Chapter Text
Ten was new to this job. Started working here a month ago, so he didn't really have good experience in experimenting on stuff. Well, it's not like he did experiments, he mostly helped other scientists with their experiments. Easy and well-paid job, nothing to complain about.
There was nothing to complain about, until one certain day when Ten has received a task other than usual ones.
"Ten, the boss has a new thing for you to do" Seven informed him while doing some paperwork at his desk.
"Hm? And what's that now?"
"You remember that whole experiment we've started some years ago?"
Ten felt shivers going down his spine.
"You mean...-"
"Fourteen. Yeah. This one"
"Oh."
"Yea, boss said they're giving you the responsibility of taking 'care' of it now"
"What?! But wasn't Six supposed to-?"
Seven sighed and put the pen he was holding aside.
"She said she's passing this work to someone else after Fourteen almost bit her hand off"
"And this someone is me?"
"Yup"
Now that's unfortunate, very unfortunate even. If there was anything Ten was afraid of in this lab, it definitely was Fourteen. "Failed experiment" everyone called it, mostly because it has gotten out of control very quickly. That's why the scientists squad decided to isolate it from all other experiments and put extra security near its cage.
They mostly referred to it as a thing, something that's not alive or doesn't have its own unique mindset, which was untrue. Fourteen was a living being that had its own thoughts, opinions, things it liked and disliked, and most importantly: It was pretty clever.
Only some referred to it as a person, saying that he's creepy or dangerous. Because he was, indeed. He was a living death threat for some of the scientists that came too close to it. A few of them lost their lives because of this imprudence.
But Ten wasn't going to be one of them, he was sure of it. He has heard a lot of things about Fourteen, hence he knows what he can expect. Mostly, that is. What he definitely was aware of is the fact that the green number is unpredictable, so he can only suspect what it's capable of. Can't rely just on rumors, it'd be unprofessional of a scientist put in such unpleasant situation.
That's why, when the hour of his shift came, he walked out of his usual working area with regret of his career choice. Right now, he's walking right into a lion's den, fully aware of what might happen. Aware he's probably risking his life by doing so. But that's the job. There's no going back now.
He opened the door that revealed a short, unlit path leading to Fourteen's cage. Well, not really a cage, because it was a white room with a huge, reinforced glass pane in the wall and a door next to it. A door opened only by a special access card scientists of a higher experience level had. And Ten has gotten his just today.
His first step was flipping the light switch and trying to turn the lights off, only to find out it's not working. He whined with discomfort, pushing away the thoughts about running away and quitting the job. He was not a coward, even though it might not seem so right now. It's time to face reality. He has to do his job. That's what they pay him for, after all. Although the broken light source was making him feel uneasy.
He hesitantly took a few steps forward, then slowly and cautiously walked towards Fourteen's "room". Light behind the glass wall was turned off as well. Perhaps it was malfunctioning too? Hopefully there won't be a jumpscare there, right? That's the least thing Ten would want to happen right now.
Ten took a deep breath. He has to act like the man he is. Fourteen can't think he's afraid of him. If it will, it'll know it has more power in this situation. And it won't listen to what he's telling it to do. Ten had to sound as confident as possible when speaking.
"Experiment #52, Fourteen, I know you're there" He called out, still secretly searching for a light switch. Then, he noticed a control panel on the desk in front of the huge glass window.
Ten walked towards it, looking at every single button there were. Suddenly, he saw one with a light bulb symbol on it. "That must be it!" He cheered in his mind and pressed it. Lights instantly turned on, not only in the hallway, but in the experiment's room too.
And that's when he saw it.
Green skin. Dark, green, messy hair. Dressed in dark grey clothes, a bit damaged. Sharp teeth that could easily bite through algebralien skin and flesh. That was Fourteen in all their glory, observing the orange scientist from the corner of the room. Ten shivered, instinctively taking a step back. He could feel its gaze on himself, and it made him feel unsafe. Very unsafe. Like it was about to break the glass and eat him alive. Which is unlikely to happen, but people think of a lot of impossible things in their heads.
Ten cleared his throat. "Pretend to be confident, pretend to be confident..."
"Fourteen... That's what they call you, right?"
The green number smiled, but didn't respond.
"Can you, like, talk? Or...?"
"I like eating people's skin"
"...?"
The lights flickered, and by the time the room got dark and light again, Fourteen was standing extremely close to the reinforced glass pane.
