowed.
"Did I..." He couldn't look up. Couldn't look anyone in the eyes. "Did I do something wrong?"
The woman softened Immediately, shaking her head and closing Jungkook’s backpack again, papers tucked gently inside. "Of course not, sweetheart,” Sweetheart?. “You just need to be in another line, that's all, okay?"
Another line? Did they have a kind-of-Jordan line? Jungkook hadn't seen it, but this was a professional, so he nodded. He thought he would see the signs, but maybe they were sat up differently here. He was probably not supposed to follow the line. Maybe the other kind-of-Jordans had walked in the other direction and he had just not seen it. But still, it was weird to make such a fuss about. Couldn’t they have told him when he tried to check in?
He didn’t particularly like public attention, and now the entire room was staring shamelessly as he walked past, following the woman out of the room obediently. He tried not to look back, but it was hard. He didn't know where he was or where he was going and the amount of security walking both in front of and behind them didn't feel like a good sign. He must have fucked up worse than he thought.
They stopped in the first corridor they walked into as soon as the door was closed. It was long and white, but not as tight as Jungkook had feared. There were a lot of people- since all the guards had followed- but he wasn’t in danger of accidentally touching anyone, as the woman was the only one walking somewhat beside him.
She tilted her head, smiling gently and talking in an impressively clear, but still soft voice. "Do you want a chair for movement? It's a rather long walk and we are prohibited from touching you when it can be helped,"
"A... wheelchair?" He did really try to understand, but maybe the cultural differences were bigger than he had expected. Maybe even bigger than he could handle. "I am- eh," Jungkook looked around as of the words would come to him out of the air or maybe the blank walls. "... able-bodied,"
It wasn’t entirely true, a life of work on Earthan worksites and a childhood in the orphan-institutes had left him with less mobility and more pain than was expected from a human his age- not to mention that compared to Jordans, he was probably missing a lot of standard enhancements, leaving him weaker and more vulnerable once again- but no one had ever assumed he couldn’t walk before, even if it was rather long.
The woman looked at him again, she seemed almost annoyed, though her body language stayed artificially unthreatening. "Do not be afraid of your needs, Jungkook-ssi.” She made a hand sign to one of the guards. The guard nodded and left the room in quick strides. “We bring it in and then you can decide when it’s here. You’ll do well with at least seeing a proper omega-chair either way."
That was the word. The word Jihoon had used- omega- and if the man as to be believed, these people would mentally register him as that, even just as prominently as they would register “human” and “male”. It was his thing- the one Jorda wanted.
That was okay. Omegas had special wheelchairs. Fine. Jungkook was going to fit into this culture and if that meant sitting in a wheelchair for a few hours max, that wasn't critical by any means. People did it every day for all of their lives. It was just sitting down. Hopefully.
The guards- all probably thirty of them- brightened when Jungkook nodded. The woman smiled, shoulders relaxed and eyes calm, nodding in large motions and quickly rearranging her guards for the new position.
(Jungkook tried not to think to much about it- aiming to be friendly and open for as long as possible- but he couldn’t help but see an… opportunity. If simple agreements could have dozens of people calm down, he wondered if maybe there was something to gain here, even if he didn’t completely understand the game rules. But no. Jungkook was a guest, living on their taxes and taken here to work. He would work. He would follow the rules… but it was good to know.)
The chair came quickly. They must have kept it close, even before they asked.
It didn't look much like the wheelchairs Jungkook had seen. It was bigger, egg-shaped with a tall back and leg rests sticking out. The actual seat was walled in with at least a half meter of thick, padded material and shelled in hard metal on the sides and back. Jungkook doubted you'd be able to see the omegas inside at all of you came from the side.
It did have wheels, like Jungkook had expected, but judging by the shape, solidity and weight, the thing could probably be modified for automatic fast-traffic too, maybe as an add-on. He would personally classify it as something more like a sidecar or one-person caravan, but if they called it a wheelchair, wheelchair was fine.
Jungkook was encouraged to walk closer with a look from the woman. Everyone moved away as he approached. Hopefully it wouldn't blow up or something. Jungkook hoped he was as much a "protected class" as he had been told. Protection was probably a good idea.
The exterior was hard and cold while the interior was soft in a memory foam kind of way and artificially heated from the inside. Not much though, just a little over Jungkook’s own body temperature. It was nice on his hands. Like warming them on someone’s back.
"Step inside. I'll fasten you," The woman came forward, walking to the chair and stopping a full meter away to wait.
Jungkook swallowed. How bad could it be?
Careful not to look up at any of the security, Jungkook climbed onto the chair (for being a mobility aid it wasn't very easy to get into, being just a little too massive and having too high walls around the sitting parts. The only comfortable way to get in was probably straight down from the ceiling and Jungkook didn't have that kind of jumping power).
Jungkook landed a little too hard as he released himself into the cave-like opening, having fallen longer than he had anticipated, but the padding was soft enough that it didn't hurt. He didn’t have the concentration to notice much though, because there was… nothing. Silence. Complete stillness and calm.
As soon as the walls engulfed Jungkook’s head, there was no sound. Not a peep. Like the whole building had quietened, all machines turned off, and the wind had stopped blowing. It was... amazing.
Jungkook hadn't really been aware of how much the sound bothered him before it was gone. It was bliss. Pure bliss. Jungkook closed his eyes. Leaning back into the pillows. They were soft. Warm. Like laying in someone’s arms.
There were hands for a moment, reaching across Jungkook’s body and placing some heavy strips of padded material across his torso and legs. Probably strapping him in. He didn't mind too much. It was so quiet. The tightness was good. Safe.
And then there were low, gentle vibrations in the whole chair as it begun moving, and Jungkook might have fallen asleep.