Chapter Text
Death.
It was just a word, yet billions of people across the world recoiled at its mere mention.
For JYD2641, death was a constant companion. It followed her as a constant shadow, biting at her heels as she tried to run from it, but no matter how fast she pumped her legs, it was always a hair away. In a strange way, she found comfort in its presence. Death was certain. It was predictable. It found everyone in the end. No matter who you were, or what you'd committed in life.
It was merciless. It was relentless. It was inevitable.
When death infects someone, they turn unfeeling, oblivious, nothing. Their life whiffed out like a blown candlelight. As time went on, it would be as though they were never there to begin with.
On desperate occasions, when she was really hurting, she would catch herself longing for it. To sleep forever, to never know another cruel day with her handler. She would never tell Theo this, of course. It would worry him too much. She had to keep up good spirits, but day after day of the same torturous training, it was getting harder and harder.
She craved freedom, to feel the sun's kiss on her cheeks and the cool breeze against her skin. She dreamed of it as she sat in her cold, dark, empty cell on the lowest floor in the facility, but she knew that was all it could ever be — a dream.
If she were ever to have a chance, she would need help, but her choices were limited, from the stoic guards who escorted her from place to place to the many doctors who conditioned their subjects into the weapons that fit their desires. Anyone who knew of the children believed in their goals like a religion to their god.
She was nothing to them. Her path was already set. She would remain under the masses of concrete until she disappeared, just like the others listed in strings of letters and numbers. Just like her friend.
The night it happened was like any other. JYD2641 was curled up in the corner of her dark cell. Theo clutched to her chest, and her chattering teeth was the lone reverberation within the frosted room.
She kept her eyes closed. She couldn't face the dark or the empty room. Before, she had only a handful of good things; now she had one: Theo. If it wasn't for their bond, he would likely be gone too.
There was a sudden sharp tap at the door, and the pair jumped out of their dreary state. Glancing at each other with mutual, silent terror, she cowered them both into the corner.
It was too early. He followed a strict schedule. It never deviated unless she had earned herself a punishment.
She steeled herself. Was this it? Was this where she disappeared?
She clung to Theo as close as the physical barriers of reality allowed. A key rattled unsteadily in the door, making her pause. It couldn't be her doctor. He was always so composed. This was hurried, forceful.
The corridor's dim light from outside burned her eyes when it opened. A tall figure stepped forward, blocking out the light. In his hand held a key, and a creased piece of paper. She couldn't see his face, but his fists around the objects quivered. He wasn't supposed to be there. That much was clear.
She didn't believe it. She couldn't believe it. He could be a threat, a challenger, a test, a minion carrying out his task.
She didn't believe him when he explained what he really was. A chance.