"I said I like eating people's skin"
Ten instantly jumped back, tripping over his feet and falling on the ground. And there goes the calm and composed scientist he was trying to be. Fourteen started laughing at the sight of the orange number's shocked face.
"Oh boy! If you've only seen your face right now! HA!"
"S-STOP IT! THAT WASN'T FUNNY!"
The other number's laughter slowly died down, their lungs hurting a little from it. They continued to stare at the orange scientist, their hands behind their back and head titled to the side. Trying to look as innocent as they could, even though it came out a bit unnerving.
"Hmm... That lady named Six quit already? It's been barely three weeks, I thought she'd last longer" it said with a smile.
"She quit because you tried to bite her hand off!"
"Arm, not hand. Ehh, these gossips going around. Also, I wouldn't eat the whole arm, only skin. Too bad I didn't get to do it"
"Wh- Y- *breathe in* You're INSANE!"
Fourteen giggled.
"Why thanks for your compliment, Mr orange guy!"
"My name's Ten"
"Well... Thanks for your compliment, Mr orange guy named Ten!"
"No- look, just Ten would be alright. Mr Ten...? Maybe. Y'know what, whatever. It's not like I'll stay long enough for you to remember my name anyway"
"I love it when new guys come" Fourteen took two steps back "It's always fun to see the panic on their faces when I say something they consider creepy"
Moments like these made Ten regret his career choice, really.
"You say so...?" He mumbled under his breath.
"Yeah! Yours wasn't that bad too, y'know, when I scared the daylights outta you a few minutes ago!"
"Oh dear Math..." Ten took a deep breath.
Now that he thinks about it, no one told him what to do once he enters the area Fourteen resides in. All they told him was to be cautious. Alright, he was as cautious as he could, even though he has failed in remaining calm, which was possibly the one of the worst mistakes he could make. The first worst thing he could do was to enter Fourteen's room. That's something he mustn't do at any cost. It would cost him his body parts, or even life.
He always wondered what Fourteen was like. From all the stories he has heard, he could barely imagine how the dark green number looked like and how it behaved. And now he regrets his curiosity a lot, even though he still has so much unanswered questions in his head.
Fourteen could definitely speak, that's for sure. But can they feel things? Like, human emotions? Or most importantly: can they understand feelings? Understand human behavior? What's their way of thinking? Why do they like eating people's skin? And why are they so unnerving? Are they doing it on purpose? Do they have empathy in themselves?
Of course, it was Ten's job to find out the answers to these questions. After all, Fourteen was an experiment subject for a reason, weren't they? Ten wasn't sure of the green number's origins. He didn't know anything about them at all, to be honest. That's why he needs to talk to them. To get to know them. Without getting eaten, somehow.
Maybe he should start the interview now? That sounds like a good idea. But what should he ask about exactly? How can he know he's not touching a sensitive topic with one of his questions? Right now, the only thing protecting his from the cannibal is a huge, glass window. Reinforced, but still breakable with enough force.
"Alright... I'll ask you some questions now, and you will answer. Okay?"
"I guess I have no other choice. Let's see if you have more interesting stuff to ask about than your tasty number buddies"
"Question number one: For how long have you been locked in here?"
"2763 years" It replied without skipping a beat.
"This interview has no sense when you're lying"
"Okay, okay. I don't know how long I've been there"
"Mhmmm... Okay, next question: How did you get there?"
"I don't remember"
"....."
"What? You told me to be honest"
"*sigh* Alright then... Why do you like eating people's skin?"
"Because it tastes great! Sometimes it's sweet or salty, tastes like fear or confusion... There are various options!"
"I shouldn't have asked"
"I wonder how yours tastes like... Want to help me find out?"
"NO. And now let's go back to asking questions"
"Can I ask you a question now?"
Ten blinked. What? He was the one supposed to ask questions.
"Um... Sure"
"Have you ever wondered how much strength it takes to break this glass wall?"
Oh no. He didn't like where this conversation is going.
"I don't need to know. And now, if you'll excuse me, I think that's all for today. Goodbye"
He turned the lights off and walked away quickly, carefully closing the door to the hallway behind him. When he was out of Fourteen's sight, he sprinted to his office as fast as he could. He did not like this at all. He didn't like where this was going. What if Fourteen can break this reinforced glass pane? But he didn't just because he wanted to play along with Ten's questions for a bit?
And the worst thing is: he has to return there tomorrow. To that dangerous... thing in the lab's basement. This shit BITES, no, EATS people's SKIN. That's even WORSE than biting!
