𝐙𝐄𝐑𝐎 - 𝟎𝟎𝟏 𝐅𝐀𝐍𝐅𝐈𝐂 ✔️

001

Being in a coma is strange.

It's even stranger when you wake up and your world has completely changed.

A year has passed, papa tells you. He's started a program, he explains. He wants you to meet 001.

He tells you your name is 000.

You're indifferent to it. The name you had before was bland and rarely used. There was no need for it here. Here you were a test subject, a statistic, a lab rat. Names had no meaning, no substance, no reason. Even if you were to protest, what would come from that? 000 was even blander than the last.

You were dressed in a hospital gown. Your hair was shaved off. You couldn't recognize yourself, but not because of that. Your face seemed different too. A child could age a lot in a year.

How old were you now, twelve? The number feels foreign to you. Almost as foreign as the one printed on your wrist.

You follow papa down a empty, white hallway. It seemed to never end. Finally, he stopped at a door marked 001. He opens it.

On the small bed, was a boy. His blond hair was shaved like yours, he was dressed the same as you, yet he could never be more different. It was the way his eyes sat against his pale skin. The way they stared back at you like sapphires. Shining a dull shine, as if they held everything and nothing all at once.

"Number 001, this is 000," papa says with a smile.

"Hello, 000," he says, monotonously. He looked at the ground, instead of at you.

You say nothing.

Papa gives you a comforting pat on the back. "Come on, now, 000."

"Hello, 001," you say.

Papa smiles. "I'll let you two get acquainted then."

You turn around, but the door closes with a light click. Papa was already gone. Your chance to object along with him.

When you look back, the boy's still staring at you. It sends chills down your spine. He's starting to freak you out, but you've never had a friend before, so maybe...just maybe you'll give him a chance.

There's an awkward silence while you stand and he sits. There was something awkward about him as well. Perhaps it was how he never smiled, or how his posture was so upright and stiff. Suddenly, he pats the space beside him on the bed.

You take a few hesitant steps towards him. You had your power ready just in case. You felt the energy turning  inside of you. But, unexpectedly, you could feel it running through him as well.

You take the empty spot next to him on the bed. Though, it was more of a cot than a bed, draped with thin blankets and cold pillows. He looks at you, but you're the one who breaks the silence.

"You're like me," you say.

He nods. "You're like me."

You nod back.

His lips turn at the corners and for a second you see his pearly, white teeth. He chuckles a light hearted chuckle. So, you were wrong about him. He does smile.

It was a sight that made you happy. You smile back. It's a pleasant moment.

"You're very pretty," he says, staring down at his folded hand. He unfolds them and inside was a drawing of a large spider. "Do you like black widows?"