𝕾𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝕾𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖊𝖗 - [𝗦𝘁𝗲𝘃𝗲 𝗛𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗼𝗻]

𝐨. 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘰𝘮

𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐋𝐎𝐆𝐔𝐄 - freedom

━━━━━━━

 𝟎𝟎𝟏 𝐇𝐀𝐃 𝐁𝐄𝐄𝐍 through these tests too many times to count; a device would be slipped onto her skull while a million wires spilled from it and wrapped around her skin like greedy vines. Her brainwaves, her heartbeat, her blood flow; all of it was measured.

 The worst part wasn't being strapped to the chair while her wrists grew raw and bloody, no, it was the electrical current that would be sent from the tips of her toes, her fingertips, and the side of her stomach whenever she disobeyed... whenever she didn't 'dance' for them.

 The pain was gruesome but 001 could withstand it. Her stubbornness made her. It was those looks, the looks of utter intrigue as though she were an insect beneath a magnifying glass, or an animal stuck in a cage... though to be honest, she was an animal stuck in a cage; only she was bound by woven shackles.

 The tests, as the doctors would call them, were meant to pinpoint what exactly happened whenever her hands flooded with crimson mist, or whenever her eyes glowed like a torch in the woods. Her heartbeat would increase, her blood flow raising rapidly and her brainwaves grew haywire. Extreme pain, stimulation, fear or anger. Those were the primary starting points for her abilities.

 With each bubble of rage came a ball of energy swirling around her fingertips, with a mere wave of fear, her eyes would be overtaken with crimson.

 001 Sat silently in her chair, hands bare of their usual woven binding. The device strapped to her head felt almost weightless today, and the chill it always sent through her skin had warmed. 001's buzzed head slowly teetered to the side, almost dazed looking eyes glancing at the doctor staring down at his clipboard with furrowed brows.

 She knew why, of course. There was nothing there, no hint of her power, no sliver of red crawling from the calloused tips of her wiggling fingers. Her eyes were their standard deep-brown, almost endlessly so; no hint of that ominous crimson in sight.

 It had been that way for months now.

 These tests had increased rapidly, what had once been an occurrence every Thursday - or so 001 had been told - now happened three times a week. Their bewilderment and lust were not well hidden.

 You see, whilst 001 kept herself quiet - scarcely making a peep even when her skin burned as volts of electricity singed her flesh - she was smart and frighteningly observant. It hadn't really been on purpose at first; it had merely been the day after a night of fitful sleep and flashes of a face that would never care for her.