Wait.
Thing?
Ten has just gotten a brilliant idea. A realization that might change the course of his fate and maybe prevent his highly possible death.
Everyone has been treating Fourteen like an animal, so maybe that's why it has been acting like this? Maybe, just maybe, if Ten would treat it like a person, it would start behaving like a person? This might sound stupid, but it's not impossible. He has read about that in some books. People's behavior is often dependant on their surroundings. So, going by this logic, if Ten will be nice to Fourteen, it should start being nice to him as well.
But, the matter is: who knows for how long has Fourteen been treated like something inhumane? Have they ever behaved like a human being in the first place? And if they did, do they still remember it? Or have they forgotten? Ten has to find out. But that will wait till tomorrow.
***
Ten started his morning with a coffee and a quick chat with his friend, Seven.
"And what? It didn't eat you?" Seven joked, sipping on his tea.
"No, fortunately. But I thought I'm gonna die there"
"Now you know why Six didn't want to work with that anymore"
Ten nodded.
"Yeah..."
"So, your shift starts at 5 PM?" The dark grey number asked.
"Yep"
"Well, I wish you luck. You have 8 hours to prepare"
After a while, Ten finished his coffee and went back to signing paperwork. A hour later, he had to help Four and X in their research and then in organizing it. It wasn't a hard task, but walking to and fro can start to be tiring after some time.
Later, at 1 PM, he went to the cafeteria to eat lunch. The meal of the day was lasagna, for some reason. It's not like he's complaining, because he didn't really have an excuse to. Lasagna isn't so bad, you just need to get used to it, even though it tastes quite specific. As if you'd merge spaghetti with a few random meals.
Four hours of work passed, and the moment of his shift came. He yet again walked down the same hallway as yesterday, opened the same damned door leading to the same unlit place and headed towards the same person he tried to interview last time.
He turned on the lights and locked his eyes on the "cage" Fourteen was in. Today, he had a goal. A goal sounding so impossible and dumb to achieve that he didn't dare to tell his co-workers about it. And that so called mission of his was to try getting Fourteen to act like a normal person again. For as much as it's possible with them.
"Hello, Fourteen"
"Hey there, Mr orange guy named Ten"
"I suppose you know why I'm here"
"To get scared and run away again?" Fourteen teased, tilting its head playfully.
"No. Not this time" Ten has succeeded in sounding confident, and that caught Fourteen's attention.
The green number, still sitting on the ground, smiled.
"So?"
"I know you have a unique mindset of your own, and you're definitely not just a lab creature"
Fourteen chuckled.
"Yeah, I'm smarter than I look. Some people fail to notice that. And it costs them their delicious limbs"
"You're getting off-topic"
"It's you who brought this up"
"*sigh* I want to know... Why do you act the way you do?"
"Hm?"
"What's your view of the world? What's your way of thinking? What things do you like, and what things you don't? What things can you understand and which of them you can't? What emotions do you feel? What's your way of feeling stuff?" Ten took a step forward, now standing right behind the control panel on the desk in front of the glass window.
He was determined, and definitely not going to get scared again. That was just a dumb mistake he had made. A mistake he will never repeat again, because now he has a goal to achieve.
"You're a really curious number, aren't you?"
"Will you answer me or not?"
"Why would I?"
"Because I want to get to know you. I want to understand you better. I want to know the motives behind your actions and your logic"
"Now that's something new" Fourteen thought, tilting their head. No one has ever tried asking them that. No one has ever told them that. It made them confused, not just a little. A lot, actually.
"I will not leave until I get all the answers, by any means necessary" Ten rested his hands on the desk, now standing barely a meter away from the wall, his head pretty close to the glass.
That was a perfect moment to jumpscare him, and Fourteen didn't waste that chance. As soon as the lights flickered, they jumped forward, stopping right before the glass window. They expected the scientist to get terrified again, but the result surprised them. Disappointed even.
Ten didn't even flinch.
He was really determined, wasn't he? Fourteen let out a sigh and backed away, admitting defeat.
"Okay, you've won. Go on with this interview of yours. Honestly, I'm kind of curious as to where this is going"
"Thank you. Now, may I proceed with asking questions?"
"Sure. Go ahead"
"Alright then, do you have any hobbies? Except eating people's skin of course"
Now, what kind of question was that? Fourteen doesn't have anything to do in this stupid white room, so how can they develop any hobbies? This was ridiculously dumb.
