The stars above them glittered like scattered notes across a sheet of galactic music. BTS stood silently at the airlock bay of the stolen freighter, suited in gleaming garments that shimmered like holographic silk. Their roles had been rehearsed over and over. The plan was dangerous. Reckless, even. But the Silencer Core had to be retrieved before the Federation deployed it across the sector. If unleashed, the anti-sound wave would sever all emotional frequencies, rendering entire populations numb, mute, and compliant.
"Are we sure this is going to work?" Jimin asked, adjusting his collar. He wore a silver-tasseled jacket cut just low enough to draw attention without suspicion.
"Nothing about this feels safe," Jungkook muttered, tightening the laces on his gravity-resistant boots. "But if I get to punch an android in the face, I'm okay with that."
Jin chuckled, sweeping his golden hair back. "Let's not punch anyone unless we have to, okay? We're performers tonight. Singers. Dancers. Illusions."
Namjoon walked to the center of the group, data tablet in hand. "According to our contact, the Silencer Core is held in a containment vault on Deck 7 of the Aurelia Starliner. It's supposed to be undetectable, cloaked in a sound-muffling field. But Yoongi and the Echoes figured out a frequency signature. It's weak, but trackable."
"Entertainment suite is on Deck 3," Taehyung said, his eyes scanning the starliner's schematics projected in blue light. "We split. Jimin and Jin take the main stage and keep the guests distracted. Jungkook, you're with me. We're the retrieval team. Yoongi and Hobi run surveillance from the sound booth. Namjoon manages extraction. We've only got three hours before the next hyperspace jump."
"Let's give them a show they'll never forget," Jimin said with a wink.
Moments later, they stepped into the glittering halls of the Aurelia Starliner. Everything smelled like citrus-infused fog and synthetic perfection. The lounge gleamed with golden arches, shimmering chandeliers, and floor tiles that shifted color with each step. Galactic elite sipped violet wine from gravity-defying chalices, laughing through designer masks that cost more than a moon.
A stage curved in the center like a floating lotus. Jimin and Jin took their positions, instruments hidden in plain sight: a flute that doubled as a harmonic disruptor, a mic laced with emotion enhancers.
"Welcome to the Starlight Reverie," Jin announced, voice smooth like velvet. "Tonight, we offer not just a show—but a feeling."
With a single note from Jin, the room quieted. The music began low and pulsing, carried on ambient frequencies designed by Yoongi to influence emotion. Guests leaned closer. Hearts slowed. Minds softened. Jimin danced between tables, voice weaving like silk, eyes locking with diplomats, androids, and ambassadors alike.
Meanwhile, deep in the bowels of the ship, Taehyung and Jungkook slipped past a cargo drone and into the restricted maintenance corridors.
"Deck 6," Jungkook whispered. "Almost there."
The closer they got, the colder the air became, like the Core itself was draining warmth. The hum of the anti-sound field distorted their steps, muffling even the clinks of metal underfoot.
Suddenly, a mechanical voice crackled. "Unauthorized presence detected. Executing containment protocol."
An android emerged from the shadows, silver and sleek, its face emotionless. It scanned them with red eyes.
Taehyung stepped forward. "Keep going. I've got this."
Jungkook didn't argue. He ran ahead as Taehyung threw his coat aside and activated the gravity nullifier built into his boots.
The corridor bent and twisted as artificial gravity was stripped away. Taehyung floated into the air, his coat trailing like wings. The android mirrored him, launching into a fluid motion that combined martial arts with digitized rhythm.
It became a dance of survival. Taehyung ducked and spun, using wall panels as rebound points. The android moved like a metronome, precise and unrelenting.
"You're just a machine," Taehyung muttered, dodging a strike. "You don't feel the beat."
He clapped twice, syncing his gloves to the performance upstairs. The music echoed faintly, even down here. With each beat, Taehyung's body aligned perfectly, turning momentum into art. He twirled mid-air and kicked the android square in the chest. Circuits sparked. The machine faltered.
He seized the moment and flipped forward, planting a gravity spike on the android's back. The bot was yanked downward violently, crashing into the floor where gravity still held sway. Silence followed.
Upstairs, Jin's voice soared higher, distracting the audience further as Namjoon's voice whispered into Jungkook's comm. "Do you see it?"
"I'm in," Jungkook replied, sweat clinging to his neck. The chamber was like a frozen tomb. In the center hovered the Silencer Core—a pale black orb surrounded by vibrating rings of translucent metal. It pulsed with eerie silence, draining ambient noise.
He stepped toward it slowly, voice tight. "It's... singing. In reverse."
"What do you mean?" Namjoon asked.
"I can feel it, but I can't hear it. It's like... it's rejecting me. Like the opposite of music."
Yoongi's voice cut in. "Careful. It might be reacting to emotional input. Stay neutral."
Jungkook calmed his breath and reached out with gloved fingers. The moment he touched the core, a wave of static washed through him. He staggered, eyes wide.
"Are you okay?" Taehyung's voice echoed as he caught up.
"It's unstable," Jungkook said. "We have to move. Now."
They sealed the core in a vibration-proof case and sprinted toward the extraction point. Jimin and Jin wrapped up their set with a dramatic final note, and Yoongi dimmed the lights across the ballroom to disguise the team's movement.
As they reached the shuttle dock, alarms finally blared.
"Security breach in Deck 7 containment."
"Too late," Hobi grinned. "We're already ghosts."
Their shuttle detached from the starliner just as the hyperdrive flared. The Aurelia vanished into light, and BTS sat breathless, Core between them, still humming with that empty, reverse song.
Namjoon looked around, jaw clenched. "We got it. But this thing... it doesn't want to stay quiet."
Yoongi leaned forward, studying the black orb. "Then we better learn how to make it sing our way before it sings the end of us."