"Not really. There's nothing much to do here, how can you expect me to have any hobbies of my own?"
"But if you could have a hobby, what would you want it to be?"
To be honest, Fourteen hadn't ever thought of that. They've heard some bits of scientists' conversations and them talking about various activities they do in their free time. For example, Six and Nine were on their shift there once. Well, it was Six's shift, but she asked Nine to come here with her. They've talked about skating and painting. Fourteen supposed it must be fun if they spend their free time doing these things.
Or once, when Seven was here, he talked about jokes. Even cracked an unfunny pun. Or maybe it's just Fourteen's sense of humor that's broken? Maybe they just didn't get the context of the joke? Besides, how can anyone expect them to understand anything when they're keeping them isolated from everyone else? They can't just magically catch up with everything that's happening.
That's why Fourteen didn't know what hobby would they pick for themselves. They didn't even know what options can they choose from.
"I don't know" It said, still deep in thought "What can I choose from?"
"Dear Math, has it- have they been isolated from the outside world for such a long time?" Ten said in his head, getting worried that he won't be able to help Fourteen if this goes on that way. That's why he thought of every possible hobby he could think about and listed them down.
"Well, there are a few, like drawing, reading, writing, playing volleyball, playing instruments, making origami, skateboarding, playing computer games, playing board games, karate, the list goes on"
Fourteen went quiet for a while. It didn't know what any of them are.
"And what are those exactly?"
Ten sighed.
"Wait a second, I'll be right back"
He walked out of the place and went to his office, looking for some things. Next to the room, there was Seven's office. Seven, being the curious guy he is, instantly walked over to Ten and asked what he's doing.
"I'm grabbing something I need. Don't ask questions" Ten responded, grabbing a plastic bag and putting stuff in it: A notebook, pencils and crayons, and a few books. He then sprinted back to the basement, stopping in front of Fourteen's room.
The green algebralien waited for him patiently, wondering what did he run away for. This time, he came back, unlike yesterday. And he was carrying something.
"What's this?" Fourteen asked and walked up to the glass pane, looking at the bag Ten was carrying.
"Something that will allow me to demonstrate what hobbies can people have"
"Interesting..." The green number mumbled, stepping away from the glass wall "But how?"
Ten cleared his throat and took a shaky breath.
"Well, I'm gonna do something stupid, and then I'll probably regret it..." He said quietly, but loud enough for the other number to hear.
What could he mean? What's his definition of doing something "stupid"? Wait... No... Could it be...? Fourteen's eyes immediately looked at the door to their cell. The door that could be opened only by a special access card scientists had. Ten was a scientist. Was he going to... Enter Fourteen's room?
That's the only logical explanation. And it was really dumb of the orange scientist! Walking right into the den of a hungry lion! That's the occasion Fourteen was waiting for. It hasn't eaten any good meals in such a looooong time... But, even though, it was curious what will Ten do. Is he aware of the situation he's putting himself in by doing this?
Looks like he is, because he has just entered Fourteen's room. He has done it with earlier consideration of all the dangers he's willing to put himself in. And this made Fourteen very happy. You don't meet such idiots on a daily basis. Is this a thing all scientist have? Stupidity? Or does he just simply not value his life?
And, what surprised them the most, he walked up to them. He set himself down on the floor, then took all the things out of the bag and waited. Waited for them to sit in front of him. Now this is unusual.
At first, Fourteen was hesitant to walk towards the scientist. Is this some kind of a trick? A way to distract them just to make it easier to capture and then do painful experiments on them again? They won't fall for this.
But... There weren't any other people in there. They saw Ten come here alone. Besides, he did talk about getting to know them better, so maybe that's his way of doing so?
After a while of hesitation, Fourteen walked over to the orange number and sat in front of him. It looked at all the things on the floor, and then back at the scientist. The other algebralien took this as a sign to begin.
"So, there are some examples of hobbies" He started talking and picked up a book "This is a book. Just a quick question: do you know how to read?"
"Do you think I'm some kinda dumbass who doesn't know how to write and read?" Fourteen asked with slight irritation.
"N-No, sorry... Anyway, uhhhhh... Reading books can be a hobby, although it might seem boring at first. Some of them are really interesting! What types of books do you like the most? Have you ever read a book?"
So many questions in one sentence...! And Ten didn't seem to be afraid at all! Maybe he has gotten used to Fourteen's presence by now?
"Hmm... I did read one or two books before..."
"What were they about?"
"One was about cannibalism, and the second one was about... Dunno what. Both of them were boring though"
"Oh. Yeah. Mhm. Okay... So, moving away from books... Here, have this" Ten handed Fourteen a notebook and a bunch of crayons.
"What do I do with it?" It tilted its head with confusion, looking at the other number.
"You draw on the paper. Like this"
Ten took the second notebook he has brought with himself, grabbed a blue crayon and drew a flower on one of the pages. He then handed the drawing to Fourteen, pointing at the empty notebook in front of the green algebralien.
"Now you try drawing something. It's fun!"
Fourteen nodded slowly and took a green crayon. They've thought for a second, and then started sketching something. Ten was observing the process, curious about what will the cannibal draw. After five minutes, the green algebralien put the crayons away, grinning with satisfaction. They took the notebook and showed the drawing to the scientist.
Ten's eyes widened with surprise. Fourteen drew a house, with no windows though, on a hill surrounded by trees. There was a stickman in front of the house, standing on a path leading to the door. The whole thing looked like it was drawn by a 7 year old kid, but it's still impressive for someone who probably hadn't ever held a pencil in their hand before.
"Wow... You're a very good artist!"
"Really?"
"Yeah! It's a masterpiece in comparison to what I've drawn"
Fourteen giggled happily, looking at the various crayons on the floor.
"You were right!"
"??"
"Drawing is fun!"
Ten was about to ask "Better than eating people's skin?", but quickly realized it wouldn't be the best idea to remind a cannibal of their ability to eat people, especially when he's sitting next to them. That's why he just nodded.
"You can flip the page and draw something on the other side of it if you want. And you can draw with other colors too"
"I know. I'm not a toddler who's learning something they've never done before"
"Sorry"
"No problem"
The two spent the next 20 minutes on doodling in the notebooks. Then, Ten told Fourteen of another hobby options they could choose, but they said they'll stick to drawing and eating people's skin. When they said the last part, they moved dangerously closer to the scientist.
"Y'know, I could try eating yours right now. It was pretty stupid of you to just come into my room without any weapon on you, don't you think?"
Ten's eyes widened as realization struck him. Has he really forgotten who Fourteen is and why they're put at isolation? They're a cannibal. They've been put away for a reason. And he just willing walked into their cage, even though he knew the risks. He tried to ignore the risks. And now, his pulse quickened because of the realization. This was really a dumb mistake.
"Oh fuck, it's gonna eat me. It'll eat me alive. Oh Math, what have I gotten myself into?! Run, RUN! Why can't I move? Why were I so stupid?!"
Ten squinted his eyes, covering his face with his hands as if it'd help him in his current situation. He's gonna get eaten. Eaten alive. What was he even thinking when walking into this room?! Tears started to form in the corners of his eyes, when suddenly...
Fourteen moved away from the orange algebralien, going back to their previous spot.
At first, Ten didn't understand what has just happened. He's still alive? He hasn't died? His skin didn't get eaten?
"Pfft-- Hahahahaha!" Fourteen laughed.
"Whhh.... Aaa...?"
"Oh please, such a scaredy cat! I wasn't going to eat you! Who do you think I am?"
"A cannibal?" Ten asked quietly.
Fourteen's smile faded.
"A cannibal..." They mumbled, their eyes darkening slightly, expression unreadable "Yes, a cannibal. Exactly"
"... Did I say something wrong?"
"You can go now"
"Huh?"
"I said you can go. Now."
"Geez... Fine... My shift's over now anyway. Want me to leave these crayons here or...-?"
"JUST GO! FOR MATH'S SAKE"
Ten quickly stood up and walked away, hands raised in defense.
"Hey, calm down! I'm leaving, see? I'm leaving"
He closed the door behind himself and walked out of the basement, not bothering to turn the lights off. Just in case Fourteen would want to draw. You can't draw in complete darkness, can you?
After some time, he got back to his house. It was near the lab, so he was sure he won't be late for work. He made himself some food and then turned on the TV.
Still, he couldn't help but wonder... Did he say something wrong to make Fourteen react like this? Is it because he called them a cannibal? He was just stating facts! What's gotten into them? Is it the sensitive topic he wanted to avoid in his questions? But it's just a fact, it's nothing offensive!
Whatever it was, it didn't let him sleep for a good hour. Luckily, he managed to somehow fall asleep after some time. Maybe he'll find an answer to this question tomorrow.